A graphic of a room full of boxes ready to move house
Episode 341 – 10 things to consider when selling your house

Spring is a popular time of year to move house, so in today’s podcast we’re going to share our 10 top tips on what to consider when you’re about to put your property on the market.
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Transcript of this podcast episode
Speaker 1  00:00
Spring is a popular time of year to move house. So in today's podcast, we're going to share our 10 top tips on what to consider when you're about to put your property on the market.

Speaker 2  00:22
You're listening to the declutter hub podcast bringing you tried and tested no nonsense tips and advice from the leading experts in decluttering and organizing your home. Now here are your hosts Ingrid Jansen and Lesley Spellman.

Speaker 1  00:42
I Hello and welcome listeners. I'm Ingrid and I'm Lesley. If you're new to the declutter hub podcast, you're so welcome. What you'll find is that we try and find a fun factor in the serious business of decluttering, and if you've been here for a while, you know exactly what we mean. So thank you so much for listening. If

Speaker 3  01:04
you'd like to get involved in conversations relating to this podcast, it all takes place in our Facebook group. So come and join our lovely, warm, supportive community. To find the Facebook group, go to declutter hub.com, forward slash group to find out more, or or you can search for the declutter hub community on Facebook. Well,

Speaker 1  01:24
Lesley, this is actually quite interesting, because we are decluttering an organizing podcast. What we're talking about selling your home. But we get confronted a lot in our work with people who are either considering selling, moving, downsizing. So it makes complete sense to talk about this, right? Yeah, the

Speaker 3  01:44
house is like the easy bit. It's the contents of the house that's difficult, right? But today we are going to talk a little bit about the house itself, as well as the decluttering side of things. And I think that, you know, we came up with this idea of a podcast because it's right, you know, I'm sort of in the middle of it with my kids. And so my son, I don't know that anybody listens to podcasts with him. A few weeks ago, my son talks about the fact that he just moved house. My daughter is looking for a house. So we're looking at properties at the moment, so I'm right in the throes of doing it personally, as personally as well as professionally. So, but there are some things that when you on the receiving end of it, so when you're looking at the houses to buy, for example, mostly my daughter and my son, neither of them had a house to sell, so it was kind of different. But when you're selling something, it's really important to get the basics right, to make it easier. Make it an easier process. You know, it's very it's for good reason that people say it's the most stressful thing that you're going to do in your life, because it is really stressful, like because it just seems that no one's doing the job that they're being paid to do, right half the time, doesn't it?

Speaker 1  02:46
Yeah, yeah. And the thing is, because you're now also, of course, you're helping and advising your your son and daughter with the buying process as well, you are now kind of seeing all the things that we're going to talk about today from the other side, right? So it was just a really good opportunity for us to go right? So if you are thinking about selling, these are the things that Lesley has noticed in the last well, nearly year. Now, when it's been up and down, hasn't it? And what hopefully, the advice that we're going to give you today will help you if you are thinking about selling your home, or if you're going to downsize, because all of this is just really, really good information. And of course, we we thought, let's make it 10 things, because we love it 10 things. So let's get cracking, because we've got a lot to get through. Lesley number one. Where does it all start?

Speaker 3  03:35
I mean, I think, you know, obviously we're a global podcast, and the way that houses get sold right across the world is very, very different. So we're talking mostly about the kind of British system today. Even the Scottish system is different than the English system, to be fair. But I think it all starts, but it's fair to say there is somebody as an intermediary for most people, that tries to sell your property for you. So a real estate agent, and estate agents in this country, we call them. And you know what? I think that my own experiences of houses, professionally, working with people that are moving house, and now my recent experiences with my kids, you need a decent estate agent. Do you know what I mean? There's a lot of charlatans out there that are just there, promising you the world for like, 300 quid, and it's just like, you know, this is something that, if you want to take the stress away, sometimes, not always. It's something that you probably need to pay a little bit more for. You know, there's a reason isn't the ring with why some real estate agents, estate agents charge more money and charge less money, because it's probably dictated by the level of service that they give you. We've had some really weird even in the very early stages of my daughter, we've had some terrible experiences of estate agents where you can't get through, you're put into a queue. So we've had some terrible, terrible experiences recently where you just can't get through to an estate agent, and that's not a great starting point. You don't want your buyers not to be able to get through when they are expressed an interest in your home. So I think it's really, really important that you understand that kind of thing. Don't just take it for granted what they're saying. You know, explore like, how do, how do the phones work? You know, what can people expect if they ring out of hours? You know, what time are you available? Do you do any late nights? How does that work? If somebody, because people are very passionate when they ring, you know, they get they you know, you fall in love with a house, even if it's just online, you want to execute quickly on it. The last thing you want to do is to wait until two o'clock the following day for someone to ring you back. You're expecting those phone calls early in the day. So try and understand the process from the estate agent, what they're going to do to deliver the service to your buyers? Really, really important,

