(How Ontario Sellers Can Make It Manageable)

If you’re thinking about selling your home in Ontario — whether it’s this spring, later this year, or “sometime soon” — you’ve probably already heard the same advice from everyone:

Declutter before you list.

And you probably nodded… then immediately felt your nervous system leave your body.

Because decluttering isn’t hard because you don’t know how.

It’s hard because you look at your entire house and think:

“I have to deal with all of this before selling?”

That’s the moment most sellers shut the door, get overwhelmed, and quietly decide they’ll deal with it “next year.”

Let’s make this easier.

Prefer to Watch Instead of Read?

If you’d rather see exactly how we walk through this process — including real buyer behaviour we see every week — you can watch the full video here:

Watch: Why Decluttering Your Home Before Selling Feels So Overwhelming

(YouTube video)

The Real Reason Decluttering Feels So Hard Before You Sell

Decluttering a home before selling takes longer than most Ontario homeowners expect — especially if you’ve lived in the home for years (or decades).

Not because you’re disorganized.

Because decluttering is:

• Time-consuming

• Emotional

• Full of decision fatigue

Every drawer comes with a memory. Every cupboard is a “just in case.” And it’s very easy to get stuck.

The mistake most sellers make is starting with the idea that they have to declutter the whole house at once.

You don’t.

Start with One Room (Yes, One)

If you want a realistic way to actually move forward, start with one room. One bite at a time.

That’s how you build momentum without burning out.

And if you’re selling a home in Ontario, there are three rooms that give you the biggest return for the least emotional stress.

The 3 Best Rooms to Declutter First Before Selling in Ontario

1) The Kitchen: The Highest-Impact Room for Ontario Buyers

Kitchens and bathrooms sell homes. And the kitchen is usually the first place buyers gravitate to when they walk in.

Also: buyers open everything.

Cupboards. Pantry doors. That corner cabinet you’ve avoided since 2011.

What to Declutter in the Kitchen Before Listing

Focus on two areas:

1) Countertops
Buyers want to see clean, open surfaces — not a lineup of small appliances.

2) Cupboards (especially the hidden “danger zones”)

• Corner cupboards / lazy Susans

• Lower cabinets packed with heavy appliances

• The “we never use this but it was expensive” shelf

If you still use the appliance weekly, keep it.
If it’s been sitting there “just in case” since the George Foreman era, it’s time to let it go.

Because cluttered cupboards send a message to buyers:

“This kitchen doesn’t have enough storage.”

Even if it does.

2) The Entryway: The First Impression That Sets the Tone

In Ontario, a lot of homes have mudrooms, boot zones, coat hooks, and busy front entrances — especially in winter.

But here’s what matters:

When a buyer walks in and has to step over boots or squeeze past coats, they immediately think:

“There’s a storage problem here.”

Even if the house has plenty of storage.

What to Declutter in the Entryway Before Showings

• Reduce coats on hooks (less is more)

• Clear the floor (no shoe pile)

• Make the front hall closet feel spacious

  • Leave a few empty hangers

  • Make it look like there’s room for more

Buyers will open that closet. Guaranteed.

And if it feels jammed, they assume the whole house feels jammed.

Two Small Details That Make a Big Difference

• A clean welcome mat (fresh, not worn down to a sad little thread)

• Bright lighting at the entry — especially for winter/fall showings when it gets dark early

This is cheap, fast, and makes the home feel instantly more welcoming.

3) The Bathroom: Where Clutter Hides (and Buyers Absolutely Look)

Bathrooms clutter quickly — and buyers check storage here too.

Medicine cabinets. Vanity drawers. Under-sink cabinets.

If your tub is lined with product bottles or your vanity is full of “daily chaos,” it reads as clutter — and buyers interpret that as lack of space.

What to Declutter in the Bathroom Before Listing

• Clear surfaces down to the essentials

  • soap, toothbrush, one hand towel

• Remove product bottles from tubs and ledges

• Edit under-sink storage

  • expired products

  • duplicates

  • tangled hot tools and cords

  • the “I might use this someday” stash

If you’re not ready to let something go, store it elsewhere. But understand:

Crowded bathroom storage is a missed opportunity.
Buyers want to open a cupboard and feel relief — not panic.

Why These 3 Rooms Make Selling Easier (Without Renovating)

These three spaces are your quick wins. They create momentum, improve photos, and help buyers feel like the home has space — which is a huge driver of perceived value.

Decluttering is:

• free (other than time)

• high impact for staging

• one of the easiest ways to make a home feel “move-in ready” without spending thousands

Once these are done, the rest of the house becomes dramatically easier to tackle.

