Top 15 Tips for Selling your Home with Kids

Want to know the top tips for selling your home with kids? I’ve learned a thing or two myself by selling a few homes as a parent. And I’m going to share the top 15 tips to sell your home with less stress and anxiety. So, whether you’re planning to sell a home with young kids like a baby or toddler or have older kids in elementary school or even teens, here are tips to help.

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How to sell a house with kids

Give the kids a heads up – let your kids know that you’re going to sell your home. And let them know what to expect. Give them an age appropriate detail. Things that may seem common knowledge to you, they probably wont even consider. So, let them know what you’ll need to do to prepare, what showings are like, and how long you expect the process to take.
Make your home appealing – not everyone that goes to see your home will like the pink walls. I’ve shown properties to buyers that had girls, but they didn’t like that particular shade of pink. Your home should be appealing to your target buyer. If possible, repaint any gender specific walls a neutral color.
Remove personal kid items – this includes family pictures, kids’ artwork and names on the wall. I would also add that you should take your kids electronic devices with you when you leave for the day or whenever you leave for a showing. And remove all magnets from the fridge. Thanks to model homes, HGTV and social media, you’re competing with people’s high expectations on what their next home will look like.
Have a showing plan in place – plan ahead what you’ll do with the kids when you have an unexpected showing. Create a plan for various times of the day. So, if your kids have a nap time or dinner time that you’d rather not mess up, see if you can go somewhere else during those times. Do you have a close neighbor or friend that you can go visit? Or is a relative willing to allow you to use their place during that time? Get organized and prepared will help alleviate stress.
Have a cleaning plan in place – plan to check for clean rooms daily. If kids are older (teen) offer a daily prize to the person with the cleanest room or the weekly winner. Use and follow a daily clean-up checklist. I also recommend investing in a Roomba. Here’s a trick – have the kids sleep on top of the covers, but under a blanket. This way, they never have to actually make the bed. They simply remove the blanket and put it in a bin and smooth out the covers. Here’s a trick – have the kids sleep on top of the covers, but under a blanket. This way, they never have to actually make the bed. They simply remove the blanket and put it in a bin and smooth out the covers.
Stage your home – a professional stager will set up exactly how the home should look when it’s shown to perspective buyers. This is the ideal and your goal should be to always have it look nice for buyers.
Purge and get a storage unit – you’ll want a place to put all the extra stuff. The fewer the toys, the less chance for clutter. Only save your kids top toys – less than 10 or 5. Something that’s easy to count and can be put away at a moment’s notice. It’s easier to clean up and store bigger toys like stuffed animals – so try to put away the action figures and Legos. They’re harder to tidy up in a pinch. And consider putting clothes in storage too. Keep 7 outfits and put the rest in storage.
Make it a game – if kids are older, see how quickly they can clean up. When you have to leave the house at a moment’s notice, make it fun for your kids. Oh, guess what! We get to go to the park! This is our chance to go to the children’s museum or the zoo! Get a season pass so that it’s not such a strain on your budget. Know your library’s schedule. Keep a list of movies you want to see. There are many things you can do throughout the day if you do a little research and make a plan.
Deep clean – if you can’t afford a professional clean, then create a plan to thoroughly deep clean your house. And then create a weekly and daily schedule to do touch up cleaning. Using these to deep clean will help erase years of kiddy grime.
- For hardwood floors, I recommend Bona
- A good stainless-steel cleaner for the dishwasher, oven, fridge is Method Steel for Real.
- For windows and mirrors, I love to use Method Glass & Surface (the Mint scent smells amazing)
- For wall scuffs, try Clean Magic Eraser
- Quick clean ups: Clorox wipes
Make it easy to show – you’ll hear a lot of people recommend that you have a one- or two-hour showing notice request added to the listing. I’m here to ask you not to do that. A lot of times, buyers are fickle, and they will go to look at another house if they can’t look at yours. And vice versa. They may have looked at another home down the street from yours that didn’t meet there needs. And on a whim, they want to see yours. A two-hour notice makes that impossible. If you get a last-minute request, almost any buyer can understand if you stay you need 15 minutes to get out the house. However, don’t be the listing that says the home can’t be shown during nap time, dinner time or early bedtime. Yes, I’ve seen it to where the house had very limited showing hours. It makes the buyer wonder if the homeowner really wants to sell.
Make it easy on yourself – make quick-cook meals or increase your budget for dinners out. This is the time to start using paper plates and plastic utensils. The fewer dishes the better. Start to incorporate one pot meals, or crock pot meals into your menu. If it hasn’t become obvious, this probably isn’t the best time to schedule an at-home birthday party, sleepover or play date.
Deodorize – there are several ways to neutralize any odors in your home. The first is to use some Febreze and the second is to add a scented air freshener. Some other ideas include opening up the windows to keep the home smelling fresh. Some of the best scents to help sell your home include lemon, orange, basil, vanilla, pine and cedar.
Gets a bathroom and kitchen caddy – to quickly store your toiletries. Know that this keeps the cabinet drawers organized and neat. The caddy also makes it easy for you to pull out everything you need quickly and have one central location for all your items.
Hiding places will be discovered – don’t try to shove all of your items in a cabinet or closet. The more a buyer likes a home, the more they’ll look at. This includes opening all closet and cabinet doors to see if there’s enough storage.
Stay positive – last but not least, your home will sell! This is just a season, and it will pass.

Moving Prep Checklist

Getting ready to sell? Download my FREE checklist that tells you exactly what you need to do to get your house ready to sell..