Speaker 1  05:45
yeah, and I think most areas will have probably somebody who's established, who's been there for a long time. But still, that doesn't mean that, you know, we're all humans. You know, nobody does everything perfect all the time. But look at the reviews. Look at, you know, the the testimonials that people give. Are they indeed, you know, established? Are they have been going for have they been going for a long time? Do they promise what you know? Do they deliver on what they promise? And all of these things. And I think making you know, choosing the right person for you is really, really important when you're selling your home, because this is the person you're going to have a whole journey with. So it's important that not only you know they've got good reviews, but also that you trust them, and that you've got a good gut feeling about them, that they're the right people to help you in this process with all its ups and downs. I think

Speaker 3  06:36
it's interesting, isn't it? Reviews, particularly kind of property reviews. Property companies, whether it's a letting agency, whether it's an estate agency, they get a bad reputation a lot of time because you kind of because if it's a difficult process, you kind of lump all of the stuff in together. You know, if you've had a tough time with getting through the legal side of things, you kind of just see it as a whole. How smooth thing. And so sometimes estate agents are doing their work quite well, but they get bad reviews because it's just not gone smoothly in general, and things like that, or buyers have messed them around, and you kind of put the estate agents at fault. But it's really about what you can expect from a communication perspective. And for me, I think you know, even if it is a couple 100 pounds more to get somebody who's more reputable with better reviews, what price can you put on your own stress levels? I think that's what it's all about, isn't it? Because there are so many people, oh, I can just do it all online. And you know, if it's call center, it's just all, all a bit messy. I kind of prefer I'm not going to lie. Definitely, my experience so far is definitely to go down the more traditional route, where you can actually see a person.

Speaker 1  07:37
Yeah, definitely. Let's go on to number two, then Lesley, what is also, well, I think crucial, right? When you're selling your home, you need to have good photographs of your house, because people search online, right, the first interaction normally, and I think that's probably what you're seeing with your daughter. Now you're looking at all the different websites and all the different houses and the budget and the street and all the things, but then the first thing you do is click on the photographs and on the on the map and on the plan and on the, you know, all of those things, but the photographs are crucial. I think

Speaker 3  08:15
the interesting thing for me is, you know, just in a few short years, I mean, it's like, I mean, obviously I've worked with clients and stuff, but, you know, it's really changed. And so whereas before, you'd always kind of do a little drive by, you know, so if you saw something an area, you'd go, I'm gonna, on a Saturday, I'm gonna drive around and look at some of the houses that I'm interested in. And now, really, you can see everything online. You can see Google Street View. And I would, if you've not looked at that and trying to buy a house, I would urge you to look at that, because that, because you could, then you can pick up those things like dodgy pylons behind your house, or factories at the end of the street that are less than desirable, or, you know, a kind of, you know, a really ugly house next door, all those things that we're looking for when we do a drive down a street. You can see those on Google Street View now, so you don't even need to go and do that initial kind of drive, drive by where you kind of pretend that you're not actually looking at the house when the woman who lives in it is staring at you and knows exactly what you do it. And so I think that the quality of those photographs is so, so vital. So, you know, just following on from the estate agent, make sure the estate agent is looking at the you know, understands the the way that light works in your house. You know your house best. You know what time of day is best to photograph your house, and so don't just go with what the estate agent says. If you know that four o'clock in the afternoon, because there's the light pouring in and that's going to make your house look lighter and spacious and fresher, then say, I'd like to come around and take the photograph. Sit at three to four o'clock in the afternoon, please. You're the one that's doing the pain. You're the one that needs to do the driving. You're the one that knows your home and so, and if you're not happy with those photographs, when they're done, say, I'm not happy with those photographs, can you come back and redo them? I mean, you know, every photograph is like, ridiculously wide angle. Lens now, and so you've got to be able to see through that, haven't you? Because, you know, I'm looking at little terraced houses my daughter and they look like the mansions, you know, after them look like the rooms are like 25 foot by 30. I'm like, this is a tiny room. It's just a wide angle lens. So we have to be able to see through those with things like gardens and stuff. But, you know, Mark, you know, put your stamp on those photographs. And if they're not good enough, then, you know, if you wouldn't buy from that photograph, then make sure you're asking for a retake.

