The home buying and selling process can be quite daunting and comes with its own unique challenges. If you have ever tried selling a home with children, you know how truly difficult it can become to stage your home when you have kids.
Most of us have been there. We PCS to a new duty station and purchase a home, sometimes sight unseen (and it could be our first home purchase or our fifth). And just as we feel the house has become our “home” it is time to pack up and move on to the next place the military sends us. Does this sound familiar?
At MilHousing Network, we know exactly how that feels! Here are some tips we had in mind just for you!
How to Stage Your Home With Kids (and Keep Your Sanity)
Pick up and Put way
Picking up and putting away toys is a daily struggle. The last thing you want though is to rush out of your home in a hurry for a showing, leaving kid toys strewn about. Take extra time and care to scour the floors and nooks and crannies to find and organize the toys in bins. One trick is to have a “ready to go box” to throw all the toys into and head out the door. If you have extra time, pick up and put away all items in closets or in organizing bins.
RELATED: What You Need to Become a Toy Minimalist
Find Quick Storage Options
Staging a home to sell can be difficult, but think “neutral and simple.” There are so many items that create great statement pieces as well as provide storage. Do you have an ottoman storage bench or coffee table storage? These are great pieces to quickly store children’s toys in a hurry. Have a plan to put a small crate or Dollar General bin in the closets to hold those items you quickly need to put away.
Take down fridge art and family photos
Children’s art on the fridge and walls can quickly look like clutter. Now is the time to go through the house and take down all personal items, including children’s artwork, especially those on the fridge. Keep the fridge free and clear. You want potential buyers to walk in and feel that space is big. Too much clutter will make the space feel smaller than it really is.
Wipe Down & Clear Off Surfaces
Grab a magic eraser, get on your knees at the eye level of your children, then start scouring and scrubbing. Scrub away those crayon marks, kid scuffs, and just general dirtiness that you might see. Be mindful that those looking at your home will potentially look in your kitchen/linen/coat closets too, so avoid throwing items in there to get them off the floor and “out of sight.”
Clean the Bathrooms
Take a few minutes to put away children’s toothbrushes, toothpaste, and clean any gunk that might have collected in the kid’s sink or bathtub. It is helpful to keep some Clorox cleaning wipes in the bathroom for quick access to wipe clean the countertop and mirror. Relocate any potty training materials or diapers under a cabinet or linen closet.
Un Baby-Proof Your Home
Finally, check all the cabinets, toilets, and other appliances that have baby-proofing. Remove any barriers for potential sellers. Not knowing if any potential buyers have children, you don’t want to cater to just one type of family. You want to make the home inviting and easy to navigate. Someone walking through your home will remember how clean and open the space was, so keep that in mind.
We know that the home selling process can be stressful, but hopefully, these tips help sell your home! Staging is an adjustment, but if done right, it is temporary. If you need to solicit the advice of a trusted realtor, head to the MilHousing Network site to find a realtor near you that understands the military home buying and selling process.
As a military family, you need a real estate company that understands your unique needs. At MilHousing Network we connect military families with pre-screened military real estate experts all over the country. We’re built by military spouses to help military spouses and military families PCS better. Every home sold within our network directly supports the military spouse community by creating employment opportunities for our fellow spouses. Join our Facebook group or visit us online.
WANT TO READ MORE?
Check out Building Military Spouse Employment Through Real Estate
Sonia Garza is a proud Green Beret wife, mother to two, founder and editor of Spouse Connexion, an online publication for military spouses, and is a content writer for MilHousing Network. She resides in JBLM, WA. You can reach her at soniargarza@gmail.com.
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