Recently I walked into a home that we had listed for sale and one of the owners had two young kids. One child running around, the other a young baby in mum’s arms. I take my hat off to her as she was the inspiration for this blog, because I can’t imagine how hard it is to prepare a property for sale with a young family and this property was well presented.
So, you’ve decided to sell your home and as we know, presentation is the key in getting the buyer to create that emotional connection with the home that obtains strong offers at good prices. But I hear those mum’s say, how can I keep a place clean & presentable? Toys everywhere in a variety of rooms, dirty hands-on tables & benches, sometimes crayon writing up the walls, beds not made, and list goes on. It must feel like you’re always cleaning up and then the agent calls and advises we have a buyer we’d like to bring through for an inspection. Seriously OMG.
First of all, give yourself a break. You can’t be everything to everyone and we can’t expect it perfect. Things happen out of our control so cut yourself some slack. Doesn’t mean also that it’s an excuse for not making an effort to tidy up though. A few little hints however that may assist. Get the grandparents/family members/friends on standby. More hands make light work so you can smash out those jobs or get the kids looked after a while you get the house ready. Cupboards are for packing things away so work on storing items in there. Most men wont even look in there from my experience. Sheds are another good place to put things away. Potentially arrange set days & times for inspections. It’s much easier on everyone to bring several buyers through in a 2 – 3-hour period twice a week or whatever you arrange with your agent than it is having an inspection every single day.
Consider a holiday or vacation in the first week or two. This is when the most activity is going to be so give the agent full access as it only requires one clean. Get a lawn mowing contractor in for the lawns. Time is what we don’t have when we are busy bringing up a family so delegating or sub-contracting is a good idea. There’s plenty more things that we can advise, though the above are a good starter.
Lastly to the lady that inspired this story. Well done and what a great example you’ve set for your kids and other homeowners.