Speaker 1  10:26
Yeah. And I think, also, you know, I think it's really important that to make sure that when they're taking the photographs, your house is looking at its best, because if there's lots and lots of clutter out, and the recycling bins are overflowing. And there's, you know, you haven't done the washing up, and there's dishes piled up from four days and you haven't scrubbed your bathroom in weeks on end. It's going to reflect in the photos, and it's going to impact your selling price. And some, some real estate agents want to get the house on the book so much they're not going to go to you, make sure that your house looks tidy and organized and as much clutter away as possible. Of course, in the moment, you can kind of still squish stuff and cupboards and all of that. You know you don't have. You know, you can still empty a bin, but I think you can see it when you know there's, there's lots of stuff out, and it will impact your photographs, and there's no doubt about it, and I think

Speaker 3  11:29
you need to be realistic about it, because again, you know, we've talked about this all the time, when we come across this in our sort of professional work, is an estate agent when they come around to Your house to try and secure your business, yeah, is interested in securing your business. So even if you ask questions like, oh, is my house going to be good enough now for to sell, they're just going to say, Yeah, of course it is, because they want your sale. So they're not going to say anything negative to you, like, well, actually, you could do a tiger up a little bit because it's a bit of a mess. They're not going to say that. So you have to be realistic about your own property, you know, because we have to see, see through what, what's happening. They're going to want the sale and not want to say anything negative. And so you need to be evaluative yourself and see that,

Speaker 1  12:10
yeah, yeah. And I think, you know, a tiny house that has good photographs will undoubtedly fetch more money. It's like we've seen it, you know, in in our professions, as well as organizers, the moment the clutter levels are low, people start to kind of envisage themselves living in the house. The house will get more money. And that's, I think the benefits definitely outweigh the work that's involved. So really think about that absolutely.

Speaker 3  12:39
So we wanted to talk about curb appeal, which is obvious really. People, you know, we've already spoken about the fact that you need to present, be presenting your house at its best, whether that's from the outside or the inside. But as Ingrid says, you know, a little bit of investment at this stage will reap benefits further down the line, you don't want your house for if there are 10 houses, you know, as I say, we're looking for little terrace houses for Leah, do you know what I mean? There are a lot of them around, right? And you would just go, actually, that one's nice than that one. I've only got so many that can see in the course of a week, and so I'm not going to look at that one because it looks a little bit messy, or it looks a little bit like a student house, or it's in all of the things that we look at and make those first judgements on a house, try and strip that away. So your house is there, one of the contenders so curb appeal is everything, decorating is everything. Clutter freeness is everything. And so it's really worth investing time, energy, and potentially a little bit of money into making sure that it's the very best that it can be.

Speaker 1  13:39
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I think especially in gardens and things like that. Lesley, you know, you're gonna have to go out and cut the shrubs back, and you have to mold the grass, and you have to sweep your driveway, and, you know, high pressure, wash your drive if need be. And if you can't, probably hire somebody to do it. It's these you want to make sure that people are not going to find objections to go and put a viewing in, because they will, you know, because if there are houses available in the price record that you're selling on, you know, you want to go actually, Oh, this looks really nice. I want to look at that. You know, you don't want to have rubbish in the garden and all of the bins everywhere and dirty windows and, you know, it's, there's a lot you can do yourself. Definitely, I

