This is a guest post by Kristin Louis. She provides great tips on selling your house when you have young kids. Thanks Kristin!
Are you planning a move? As a busy parent, getting your home ready for sale while looking after your kids can be a daunting task. Obviously you want your home to look fabulous, but with kiddos there often comes chaos. Here’s how to set yourself up for success, right from the start when you are selling a house with young kids.
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Step One: Declutter Your Home
If your family has been living in your current home for a few years, it’s gotten a bit cluttered. Before you list your home, focus on decluttering the house. Go through your entire home, including closets and storage spaces, and make some tough decisions about what you want to take with you to your new home, and what you can get rid of. Plan a garage sale, list larger items on Craigslist, and donate items to your local thrift shop.
To get your kids involved, have them help decide which toys it’s time to part ways with. Home Storage Solutions recommends culling the broken ones first for an easy start. If you’re selling some of their stuff in a garage sale, an added incentive is to let them keep the money they make from the sale. They can invest in new goodies for the next abode with their hard-earned money, and it’s that much more reason to pull their seldom-used toys.
Once you know what items you want to keep, pack up seasonal clothes, extra decorations, the shelf of nick nacks, and any other family memorabilia, and place these boxes out of the way in storage. Not only will this declutter your home and make it far easier and faster to clean and stage the house, but it will also make your home seem more spacious and inviting to potential buyers.
Step Two: Do a Deep Clean
When you first list your home on the market, do a deep clean of your entire home. Start by washing the walls, kitchen cabinets, and bathroom vanity. Then dust all the surfaces you rarely clean, such as the tops of bookshelves, ceiling fans, and window blinds.
Last, move to what’s underfoot. Vacuum carpets, and steam clean them to lift out any dirt, pet dander, stains, and odors trapped in the carpet. Sweep and mop all the hard floors around your home, and finish with a floor polish to make them shine.
Step Three: Clean As You Go
Once you’ve decluttered your house and done a deep clean, make it easier for yourself by cleaning as you go. When you’re a busy parent you won’t have time to set aside an entire afternoon to clean before each showing, so doing a little all the time makes things fast and easy.
Get your kids involved, and make a point of tidying a room whenever you leave it. Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls recommends assigning age-appropriate cleaning chores so your youngsters are effective and happy in their roles.
While your kids are hard at work, take a couple of minutes to wipe or dust the table, or put dishes into the dishwasher. Your home will be ready to show at a moment’s notice, and you’ll save yourself a lot of stress.
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Events Checklist
Whether you’re planning to host an open house or just want to have your home looking great when potential buyers stop by, creating a preparations list could be a lifesaver. Your best intentions to be prepared ahead of time can go awry due to your kids or pets, and when you’re a busy parent it can be hard to remember everything when you’re hurrying to prep the home at the last moment.
Along with basic cleaning items, include taking your pet to the sitter, and minimizing smells with an air freshener or essential oils diffuser. Make sure all the room doors are open and the closet doors shut. Don’t forget to secure your valuables to prevent a mishap, and take a moment to turn on all the lights for a warm welcome.
As a busy parent, you don’t have a lot of time to prep your home for sale or keep it spotlessly clean for showings. To minimize stress and improve your chances of a quick sale, declutter your home, do a deep clean, then get the kids involved and clean as you go. Use a checklist to help you remember important items, and take the stress out of selling your home. When you are selling a house with young kids, follow these steps to make it less stressful.
Guest post by Kristin Louis:
Kristin Louis is a former advertising copywriter and a mom to two rambunctious boys. She created Parenting with Kris to share her experiences about the trials and tribulations of parenting
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