Our house is on the market!

[WatchingThemGrow]

If you've followed our house story for all the years I've been complaining it is small, I thought I should post an update. Turns out, if you rent a 10x20 storage unit and fill it with toys, large furniture, more toys, bigger toys, bikes, extra carseats, carpet cleaners, play kitchen, stokke chairs, etc, 1400 sf isn't really that small of a house. We got it on the market Dec 22 and went out of town for a week and a half. It had one showing (agent only) over that time and one scheduled for yesterday, once we were home. We're trying to live in the space while it is staged, so I'm busily trying to keep laundry put away, beds made, counters clean, etc. I borrowed some items like lamps, bed rails, sitting area chairs, etc. and bought some artwork, plants, pillows, etc. to spiffy up the place. We had a handyman, a painter, a pressure washer, and a housecleaner spend quality time here, so it looks fantastic. It it priced a bit higher than I would have thought, but the agent says the comps show it to be a fair listing price. We'll see...

It is a completely updated starter home in a sought-after school district, but it backs to a busy road. Despite the great, private backyard and the super-high walkscore, it will take just the right buyer for this property.

So...I come to the BBB asking for mojo for the quick sale and P&PT that DH and I won't lose our minds trying to keep up with the day-to-day stuff of life plus living in a show-ready home, during winter. While putting all of our clean clothes away a few minutes ago, I realized I needed to pull out some more seasonal items from the kids' closets (41" each- barf) and put them in the attic. While looking at how disorganized things are up there, I got queasy. I have no office space, and I'm slightly disorganized anyway, so all my notes, files, whatever are just tossed to and fro amidst summer clothes, babyproofing items we took down and will likely reuse at the next home, things that need to be sold at the consignment sale, etc. It is a mess up there.

Anyway, that's what is going on now. If anyone can find that thread with great tips for showing a home while living in it with small children, I'd greatly appreciate it. If anyone who has BTDT can share tips, I'd appreciate that too.

[amldaley]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !! What an acheivement for you! I am inspired and ready to go do the same!

ETA: Super duper house selling mojo to you! I have never had to sell with LO's afoot, so no advice there. Just make sure there are fresh flowers somewhere. And as for that busy corner...yes, but it would be a great home for an older couple downsizing, too with access to all you have access to within walking distance.

[Momit]

Best of luck! We lived through that when DS was 6 months old. It's not fun but it is doable. Sounds like the place will show very well.

Have you buried a St. Joseph statue in your yard for good luck? :wink2:

ETA We had "by appointment only" in the listing so people wouldn't just knock on the door and expect to get in. I realize that's not the most buyer-friendly way to do it but it was the only way we could manage with a baby, dog and cat to clear out of the house for every showing.

[twowhat?]

Congratulations! BTDT but with a 2400 sq ft house, and during the summer.

Just having a lot of the toys put away for good for showings helped. Each morning was kind of a scramble getting out of the house, but once we had a few days' practice it became routine. We kept show towels out on all the rods/hooks (thick white ones) and no one was allowed to touch them. Here was ours:

Wake up an hour before the girls.
Make the bed
Shower/brush teeth and then toss used towels into washing machine.
Fold and hang up bathmats (we just used the show bathmats - thick and white)
Squeegee the shower door
Put away all bathroom counter items (toothbrushes, toothpaste) and wipe down counters
Open all blinds/shutters to let in all the natural light
Fluff pillows on couch
Hide girls' LON chairs behind couch
Make the girls' breakfast and set it out
When they wake up, get them dressed and toss any clothing on the floor into hamper. Fold blankets in their cribs and fluff pillows
After they pee, stash potty seat and stool in bathroom cabinet. Wipe down counters.
Toss all used towels so far into washing machine and shut door.
Girls eat breakfast (I don't - I eat at work)
When they're done, task them with trying to get their socks/shoes on while clearing the table, wiping it down, sweeping (if necessary and it often was due to messy DD1) and getting all their stuff in the dishwasher. Put dish soap, etc in cabinet under sink. Put toaster oven and paper towel roll in pantry (these were things we needed every morning) Wipe down kitchen counters. Toss towels in washing machine.
Help girls get socks/shoes on and get them into their car seats in the car. Turn on DVD player:)
Rush back inside and complete everything I wasn't able to do once they woke up which usually included: opening remaining blinds/shutters, kitchen cleanup, stray toys, etc. We left our Expedit unit out which helped a lot in terms of keeping the toys organized.

