Staying Sane While Selling Your Home and Raising Kids

Selling a house is hard enough, but adding kids into the equation can make it even tougher. When we sold, my husband had already moved on to the new location. This left me with the responsibility of taking care of the little ones and keeping the house in "show" conditions at all times. These are a few of my tips that I have come up with. These are intended for people who have kids under the age of 10. They will help you have your house clean whenever someone wants to come and look at it. Realtors may tell you they'll give you 24 hours notice before a showing but more often than not, they will fail. Hopefully, these tips will help you.

Condense bathrooms. If you have more than one bathroom, lock them up except for the master. Clean the bathrooms really well and then tell the kids they are off limits. Have everyone use one bathroom while you are selling your home. We all know how messy kids can be. It is so much easier knowing you'll just have to clean one bathroom. Nothing turns a home buyer off as much as a dirty bathroom. You will want to go in and freshen it every few days. You should flush the toilet so you don't get a ring and dust things off.

Condense bedrooms. I put my boys in a bedroom together. We cleaned one room so it was show ready and we locked the door. They pretended they were camping and took turns sleeping in sleeping bags in the used bedroom. They had a blast and it eliminated finding surprises in two boys bedrooms instead of just one.

Take away any messy toys. Playdoh, craft toys, toys with a lot of little pieces. You're kids can do without them for a little while. You can make a deal with them that they can play with them later in the evening when you know it's too late for a showing. The less mess you have out on a regular basis will make getting the house ready a lot easier.

Implement a one toy at a time rule. They have to put the first thing away before the next comes out. That way if you get short notice for a showing, the room won't look like a toy store tornado just went through. My kids were sneaky at first on this rule. They started with Army men and then they needed the castle out so the Army could protect it which led to the He Men being the bad guys and on and on. Explain that one toy is one tub of toys or whatever organizational system you have.

Sweep the front door area. I did this before the kids even got up in the morning. Cobwebs on the front door gives the illusion that you don't care about your home. Make it inviting. If you do this in the morning then you should be set for the day.

Clean up right after a meal. I know this one is a pain, but it will save you time in the long run. Most kids can be responsible and clear their dishes. The older ones can even get theirs into the dishwasher. You don't want to leave a dishwasher full of dirty dishes for a showing, though. If the dishwasher is staying with the house, people will open it.

Organize your closets. Get some tubs for the kids toys to make things organized. Closets sell homes and you want it to look like there is a ton of space in them. Emphasize to your kids the importance of putting things away in their proper place after they are done.

Do a once over of the house in the morning. Dust everything, do the windows, clean the counter tops in the bathroom and kitchen. Make sure no one spilled anything in the fridge. Your floor will need to be mopped every few days depending on what kind it is. Linoleum will hide more than Pergo. You will want to save the sweeping until you get the call. Those nice sweep lines give the idea that it is a very clean house.

Buy staging items. Go out and buy new kitchen towels, bath towels and bath mats. These can be cheap quality. You're not going to use them. They are for looks only. Do not wash them because the color will fade. Put all the items together and then put them out when you are going to have a showing. I gave this job to my oldest son and he loved being able to help. As soon as we got the call that people were coming he would run and take down our towels and put the show ones up. Just make sure you show your child the proper way to put them. We had some crazy set up the first time my son did it.

Buy fresh flowers. I found some tiny vases in the gift section of the super store for $1. Buy some flowers that will last a long time and put a few in each vase. Keep them in the refrigerator until the showing. Give the job of putting them out around the house to one of the kids. This is an easy job that can be handled by a four year old. Replace the flowers as needed.

Have a laundry basket ready. If you're running out of time, just throw things in it instead of putting them away. You can take it with you when you leave that way you don't leave the mess behind. Sometimes it's easier to get kids to put things into a place their not supposed to be(the basket) versus actually taking it to their room and putting it in it's proper place.

These are a few things that helped me when we have sold our homes. I'm always told how clean our house was and the buyers can't believe there are kids living there. Our houses always sell quickly, too. I hope these tips can help you save your sanity and sell your house.