How Much Does A Cluttered Presentation Affect Property Value and Viewings?

[ConfusedHousehunter2023]

We live in a one bed Victorian period mansion block in Zone 1.
Walking distance to one tube station and two train stations. Large beautiful park with ponds opposite the block separating it from the river. In summary, the location and the block are fantastic.

My DH has lived in this lovely flat for 20yrs and in that time decorated twice and new kitchen. We then got married some years ago and I moved in from my flat into his. We'd hope to be here not more than two years but I guess we can blame lockdowns although it's partly indecisiveness of where to move to.

So, we need to put our flat on the market asap but the issue which is the purpose of this post is that we're cramped and I feel this will affect the amount that's offered by potential buyers.

1. Too much furniture in the bedroom. I'll like to remove the standing wardrobe and chest of drawers to show the space as there's a large in built wardrobe with four large sections but there's no where to move the standing pieces to.
2. I would have liked a new bath tub as we currently have what I describe as an oval wide U tub which is dated. The bathroom could be changed but I love the tiles so I'm hesitant to remove those.
3. For the kitchen, I guess the spice bottles and appliances can go in a box and be kept in the car.
4. The dinning table is too large for the space it's in.

A similar property just came on the market at £27k more than what ours was valued at in May last year even though the space is a bit smaller as it doesn't have the benefit of the high ceilings we have and is on the 4th or 5th floor (no lifts) while we're on the 1st.

Apologies if I've given too much info which has distracted from the main gist I want contributions on.

Is it worthwhile getting a van and storage to move things out? If we do this we'll probably then want to paint our bedroom and hallway. The EA said it's best to leave it as is so that whoever buys can decorate as they wish as they'll put in a new bathroom.

@PleaseJustText Where's the show? It's not on Netflix or YouTube.

BBC iPlayer

We bought our house from people who had far too much stuff in it. We haven't managed to accumulate nearly as much in the past 7 years since but we're still having an aggressive clear-out now before we go on the market. Plus sugar soaping all walls and touching up the odd bit of paintwork. Before we get to photos and viewings we're going to box up a good number of the toys and most personal bits and put them in the loft. It didn't put us off but the market was so hot then things were being sold in days. It's a lot more tepid now and I feel we really need to 'sell the lifestyle' as it were, and marginal gains might help!

None of it would matter to me. I’m looking at the bones of the place not what you’ve got in it.

Yes don't redo bathroom. But think about what you are decluttering. Is it a walk-up or is there a lift? If you get rid of too much big furniture and just leave minimal it might signal that you can't get anything in the flat. Nice chunky furniture, maximalist vibe can look really good in a high ceilinged flat and make it look like a home rather than a place you have to buy modular furniture for.

I am also zone 1 and I would be more interested in your lease/freehold/service charge/how many others in the building and who/. Do the communal areas look clean and well cared for? Is there a USP. A view? A balcony? Floor to ceiling windows....? If so, make the most of those features.

May not affect value, but it will make the property less attractive to perspective buyers, and therefore affect the price the property can achieve. Definitely worth decluttering to present the property in its best light. Good luck with your move OP.

When selling our house (which sold in a weekend) i decluttered big time.

I even went so far as to hide the kitchen bin (and all other bins for that matter)in the boot of my car during the viewings. I know that sounds a bit random but it was a small kitchen with nowhere to put a bin (except in the dining area which had a lovely floor). Who wants to see a kitchen bin? Or any bin.

It took 5 minutes. (Hiding the bins that is)

That's not what you asked! 😀
Some buyers can see past clutter others can't.
It really depends. In a fast moving market buyers will be interested in buying the square footage in their preferred area. In a slow market you have to try and make someone fall for your house.

Sort your life out in 7 days? Where they put everything you own in neat piles on the floor of a warehouse and you sort through it? The people in those programmes usually have piles of broken toys, food packets and laundry everywhere - obviously that’s bad and equally obviously none of us here have access to a team of workers and a warehouse. But as I said earlier people on MN seem to refer to “clutter” as things like ornaments on a mantle piece. Hard to know what to take on board.

@PleaseJustText thanks.

We would go by floor plan and state of the fabric of the house, I couldn't care less about peoples possessions or decoration as hopefully they would not be there when we move in and we would redecorate anyway

Don’t bother with the bathroom. Do move out whatever furniture you can and generally declutter - it think it helps gets viewings and overall attractiveness. Im on the fence about painting - personally I’d rather do the myself on moving on.

It’s a good time to declutter because you also don’t want to pay for moving stuff you don’t want either.

I started decluttering a while back, we have lived in our house for 24 years. I was never a huge hoarder but lack of time and ill health had taken its toll. Just the loft to finish off now.

I live in a 1 bed central London flat
I would say that it is worth decluttering. A 2 bed in our block went for sale and it was so full of children stuff. Very few children live here and buyers generally dont want a family flat and so it wasn't aspirational for potential buyers

They dropped the price twice until it was a bargain. Then they swapped estate agents -gutted it of stuff and repainted children room. Back on at original price and sold within days- like flats here do.

Thanks. We also have loads of books on shelves everywhere.

Yes de clutter, don’t bother with bathroom re do though as someone will just want to change to their preferences anyway and it’s costly.

Declutter will also make it easier when you do move as you will have already ditched some things to not have to pack and move.

can you fit the chest of drawers inside fitted wardrobe? Or repurpose in hallway.

Sort your life out in 7 days is quite good to motivate you though. It's easy to watch and every time I see an episode I'm inspired to do a bit of decluttering (which I find hard otherwise). Also I love Stacey Solomon 😁

There's a huge glass dinning table, book case and shoe bench in the alcove/hallway. My plan is to remove the book case and but the chest of drawers there. Dismantle and hide away the dinning table.

Either get rid or if it has a sentimental value then hire a storage unit

Me too. I finally let get of my office clothes. I've been in a job where I can wear jeans for 6 years. I can't remember the last time I wore a tailored dress or blazer or heels but that was 80% of my wardrobe.

We were very cluttered even in a 3-bed house, and like you, had lots of books. We moved out a lot of furniture, about 2/3 of the books, one of the occupants and all his stuff (he worked from home) and cleared out my studio altogether so it was an empty bedroom. Made a massive difference to how the house looked. Our agent advised us to declutter, but not to change our bathroom, that seems to chime with the experience of others here.

Books weigh a ton to move and take up a lot of space. I would really consider if there’s some you don’t actually need anymore and charity rather than just storing elsewhere.

Before we sold our last house I'd have said it would make a minor difference but it took a while to sell last house - and during that time we change dinning room table to smaller model and changed our bed to one with fancier head board- and you could see it in the feedback both items were moving with us.

So yes declutter and yes if you can store any big unneeded furniture do so.

I collect books, I have large bookshelves, they contain ...books. Course I could take them all out and put DVDs on display instead!

@HangerLaneGyratorySystem - well no. To me shelves are for everything, not just books.
So the point is if you have 10 shelves, rammed only with books, I might look at property to buy and thing oh not really enough space to have some books, AND an few vases, plants, pictures, other pieces. When your selling, you want to appeal to everyone, so it makes sense to leave space for people to imagine adding things.