For years, we thought we knew exactly how our story would go.
We’d raise our kids in the suburbs of Toronto, work hard, build equity, and one day — someday — retire to our cottage on the lake. That was always the plan. The cottage was our endgame: sunsets on the dock, quiet mornings with coffee, maybe a pontoon boat (for Jenny - Dean hates them) and no commute.

But ten years ago, “someday” showed up early.

When Life Decides You’re Ready (Even If You Don’t Feel Like You Are)

Dean’s company was cutting jobs, and his name was on the list.
At the same time, I was burning out in corporate life. Long days, endless meetings, a schedule that never seemed to match the life we actually wanted to be living.

We could have panicked. We could have waited it out, found another corporate job, told ourselves retirement wasn’t that far away. But instead, we did something most people would never dream of:

We sold our family home in Scarborough, packed up our lives, and moved to our cottage on Balsam Lake full-time.

Everyone thought we were making a mistake.

“You’ll Be Back Within a Year.”

That was the chorus from friends, neighbours, even family.

“You’ll get bored.”
“The winters are too long.”
“You’ll miss the convenience.”

And honestly? In the beginning, we weren’t sure they were wrong.
There were moments of doubt: plenty of what have we done? conversations. Adjusting to small-town rhythms after years in the city takes time. The house was smaller. The winters were quieter and felt longer. Grocery shopping meant planning ahead and checking your list - twice.

But the stress; the constant rush and noise; started to melt away.

What We Found Instead

Something shifted when we stopped chasing the “right time” and started living the life we actually wanted.

• The kids had more freedom. There was room to explore, to bike, to swim, to breathe.

• We had more flexibility. Time to be present for school events, community activities, and lazy afternoons on the dock.

• The lake community that had always been our summer escape slowly became home.

The move we made out of necessity turned out to be the best decision of our lives.

The Myth of the Perfect Time to Downsize

If you’ve ever told yourself, “We’ll wait until the kids finish school,” or “We’ll downsize when the market’s better,” you’re not alone. Most homeowners in Ontario do exactly that. They wait.

But here’s what we discovered: There’s no perfect time to downsize.

Waiting for certainty often means waiting forever.
The yard work doesn’t get easier. The repairs don’t stop. The maintenance doesn’t slow down. And the longer you put it off, the harder the move becomes, both emotionally and physically.

What Downsizing Really Means

Downsizing isn’t just about selling a house or finding a smaller one.
It’s about choosing the lifestyle that fits who you are now, not who you were when you bought the home.

For us, that meant:

• Less space, but more calm.

• Fewer chores, but more freedom.

• Less stuff, but more time to actually enjoy life.

It meant letting go of what was no longer serving us. Not just our things, but our routines, our commutes, our constant feeling of “busy.”

We didn’t downsize because we had it all figured out.
We downsized because we realized we didn’t want to keep waiting for a life we already knew we wanted.

When You Know, You Know

If you’re starting to feel that pull. You know, the quiet sense that your house feels heavier than it used to... pay attention.
That’s how it starts for most downsizers in Ontario.

You look around and realize:

• The guest rooms sit empty most of the year.

• The yard feels bigger than you can manage.

• The stuff you’ve accumulated no longer fits the life you want to live.

You might not be “ready,” but readiness isn’t the goal. Clarity is.

And sometimes, clarity comes when life gives you a nudge. Or, in our case, a shove.

The Lesson: It’s Not About Timing, It’s About Trust

Looking back now, we can see it clearly: we didn’t move too soon. We moved right on time.

Because downsizing isn’t just a financial decision. It’s an emotional one.
It’s about trusting that you’ll figure things out on the other side, even if you can’t see the full picture yet.

Moving early gave us more than a new address. It gave us:

• A sense of balance we hadn’t felt in years.

• A community that feels like home.

• Time: to live, to breathe, to actually enjoy the life we were working so hard to reach.

Thinking About Downsizing? Start Here.

If you’re considering downsizing your home in Ontario, whether it’s before retirement or simply because your priorities are shifting, start with small steps.

• Get clear on your why: What’s driving your decision?

• Look at the how: What kind of lifestyle do you want next?

• And remind yourself: There’s no perfect time. There’s only your time.

Our story isn’t about luck. It’s about letting go of the fear that you have to have it all figured out first.

Because when you make a move that aligns with your life, not just your finances, everything else falls into place.

Watch Next: Downsize Your Home in Ontario — Selling Made Simple

If you’re ready to take the next step, we’ve put together a video series that walks you through exactly how to make downsizing easier. From decluttering and staging to pricing and planning your next move.

Watch the full playlist: [Downsize Your Home in Ontario: Selling Made Simple]

Last week we had the opportunity to spend a few hours with Benjamin Tal, Deputy Chief Economist of CIBC World Markets Inc., talking about the economy and—more importantly—the impact it’s having on real estate.

