Selling A House With Kids: Guide For Parents
Before putting your house on the market, you have to stage it. That means, carrying out small repairs and revamping the look to boost its value and sell quickly. All that work is time-consuming, and if you have kids, it can be overwhelming. Kids tend to undo any work with little effort and sometimes to tidy up the rooms before a showing can put you in a frenzy. You are undoubtedly panicking, and asking yourself “How can I sell my house fast?” Luckily, you can still make the process seamless without losing your mind by having a plan. Don’t worry anymore.
Here are a few hacks to sell your house fast without stress:
Store Extra Items
Let's face it; with kids in the house, you always have excess toys and clutter. Unfortunately, most people wait until the potential buyer is at the door to clear out the rooms. They end up throwing toys in closets or hiding them in the garage. This can be annoying if the buyer opens the cabinets or want to see the garage space. You can avoid the drama by clearing out all the clutter. Begin with items that your kids have outgrown and give them away to charity. You will still have tons of items lying around the house. Therefore, you should pack up things that you will not use in the immediate future like seasonal clothing. Get totes and boxes for storing your items and neatly stack the boxes in your garage. You can lease a storage unit if you think the items will get in the way.
Tidy up the Rooms
Kids can be messy, and they cannot help it. At some point, you expect to find marks on the walls, glitter, sticker residue, and handprints. While some of their mess is adorable, it can be a turn off to buyers. Apart from deep cleaning to get the house market-ready, ensure you tidy the rooms daily. If you label bins, your kids can easily clean up after themselves. You can also look for creative ways to deal with children's artwork, which can easily overwhelm the fridge. For instance, you can find frames for hanging those masterpieces. The frames keep the chaos off the refrigerator, and you can easily remove it during a showing.
Have a New Routine
Selling a house comes with new chores. Unfortunately, many people top up their old routine with the tasks, which can be overwhelming. Instead, tweak your schedule to suit the activities you want to accomplish. For instance, instead of adding cleaning to daily chores, make it part of the routine, and you will have less stress. You should also factor in interruptions throughout the day if you have showings.
Plan some activities for the kids to do during visits from potential buyers. If they can play in the yard without supervision, it would be excellent. However, if they are young, find someone to look after them for a few hours. It is also vital to minimise your workload since you will be dealing with the potential buyer. Therefore, pre-plan meals with easy prep time to reduce cleaning duties.
Prepare Showing Bags
Even when the house is spotless, preparing for showings can be frantic and stressful. You can reduce the pressure by preparing showing bags for you and your kids. The kid's bag can contain their favourite toys, books, or a cosy blanket. It should be something interesting to reduce the anxiety of going out during showings. Make the showing bags fun for the kids to look forward to it. Parents' showing bags can have personal items that you would need in case you have to rush out of the house. You can also include snacks for the kids to eat.
Talk to Your Kids About the Sale
Instead of waiting for your children to start asking questions, you should have a sit down with them. Tell them why you are selling the house and what you expect them to do. If they are old enough, they can assist in cleaning and keeping their rooms tidy. However, if they have never shown interest in cleaning up after themselves, it would be too much to handle. You can guide them into it by creating to-do lists and guiding them. If you sweeten the deal with a reward, you will get full cooperation.
Set up Showing Hours
Potential buyers popping at any time of the day can mess up your daily routine. Since you are in charge of the sale, you should set the home showing hours. For instance, ensure you do not have buyers during kid's nap time. It is also less overwhelming when you have a flexible plan that allows you to catch up on cleaning and resting.
You can survive the tale of selling your house with the above tips. However, it would also help if your home is off the market sooner rather than later. For a quick sale, you can check out the sell house fast category page at We Buy Any Home for more information.