This past Spring, we had quite the experience selling our first home. Not only was the market a bit unpredictable with fluctuating interest rates, but we came down with a violent stomach bug during a week with multiple showings that we ended up having to cancel. Thankfully, we were able to sell our home quickly. Although it was quite a feat doing this with young children. I wanted to share some things we learned along the way that made our lives easier.
- Pack away as much as you can, prior to listing your home. You will want to do this step first, prior to even having your home photographed for listings. The more minimal you can make your house, the better. The less items (toys) you have out and available, the less things you will have to clean up each day. We paired down our toy selection to our magnet tiles, blocks, play food, and some of the kids’ favorite character toys like baby dolls and a few action figures. I even paired down our kitchen to my favorite mugs, a single wine glass, and we ate off our kids’ wheat straw dish set that last month. I also packed away excess decorations like family photos and anything that wouldn’t help sell our home in listing photos and showings.
- Have your home professionally cleaned. If you’re working with a slim budget like our family and you cannot afford to have a professional home cleaning done multiple times (before photos, before showings, before closing), then pick a single time to have it done. If you have young children, chances are your home is pretty grimy and you probably find yourself lacking the time to give it the attention it really needs. The most ideal time to have your home professionally cleaned is prior to home photos being taken. This way, you are forced to deal with all the clutter early in the process and get it packed away. A professional deep cleaning will restart your home in a way that makes it easy to maintain and keep clean for showings and the final homeowner inspection prior to closing.
- Go to bed with a clean house each night. Not only will this start off your day the right way and most likely put you in a good mood, but it will help you keep up with your house little by little, rather than letting it get out of hand to the point of being overwhelming. It takes some self-discipline to thoroughly clean the house each night after a long day of parenting, but this hard work will pay off during those last-minute showings when you don’t know what you would have done if your house was a complete wreck.
- Make plans to be out of your house as much as possible until your house sells. As you probably already know, if you have young children – the less you’re in your house with your kids, the less messy it will get. This is one of my favorite “mom hacks” even when we are not in the process of selling our home. We love to use the last couple weeks before our move as a time to do all our favorite things again one last time. Here at Fort Liberty, we did things like strawberry picking, visiting the ice cream farm near our house, going to the beloved children’s museum in Raleigh, and visiting our favorite parks and restaurants.
- Take shortcuts! Here’s a trick my mother-in-law, a seasoned Army spouse, taught me. Buy some cheap laundry baskets, 4-5 maybe. Prior to showings, collect any clutter or unwanted items in the laundry baskets, put them in your car with your family, and drive away. This eliminated the need to put everything back in its place, which can be time consuming and unrealistic if you only have a short time to get the house show ready. Trust me, this is an idea you’ll want to keep in your back pocket if you are selling a home with young children in the future.
- Say “yes” to help! Most likely, you’ll have friends offering to watch your kids, bring you meals after your kitchen is packed up, and help in any way they can. This is one of the most ideal times to impose on people. Remember it is not imposing if they are offering. Even if you don’t get people offering to help, it’s okay to ask for help. If you can get your kids out of the house and be cared for by a friend for even just a couple days, you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish in a short amount of time.
Oh, and one last tip… if you can try to avoid your entire family contracting the Norovirus the very same week your house goes live, that would also help you out tremendously. 🙂
