The entire concept of selling your house is stressful. The below are some tips to ease the process for those with young children.
De-clutter – Prior to listing your home, get a storage unit or pack away at least 50% of the toys, clothes and personal items. Your goal is for your home to show as a MODEL HOME which means lived in yet organized. You want your potential buyers to be able to imagine their own personal item and furniture when they visit your home. The less you have, the easier the entire process will be.
De-personalize – Remove your children & family pictures, their awards & teenage posters. Why? One, you really have no idea who walks into your home as a potential buyer. Second, you want your potential buyers to connect with the space and not feel they are invading yours.
Ready-Set-Go Bag – Put together a bag that will have all needed items your children might need in case you have a last minute notice on a showing. Make sure you have all the essential items such as diapers, wipes, snacks, toys, extra pair of clothing, etc. Leave the bag by the door or in the car, but make sure to replace items that were used on a regular basis.
Clutter-Containers – Keep a couple containers (maybe one upstairs and one downstairs). You can store all day-to-day-clutter items & the kids’ toys in a short amount of time when getting ready for a showing. Store these containers in the garage or under beds/sofas for an easy pick up solution.
Staging-Containers – You want your house to look like it was professionally staged, even when you have little ones. Get a container and fill it out with all the staging items; such as candles, pillows, throw, table place mats, luxurious bath towels and more. This way, the kids won’t get into those, you won’t need to wash & re-wash, and within minutes your home will look fantastic.
You Are in Control – If your child naps at certain times, please share with your REALTOR® so that time will be blocked from scheduling showings. We can adjust the times when showings can be scheduled. Please note – too many restrictions may limit the number of showings and potential buyers.
Prepare Your Meals – Creating a meal plan where you can prepare a few meals during one day will ensure your home doesn’t ‘smell’ and your family will enjoy home cooked meals even during this busy time.
Odors – We talked about ‘cooking-smell’ in the previous section. When you have young children another source of odors could be diapers. Keep the house clean but don’t use strong fragrances that will over power your home (buyers will try to figure out what is it that you are hiding). You can cut down on odors but putting out a box of baking soda or by placing pre-baked cookies in the oven for a short amount of time.
Toilets – Please make sure all toilet lids are down and the toilets are flushed. Your potential buyers won’t be as excited to see that ‘little Johnny’ is finally potty trained.
Where-to-Go – Planning is key when you need to keep the kids calm and entertained every time you have a showing. The first week your home is on the market is a great time to go visit family out of town or even go camping. Find a neighbor or a good friend where you can stay during showings or check out Macaroni Kid calendar for the most up-to-date kid-friendly activities.
Take a deep breath and remember that this will get you closer to your goal, which is selling your home.
Sigal Waters is a wife, a mom and a full time REALTOR® with RE/MAX Professional Realty in Exton, PA servicing Chester County.
