Tips For Living In Your For-Sale-Home

Tips For Living In Your For-Sale-Home

If you will be living in your home while it’s the process of being sold, you can continue to make it feel like home, while having it sale ready and available for the next viewing.

Start Packing Early

As soon as you know you will be moving from your home and putting it up for sale, start packing! Begin clearing the home of any items that are not used often and items you can live without until they are delivered to your new home. Now is a great time to decide whether to keep, discard or donate any items. Any out of season clothing can also be packed. Potential buyers want to see a home free of clutter, to envision their life in this space. If you already have access to your new home, you could begin moving a first load. If you still don’t have a new home or plan to move everything at the same time, consider renting a Storage space to store your belongings while your home is on the market.

Clean And Presentable

In addition to living minimally in your home during the for-sale period, you will also need to make sure the home is kept clean and tidy. Once the majority of items have been removed, you will need to have the home cleaned to a very high standard. If you will be doing the cleaning yourself, have a walkthrough and really scrutinize each room to see what needs to be done and create a cleaning checklist. If you do not have the time, or if you prefer, you could hire a professional cleaning service. Once the house has been cleaned, it will need to be maintained. This means tidying up as the day unfolds: making beds in the morning, clearing dishes once meals are finished, vacuuming and dusting regularly. These small tasks will allow you to enjoy living in the home while at the same time being ready to leave, should a showing be scheduled.

Valuables And Personal Items

Any valuable items such as jewelry, documents, credit cards, checks, and medication, should be securely locked away for the duration that the home is on the market. Find a place that is safe and can be locked, such as a safe or a drawer. Keep the key with you, or in a place that is not in the home. Never leave mail lying around. There might be multiple viewings of the home and knowing your valuable belongings are safe, is one less thing to think about. There are many prospective buyers who will look through everything, including drawers and closets. If you will have computers and laptops in the home, make sure to enable passwords. Let your realtor know that clients should always be accompanied while in your home.

Be Ready To Leave At Short Notice

Living in a for-sale home means having to be ready to leave at any given moment. Prepare a bag of items and keep it in a place where it is easily accessible in a rush. Put things inside that you know you will need, and keep a mental list of items that you will want to include but might be in use on a daily basis, such as laptops, chargers, wallets, and have all these items close so they are ready to be picked up and placed in the bag. If you have children, consider what they will need should they need to leave the home on short notice. Agree with your realtor a certain amount of time before a viewing is scheduled. This could be 1 hour or 2 hours, whatever you and your realtor agree upon to allow for a successful exit, leaving you and the home to be bought with a sense of calm. Even with this agreement, in most probability there will still be a few last minute showings.

Pets

Your pets will also need to survive living in a for-sale home. It is best that they are not present during any of the open house days, or scheduled showings. If you have a trusted friend, family member or neighbor that can pet sit on short notice, this is a great option. If your pets are furry and shed fur, make sure to clean up after them. Also, keeping their toys, bedding and feeding bowls to a minimum will help when having to quickly pack up their stuff.

Make A Checklist

Like a Moving Checklist, have a checklist of all the little things to be done prior to each showing. This could range from vacuuming the dog hair, fluffing the pillows, or emptying the dish rack. Once these have been done, grab your to go bag and let the potential buyers see their new home and imagine their new life.

Spending time in the beginning to create a “staged home” will really have its benefits in the long run. The home will be more desirable and in all probability, will sell quicker. With most of the items not in the house, cleaning and maintenance will be far simpler and you will experience living minimally. Once the final sale goes through, packing up the remaining items will be a breeze, as all the hard work has already been done.