HOMES + I N S I G H T
Preparing Your Home (and heart) for Selling Julie D. Martin Real Estate Broker and Pivotal ASA (Accredited Senior Agent)
Thinking of selling your home? It’s easier for some people than others to prepare their home for the market. Part of what can make it more difficult can be personality, and there are usually many other factors involved. Sometimes people who are very sentimental struggle with the thought of moving. They may have a few things to work through in order to get to the point of actually putting a For Sale sign in their yard. Many people can become very emotional just thinking about selling their home, especially when they have no idea where they’d like to go from there. If you are a Senior or have been in your home for 20 or more years, it can be a little overwhelming. We run into this a lot, and people just don’t know where to start. Most people max out their space and the larger their home, the more stuff they have accumulated. Just recently, I had a discussion with some friends, Greg and Bethany, who own a business in the Waterloo region of helping people organize their homes, and simplify their lives. They also specialize in helping Seniors who are downsizing. They said that most Seniors think they will ask their kids for help with getting rid of their extra “stuff”. But, people who are 70, 80 or older have kids who are usually quite busy as well with their own 50
kids or their careers. And it’s especially difficult if they don’t live nearby. It’s sad, but it’s a fact. And this is where people like Greg and Bethany can be especially helpful as a neutral third party, and because there is no attachment to any of the items, they are able to help people go through their things in an objective, non-threatening way. I brainstormed with these friends and my team, and we found some creative ways to help people get rid of items that have been hanging around their house for far too long. Here are a few ideas that may work: • If you have a family member that has talked to you about any of your belongings already, call them over to pick the item(s) up. • Before your next holiday gathering, make an announcement that you are planning on purging some items from your space and let everyone know they can talk to you if they’re interested in anything. • After you’ve gotten some help to sort through your things, and after you’ve made your donation pile, if you have any collections, pick out the favourite of each type of item and make some kind of a tribute to it. This is especially a nice thing to do if you are honouring a lost loved one. You could make a nice shadow box of a few of your favourite finds. • When my dad passed away, my mom gave all of us kids and grandkids an opportunity to go through his clothes and pick out what we wanted. Each one of the guys took a tie or two. I took one
