Selling House with Kids

[carolinamama]

Any suggestions? We will likely be putting our house on the market in the next few weeks (great timing with the lovely housing market, but we really could use some more space and would love different neighbors).

It seems that ds is always making a mess and I am pretty laid back - I let him. I am 17 weeks pregnant and feeling much better now but still have my sleepy/nauseous days. I am so scared of always having the house show-ready but still want to allow ds to be a kid in his own house. What were your tricks? Stay out of the house? Lots of outings?

Thanks for your help!

[khm]

We sold our house without a realtor, so showings weren't a concern b/c we only had weekend open houses, plus 1 or 2 appointments that I agreed to with enough time to tidy up. ;) I tossed a laundry basket in every closet for toys.

One major thing is we boxed up many, many (many) of the extra toys. If they aren't available, they won't become clutter. Anything with lots of pieces got boxed, anything that was bulky got boxed, anything that I wasn't going to unbox in the new house got donated.

The kids honestly didn't miss a thing at the time, and said it was "like Christmas" when we got into the new house. ;)

We did play outside a lot more.

[MamaMolly]

I ditto the PP about boxing up/putting away all but the essentials. Not just the toys but everything. If you don't have storage/garage space it might be worth your while to rent a small storage locker and put your 'extras' in it for the duration while the house is on the market. I'd put away all the clothes that are out of season (making the closets look that much tidier and BIGGER), pots, pans and kitchen clutter (make it easy to keep the counter tops clear and clean!).
Because it is a buyer's market, you need to make your home as nice as possible while not loosing your mind in the process. This is really one of those less is more situations!
Good luck!

[LBW]

I third the suggestion to pack as much stuff away before you list as possible. When we sold our house, DS1 was only a year old. I never stayed in the house when agents came by with potential clients. I always felt that staying would make them (and us) uncomfortable. We went on quite a few long car rides if the weather was bad! Also, if you don't already do this, get in the habit of putting away all the clutter and getting the house "show ready" each night.

[o_mom]

We have ours on the market right now, but it is really slow. We are in the same situation of you - don't have to sell, but would like to. We rented a storage unit and packed away tons of toys. We are down to the train table and trundles, six of the square cloth drawers (cubical storage from Target), little kitchen and art stuff. We try and keep the floor picked up and I have been cleaning one room a day to keep on top of the housework. Our big problem right now is getting the spring cleanup outside done.

[Momof3Labs]

We put a ton of stuff in storage, also (love, love, love PODS), which helped tremendously. I'd straighten up and clean at night, then in the morning, I'd "close out" rooms as we moved through our routine (when I was done in the bathroom, I'd wipe it up, hang up clean towels, and close the door behind me - wouldn't go back in there) and eventually end up in just 1-2 rooms downstairs (kitchen and family room, plus powder room). Then, if we got a call for a showing, I could have the area clean on pretty short notice. If I was too tired to deal with that, I'd take DS out somewhere instead of hanging around the house - Chuck E Cheese is annoying but cheap and dead at 10am when they open, lol.

Laundry baskets in the closet for toys and other messes are a good idea, but keep in mind that buyers will open closets, so it can't be too messy!

Of couse, when we sold, we had numerous showings and three offers in less than a week. The market was so much different then!

[DrSally]

I had 6 months of showings with a 2 year old and DH out of town. I definitely had a call ahead policy, but some people would do drive-by's and absolutely need to see the house now! Most of the time I accommodated and rushed around putting stuff away, but each time, it was a nonserious buyer/looker. Sooo, IME drive-bys are not worth it. I did turn down one towards the end b/c they were just so demanding wanting to get in "right now" or else. I need at least 15 min to put things away. That's one thing I learned.

Also,have places you can stow things. Laundry baskets in closets (someone else I knew put them in the car), kitchen papers/clutter, I had a cabinet space for. Make beds first things in the morning, try to keep as much put away as possible, but you get into a routine of stashing things quickly. At first I needed to have everything perfect, but tried to relax that after awhile. I really tried to protect DS's nap time when scheduling, and even stayed at home a few times with him sleeping in his room if it was smack dab in the middle of nap time. I mean for a 15 min showing, ruining a toddlers whole day. We were lucky it was nice out, so we could go to the park, in the rare cases we had late showings, I took him to the library playroom which is open until 8pm. Also, I put most of his toys downstairs int he playroom and kept two bins of toys upstairs in the living room. I also hid the highchair for showings. That clutter can be a turnoff. I think it's ok to have kid stuff, just not a lot of clutter. At least it's nice out now, good luck!

[californiagirl]

I'm sorry, I have no useful advice, I just keep looking at the title and thinking "I don't know, I'm not sure throwing in the kids will make it easier to sell." I'm thinking you can sell a house with contents, but not with kids...

[hillview]

Get rid of stuff -- box it up and put in storage/basement/garage (storage or friend's is ideal).
Everything should have a place so when putting stuff away it is easy. Drawers etc make for excellent dumping zones so that you can toss items away if needed. People aren't going through drawers outside of kitchen/bath
Have a kitchen table etc set of decor ready to put out so that surfaces look orderly and showable

Stay out of the house or keep to a single room or 2 if possible -- good luck!!

When we sold our house with DS at 18 months and me at 6 months pg it was doable but a pita. Every night/day we spent time putting things back where they belong. Also hired a stager to help set the baseline better then where we kept it.

HTH
/hillary

[elephantmeg]

I'm sorry, I have no useful advice, I just keep looking at the title and thinking "I don't know, I'm not sure throwing in the kids will make it easier to sell." I'm thinking you can sell a house with contents, but not with kids...


ROTFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mom2chloe]

I'm sorry, I have no useful advice, I just keep looking at the title and thinking "I don't know, I'm not sure throwing in the kids will make it easier to sell." I'm thinking you can sell a house with contents, but not with kids...
]

OMG... what a novel idea!!!!! I'm going to pass this along to my girlfriend who has 2 DC's and a house on the market. She will be DELIGHTED with this new strategy... :ROTFLMAO: