Buying a House and Parenting Is Possible
Once you decide to sell your home, you may wonder how you’re going to juggle parenting, working, and cooking meals with cleaning and decluttering your house for real estate showings—especially when you and your kids continue to eat, sleep, and live in the home. Since buying a new house before selling your current home isn’t always possible, a few simple tips and tricks can help you to keep your home market ready. Read on to learn more!
1. Eliminate Clutter
Decluttering and de-personalizing are two of the best things you can do to prep your home for sale. Not only will a tidy, organized, and depersonalized home appeal to prospective buyers, but a de-cluttered home is easiest to clean and maintain between showings. The biggest bonus is that it gives you the opportunity to get a jump on packing.
Before listing your home, be sure to thoroughly declutter each room and storage space in your home. Then, get rid of anything you don’t need or move excess furniture, appliances, toys, and family photos into storage. To get the most out of your decluttering efforts, hire a professional organizer through Seattle Organizers. These professionals specialize in decluttering and organizing closets, garages, kitchens, storage spaces—you name it.
2. Clean a Little Bit Each Day
Before listing your home, you’ll also need to deep clean every room in the house—making sure to wipe down and wash any countertops, walls, windows, and floors.
After deep cleaning your home, however, it’s important to devote a few minutes each day to cleaning and maintaining your house to keep it tidy and show-ready. As part of your daily speed cleaning, don’t forget to:
- Make the beds.
- Load the dishwasher and wipe down the kitchen counter.
- Wipe down bathroom mirrors and countertops.
- Wash and dry dirty clothes.
- Fold and put away clean laundry.
- Pick up loose toys and objects.
- Sweep and vacuum the floors.
3. Invest in a Robot Vacuum
If you don’t have the time or energy to regularly vacuum and sweep your floors when you’re busy trying to sell a home, a robot vacuum can be the life-saver you need to keep your house clean and tidy. A good robot vacuum will remove dirt, dust, and crumbs from your floors, helping you to keep your home clean and fresh between showings with minimal fuss.
4. Keep Spare Laundry Baskets Handy
When you live in the house you’re trying to sell, there’s no way you’ll be able to keep your floors and countertops free of clutter at all times. However, Apartment Therapy says this is where spare laundry baskets come in. When your real estate agent contacts you about scheduling a last-minute showing, toss any loose objects into the spare basket—whether it’s toys, dirty clothing, or mail—before loading it into your car and driving off before your prospective buyers arrive.
5. Make a Checklist
Even if you eliminate clutter, clean your home every day, and keep empty laundry baskets handy for picking up loose objects, you’ll need to ensure that everything is clean and in its place before a real estate showing or open house.
When you’re busy cooking meals for your family and tired from the work day, it’s easy to forget to put dirty dishes in the dishwasher or take out the trash as you prep your home for a showing. However, putting together an open house task-list that includes things like securing your valuables, opening the curtains or blinds, turning on all the lights, eliminating odors, and taking out the trash can help you to ensure that your home will look clean and spotless by the time your prospective buyers arrive.
A Final Note
Selling a home that you continue to live in with your family isn’t easy, but these five tips will save your sanity, alleviate some stress, and keep your house clean and tidy until it sells. You probably won’t be able to keep your kids from leaving their toys and books on the floors or countertops, but these simple tips will make the cleanup process a whole lot easier. And thanks to your efforts, you’ll have the house sold soon!