Speaker 3  14:24
think, as well Ingrid, it's, it's really important to consider how, you know, once you've put your house on the market, you've got the right estate agent, you've done all your repairs outside, so it looks the very best it can be. How is this going to work with the viewing situation? You know? I mean, if you've got a busy family, you know, if it's kind of chaotic when all the kids come home from school, you know, if you've got dogs, you've got pets, you work from home, all of these things need to be factored in. How is this viewing situation going to going to work out for you? Because obviously, people want to go weekends. Want to go evenings, and that's when your home is probably at its busiest. And so you really need to factor that in as well. When is it going to be suitable for you to do them, and how quickly can you respond? Because if you're anything like me, you know, and I am an action taker on Ingrid, so I'll see something and expect to be able to see it within 24 hours, you know. Because as well, the problem is that, you know how I mean, obviously housing markets ebb and flow, right? But if it's really, if it's a busy housing market, you know, as a buyer, you've got to jump on things quickly. So you don't want to wait a week for a viewing, you know, you want to be able to do it within 2024, 36 hours. And so equally, then, as a seller, you've got to be able to respond to those needs as a buyer. And if there is interest in your home, you need to be able to do it, which is not easier said than done, if you're trying to, you know, manage your home around these things and get that level of, you know, we we're not about Insta perfect homes, but when you're selling a house, that's where we need to be. We need to be Insta perfect, you know, because you've got to sell, you've got to put your house out there at its absolute best, and there will be things that are stripped out of your house. You know, you might get rid of some furniture for the white for a while. You might have to put things away in the loft or in the garage, you know, that you probably want to use. And so really think about and discuss with your estate agent how the viewings are going to work most of the time now, I'm sure, like 90, 95% of the time nowadays, viewings are done by an estate agent and not by you, so you don't have that awkwardness. So I think that's typically the way that it goes now, but discuss those kind of things. Yeah,

Speaker 1  16:32
I think it's changed a lot. I remember doing my house viewings when I moved to house, I was like, hi, welcome. Come into my house. It's really, you know, it's awkward. But of course, I think it, I like, I love chatting to people. So for me, I just thought, okay, fun. But I think for other people, a bit, maybe a bit shy, or a bit like, Oh, I couldn't, you know, I wouldn't be able to sell my house. It can be tricky. So it's nice if somebody else can do that as well. And indeed, what you're saying, Lesley, are these all are you gonna have just one day when they're all kind of come in, like, 50 minutes after another. Is this more like an as and when situation? I think, ask those questions to your to your estate agent to get clarity on that. What can you expect? And do you have to have your house viewing ready for, like, weeks on end? Or can you just go, okay, one day, we need to make sure it looks like really, really good, and then we can just all live our normal lives again. Exactly.

Speaker 3  17:25
No, it's, uh, it's interesting, isn't it? Viewing so that you know. And the one thing, well, you know me now, so you expect that you know for if an if an estate agent only gives you, like, 15 minutes or half an hour or whatever, or says it's a 15 minute slot, I'm asking all the questions I'm asking to go around three or four times, and I'm not. I'm not speeding through that process like this is an expensive purchase, and I'm going to take my time to look at loads of different things. I'm going to ask loads of questions about when it's been on the market, whether it's had any interest, whether any surveys have already been done on it. You know, I'm going to get, try and get a good feel. You might not get honesty all the time, but I'm going to try and get a good feel for the background of that house. So, you know, don't feel as if you're overstepping. You know, this will be the most expensive thing that you ever buy in your life. And we, we look at things for five or 10 minutes, and if we're lucky, we feel a little bit bad to ask for a second viewing. You know, it's, it's kind of crazy when you think about it, yeah. And so, you know, you know, if it was Leah on her own, she would be like, Okay, I've looked at it. I'm like, Okay, we're going around again and again and again. Did you know to me? But that comes with experience, right? Yeah. So, so, yeah, no, it's interesting. So don't be kind of put under any time pressure when you are viewing a property as well and ask all the right questions. You know, you know, you feel a bit embarrassed. Don't you doing that? But don't you know this is an investment that you're going to make. You know, if it was, if you were, you do more research on getting a new bank account. I

Speaker 1  18:53
think people spend more time when they buy a car, driving around, comparing it. But then a house you got, like you got 10 minutes spent 300,000 pounds,

