We’ve all heard the age-old advice you should declutter or depersonalize your home before putting it on the market. But many sellers don’t do it and wonder why they should bother.

There are two reasons to bother:

1. It adds visual space to your home
2. It allows the buyer to more easily imagine they are already home

Each item in your home demands some form of attention – especially to someone who has not seen it before. A visitor’s view stops slightly for each new item. Short visual trips between items makes a space feel smaller, regardless of its actual size. Think about the difference in how the space feels between a canyon overlook or a forest. Now look again at how crowded this paragraph looks above with pictures and text!

Quite simply, the space in your house feels larger when we can see more floor and wall.

Depersonalizing beyond removing the magnets from the refrigerator may seem difficult, but it is equally important. Buyers need to be able to imagine themselves in your house in order to make a top dollar offer. And there are very few buyers gifted enough to imagine a space decorated in a completely different way. Giving buyers the benefit of a doubt on this point is like giving them money. Take the doubt away.

The good news is you are about to move anyway! By decluttering and depersonalizing, you will have less to move when your house sells. Here are five steps to organize your house to help sell at a higher price.

1. Get a Storage Pod: Options like storage units are popular. I’ve used them myself. For our last move, nothing beat the convenience of a storage pod. It shows up a a scheduled time and gets picked up on time, meaning the farthest you need to move is your driveway. Pricing changes, but it pays to shop around.

   This is first on your list because they usually can’t show up right away. Take action on this item first and you’ll have some time to work on the other pieces while it shows up. PODS is best known in this space, and many people think about Rat Pack, too. I would also suggest thinking about U-Haul’s U-Box for their smaller size, meaning they are able to fit in tight spaces.

2. Donate or Throw Away: For the next step, you’ll want to touch every item in your house that is not a piece of furniture or something on the wall. Go through all your closets, all your drawers, through your pantry, and so on room by room. In each room, make three groups: donate, throw away, keep.

   If you have difficulty letting go of items, you may want to use the rule of thumb that an item should either be useful or carry a very strong emotional attachment. If you haven’t used it in six months to a year, consider letting someone else enjoy it instead (Fondue pot, I’m looking at you). If you don’t think a friend, the Habitat ReStore, Goodwill, or Am Vets would want it, consider putting it in the trash.

3. Empty Your Closets: By now your storage units should have arrived. Now it’s time to fill them. Buyers will look in closets. Empty closets look bigger. When a buyer sees an empty closet, it is easier to imagine filled with their own items rather than judging yours.

   Remember, this process feels personal but it is not. Seeing a house to purchase is different than hanging out at a friend’s house. Less of your stuff makes more room for the buyer’s belongings in their imagination. You increase the chances of a quick sale at a great price by thinking more about the buyer and less about you.

   Start with closets in spare bedrooms or office spaces. Put everything in the storage containers. Try leaving only the bare essentials like office paper and pens hidden in neat containers or drawers. Buyers will not open drawers outside of the kitchen, so cramming them full with leftover necessities is fair game.

   Speaking of the kitchen, make sure you organize your pots and pans, plastic containers, and your pantry. Buyers often open doors and drawers in the kitchen, since it’s so vital to the house. If you leave an organized space for them to see, they will imagine a neat and peaceful life in their new home. People pay for peace.

4. Take it Off the Walls: Have you ever noticed magazine pictures have a clean, open feel? Though you may think it feels too sterile to live in, a buyer isn’t concerned with your personal sense of style. Make your next home warm and cozy. Make this house feel expansive and neutral.

   Start by removing photos of friends and family. If you do a good enough job selling your house quickly, they can soon rejoin you at your next place. You may want to tuck a few precious pictures in drawers too!

   Look at your walls again. Do you have more than three items on any one wall? As a guide, any more than three tastefully placed items should be taken down. (A set of curtains and two paintings – fine. Two sets of curtains, two sconces, three photographs – feels heavy to a buyer. Try to edit.)

   Finally, count how many blank walls you have. Aim for one to two totally unadorned walls in every room. Four empty walls is too many in any room larger than a bathroom.

5. Remove Furniture: Do you have a favorite large easy chair you’ve had for years? Good thing you have the storage pods.

   The more imposing an item (by color, size, scale or placement), the more attention it demands from the buyer. Choose to allow the buyer to see as much floor and wall possible and to not distract them with your furnishings. Appealing to the largest pool of well-qualified buyers is not a personal endeavor. Removing your ego from the process usually means removing some furniture too.

If you need help with any of these steps or need recommendations for resources, call or email your Realtor. They’ve been through this many times before and can help you navigate the process and give advice. I’m always happy to help.

Decluttering isn’t the only thing it takes to sell your house! To formulate a more comprehensive game plan to list your home for sale, check out 8 tips to sell your home.