When it comes to selling your home, first impressions are everything. A spotless home sells faster and for a higher price, and the key to achieving this lies in proper pre-listing preparation. One of the most effective strategies homeowners can employ is utilizing professional cleanout services to transform their property from lived-in to market-ready.
In today’s competitive real estate market, sellers who invest in comprehensive pre-listing preparation consistently outperform those who don’t. According to a HomeLight survey of top real estate agents nationwide, decluttering could add $11,706, or about 3.5% of a median-priced $350,000 home. This substantial return on investment makes cleanout services not just a luxury, but a strategic necessity for serious sellers.
Understanding the Impact: Why Pre-Listing Cleanouts Matter
The statistics speak volumes about the importance of proper home preparation. According to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the average home is listed on the market for about 27 days before going under contract, but well-prepared homes often sell much faster.
According to a Top Agent Insights study by Homelight, a deep cleaning could add on average, about $3,700 to the sale of a home. More impressively, a 2023 survey from the National Association of Realtors shows that nearly half (48%) of seller’s agents say home staging decreases the time a property spends on the market, with staging potentially increasing the value offered by 1%-5%.
Professional cleanout services address one of the most common obstacles to successful home sales. “Probably 70% of the time,” explains staging expert Joy Metten, “having too much stuff or clutter is an obstacle to selling the home”. This statistic alone underscores why investing in professional cleanout services has become essential for competitive home selling.
What Are Cleanout Services and How Do They Benefit Sellers?
Cleanout services encompass a comprehensive range of professional solutions designed to prepare your home for sale. These services go far beyond basic cleaning, addressing the fundamental challenge of transforming a lived-in space into a buyer-ready showcase.
The Science Behind Successful Cleanouts
First impressions are lasting, especially in real estate. Prospective buyers form an opinion about a property within the first few seconds of viewing. Professional cleanout services ensure that initial impression is overwhelmingly positive.
A clutter-free environment not only looks more appealing but can also increase the perceived value of your home. Spaces appear larger and more inviting when they are not overwhelmed with excess belongings or junk. This visual spaciousness can lead buyers to believe the property is worth more, potentially leading to higher offers.
Core Benefits of Professional Cleanout Services
Enhanced Visual Appeal and Space Perception
One of the primary benefits of junk removal is the creation of a spacious and open atmosphere within your home. Removing unnecessary items and clutter helps potential buyers visualize the true potential of each room. By creating more space, you allow natural light to flow freely, making your home appear brighter and more inviting.
Highlighting Key Features
Junk removal allows you to showcase your home’s key features and selling points effectively. When potential buyers enter a cluttered space, it can be challenging for them to notice the unique architectural details, beautiful flooring, or custom fixtures that make your home stand out. By eliminating excess junk, you can draw attention to these desirable aspects and present your home in its best light. This, in turn, can help justify a higher asking price and attract more potential buyers.
Accelerated Sale Process
A clutter-free home is not only more appealing to buyers but can also speed up the sale process. When potential buyers can easily see the value and potential of a property, they are more likely to make quick decisions. The efficiency of junk removal services in clearing out a property means that it can be listed and shown to potential buyers sooner, potentially reducing the time it takes to sell.
Types of Cleanout Services Available
Estate Cleanout Services
Estate cleanouts represent one of the most comprehensive forms of property preparation. On average, estate cleanout services cost $1,250 but can range from $50 to $6,000, depending on the size of the estate and how much work you leave to the pros. Services like sorting paperwork, identifying and valuing assets, hauling large items, and item sales all factor into the total cost of an estate cleanout service.
The average American homeowner’s house is about 2,500 square feet, and the average estate cleanout ranges anywhere from 150 to 200 man-hours to complete. This extensive time investment highlights why professional services often provide the most efficient solution.
Real Estate Cleanout Services
Professional real estate cleanout services help realtors and property managers prepare their properties for buying, selling, and renting. These services assist with removing outdated furniture, rubbish, clutter, and any other unwanted items, ensuring the property is ready for viewing.
Junk Removal and Hauling Services
Pricing for cleanout services and junk removal is typically charged by truck utilization, meaning however much you fill the truck is how much the cost will be. Cleanout services are great for full house cleanouts, basement cleanouts, eviction cleanouts, property management evictions, foreclosure cleanouts, estate cleanouts, garage cleanouts, and residential property cleanouts.
Cost Considerations: Understanding Your Investment
Professional Service Costs
If you hire professional movers to clean out an estate, you’ll spend $25 to $50 per hour on labor. Expect labor costs to rise along with property size or number of items. A larger home will have more rooms and hold more items, requiring more labor hours to sort and haul. Likewise, a smaller home with an exceptionally large volume of personal belongings will raise costs.