Speaker 3  19:04
exactly. It's crazy. But anyway, so we wanted to talk as well about pricing. And this is something I've kind of noticed as we've been talking about, you know, the way that, you know, I mean, I bought this house 15 years ago. You're not, you're similar, right? Ingrid, it's really different, you know, because everything is there online, you know, you you've got this kind of openness of information. You can see when something was put on the property market, you can see what price it was. You can even see sold prices from next door and all that kind of stuff. So you've got a wealth of information. And so I think that, you know, you need to be careful. You know, the thing that I've noticed is, as soon as you see a reduction on a house, I'm already thinking, well, they're desperate to sell so and we don't know, but that's the conclusion that we come to, because it's been on, you've put it up for, I don't know, 100,000 or whatever, not that you can get many houses for 100,000 these days, 500,000 you put it over, sell 500,000 pounds, and then it's immediately been reduced. Least within a couple of weeks. And so, you know, there's an element of desperation there, so you do your negotiating in a different way, so that you've got to be really careful with that initial pricing. You know, you really need to talk, you know, long and hard to your estate agent, how that goes? Are we going to go offers over and go and low ball it a little bit, or are we going to go for a high offer? And then, you know, with a view to reducing there are so many different strategies, and so with your estate agent, I would try and establish what that strategy is for your house, and that will be very dependent on how popular it is. You know what the schools are in your area. You know all those, those kind of things are going to force an estate agent strategy, but you need to stand behind their strategy. And you know, from what you know, because you know a lot about your local area as well, because you will have friends, you will have neighbors, you know, you will have been doing the kind of, Oh, I wonder what Mrs. Blogs is thing down the road so far, I'm going to go and right move and look at the prices. We're all doing it our way. And so we've got a good feel for what a house on our road would go for and so, and if we don't, then we need to do that research, really important, because all that information is there. You can in this in this country, I'm sure it's the same everywhere else in the world. You can go on to something called right moving, I'm sure there are many other things, and see what's sold on your street and for what price and what day. And so you obviously have to look at the dates, because that's going to affect the pricing and stuff, but understand the pricing strategy, because I think as a buyer, it changes your opinion about how you can negotiate on things.

Speaker 1  21:31
Yeah, I think it's really interesting Lesley, because what I see a lot with my clients is that some of them don't want to downsize, but they actually want to upsize, so they're getting their mindset ready to sell their current house, but they're so busy with selling the house that they forget to look ahead to where they want to go and what kind of price range they can do and what kind of mortgage they can get. And it's like you have to it. That's why it's one of the most stressful things, right? It? This is not something that you can sort out in a day or two. This is a process, and research is everything, and price is a very, very big, main part of this whole process, what you're going to sell for, and also what is going to happen afterwards with this house as well. And

Speaker 3  22:20
I think the figures, you know, like, you know, I mean, we just pulled up 500,000 pounds out as a kind of random figure, but, you know, we can be negotiating by 20 25,000 pounds. Imagine how long it takes to make 25,000 pounds, how much work we've got to put in to do that. And we go, okay, we'll take a reduction of 25 that. Do you know what I mean? It's kind of crazy when you think about the figures and what that represents in the real world. And so I think that pricing strategy is something to think about carefully to make sure that you agree and to and to to execute on it and to continually be updated by your estate agent. You know, don't let it be driven by them. This needs to be driven a little bit by you, although they are the experts in principle, but you have a level of expertise as well in your own house, yeah? So yeah. I mean, I'm getting it. This is the thing I'm getting all agitated just talking about it, because it is a minefield, isn't it, Ingrid, yeah,

Speaker 1  23:11
yeah. For sure, for sure. You know what? Let's take a break. So it's all just calm down a little bit because we've only done five of our 10 top tips. So let's take a break, and we'll see you after the break for another five. Hi everyone. Welcome back to your podcast. 10 things to consider when selling your house. We've already done five. Let's move on to number six, which is, of course, is my favorite one. You need to declutter and organize the house you're going to sell. This is where I excel as Lee. All the other stuff is probably somebody else's job, but I'm like, I am firmly and in control of this. Because the thing is, if you're thinking about selling your house, what you don't want to do is move a lot of stuff you don't even want in your other house, whether you're upsizing, downsizing, whatever your is happening, you need to declutter and you need to sort out your current house, because everything that you're losing now doesn't have to be packed, moved and unpacked, and you're gonna save yourself so much Time and money, if you get organized on that, and I'm not talking about, you know, the tiny little jewelry, bits and bobs that take up a little bit of space. It's all the the big stuff, right? That takes up a lot of space that needs to be gone, through the furniture, the the clothing, the boxes, the stuff and the love that hasn't seen the light of day for 20 years, all the books that are never been read. It's all the bulky stuff. I think

