Pro Tips for Selling Your Home When You Have Kids
Anyone who’s sold a house knows just how stressful the process can be. From prepping and staging your home to juggling your schedule around showings, work, school, and all of your other daily responsibilities, selling a home requires full-on effort. Add kids to the mix, and well, the undertaking can seem almost insurmountable.
But, rest easy. For parents selling a home with little members in the house, here are some simple tips that can help you navigate this major life transition. Here are a few places to start:
Get your kids involved – It’s important that your kids, no matter how young they are, know that you will be selling your home and what exactly that means. Keep them in the loop about what will be happening so they’re not caught off-guard when some of their favorite toys get packed up. Even better? Get them involved in the process where you can. Maybe it’s sorting, packing their toys, or giving them some simple cleaning jobs (even if it’s just to keep them busy).
Consider your audience – When you stage your home for the sale, you want to appeal to a wide range of potential buyers. That means paring back on many of the kid-friendly features of home that, though practical to you, may be viewed differently by buyers without kids. Simple steps to depersonalize your home may include converting the playroom into an office, painting rooms in more neutral colors, removing artwork and family photos, and taking other steps to help your potential buyers picture themselves in the home.
Polish and shine – Now is the time to clean, clean, clean. Consider flooring (you may want to refinish floors or replace the carpets), walls/ceilings, appliances, windows, baths, you name it. Our homes take a beating, and home with kids can be put through the wringer.
Create a game plan for showings and open houses – Work with your real estate agent to create a reasonable schedule for showings. Since many buyers want to look at homes in the evenings, this may mean dinner out a few nights a week or scheduling a few more family outings to the park or movies on the weekend. While flexibility will always be important, creating a schedule, even if it has to be adjusted, will help everyone feel more in control of the process.
Additionally, try to have a pre-showing plan in place to make picking up the house in a hurry nothing to sweat. Keep a little checklist handy, so you can put it in action on a moment’s notice.
Selling a house with kids is a team effort, but with a little planning and a willingness to be flexible along the way, it can be done successfully (and hopefully with minimal tears and tantrums along the way). For questions about selling your home and more tips on making the transition with kids, give us a call at 305-329-7744.
