When your home is on the market it becomes a bit of an open book. All of the spaces where you created special memories are on full display for others to see and determine if they can make memories of their own.
Buyers will leave no stone unturned when exploring your home. And let’s face it: nosy neighbors will dip in, too, to take a look at how their fellow neighbors live.
Although your home is open for opinion and critique, your personal life isn’t. Here are four personal items you should hide or purge before showings and open houses.
Bank Statements and Other Sensitive Documents
Your finances are private, and they should remain that way. So if you’ve got a kitchen drawer that contains old bank and utility statements it’s best to purge it. If the correspondence is old it’s more than likely irrelevant. You can expect buyers to inspect your kitchen thoroughly, especially cabinet storage.
Also, if you’ve got a home office, clear your desk of important and sensitive documents, written account passwords, and the like. Lock them inside the desk drawers, or move them—and your laptop—to a more secure area.
Prescription Drugs and Valuables
Along with bank statements and other sensitive documents, your prescription drugs are nobody’s business. So move any prescriptions from your bathrooms’ medicine cabinets so they’re secure. (You can’t blame curios house hunters for checking out your medicine cabinets, though—they do count as storage, after all).
When it comes to valuables like jewelry and cash, be sure to lock them away out of sight.
Political Signs
Do you really want to take the chance of turning-off half of potential buyers because your garage is filled with yard signs indicating your choice of political figures? Or because your kitchen refrigerator is covered with magnets supporting a certain political party? While your home is on the market, it’s best to purge it of such items.