Speaker 3  24:50
the thing that it is England is it's a huge deadline, and it's one that we should take quite seriously as well, because it's a fantastic opportunity, isn't it, for change, to do all those things. That we put in off for ages. So many people in when they move house do all of these things that we've spoken about, you know, like doing things or making sure the curb appeals, they're decluttering, organizing, taking things out, and then go, I really like this house. And then, you know, they were kind of moving because they wanted more space, and then they've opened up space by decluttering, mainly. Do you know what I mean? And so I think it is the opportunity. This is the opportunity to do it. I think it's really important as well to if you know where you're going, or the type of house that you're going to to try and pack or declutter towards that new house. So to really think about, you know, sizing of rooms and the furniture that you will have, what you're planning to take with you, whether you've got built in storage, all of those things need to be factored in so. But we've got whole podcasts on that. We've got one on downsizing, right? We've got other ones on moving house, and so for more detail about the actual moving process and the decluttering relating to that, do go and check out those podcasts. So one of the things that we wanted to talk about, and here we are at number seven Ingrid. I've not even said the numbers today, have we just it's kind of a lot of information. Lot of information is, don't underestimate that paperwork Ingrid. And what types of paperwork do we think we need to get under control before we move? Well, I

Speaker 1  26:21
think there's several things. First of all, you're going to be yourself confronted with a lot of paperwork right from your estate agent, legal paperwork, solicitors, all of those things, contracts, all of that. So make sure you set up some sort of folder, box, file, plastic, whatever it is where all of your moving house paperwork kind of lives, because you're going to have to refer to it all the time, then you probably want to have another books file or pile of paperwork that's all connected to the address changes that you need to do, because start creating a list who are the People that I need to inform that I'm moving house. You're gonna think of three things first, and then once you kind of get into you're gonna go, oh yeah, I need to bring that person and tell that person, and go online for that and do this. And there's like, a whole list of people. So have that in a separate pile together, so you know exactly what you're up to. And there, you know, we've got a great checklist as well that you can use, and there's things online that you can use, so keep track of that. And thirdly, you're going to find paperwork that needs to stay with the house. And it's to go to the new people who are going to live there, manuals of items that are going to stay in the house. Maybe you've got a building free trees, or a building washing machine or dishwasher, and you still might have the manual for that. So you want to kind of start to create a box file or a stack of papers with all of these kinds of bits. You can even add some other things to that. Maybe you've got special window keys or a light bulb that only fits a certain light fitting that belongs in the house. All of those bits and bobs keys can all start to live together. So you're not gonna go, Oh, right. I now I've nearly packed up everything, but now there's stuff that should have stayed at this house, and I've got no idea. So there's three lots of things that need to happen, yeah. And

Speaker 3  28:22
I think I want to add to that Ingrid, you know, not all of the stuff relate that we've spoken about here is going to be paperwork based. It's going to be digital, a lot of it as well. So we need to mirror what we're doing with our paperwork. And there is undoubtedly things that are paperwork based, because a lot of the things relating to a house have been around a long time, legal stuff. We're getting deeds, you know, written deeds and things like that, and paperwork to fill in and all that kind of stuff. And some of that hasn't transitioned into being digital yet, but there will undoubtedly, undoubtedly be a lot of communication that's digital and things like that. So really think about email folders. We don't want, you know, if you're already overwhelmed, we don't want this paperwork from your house move to sit on in amongst the 10,000 emails that you've not, not read yet in your email inbox. You know, maybe think about setting up a Google Drive folder relating to house move stuff if you're using Gmail and stuff like that. So think about how you're going to reflect this kind of box file situation, this gathering together folder situation that we've spoken about for digital stuff as well. So it might be, you know, some of the things you know you have to talk about, things like, you know, utility bills and council tax and all that kind of stuff that you pass on to the new owner, you know, give them a helping hand with how that works. With digital perspective, you might want to gather, put a nice little document together. These are all of the things that I use for that kind of stuff. So we've got two systems, and they almost need to mirror each other. And a lot of this stuff is going to be digital now, so we need to start preparing for that as well. But don't let things get out of hand that you're like, Oh, I knew something came in last week, but can't quite find it. Make sure it's there. You know, house, move, legal, Estate. And utilities, you know, all that kind of stuff. So this is the time when you need to be super organized to make sure people have got what they need.

