• YOU ARE SELLING YOUR HOME

The reality is that you will need to address each room and storage area to make the property as appealing as possible. Every bit of clutter or musty item of furniture detracts real dollar potential from your sale price. Your rate of return in hiring an organizer to project manage the details is phenomenal and the best decision you can ever make.

Your situation:

• You are working, too busy and simply do not have the time your agent suggests you spend on getting the house; decluttered, cleaned, sorted, packed up and staged.

• You are a senior or senior couple downsizing who would appreciate a one stop shop ally like decluttering.ca individual to help you coordinate the many elements needed to come together in order to help you get it all done. Your family may also wish this as they may not be in town or able to take care of you as they might wish. Also available are transition services to help you visualize what you may or may not be able to fit into your next location especially if it is a senior residence suite with limited space.

• Your agent's stager does not deal with decluttering and suggests an organizer to prepare this phase in advance of the home staging.

• Your family, though good intentioned, just aren't getting to the piles of stuff to decide what goes and what stays.

• You are overwhelmed to a crawl by the daunting task of how to face the crammed storage spaces.

• You do not know how to get rid of a large array of things and do not have time to sort or donate.

• You need guidance on letting things go from the past to move on in life. You may be feeling guilty about deleting what once belonged to a family member now gone.

• You are physically unable to haul heavy bags, trash, furniture etc. about. You may be handicapped, a senior or simply not in peak shape given mental or physical pressures on you at this time.

• You may have special needs such as an understanding organizer who has helped ADD and ADHD clients.

• Your finances are limited and need options to clear up a property to sell.

• Your agent has suggested you have an interim step of packing a storage POD to eliminate many boxes and personal possessions form the site to show the home better. You need someone to organize this and pack the trailer.

• You may need to catalog possessions to create a manifest for an across border move or simply to know exactly what you packed and where you can find it at a moment's notice.

• You need to get rooms emptied in advance of a stager, cleaner, painter, carpet layer or ready trash for pickup.

Questions and answers:

Q: How long does it take to declutter a room or storage area?

A: Unlike a carpet layer or painter who knows how many square feet you have to cover and which materials you have decided on, an organizer has to get an idea of the ability of the family member or members they are working with and what is being decluttered and organized. More often than not the home owner has long forgotten what is hidden beneath the piled boxes. Some people are gung-ho and able to work several hours in a row without a break to achieve results. Some cannot. Most people are tired and ready to stop after about three to four hours (an average session). An organizer routinely can do many tasks while giving a home owner a break thus maintaining energy levels. But each house and storage area is different and only after a consultation can an organizer give an estimate written or verbal of time and materials needed. And given that one cannot know for certain what items the home owner will choose to throw away or what can be donated it is as good an estimate as can be made. Often an organizer will be brought in by a stager who has outlined previously what they need to attend to and will then not need to work all the time with the home owner in order to achieve the tasks at hand.

Q: How can I get an estimate?

A: The cost of an estimate is a mere $36.00 plus GST. This small amount gets you an hour`s visit of details and consultation to discuss needs and get an idea of the extent of the work for a written estimate. The cost may be picked up by your agent or stager so do ask if this is possible. Often an agent is pleased to offer such a service to better care for their clients.

Q: Are organizers insured?

A:Yes, good ones are. And each organizer will note what they are willing or unwilling to move or pack given their liability concerns.

Q: Does my agent have an organizer as part of their roster of services?

A: Often yes as well as a stager, decorator, painter etc. People who they have worked with and recommend. If your Realtor does not have an organizer one may be found to suit by reviewing listing in your area via the Professional Organizers in Canada web site at: http://www.organizersincanada.com/. This is an association of organizers with registered companies who are adhering to a code of ethics and responsible business behavior.

Q: How long has Decluttering.ca been in business?

A: Stephen Ilott has run Decluttering.ca full time for over six and a half years and has a background in spatial design, senior project management and detail organization. His talents have earned him nominations in the industry.

• You are a senior, disabled person or a woman who is anxious about a stranger coming into your home to help.
• You are embarrassed about personal items and need someone who you can be comfortable with to help guide you in a life transition such as divorce or loss of spouse or family member.
• You are a hoarder or obsessive collector who wants to move ahead of the problems this has created in your personal life.
• You are being affected by the unhealthy conditions that clutter has brought into your home.
• You need to organize one or many hobby areas or rooms more effectively.
• You need to be rid of furniture or other items no one wants any longer but you need options.
• You need to be rid a world of personal paper and need sorting and a better filing system to make sure nothing of real importance is lost.
• The pace of life, children, taking care of an elderly parent etc. has left you no time to sort out your home but you want something back in your world that you feel is lost - a sense of personal order.
• You need a more manageable way to arrange your garage, storage shed, attic, crawl space or closets.
• You want to know things will be donated and not tossed before letting them go.
• You have a difficult spouse but want to at least have `your` things and spaces better organized.
• Your children`s rooms need a safer, more manageable design.
• You want to try and sell some things before giving them away and need a safe interim helper to facilitate.

Questions and answers:

Q: Do organizers have training in psychology or sociology?

A: A good organizer may have such a background or have many other skills to bring to the table. Most will actively study human behavior and after several years and many hundreds of clients know a great many ways to motivate people in order to help move them forward. Each client is different and has special needs. Should a situation require serious counseling a psychologist may be suggested.

Q: What do you do with the piles and bags of stuff one needs to get rid of from almost every client project?

A: I have a very wide circle of charities, churches and individuals who simply need things but cannot afford them. Distribution is not as difficult as one might imagine but does require good coordination skills. And knowing what can and cannot be donated is key. Many items such as plastics become toxic and should not be donated - even to those who have nothing. Knowing what is trash helps ready amounts for pickup.

Lists of locations and places to donate as well as where to drop off toxic items are usually available from most organizers should you wish to undertake this yourself.

Q: How far will you travel?

A: I travel to clients from Ancaster to Toronto. But in general - the Western GTA.

Q: Who takes away the trash and how much does this cost?

A: Depending how much you have accumulated trash can become an expensive problem. A small amount say an old sofa, a few boxes of odds and ends, a dozen bags of garbage, metal and such can usually fit into a pick up truck size and prices may range from around $100.00 depending on the contractor. Often though one will find they have a cold storage filled with old magazines or musty clothes or bottles of unnamed toxins. Trash people will not take toxic items and this must be dispensed with either yourself or with the help of an organizer. Most waste management sites take toxic items for free; paint, oil, batteries etc. you need only know where to go. If you have large amounts of trash trucks sizes grow as do costs from around $600.00 for an average cube truck haul contractor such as 1-800-got-junk.

Costs can be reduced drastically if you have donatable items, the pickup of which can be coordinated with your Organizer and his costs alone will come into play.

As best as possible use city services for as many bags of items as is allowable as well as recycling.

Q: Who does the physical work?

A: If you get the right organizer - he or she does. As one of the few male Professional Organizers in Canada I have a tendency to do a good deal more lifting and hauling than most and can achieve more work done for the time and dollars. In fact I am known for it. (See my testimonials)

More scenarios and answers shortly.