Decluttering Before Selling Your Home in South Dakota: A Storage Strategy

Want to sell your house faster and for more money? Declutter it. Real estate agents in southeast South Dakota will tell you the same thing: a clean, spacious-looking home sells quicker and for a higher price. Here’s how to use a storage unit to make your home irresistible to buyers.

Why Decluttering Sells Homes

The data is clear:

• Decluttered homes sell up to 3-5% higher than comparable cluttered homes
• Staged homes sell 73% faster on average, according to the National Association of Realtors
• Buyers decide within 7-10 seconds of walking through the door — first impressions are everything
• Online listing photos make or break whether someone schedules a showing. Cluttered photos get scrolled past.

On a $175,000 home (typical for small-town southeast SD), a 3-5% increase is $5,250-$8,750. That’s a significant return on a few weekends of work and a $50-75/month storage unit.

What Buyers See vs. What You See

You see your life. Buyers see their future life — or they try to. Every piece of your personal clutter makes it harder for them to imagine themselves in the space.

You see: Family photos that tell your story Buyers see: Someone else’s house

You see: A full bookshelf that shows your personality Buyers see: A room that feels small

You see: Your teenager’s trophies, your vintage collection, your craft corner Buyers see: Rooms with no space for their stuff

The goal isn’t to erase your personality. It’s to create a neutral canvas that lets buyers project their own lives onto the space.

The Three-Pass Decluttering Method

Pass 1: Remove the Obvious

Walk through every room and remove: - Excess furniture — if a room has more than it needs, take pieces out. The living room doesn’t need six chairs. The bedroom doesn’t need three dressers. - Personal items — family photos, kids’ artwork on the fridge, religious items, political signs - Collections — display cases, memorabilia, hobby setups - Seasonal items — holiday decorations, seasonal gear, winter/summer clothing - Countertop clutter — kitchen appliances, bathroom products, mail piles

All of this goes to the storage unit. Not the basement. Not the garage. Buyers look in basements and garages too.

Pass 2: Closets, Cabinets, and Storage Spaces

Buyers open everything. Closets, kitchen cabinets, the pantry, the linen closet, the garage shelving. They’re assessing storage capacity. Full closets say “this house doesn’t have enough storage.” Half-empty closets say “look at all this space.”

• Remove 30-50% of closet contents — store off-season clothing, extra linens, and anything you don’t need daily
• Organize what remains — matching hangers, folded items, visible shelf space
• Kitchen cabinets — remove duplicate items, small appliances you don’t use daily, excess dishes
• Garage — this is where Southeast SD homes lose buyers. A cluttered garage full of hunting gear, tools, and seasonal equipment looks cramped. Move overflow to storage.

Pass 3: The Deep Clean

With clutter removed, deep clean everything. This isn’t technically decluttering, but an empty-ish room that’s dirty isn’t better than a cluttered clean one. Carpets, windows, baseboards, behind appliances — the works.

What Goes to Storage

For a typical southeast South Dakota home being prepared for sale:

Furniture (30-40% of it)

• Extra dining chairs
• Spare bedroom furniture (make spare rooms look purposeful — “office” or “guest room,” not “junk room”)
• Oversized pieces that make rooms feel small
• Patio furniture in off-season

Personal Items

• Family photos (leave a few tasteful frames, but remove the gallery walls)
• Trophies, awards, and memorabilia
• Craft and hobby supplies
• Kids’ excess toys

Seasonal Gear

Everything that screams “I live here” rather than “you could live here”: - Hunting equipment and sporting gear - Boat and water toys - Lawn and garden equipment beyond the basics - Snow removal equipment (in summer) - Holiday decorations

Garage and Basement Overflow

• Farm-related items
• Workshop tools beyond the basics
• Stored boxes that have been sitting there for years

What Size Storage Unit Do You Need?

For home-sale decluttering, most families need:

• 5x10: Light declutter — extra furniture pieces, seasonal items, personal belongings. Works for smaller homes or people who are already fairly minimal.
• 10x10: The standard choice. Holds the contents of 1-2 rooms plus seasonal overflow. This is what most people get.
• 10x15: Aggressive declutter of a larger home — multiple rooms’ worth of furniture plus garage/basement overflow.
• 10x20: Full staging declutter plus vehicle storage (if your garage needs to show clean and empty).

The Staging Strategy

Once the clutter is out, basic staging makes a huge difference:

Living Room

• One sofa, one accent chair, a coffee table, a lamp. Open space. A throw blanket for warmth.

Kitchen

• Clear countertops except for one decorative item (fruit bowl, small plant)
• Clean, organized cabinets with visible shelf space

Master Bedroom

• Bed made with neutral bedding, two nightstands, minimal decor
• Empty surfaces except a lamp and maybe a book

Bathroom

• Fresh towels (matching), clear countertops, one soap dispenser

Spare Bedrooms

• Define them: guest room, office, nursery — not storage room
• Minimal furniture appropriate to the defined use

Garage

• Swept floor, organized shelving, visible floor space, room for at least one car

The Timeline

6-8 weeks before listing: - Start decluttering, room by room - Rent a storage unit - Begin moving items

4 weeks before listing: - Second pass — closets, cabinets, garage - Deep clean - Minor repairs (touch-up paint, fix squeaky doors, replace burnt-out bulbs)

1-2 weeks before listing: - Final staging touches - Professional photos (talk to your realtor) - Fresh flowers or a small plant on showing days

During showings: - Keep the house showing-ready at all times (the hardest part) - Daily pickup — dishes done, beds made, surfaces clear - Pets and their belongings managed

The Financial Payoff

Let’s do the math for a southeast SD home:

Home value: $175,000 Cost of a 10x10 storage unit for 3 months: $195-255 Potential price increase from decluttering/staging: 3-5% = $5,250-$8,750 Days on market reduction: Staged homes sell weeks faster, saving you months of mortgage payments, utilities, and maintenance

ROI on that storage unit: 2,000-4,400%. That’s not a typo.

Even if the market is slow in rural SD and you need the unit for 6 months, the investment is a fraction of what you gain in sale price and reduced carrying costs.

After the Sale

Once your home sells, your storage unit becomes transition storage: - Hold items while you move to your new place - Downsize further if moving to a smaller home - Sort through what you actually want to take to the next chapter

Sell Faster, Sell Higher

Every real estate agent in Tyndall, Springfield, Freeman, and the surrounding area will tell you the same thing: declutter before you list. A storage unit makes that advice actually achievable without giving away or throwing away things you want to keep.

Lock N’ Leave It Storage in Tyndall, Springfield, and Freeman has the unit sizes home sellers need at month-to-month rates that make sense. Contact us to reserve a unit before you list — your realtor will thank you, and your closing price will show the difference.