Speaker 1  30:07
Excellent, excellent point. Lesley, um, number eight, another one of my favorites, start to finish up and eat up stuff. So start to eat from your freezer, because you don't want all of that food to go to waste, you know, dive in there and clear it out. Start to eat from your pantry so you don't have to pack it all. Start to use up those toiletries that have got a tiny little bit left in them and that have kind of cluttering up your cupboards. Use it up now so it doesn't have to be packed, moved and unpacked, same with cleaning materials. Use up all the little leftover bits first. So helpful. Run down the contents. If you're always used to having, I don't know, 50 toilet rolls, you know, just only make sure you have a pack of 10 at the moment so you can kind of get the volumes down, because all of that stuff then doesn't have to be packed. So, so helpful,

Speaker 3  31:11
absolutely. And Number Nine Ingrid is something that I, you know, it's interesting, because you always, we're constantly, continually learning, aren't we, through life, and you know, you and I probably think, Oh, we know loads about House moving and decluttering and all this kind of stuff, and we'd know exactly how we would do these things practically. But, you know, conversation I had with Luke, actually, on the podcast a few weeks ago really kind of made me rethink a little bit about the impact of moving house for people. I mean, he's neurodivergent. He's got ADHD and a lot of his, you know, I was, I invited him on the podcast to talk about his house move, and thinking that it would be about paperwork and stuff, you know, things that you needed to do. And really the biggest, most impactful thing for me, and something I'd not really thought about was, you know, being sort of dislodged from your safe space. And so this is something where, particularly if you're neurodivergent, where you felt kind of calmer, and things like that, and for that to completely be uprooted in one go, and for you to lose that was quite a big deal for him, and it's not something that I'd really thought about in that context before. I thought about it in terms of emotionally as well. So even if you're not, if that's not going to apply to you, and you don't feel like you need that safe space, I think emotionally, you need to be able to prepare, because we get so wrapped up in the emotional, the sorry, the practical side of moving house that we don't ready ourself for the impact of it's not grieving, but it is a loss, and it's saying goodbye to something that's been, hopefully a special, happy part of Our life, and if that's where your children grow up, all of those kind of thing, it's hard to say goodbye. So make sure, in amongst all the craziness, the mayhem when you're selling when you're selling your home, that you allow yourself a little bit of time to just think and reflect and enjoy and say goodbye. And you know, prepare yourself mentally for what's coming. If you know that that will be a bit of a wrench. And so all about that psychological preparation as well, really important. I

Speaker 1  33:08
think that's interesting Lesley, because I think you would think about that, when somebody's lived in their house for 40 or 50 years, right? And they're downsizing, or they're moving to live closer to their family, then you would kind of think about it. But now you're saying that about Luke. I'm like, yeah, it make that makes so much sense. That would have not been the first thing that we've come to mind, either because we're just, I think also because we're so practical, and we're like, right? Let's get the list out and let's get an action and but super important, because, indeed, you know, people have lived, you know, whether you've lived somewhere short or a long time, if you're happy somewhere, it's always a wrench to say goodbye to something. Yeah,

Speaker 3  33:47
definitely, no. It was a really interesting point. And I was saying one, you know, that's a nice thing about adult kids, is you can continue to, you know, you think that you know a lot, and you know, there's not much that you can learn. You can learn so much by those kind of conversations with your children, really, because looking at things from a different perspective. So it was really impactful. So if you've not listened to things that podcast do, go and take a listen. That's Episode 339, with Luke and his house move and other things. So yeah, thank you, Luke for teaching me something that I hadn't really thought of before. And number 10, English, number 10,

Speaker 1  34:23
yes, number 10. Get the professionals in, you know, and I'm not only talking about getting a good real estate agent or a good estate agent in, get other professionals in to help you, you know, whether that is a window cleaner, a gutter person, a patio high pressure wash man, a gardener, somebody to fix some stuff, or, of course, get a professional organizer in. If this whole thing is like, Yeah, I'm good, but the decluttering, it's the thing that really like scares me so much. See. If you can get a professional organizer in, and please don't call us two days before you move a house, because that is just not enough time for us to help. You really need to get us in a little bit earlier so we can also help you with the thinking and the doing and the organization and all of that, because we offer so much, you know, advice and and besides practical help,

