I’ve seen the little crocus heads popping up in yards. Spring is going to be here. We crave it, we feel it, we want it! We’ve had enough of our cramped house, and want no more holidays with friends sleeping on the floor because we didn’t have a spare bedroom for them. We want no more barbecues in the backyard that is no backyard. It’s time to sell this house and get a little more room. That means it’s almost “Yar-Aye” season. What is that, you ask?
Years ago, I was driving clients who were looking at homes in the University of Utah area. They were relocating here via grad school in California, originally from Japan. It was a Saturday in spring, and it was the start of “Yard Sale Season.” At one point during the tour, the wife blurted out, “What is this Yar-Aye Sale?” I slowed my car, read the sign and had to think for a minute. “Oh, you mean the yard sale?” The ad, nailed to a telephone pole, was badly written and also badly spelled. I will forever call them Yar-Aye Sales.
To get your home ready to sell you might want to have your own Yar-Aye Sale. The good news is you don’t have to buy an ad in the paper anymore. You can simply put it up on Craigslist or KSL.com and reel in the masses by using the free interwebs. Make sure to add a few directional signs/posters in your neighborhood, and a time for the sale. Most pickers will respect “no early bird” warnings, but if you don’t limit them with an opening time for the sale they will arrive in the middle of the night.
What to sell? Pickers will buy just about anything. The point of your sale is to clean out your house of detritus so that it looks like a fine hotel suite. Buyers want to see how roomy your closets are, how much storage space you have and how great the kitchen is for cooking. I have many fellow friends with OCD who say, “If you haven’t touched it in six months, sell it or give it away.”
Pack up your winter wardrobes and get all that stuff out of the closets, to the cleaners, and stored properly to show more room in your home. Buy some $10 hanging shoe racks and pick your shoes up off the floor or put them in boxes. One of my favorite homeowners has every pair of shoes she owns in a see-through bin with a photo of the shoes attached to it, stacked neatly in her “shoe closet.” Get rid of those kitchen appliances you haven’t used in years. Do you really make Disney waffles, or do you just buy the freezer kind these days? All the extras get to go to a local charity or can be sold at your own Yar-Aye sale. There are a million Websites out there that will instruct you how to hold a yard sale, and how to de-clutter and how to stage a house. Need help figuring out a plan? Call me anytime. ;-)
This article not prepared by City Weekly Staff. Content produced expressly for Classifieds Directory.
About The Author
Babs De Lay
A full-time broker/owner of Urban Utah Homes and Estates, Babs De Lay serves on the Salt Lake City Historic Landmark Commission. A writer and golfer, you'll find them working as a staff guardian at the Temple at Burning Man each year.
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