The thought of selling your home while you have multiple small children may seem like an impossible feat. And honestly – it sucks…it really, truly sucks. I speak from experience because this is what I am currently trying to do. Between all the toys and sticky fingers, keeping a clean home is already difficult let alone having it clean enough for strangers to walk in, see it and judge it. But that is exactly what I am currently doing right now and with three toddlers. I can verify that while it is hard to do and quite the pain in the ass, it is not impossible. While it may seem easier to purchase a home first and then sell your existing home, many of us are counting on the sale of our existing home to help get us into the home that we want. Also, double mortgages are typically not fiscally ideal for most families. So we are left of the only option of having to sell our home while we are living in it and just pray that we haven’t left a dirty diaper somewhere when someone wants to come view our home.
Here are some tips and tricks I have learned to make showing your home with little ones a bit easier:
- Do a Deep Clean of your Home First. Before you put it on the market, do a good deep clean of your home. This requires someone to help watch your kids. My husband and I have been pretty lucky to have fabulous parents who are either willing to help clean and fix up the house or help watch our kids. If you don’t have someone available it may be worth it to hire a babysitter for a weekend to watch your kids while you deep clean your house. You will want to focus on decluttering and simplifying your home. Start packing and storing as much things as you can. The less items in your home, the less items you have to clean. Once this is all done, the goal now is to maintain it.
- The Toys… oh so many freakin’ Toys! If your home has been invaded by Thomas the train, Duplo blocks and matchbox cars like ours then it is time to declutter and start packing them away. I spent a lot of time trying to sell the toys that the kids no longer use or storing away at least over half of what was left. I was surprised to find that with less than half of the toys left, they don’t miss any of the ones I packed away and never bring it up. They probably wouldn’t even notice if they never appeared again. I let them keep their favorite toys but now the new rule is that toys are no longer allowed outside their playroom. This helps contain daily messes into one place which makes it easier to clean up for a last minute showing.
- Have a Plan B. When you start showing your home, you will need to think of a plan of what to do with the kids when someone comes by to see your home. You may have plans to take your kids to the park during a showing but it may rain so you will need a plan B. Having wonderful family and friends that will allow you to hang out at their home for a bit is a great option. Another option is buying a month pass or multiple visit pass to a kid’s center that is close. You never know when you may need to leave the house without notice so having this option is great to have.
- Get up Early. While this may not seem ideal to most, getting up before the kids wake up to do a quick wipe down of the house every day is a great way to maintain a clean home. You can quickly do a bit of cleaning without your kids following behind you to undo what you have just done. I usually first wipe down the kitchen and bathroom. When I need to vacuum, I save it for when the kids need to start to wake up. I make sure the main rooms are show ready so that all I have to worry about is breakfast clean up. If it is a nice morning, I usually have everyone eat outside. That way the mess is easier to clean.
- Stay out of the house as often as you can. If I know of a showing a day in advance I try to plan as much outside activities as I can. Whether it is spending the day at the zoo or running a lot of errands, the less the kids and I are at home the less I have to clean. I will make it back for lunch and nap time but then when they wake up, it is to a park or a visit with the grandparents if someone is looking to see our home later in the day.
- Find your hiding places. I have many of these throughout our house and makes a quick cleanup pretty easy. Our family room has a storage coffee table so I can just throw any junk lying around in it. I also keep a bit of space in the linen closet so that I can just quickly put all of our toiletries in a box and put it right in there during a showing. My children’s toddler beds have a drawer on the bottom so this is where they shove all their blankies and small stuffed animals in. I also make sure I keep empty space in one of the kitchen cabinets so that I can just quickly put anything that’s on the counters there so everything thing looks picked up and clean.
I also like to keep fresh flowers around which are in high places that toddlers can’t reach during the day but put down throughout the house before a house showing. I also have a handy checklist on my phone that I do real quickly to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything like making sure all the lights are on, deck umbrella is open with table cloth, blankies are all hidden, etc… When juggling lots of little ones it is quite easy to forget some things! But having this checklist helps me make sure that our home is “show ready” every time.
What tips can you share?