Speaker 3  35:24
I think, you know, if this seems like an overwhelming, daunting task, I think the time to call in a professional organizer is right at the beginning of that process. You know, almost even before you've spoken to an estate agent, you know. So to get because you might get a better they might have a better feel for the value of your house, you know, and it might only be a consultation or just a chat for a couple of hours, and then you kind of execute on it later. But honestly, we feel really passionate about this because the people that we've worked with, we've saved them money because they've invested in us to make their house better, which gets them a better price. And so you have to look at it as an investment in what you're going to get for the future. And of course, you're investing in, you know, taking those stress levels down, you know, I mean, as well. And we can do all of the stuff, you know, we used to doing this. We're used to thinking about all of the things, the paperwork, the the getting the fridge down, you know, we can get. We have contacts for people who can do gutters and all that kind of stuff as well. So we're solution finders and fixers. We're not just there to declutter, and we do it really regularly to prepare homes for sales that you can get the best price for things and advise you on that, and then also at the other end, you know, so very few professional organizers do the packing. We don't typically pack, but we will prepare stuff to be packed by a professional packing company. But then we definitely do unpacks at the other end as well. That's a big part of what we do. So, you know, because it's, it's all very overwhelming, you know, I mean, and just to have somebody that sits by your side and just gets on with it, and, you know, an unpack a professional organizer, will think about where things might go. They'll do it quickly. They'll get those boxes open and in your cupboard. It might not be perfect on day one, but there'll be a damn sight better than sitting in a box for the next six months, won't it Ingrid? So it's worth like factoring that into your budget, because that's what we're there for. We're there to smooth anything household related over aren't we? So, you know, think about getting a professional in obviously, if you're in the northwest of England, there's clutch fairy with me. Organize your house down in South East London with English company. Or if you're elsewhere in the country or in the world, you've got apt or the Association of Professional declutters and organizers, and you've got Nepo, you've got POC in Canada. What's the Australian one? In grid?

Speaker 1  37:44
Apo, I think April, there's, there's J Lo in Japan. I mean, there's associations all over the world, yeah, and India are so, right? Let's see. I mean, my team love unpacking after a house move. They love, you know, they're like, yes, give us the boxes. Let's do this. And they love thinking through where we're gonna put the items in the kitchen. And the clients are so happy because they're like, Wow, I just saw myself another three months with all of these boxes, and now within a day, you know, it's suddenly this kitchen is usable. I can actually see myself doing some sort of dinner or breakfast here and there. Yes, we need to tweak things and yes, we need but I can actually move and that, you know, I can move around and do and do food again. So that's fantastic

Speaker 3  38:29
if I moved house. Honestly, if I moved house, which I'm sure will do, I would totally get my team in to help me do that. Yeah, to speed up the process. Do you know I mean this, even though I can completely do it myself, just to mean that you can just get settled so much quicker. You know what I mean? That's what you want, isn't it? So anyway, so that was the last thing that we wanted to say. So 10 top tips. It's quite a lot to digest, but I think moving house is a lot, isn't it. So, yeah, I think it's worth having a think in advance about how this is going to play out, so that you capitalize on the best advice, the best professionals, the best price, the best buyers. You know, all of those things come with a little bit of advanced thinking, right? Ingrid, yeah, I

Speaker 1  39:14
think so too. And you know what the thing is, you might not at this current moment thinking about moving house, but maybe your friend is moving, your neighbors are moving, your children are moving. Share this podcast and go, Hey, I've listened to something really good. Tune into the to these, these ladies, because, you know they're going to give lots of food for thought, and you can always refer back to this. So we hope that this was a really, helpful podcast for you, and that you've enjoyed our top 10 tip top 10 tips, and yes, if you are moving house, let us know in the comments. We would love to hear from you. And maybe you've you've thought about something else that we haven't mentioned, which is very, very possible, but let us know, and we look forward to seeing you again. In on the podcast next week.

Speaker 2  40:07
Thanks so much for listening to the declutter hut podcast. Don't forget to subscribe to us in your podcast player so you don't miss an episode and we'll see you next week.
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Episode 341 – 10 things to consider when selling your house

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Episode 390 – 10 changes that make the biggest impact in your home

Episode 388 – Start as you mean to go on – plan 2026 for decluttering success

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