I stored my boxes in the basement. In fact, I removed HALF of all the clutter from the house (closets, pantry) and packed it up. This made the house look like it had a lot of storage in the living part.

I made neat rows of stacked boxes in the basement. The boxes were still accessible if I needed to unpack anything.

Everyone commented how immaculate the house was and how organized it was.

Don't worry about taking up the basement space. You can make it appealing, and make the house ready to be emptied for the new owner. If you place them neatly in an organized way, it may become part of the "staging" as it will make your ENTIRE house look neat and organized....and who doesn't like that?

I stored boxes in my basements when selling various homes. As long as they are not scattered about and are in some organized manner that still allows basement access I say go for it.

I always decluttered by packing unneeded things away in boxes in the basement. I also did this with important papers and valuables that I didn't want left out for lookers to find. I recall once when my son was helping me pack up stuff to put in the basement. I was clearly labeling all boxes so I could easily find stuff if I needed to, so he didn't think anything was wrong with labeling the box -- "Mom's jewelry box".....way to point it out for potential thieves.

as long as its neat, it should be no problem.

Also, I wouldn't put boxes up against the wall. Leave a couple of feet of space so that potential buyers can see that the wall is free of problems or damage. A giant stack up against the wall might make some folks wonder what's behind it.....

As long as it's neat and not done in a way to hide issues (like water damage or a crack in the foundation), I think it is to be expected.

Where I live, we don't have basements, we have garages. It's rare to find a house on the market that doesn't have its garage stuffed with boxes and with extra furniture that was taken out of the house for staging. It's not at all unusual for garages to be so packed that prospective buyers can't see the garage for all the stuff. In many cases the owner's car can't fit in! So I would think a neat pile of boxes wouldn't be a negative as long as the rest of the house shows well.

We didn't have a basement in our last house either. We got those cheap(ish) plastic utility shelves and put those against one wall of the garage. It kept the boxes looking neat and organized.

When I sold my last house we decluttered to make things look nicer. We took some of the boxes to my mom's house and the rest were stacked in the basement. The house we ended up buying has things stored in the basement in garbage bags. Didn't look as neat as nicely stacked boxes.

If you can't store them off site, then keep the boxes super neat and tidy. As long as they give off a super organized vibe then buyers shouldn't mind. If it looks random or sloppy (trash bags) that will be a turn off. I still recall a basement of a house I looked at 20 years ago. The basement was FULL of the seller's stuff and it made an impression on me. Didnt buy the house either...

Since it's in boxes to look neat, why not go the full route, dump them and be neat?