6 Tips for Selling Your Home When You Have Kids
So, you’ve decided to sell your house in SW Florida and move onto your next adventure. This is already a stressful process with many moving parts and on top of that – you’ve got KIDS. The hardest part of trying to sell your house when you have littles running around is that they tend to undo your efforts. You’ve just picked up and cleaned a room and there’s your children, pulling everything out again.
Frustrating! We KNOW! Remember, kids don’t feel the same sense of urgency that adults feel – especially when it comes to major events like selling a house! Although we can’t make the selling process completely stress-free, we can share some tips we’ve picked up along the way to make it a little smoother and more predictable.
- GET ORGANIZED & GET PREPPED
This first step is the most important one – which is: get your thoughts organized and create a gameplan. This will give you a sense of control over the situation. You can search online for some great moving checklists (there are a TON out there to fit anyone’s needs) and use it to help you formulate your plan.
Give yourself time to prep for at least a week, perhaps while the kids are at school or young ones are napping. Go through their toys, dressers, and closets. Find items you can donate, toss, or put into storage. You’ll do this for the rest of the house too and find that this will go a long way to decluttering your house and make it easier to stage for selling!
We’d suggest putting away all but 25% of toys and no more than 2 weeks’ worth of clothing. Let your children help decide what they want to keep out and what they want to pack away. If the kids are older, let them help box things up for themselves!
- CREATE CHECKLISTS FOR THE KIDS
Speaking of checklists, they’re also great for the kiddos! Make a list of chores that your kids are capable of helping with that will set their expectations for the duration of the selling process. Have conversations with them about what you are trying to achieve and why it’s important. The younger ones might not fully understand, but the older ones most likely will and can even help keep the younger ones in line!
You can make the checklist fun – like a board with their different chores listed and they can check off the things they’ve completed. It’s something visual where they can see their progress and all they’ve accomplished like making their beds every morning, cleaning off the bathroom counters when they’re done washing or brushing their teeth, close toilet seats, put toys away, turn off lights, etc.
- HAVE “SHOWING BAGS” READY
Sometimes, you must rush out for a showing to take place. We all know what a pain it can be to wrangle the kids out quickly – it’s like herding cats! So, what goes into a showing bag? Pretty much whatever you want! Your kids’ favorite snacks, a special toy or book, games, etc. Just make sure that it’s fun and unique so they WANT to leave with you to see what’s in their bags.
You should always have a bag packed for yourself as well! Include some personal items just for you – crossword puzzle, snack, hand sanitizer, a book – whatever you want! Then place the bags in your car or garage for easy grabbing when you’ve got to leave.
- PRE-PLAN YOUR OUTINGS
It’s better to have some outings preplanned than trying to come up with fun things to do on the fly – especially when children are involved. If it’s a nice day, try taking them to a park or on a nice, mellow hike. You could grab some food or ice cream. If it’s a bad weather day, you could walk around the mall or even go run errands. You might even pop into visit friends for a short time. - SET UP SHOWING NOTICES
Depending on your needs, you will need some time to gather the kids, pick up anything that needs to be put away, and leave so a showing can take place. Ask your agent or real estate professional to give you a 1 to 2 hour showing notice for each requested showing. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time because it’s awkward when sellers are trying to leave the house when buyers are showing up. Budget the time wisely so you don’t feel pressed for time. - CHILLAX!
Not everything will be perfect – and that’s OKAY. Many people stress themselves out more than necessary wanting things to be perfect. They think their house won’t sell if it isn’t perfect. But there is a good chance that a buyer thinking about buying your house may have kids too. The point of having a home is to LIVE in it and buyers know this! You probably had similar thoughts when buying a home. Just remember to breathe!
IN CLOSING…
There isn’t anything that will guarantee that selling your house won’t be stressful – especially when kids are involved. But these steps can make it a little less so. Remember to make a good plan, stay positive, and make some awesome memories with your family during this adventure! You’ve GOT this!