Many hire a local house cleaning service once the home is cleared of all belongings. This can cost anywhere from $25 to $200 per hour per cleaner.
Return on Investment Analysis
Based on numbers from a 2020 survey of staged homes from the Real Estate Staging Association, 85% sold for 5%-23% over the list price. Even selling your home for a mere 2% over the list price could bring you a return on investment of 300%.
On average, sellers receive a return on investment (ROI) of 8-10 times the cost of staging. For example, if a seller spends $2,000 on staging, they might see a $16,000 to $20,000 increase in the final sale price.
Step-by-Step Guide to Pre-Listing Cleanout
Phase 1: Planning and Assessment
Timeline Development
The first forward step is to identify the timeframe that you have to sell the home in order to work backward and set appropriate, manageable goals to tackle the work. Using NAR data for an example timeframe, if your goal is to sell the home in 90 days, you may only have two or three weeks to prepare your home for sale to meet this deadline.
Creating Manageable Tasks
Instead of approaching the task as a single, huge project to declutter the entire house, approach it as dozens of smaller, attainable tasks. Multiple studies show that the act of writing out and checking off goals can significantly increase productivity. Additionally, regularly and consistently checking off short-term goals has been shown to release dopamine, which increases the desire to keep going to check off more items on the list.
Phase 2: Decluttering Strategy
The Four-Box Method
The four-box method for cleaning out an estate is a technique that can make large-scale projects more manageable. This method uses four boxes to separate items into four categories: items to dispose of, items to give away, items to keep, and items to relocate. You can sort items before a professional estate cleaner comes in to save time and money.
Storage Area Priority
Storage always ranks high on buyers’ priority list. Show off yours by decluttering your closets and cabinets. Home buyers will look inside your closets. Storage is a big factor when buying a new home, so people want to see what is available to them in terms of closet space. If your closets are jam-packed full of stuff and not neatly organized, they will appear to be much smaller than they actually are. This is a huge turn-off for buyers and one that’s easy to avoid.
Phase 3: Professional Service Integration
Working with Cleanout Professionals
Professional services offer convenient next-day and same-day junk removal services. When you schedule an appointment, their team will assess your needs and provide you with a free, no-obligation quote. If you decide to proceed with their services, their team will get straight to work.
Eco-Friendly Disposal
In today’s environmentally conscious market, the eco-friendly disposal of unwanted items can be a significant selling point. Professional junk removal services often prioritize recycling and donating items before resorting to landfill disposal. This responsible approach to decluttering can be an attractive feature for potential buyers who value sustainability.
The Staging Connection: From Cleanout to Market-Ready
Preparation for Professional Staging
Staging plays a crucial role in selling a home. However, it can be a daunting task if your property is cluttered with unnecessary items. Junk removal simplifies the staging process by providing a blank canvas for professional stagers to work with. They can strategically arrange furniture and accessories, creating an appealing and harmonious atmosphere that resonates with potential buyers.
DIY Staging Basics
For those choosing to stage themselves after cleanout, focus on shelves as some of the most important spots to declutter. For shelving, experts recommend removing 50-75% of the items that are displayed. Focus on leaving a lot of negative space. If you’ve ever paid attention to the décor on shelves in model homes, it is stylish but spaced out to maintain a clean, open look. Aim for this look on your own shelves and surfaces.
Professional vs. DIY: Making the Right Choice
When to Choose Professional Services
According to real estate veteran Stephanie Nash, one of the biggest mistakes sellers make is underestimating the project and procrastinating. This leaves sellers scrambling and stressed when it comes time to take photos and show the home. “Sometimes, we’ve literally had to go room by room to help them box things up to even make them presentable for photos,” explains Nash.
Preparing a home for sale is no small task, especially when it comes to decluttering and disposing of unwanted items. The process can be time-consuming and physically exhausting, adding unnecessary stress to an already demanding situation. Junk removal services provide a hassle-free solution, taking care of the heavy lifting and disposal, allowing sellers to focus on other crucial aspects of the sale. This convenience can make the selling process smoother and less stressful.
DIY Considerations
Don’t forget: your time is valuable. Consider the time you are dedicating to the estate cleanout when reviewing the extra cost. Junk removal service is less time-consuming, less effort, and is often cheaper than dumpster rental. Some dumpster rental companies have preset time frames. This means you may be charged an additional fee for earlier pickup if the dumpster is full or you need it out of the way sooner. When moving heavy, awkward furniture or items there’s a risk you may injure yourself, which can add to the expense. Reducing stress, saving time, and avoiding injury are popular reasons for choosing junk removal over dumpster rental.
