DEPERSONALIZATION TIPS

Depersonalizing your home is an important step when preparing to sell or rent your property. This involves removing personal items, photos, and other belongings that may make it difficult for potential buyers or renters to visualize themselves living in the space. Here are some depersonalization tips:

1. Remove personal photos: Take down any family photos or other personal pictures that are hanging on the walls or displayed on shelves.

2. Clear out personal items: Remove any personal items such as toiletries, clothing, and other personal belongings that may be visible in the bathroom or bedroom.

3. Minimize personal décor: Remove any personal decorations that may be specific to your taste, such as sports memorabilia, political posters, or religious artifacts.

4. Neutralize color schemes: Repaint any brightly colored rooms with neutral tones to create a more neutral and calming environment.

5. Declutter: Remove any clutter from the home, including excess furniture, piles of magazines or books, and other items that may be taking up space.

6. Clean thoroughly: Ensure that the home is clean and tidy before showing it to potential buyers or renters. This includes deep cleaning the bathrooms, kitchen, and other high-traffic areas.

7. Stage the home: Consider hiring a professional stager to help create a welcoming and neutral environment that will appeal to a wide range of buyers or renters.

By depersonalizing your home, you can help potential buyers or renters envision themselves living in the space, which can make it easier to sell or rent your property.

Here are the top three things you can do this weekend to depersonalize your home for sale:

1.Take Down Personal Photos

The absolute number one thing to start with during your depersonalization is the removal of personal pics. Particularly if you’ve got pictures of people or pets, storing them while your house is on the market is a good way to help buyers picture themselves, not your family, living in the home. The only pictures you can consider leaving up are those that aren’t inherently personal: landscape photos you took on your last vacation or close-ups of interesting architectural details, for example.

2. Ditch Those Funky Paint Colors

You might not see your butter yellow kitchen as “funky,” but buyers might. Paint colors (and any prominently used colors, in general) can be polarizing, so if you have any doubts, invest in neutral paint. It might seem like a slight hassle to paint three coats of beige over that interesting striped wall in your kids’ room or to spend all weekend taking down wallpaper, but buyers will notice. The last thing you want people to be thinking about when they’re touring your home is how horribly their furniture will match that burnt orange accent wall.

3. Put Away Your Tchotchkes

We love a good tchotchke as much as the next person, but too many knick-knacks can spell disaster for a seller. Try to see your home through a buyer’s eyes and scrutinize everything from your books to your religious artwork for signs of “personalization.” Collections are something sellers often have trouble storing because they feel a lot of pride, but they give buyers a very strong sense of your personal likes, dislikes, and interests. Removing many of your accessories won’t just depersonalize your home, it will also make the best features of the house itself stand out.