Our house showed multiple times on the weekends (we left for the weekends to stay at grandma's) and once or twice a week (more often on thursdays/fridays). I think we had a total of 15-20 showings. In the end a family with a child and trying for a second child (having just miscarried twins) bought the house. I am sure emotions played into the purchase - the mom saw the 2 cribs in the bedroom, and the expedit unit and lots of floor space to play...I do miss our old house. It was a wonderful little house, quality construction, great for kids and updated for adults, lots of shade trees, completely organic yard, lovely floorplan...

HTH and good luck!

eta: I asked the same question here!
http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=396091&highlight=showings

And for showings, our realtor put a 7pm end time for showings - no showings after 7pm - that way we could be back in the house in time for the bedtime routine. It worked out well, and our realtor said that people don't typically go looking at houses later in the evenings anyway.

[crl]

Congratulations and good luck!

Catherine

[Jo..]

I hope you get a QUICK sale.:applause:

It is UNREAL the amount of stuff we have in our homes, isn't it?

The first thing we did when we started packing was to box up the non-essentials...toys, small appliances, 80% of our wardrobes, china...

If we had to rent PODS or storage units we would be screwed. Luckily, our neighbor has an ENORMOUS steel barn, and we have been sticking all of our stuff in there.

Despite donating a ton of stuff (and throwing away more), I think we have enough junk to fill a few moving trucks

Everyone should be forced to move every few years just to get rid of the crap!

[mom3boys]

I will just say good luck! I don't have any advice and it sounds like you have already cleaned it up, repaired little things, and staged it. I will be interested to see what happens though, since we are likely going to go through this in the spring (Our 1650 sq ft rowhouse with no yard and street parking and bad public schools is just not working with 3 little boys any more!). The last time we sold a property we had no kids and the real estate market was different, it sold in like 2 days for full price. So I have no idea what I'm in for, or where I'm going to stash 3 kids and all their stuff during showings . . . .

One question, you said you stashed the kids' safety stuff? I will have a crawler by the time we list this thing and we have lots of stairs--will I have to remove the safety gates for every showing? I could see how they could turn off a potential buyer (especially one who can't figure out how to open the gate) but removing and storing them and then reattaching them would be a major PITA! And it will be clear we have a baby to all potential buyers anyway since one of the rooms is a nursery.

[Twoboos]

I hope you get a QUICK sale.:applause:

It is UNREAL the amount of stuff we have in our homes, isn't it?
........
Everyone should be forced to move every few years just to get rid of the crap!

:yeahthat: This is TOTALLY true!! We have so, so much STUFF, and of course we just moved to a bigger house, to hold MORE stuff. :duh:

Congrats on getting your house in order, WTG!! It's no small task!

You could ask your Realtor to require some amount of notice for showings, so you'd have a heads up. We had 2hr notice, which was enough time to make beds, change towels, vacuum/sweep, clean up kitchen and throw any other "stuff" into laundry baskets and into the back of the car!!

We also need the "right" buyer. I hope they show up soon, this owning two houses thing SUCKS. I do not recommend it. ;)

[mctlaw]

Good luck! I successfuly staged and sold my house in less than 90 days while living in it with DS while DH had already moved (albeit took a huge, huge hit). I did not cook a whole lot because I just could not stomach the cleanup. I gained about 8-10 pounds, unfortunately!

One tip that helped me out a lot was a suggestion to keep a couple of empty laundry baskets handy for everyday clutter and toys. When a showing was to occur, throw everything in the baskets and stash them in the car. That was invaluable for me!

Good luck!

[WatchingThemGrow]

One question, you said you stashed the kids' safety stuff?
We had retractable gates in a couple doorways, so those came off. Our youngest is 2.5, so they were just for "space" and not really for keeping anyone safe. Things that are all over the place are the lever doorhandle covers. Maybe I should sell those and just keep the gates. In the next place, we'll likely have stairs, but none here.

[SASM]

Congratulations and good luck!!! We are getting ready to list ours in a few months. I am not looking forward to the process but keep reminding myself that "this is the year to sell in our area" and the upkeep is just part of that process. It'll be worth it in the end. Your house sounds fantastic! Its also nice to know that others are living on the wild side...we also have 3 kids in 1800 sf...quite an adventure, as I am not exactly the most organized person. Good luck!!!

[mommy111]

Keeping my fingers crossed for you!!!!

[TwoBees]

Congrats! Sending good selling vibes your way!

