A clean, organized home does more to sell your home compared to any other low-cost selling strategy. This is according to a 2011 survey conducted here at HomeGain, which questioned over 600 real estate agents across the U.S. and found 99 percent of them recommend thoroughly cleaning and decluttering the home before putting it up for sale. It also showed a return on investment (ROI) of 586-percent simply by cleaning and decluttering.

These survey results make sense. Would you buy a home that was cluttered and messy? The answer is probably a defiant “No!” First impressions are critical when selling a home, so it’s extremely important to make your home look its best during an open house or showing.

Decluttering

The first step is to declutter the home. In most cases, the more stuff you get rid of, the better. A minimalist approach will appeal to the highest percentage of potential buyers.

So, start by clearing out obvious trash, junk and boxes filled with stored items. Either temporarily store these items in a storage unit or family member’s home, or trash the items if it’s something you never use or need.

Renting a roll off dumpster is an efficient way to cleanup big messes. You can toss just about anything into a rented dumpster, including old furniture, most appliances, household goods, garbage, lawn and garden residuals, garage clutter and building materials.

Cleaning

Once your home is decluttered, it’s time to get down and dirty. The mission: get the house sparkling clean. This includes areas you may not typically clean on a regular basis, such as ceilings, molding, inside cabinets and atop/behind the refrigerator. Believe or not, potential buyers can spot dirty areas like a hawk, including inconspicuous nooks and crannies, so clean like never before.

A decluttered and Q-tip clean home not only increases the value of the house, but it can also help to sell it faster. According to the home staging experts at StagedHomes.com, decluttering and cleaning your home is the biggest factor in helping to sell your home fast. In fact, it states that on average a clean/decluttered home staged correctly sells in about 29 days compared to 145 days for homes that aren’t.

Decluttering and cleaning your home prior to putting it up for sale can significantly increase the value of the house for little or no investment. You may have to fork out a few dollars to rent a storage unit or a couple hundred dollars to rent a dumpster for major cleanouts, but that is money well spent. You’ll more than get that money back when your home sells.

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Joe Eitel is a blogger/editor for Hometown Dumpster Rental, the leading provider of pre-screened, licensed dumpster rental and junk removal service providers across the U.S. Check out the Hometown blog for tips, news and other fun junk!