Preparing your house to sell? Where to start.

When you have decided to put your home on the market for sale it is really important to have a good plan of attack. If you want to obtain the best sale price possible for your home in the state it is to be sold in - it's all about presentation!! The key words for getting started are:

• declutter,
• pack,
• sell, and
• give away

When you decide to sell it's time to move out all the items that you no longer need. By need, I mean anything that you will not absolutely require either 'ever again' or from now until you move into your new home!!

Let's start with your garage.

This can be confronting, especially if you are a hoarder like me, but if you focus on getting the best price for your home then it won't be that hard. We start with your garage as you will most likely need that for storage, at least in the short term. Clear everything out of it and then make decisions on each item as you look to move it back in. If you will not need it until you arrive at your new home - put it straight into a packing box or simply disassemble it if it is large. Place those items in an ordered fashion down one side of your garage. If you can afford it and perhaps once you have packed up a few rooms, you can organise a storage unit to move your packed boxes into until you settle in your new home.

Next are those items which you will no longer need. There are two kinds of these items - one is the items that are genuinely worth money. Now what is 'worth money' will depend on you place in life but I suggest that unless you are going to get at least $25.00 for it then it is not 'worth money'.

Put the items that you plan to sell in one corner of your garage (opposite your packed items). You can sell them either by contacting people who 'deal' in that product, by advertising in your local paper or by having a yard sale.

All other items are not worth keeping and are give away items - give them to friends if they can use them or advertise them on your local Freecycle mailing list. Items like like old magazines are great for aged care facilities, child care centres, schools, preschools, playgroups and churches. They will welcome them with open arms. Child care centres and kindergartens will also welcome old boxes and containers provided that they are have not been used for storing toxic substances too!

If it's furniture or clothes then contact your local charities that sell them second hand often they can arrange a truck to collect them for you. If you also have a stash of old appliances, especially large ones, that perhaps no longer work then you can contact your scrap metal dealer who will collect them for free. All else needs to be taken away as hard waste according to your local council requirements or through the use of a trash pack or mini-skip.

Once you have done your garage it's time to start on the rest of the house! However, now you are armed with a short term storage space available for packed boxes and sale items - what a bonus!