Selling My Home - Ideas to Keep Clean

We sold our home last September and had similar problems. Our Daughter had just turned one when we put the house on the market, so the clean up included dealing with her large play equipment. To keep the mess down we packed up all of our nonessential stuff and put the clutter we had collected in a storage unit. Lots of my husbands RC and gas powered toys went into storage as well as extra furniture. I also packed up my art supplies and drafting table, a major sacrifice for an artist.

The best advice our real estate person gave us was to keep the major areas like the kitchen counters clear of stuff. We also stopped putting magazines and newspapers in the living room. The one thing I wish we had done was to break down the extra bed in our daughters room. With that bed and the crib in the same room it made the space feel small.

Hang in there! Selling a house is tough, but once you are done and in your new home it is definately worth the hassel. Oh, be sure that they give you enough notice when they want to show YOUR home. I had a couple of realators that gave me a hard time about wanting to see the house immediatly because the were "in the area". It caused a lot of hassels for us. Six times I was called at work to go home and get out two dogs out of the house. On weekends they would call just after lunch or just after my daughter was down for her nap. You know the kicker was that after knocking myself out to accomodate these people none of their clients ever made an offer. The gal that bought the house saw it the first time with our agent. So, keep the faith and remember you have a life to live while the house is on the market.

hi M., i can cetainly emphathise with you, keeping your house in "showing condition" while caring for your family is not easy. when i was in your same situation, i found it helpful to keep in mind that your house will sell ( i am assuming that you have a competent agent that has priced your house correctly for the market, etc. ) and this period of time that you must keep the house presentable is relatively short. enlist the help of family/friends or if that is not possible you can even hire a moving company to help you begin boxing nonessential items ( the less stuff you have out in view, the less cluttered your space will be and the easier it will be to maintain a presentable space to potential buyers ) these boxes can be stored neatly in the garage or basement. i wish you luck with your move, keep your chin up ;) Z. d

One thing we did was to put a lot of stuff in our basement storage area. We put up over 1/2 of the toys and just rotated. Much less to clean up when there are less things out! Plus, it made the house look less cluttered! Good luck!

We just got an offer on our house and made it through the showing period. We were on the market 3 weeks and 3 days. I basically straightened every night after the kids went to bed. I then got the kids up 15 minutes earlier than usual and made beds and straightened their rooms. I tried to have several activities planned outside of the house each week just to stay away as, if we weren't there, we weren't making a mess. Showings can happen at the drop of a hat, so I kept a laundry basket handy to pick up last minute clutter and store on a shelf in the laundry room. I kept a vanilla candle which I would burn each morning for about an hour before we left the house. I also put a classical Baby Needs Bach cd in the player anytime we left since we didn't know if we'd get a showing while we were out and I'd have it repeat. We went to McDonald's and other fast food play areas a lot. Therefore, our 2 year old was sick with colds more often, but it was worth it since we received an offer. Now that we aren't showing anymore, it once again looks like we live in our home!

Now comes the equally hard part of trying to find time to pack for our new home without the kids "helping!" I think I'm going to have a lot of late nights packing while they are in bed.

Good luck to you, and I hope you receive an offer soon!

I have not recently sold my house but I am a mom and a local realtor. The best tip that I have is to ask your realtor to put on your listing that you require 2 hour notice before listings. Also work on packing some of the children's less used toys so that you have less to pick up when a potential buyer is coming through. Also remember that it is almost impossible to have a perfectly shown home, that is a goal but don't be so hard on yourself, you are only human and you have limits. Work on the major issues that will distract potential buyers not on the minor details.