Selling Your House – How To Depersonalize

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If you are planning to sell your house, you're probably thinking about what you can do to make it more appealing to potential buyers. Most sellers know that they need to clean the house, keep it neat and tidy, and put valuable items in a safe place. What many sellers don't think about is depersonalizing their home.

What is Depersonalizing?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, depersonalize is "to deprive of the sense of personal identity" or "to make impersonal."  It helps to keep this in mind when preparing your home for sale. The goal is to present you home to buyers in a way that they can picture themselves living there.

Ways to Depersonalize Your House

There are a number of ways you can make your house ready for buyers to view. When you begin to depersonalize, think neutral. You may love bright colors, but potential buyers may have a tough time picturing their furniture in your bright red living room.

Here are some suggestions to help you get your home ready to be viewed:

• Repaint where necessary. As already mentioned, bright colors may not be the ideal paint choices for buyers to see. New paint helps a home look and feel fresh. Use neutral colors when repainting the interior of your house.
• Clean or replace carpets and floors. If you have to replace any carpet or flooring, again keep neutral in mind.
• Take down family photographs. If you want to leave a couple up, that should be okay, but you don't want too many around. Removing family photos is also a good safety measure, especially if you have pictures of children or grandchildren.
• Remove displayed awards, diplomas, certificates, and other personalized items you may have out.
• Look at your bathrooms and clean them up. Remove your toothpaste, perfumes, and colognes from counter tops. Make sure your bathroom isn't too feminine or masculine. A room that is neutral will appeal to everyone.
• If you have art on the walls that is very abstract or of a particular taste, it may be best to take it down.
• When depersonalizing each room, think about a model home and the way it would be decorated. This may help you take the personality out of your rooms.

If your home is too much of a reflection of you and your personality, it may take longer to sell. A house for sale through a real estate company that has too much of the current owners personality will narrow the field of potential buyers. It may also lower the price. Removing the emotion from your home may be difficult, but it will make it more marketable.

6 January 2015