[mackmama]

Good luck!! I think/hope we will soon be in your position, so this thread is great to read. Keep us posted!

[scrooks]

Good luck! Add me to the list of those who will be in your position! We have so much stuff i am dreading the decluttering!

[AnnieW625]

Good luck! Hope it sells quickly.

[ourbabygirl]

Good luck! I'm so excited for you and hope it goes really, really well!
I wish we could be in your position, but we would take too much of a loss right now. I totally admire you for taking this step and hope your little ones and DH help you keep the place in great shape each day! :)

[KrisM]

I'm glad it's on the market! I hope it sells super quick!

[KpbS]

Yea!!!! Best of luck and hope it moves fast!

We showed our house for 1 year (6 mo on our own and 6 mo. with a realtor) just when the market was turning downward :( I agree w/ the pp suggestion of stashing items in laundry baskets ready to carry out to your car before showings. I would always plan to clean the last 1.5 before a showing (and tried to stack showings too) and make the most of nap time or put a video on for the kids. I wiped all surfaces down, arranged some fresh cut flowers--even a small bouquet looks nice on the table, straightened picture frames, made sure the front entrance looked nice and clean (flowers, no leaves/debris) and lit a pleasant smelling candle while I was cleaning. Sometimes I stored dirty laundry in the washer and dryer :bag as nobody wants to see dirty laundry or baskets lying around and there wasn't anywhere else to put it!

GL!

[jennilynn]

Congrats! Hoping this step goes smoothly for you! We're hoping to sell soon, too.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Good luck!!!!

[SkyrMommy]

Best of luck, I hope it sells quickly at a price you are very happy with! It sounds like you are already doing a great job of getting and keeping things organized!

[carolinamama]

Yay!! Wishing you a short on-the-market period.

My parents moved (and sold houses) every few years growing up bc of my dad's job. My mom's piece of advice for showing a house with 3 little kids was to use the dryer as a quick stash and have a few nice storage things around where kid things can quickly be thrown.

Good luck!

[Tinochka]

We sold our house in 68 days last year. We had 25 showings +2 open houses (1st time was bad weather). We just put house on a market and then got snow right away, so our nice big flat backyard was invisible:(
Our realtor suggested to have any available appointment, saying that in winter showings are slowing down and usually people will not come to look after work, which we were wiling to do;). At the beginning we had quite a number of showings, then before Christmas, things slowed down, then people were coming during weekends mostly. I had 2 kids and traveling DH. It was hard and I am hoping not to do it again for a LONG time... But at the end of the game it was worth of the work, we moved to location with young families, bigger house...
Somebody gave you very detailed rec, so, I would follow it. What helped me, is to have only items you need on the counters, so anything else was suppose to be put away right away. Kept fresh towels separately, put used towels into trash bags, tooth pastes, shampoos into separate container. Anything which was not suppose to be on the way was carried to the car.... Our realtor suggested to move even kids chairs, which I got tired of doing. I just prioritized that counters and appliances, mirrors, windows were clean from little fingers, carpet cleaned from cat fur (we moved them to one heated room downstairs, but still made sure that clean). Sometimes it was a marathon and I lost some weight:). Only once we had people at the door “without notification”, just at time when we came from church and were putting kids to naps...It turned out due to a bad weather, the office was not working, on Sunday office got swampt with appointment and we didn’t hear our cell at church.... You can only imagine what we went through to show them a house in 45 min + kids were sitting in the bed, “reading” books while their parents were flying around the house like crazy....But we did it! It was the only couple who didn’t even bother leaving a feedback. Well, I was assuming once they will have kids, they will remember about me:)
After couple times of cleaning you’ll get better at it. Good luck!!!

[WatchingThemGrow]

Congratulations! BTDT but with a 2400 sq ft house, and during the summer.

Just having a lot of the toys put away for good for showings helped. Each morning was kind of a scramble getting out of the house, but once we had a few days' practice it became routine. We kept show towels out on all the rods/hooks (thick white ones) and no one was allowed to touch them. Here was ours:

