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Sell With Kids At Home This Summer

Posted by Blog Admin on Monday, July 22nd, 2019 at 12:15pm.

Selling your home while living in it full-time with young kids can be challenging.   Whether you home school or you’re counting down the last days of summer break, kids tend to leave their mark. Cheerios under the couch, giant toy boxes in the living room, and messy kids’ bedrooms can indeed be turn-offs to buyers, so here are a few tips straight from real estate veterans who have seen it all:

Let Kids De-Clutter

Cleaning up and packing the clutter is the first step in any plan to sell a home, but with kids involved, it gets a little tricky.  A great way to avoid the tantrums caused by packing their favorite stuffed friends is to let them choose what stays and what gets packed and put into storage.  Explain that their things are not disappearing forever but will come back out to play when you unpack in the new house. Providing a “Donate” Box is also a great idea; kids like the idea that their old toys are not simply being thrown in the trash and forgotten.

Label & Pack with Style

Kids, especially those 10 and under, just want the process to be fun.  Let them pack their own toys when it’s time to move and let them get creative when it comes to marking the boxes.  Decorating the boxes with markers, stickers, and even colored duct tape serves two purposes: It lets kids participate in a fun way, and it certainly lets everyone know whose boxes are theirs on moving day!

Give Rewards

Once you’ve de-cluttered and scrubbed your home clean, it can be difficult to keep things spic and span while living in it with youngsters.  Even teenagers respond to rewards, if they’re the right kind.  Offer a special shopping trip, prize, or trip to the movies for keeping rooms in order while your home is on the market.

Get OUT for Showings

Even if you don’t have kids, it’s important to leave while your home is being shown.  You will only be a distraction to potential home buyers.  Plan some easy field trips – to the park, to the local ice cream shop, or even to the dollar store – to keep kids busy and out of the way when it matters.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

While you can try your very best to keep things tidy and encourage kids to do the same, life is sometimes messy.  Keep the beds made, the shelves dusted, and the carpet vacuumed, and don’t fret over the little things that look out of place.  Home shoppers will understand that the home is lived in and loved, not just a showroom.

Peggy Slappey Properties, Inc. is a Metro Atlanta real estate brokerage with over 35 years of experience in real estate sales and marketing.  From new home construction to resales, we can help you find the home of your dreams.  To see our current listings, visit www.psponline.com and call us for expert advice at 770-271-5555.  Keep up to date with the latest PSP events and offers by checking in on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/peggyslappeyproperties and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/psponline.

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