We covered everything from inflation to tariffs to the long-term outlook for housing, but one key message rose to the top: consumer confidence is the number one issue in the real estate market right now. Not inflation. Not even interest rates. Confidence.

And that changes how buyers and sellers alike should be thinking about their next move.

The Real Story Isn’t Inflation Anymore

For the past two years, headlines have hammered us with one narrative: inflation. The cost of groceries, the cost of gas, the cost of borrowing—it felt like everything was ballooning at once. And yes, those were real challenges.

But inflation isn’t the headline anymore. As Tal put it, inflation has already been fought and is largely under control. It’s not what’s holding our market back today.

What’s holding us back is confidence—or more specifically, the lack of it. Buyers are nervous. Sellers are hesitant. Everyone is second-guessing what comes next.

And when confidence is shaky, the market slows down—sometimes dramatically.

The Biggest Housing Recession Since 1991

Right now, Canada is experiencing the biggest housing market recession since 1991. That sounds scary, and in many ways it is. But here’s the perspective that matters: this is a blip, not the whole story.

We are not going back to pandemic-era market madness—and that’s actually a good thing. The pandemic years were not normal. Houses flying off the shelf in 24 hours with 10+ offers, buyers skipping inspections, prices climbing at unsustainable rates—that wasn’t healthy.

This slowdown is painful, but it’s also part of the process of returning to balance.

Tariffs, Timelines, and the Bigger Picture

Tariffs, according to Tal, are here to stay. That means costs for certain goods and services will remain sticky. But in terms of real estate? That’s not the lever that moves the market.

The lever is confidence.

And while the national picture is gloomy, Tal predicts recovery will take until 2027 to really take hold. That may feel like a long horizon, but in economic terms, that’s only two and a half years away.

The important thing is that we’re moving toward a healthier place. This isn’t permanent decline—it’s a reset.

Canada Doesn’t Have One Real Estate Market

Another big takeaway? Canada doesn’t have “one” housing market. It never has.

Yes, national statistics make headlines, but they hide the reality that real estate is always local. Some areas are thriving while others are floundering. Even within one city, different segments can tell completely different stories.

Take Toronto as an example. The condo market is struggling—too much supply, not enough demand. But detached homes? They’re in balance.

That same principle applies across the country, and especially here in cottage country. The Kawarthas are not Toronto, and Toronto is not Vancouver, and Vancouver is not Halifax. Every market responds to its own local supply, demand, and buyer sentiment.

What This Means for You

So what do these big-picture insights mean for you as a buyer or seller in Kawartha Lakes right now?

Here are my three biggest takeaways:

1. If you don’t have to sell, don’t.

This is not the market for testing the waters. If your motivation is “maybe we’ll get a good price” or “let’s just see what happens,” you’re likely to be disappointed.

Buyers are cautious, competition is thin, and only the best-positioned homes are attracting serious attention. If moving isn’t urgent, this may be a time to pause and ride it out.

2. If you do have to sell, showing value is everything.

In a confidence-driven market, the question every buyer is silently asking is: is this worth it?

That means your home has to stand out as the obvious choice. Pricing strategy, presentation, staging, marketing—every piece of the puzzle matters more than ever.

You can’t just list and hope. You need to position your property so that even nervous buyers feel confident about making an offer.

3. For buyers, this is your window.

If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to buy, this is it. You probably have one year before prices begin to shift upward again.

Right now, you have choice, negotiating power, and less competition. That won’t last forever. By 2027, recovery will be in full swing.

And remember—real estate isn’t about timing the absolute bottom. It’s about buying well in a moment that works for your life. Today offers that opportunity.

The Micro View: Why Local Perspective Matters

One of the biggest mistakes I see is clients taking national headlines at face value and assuming they apply directly to their situation.

They don’t.

Here in Kawartha Lakes, our market is shaped by lifestyle buyers, downsizers, and families looking for a different pace of life. Waterfront properties don’t behave like suburban homes. Estate sales don’t behave like first-time buyer condos.

That’s why it’s critical to evaluate your decision in the context of your own street, your own neighborhood, and your own type of property.

The national story sets the tone, but the local story writes the ending.

Final Thoughts

Spending time with Benjamin Tal reinforced something I’ve believed for a long time: real estate is never just about the numbers. It’s about people’s confidence in the future.

Right now, confidence is low. But it will return.

If you’re a seller, that means doubling down on value and strategy. If you’re a buyer, that means recognizing the rare window of opportunity you have today. And if you’re neither? It means remembering that this is a blip in the bigger picture, not the whole story.

We won’t go back to pandemic frenzy—and thank goodness for that. Instead, we’re on the path to something healthier, more balanced, and more sustainable.

And in the meantime, the best thing you can do is make decisions based not on fear or headlines, but on your own goals, circumstances, and timeline.

Because in real estate—just like in life—confidence changes everything.