Best Practices for Maximizing Results
Strategic Room Prioritization
Real estate expert Nash always recommends that sellers start in the kitchen and go from there. “That’s where you accumulate the most stuff that’s not in use,” Nash explains. The living room is the most important room to stage, according to 39% of buyer’s agents.
Deep Cleaning Integration
You should declutter first, then clean, especially when sorting through an entire estate. Decluttering reduces the number of items to clean and clears space to make cleaning easier. Once all items, such as large furniture, are relocated, you’ll be able to clean efficiently. You can also hire a move-out cleaner to do a professional deep clean before you sell the home.
Hiring a cleaning service can ensure a deep clean from floor to ceiling, with an average cost of $360. As an alternative, the seller can tackle the jobs themselves, renting or borrowing equipment as necessary.
Timing Considerations
A study by The Real Estate Staging Association found that staged homes spent an average of 23 days on the market, compared to 184 days for unstaged homes. This dramatic difference underscores the importance of proper preparation timing.
Working with Real Estate Professionals
Agent Collaboration
Usually the seller moves out and leaves it “clean” and then an agent hires a cleaner if it needs to be more clean to get top price. This collaborative approach ensures optimal results while managing costs effectively.
Professional Staging Integration
According to the National Association of Realtors, the median amount spent on home staging is around $400, with 23% of Realtors reporting an increase of 1% to 5%, and 18% reporting an increase of 6% to 10%.
Advanced Strategies and Specialized Services
Estate Sale Integration
Professional estate sale companies will generally take upwards of 45% of the profits they make on the things they sell during a 3 or 4 day sale. They will sort through ALL of it, organize it, display it, price it, sell it, and hire a truck to get rid of and donate whatever is left over at the end of the sale. You, of course, take out whatever you want to keep prior to the sale date, and that’s about it. Easy peasy.
Virtual Staging Options
With the rise of digital technology, virtual staging has become an increasingly popular and cost-effective option. This technique involves digitally adding furniture and decor to photos of empty rooms, allowing potential buyers to visualize the space’s potential without the expense of physical staging.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Underestimating Scope and Timeline
In most cases, sellers are able to tackle the clutter in two to four weeks to get it clean enough to list. But in some cases, an immense amount of clutter can delay sellers from listing their home for several months.
Inadequate Storage Preparation
That’s why it’s important to declutter your storage areas, too, and organize them. Make sure they show off how much storage is available in a clean presentation. If you find that you aren’t able to declutter them enough, consider storing some of your stuff off-site (such as at a friend/family member’s home or a storage unit) until you move.
Measuring Success: Key Performance Indicators
Market Response Metrics
As per a study, staged homes can sell up to 30 times faster than unstaged ones. Staging can increase the offer value for your home by 1% to 5% compared to similar unstaged homes.
Buyer Engagement Statistics
81% of buyer agents claim that home staging helps buyers visualize their future in a house. According to a survey by the International Association of Home Staging Professionals, 83% of buyers’ agents said that staging a home made it easier for buyers to visualize the property as their future home.
Conclusion: Maximizing Your Investment Through Strategic Cleanout Services
The evidence is overwhelming: professional cleanout services represent one of the most effective investments sellers can make in their pre-listing preparation. Utilizing junk removal services as part of your home sale preparation can have a profound impact on the process. It not only enhances the visual appeal and perceived value of your property but also streamlines the preparation process, making it less stressful and more efficient.
With Architectural Digest reporting that investing 1.3% of your home’s asking price in staging results in a 7.1% average over-list return, the financial benefits are clear. More importantly, the numbers show that staging a home offers a competitive edge in today’s real estate market. From faster sales to higher prices, a beautifully staged home is more likely to attract serious buyers and command top dollar. Whether you’re selling a cozy condo or a sprawling estate, investing in professional home staging is a smart strategy that pays off both in speed and sale price.
The key to success lies in understanding that cleanout services are not just about removing unwanted items—they’re about strategic property transformation that positions your home for maximum market impact. By working with experienced professionals who understand both the logistics of cleanout and the psychology of buyer behavior, sellers can achieve results that far exceed their investment, ensuring a faster, more profitable sale in today’s competitive real estate market.
References
- HomeLight – Cleaning Your House to Sell? Checklist for Homeowners
- HomeLight – How to Clean Out Your House to Sell and Increase its Value by 3%-5%
- Angi – How Much Do Estate Cleanout Services Cost?
- BHHS Select Properties – How Much Cleaning Is Necessary When Selling a Home?
- Lansing Junk Removal – How Junk Removal Services Can Enhance Your Home Sale Process