Wake up an hour before the girls.
Make the bed
Shower/brush teeth and then toss used towels into washing machine.
Fold and hang up bathmats (we just used the show bathmats - thick and white)
Squeegee the shower door
Put away all bathroom counter items (toothbrushes, toothpaste) and wipe down counters
Open all blinds/shutters to let in all the natural light
Fluff pillows on couch
Hide girls' LON chairs behind couch
Make the girls' breakfast and set it out
When they wake up, get them dressed and toss any clothing on the floor into hamper. Fold blankets in their cribs and fluff pillows
After they pee, stash potty seat and stool in bathroom cabinet. Wipe down counters.
Toss all used towels so far into washing machine and shut door.
Girls eat breakfast (I don't - I eat at work)
When they're done, task them with trying to get their socks/shoes on while clearing the table, wiping it down, sweeping (if necessary and it often was due to messy DD1) and getting all their stuff in the dishwasher. Put dish soap, etc in cabinet under sink. Put toaster oven and paper towel roll in pantry (these were things we needed every morning) Wipe down kitchen counters. Toss towels in washing machine.
Help girls get socks/shoes on and get them into their car seats in the car. Turn on DVD player:)
Rush back inside and complete everything I wasn't able to do once they woke up which usually included: opening remaining blinds/shutters, kitchen cleanup, stray toys, etc. We left our Expedit unit out which helped a lot in terms of keeping the toys organized.

Our house showed multiple times on the weekends (we left for the weekends to stay at grandma's) and once or twice a week (more often on thursdays/fridays). I think we had a total of 15-20 showings. In the end a family with a child and trying for a second child (having just miscarried twins) bought the house. I am sure emotions played into the purchase - the mom saw the 2 cribs in the bedroom, and the expedit unit and lots of floor space to play...I do miss our old house. It was a wonderful little house, quality construction, great for kids and updated for adults, lots of shade trees, completely organic yard, lovely floorplan...

HTH and good luck!

eta: I asked the same question here!
http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=396091&highlight=showings

And for showings, our realtor put a 7pm end time for showings - no showings after 7pm - that way we could be back in the house in time for the bedtime routine. It worked out well, and our realtor said that people don't typically go looking at houses later in the evenings anyway.
Awesome list, so thank you!!!!

I didn't have my laptop out when I was prepping the house today, but I was thinking of you! We're still trying to unpack from our Christmas trip. We got home Sun night, but had a showing Monday at noon. Today is Wed. and we had 2 doctor's appts plus Speech therapy here. I was trying to make it through the 4 laundry baskets full of debris from the van during our brief visits. Early in the day, I thought that I should have things ready, just in case. True enough, because at 2:30 in the school pickup line, I got the message that someone wanted to see it at 3:45! Thank goodness for the Odyssey's huge capacity. I stuck suitcases, laundry baskets (clean and dirty), hampers, boxes of gifts, travel toys, etc. back into the van. The place was super clean and I even had a moment to sweep the front and back steps before having to leave. Love, love, love having a huge van with a DVD player to entertain little ones when necessary.

Thanks for all the well-wishing!

[ha98ed14]

Congrats! This has been a long time in coming and you have worked hard to get here! I hope it sells fast!

[lmh2402]

oh, good luck! wishing you fast selling mojo!

[vludmilla]

Good luck!

[WatchingThemGrow]

The feedback we got from yesterday's showing was:

"Just previewing with other agents to stay on top of inventory. Absolutely adorable listing! Good house flow - nice conversion (we assume) to make dining area off kitchen. Great colors and staging / organization. Will keep in mind for buyers. Home showed well and easily."

This was really nice to hear... :loveeyes:

[kms00]

Great feedback. I hope you sell quickly.

[brittone2]

The feedback we got from yesterday's showing was:

"Just previewing with other agents to stay on top of inventory. Absolutely adorable listing! Good house flow - nice conversion (we assume) to make dining area off kitchen. Great colors and staging / organization. Will keep in mind for buyers. Home showed well and easily."

This was really nice to hear... :loveeyes:
That must feel great!!! :cheerleader1: It is so hard when you are in the throes of it all, but it will be worth it in the end :hug: One day it will just be a blip on the radar and all behind you!

[WatchingThemGrow]

I just wanted to update this thread since we've been on the market a month. Living in a clean, uncluttered home is great. Everyone is missing their stuff! DH long for his little scissors to trim nose hairs, DS1 wants Snap Circuits, DD wants ALL her toys and dolls back, DS2 wants his Duplos and his LT pickup truck, and I want my All-Clad griddle for pancakes and such!

As far as that actual selling goes, we've had a few realtors come through, a few cancellations, and a few actual buyers. Two buyers said highway/road behind was an issue and one said the dining area wouldn't suit their needs.

We've hit a 2 week dry spell with no showings, so we're regrouping and making a plan. I'll start another thread for advice on getting things moving again!