Selling And Showing A Home With A Baby

Selling and Showing a home with a baby.

Selling and showing a house with a baby is not easy feat.  We have not sold our home year but I can’t wait till we do and I can get a break from running around and cleaning all the time.  It has only been 4 days since we have had our home on the market and we have already had 5 showings.  Initially we thought that we would rent out our home when we found out that we would be moving to Ithaca, NY.  (See Monday’s post for more details!)  After looking at the rent per square foot and thinking of the hassel of being so far away from the property, we decided to list it.  We have only been in our home 2 years this July.  It is definitely bittersweet.  I feel like you put so much love into your first home, and I certainly have!

The day we decided to list our home, I went to bed that night with my mind racing of everything now that we had to do to get ready to sell.  Our home is 20 years old, but looks pretty good for the age.  There is always something to do though to get it ready to sell.  We touched up cabinets, painted the ceiling, pressure washed and deep cleaned.  Exhausted is the only word that I can think of after that weekend. My husband has gone above and beyond helping out and I definitely could not have done it without him.

Having a baby running around all the time makes it hard to keep things in order.  Here is what has helped me get ready to put the house on the market and survive my first week of showing.

  1. Put away extra toys before you list.  I went through George’s room and boxed up 2 big boxes of stuffed animals, blocks (definitely box those up!) puzzles and extra books.  I found this week by getting rid of toys with smaller pieces has helped so much in keeping his room picked up.  He loves his legos, so I put them all in a pretty basket and placed them in the top of his closet.  They are easy to pull out and look nice when put up.  I also through a pretty throw over a basket in the living room to hide the toys beneath.  Can you spot it in the pictures below?!
  2. Pick up and clean up EVERY night before you go to bed.  Now I should do this all the time, but some nights I am so darn tired.  This week though I have cleaned the kitchen good every night and put away all the clean dishes.  Walking into a clean, neat kitchen in the morning is a great way to start the day. I have also tidied up all the rooms before bed that way we are ready to go if we have an early showing.
  3. Eliminate everything you possibly can from your kitchen counter.  My realtor told me to pack up mostly everything for pictures and I have left it that way since.  My kitchen looks so much bigger and more appealing with wide open counter tops!
  4. Keep special treats and water in the car for showings.  Showing is stressful with a baby, especially with nap schedules and night time schedules.  George has been a trooper this week.  I bought a few of his favorite fruit gummy treats to have in the car for showings.  This way when he has whined about getting in his car seat AGAIN, I tell him I have treats and he gets all excited! 🙂  Keep water on hand too.  After running around like a crazy person, Chris and I both get in the car and notice our thirsty we are! Water bottles are life savers.
  5. Save TV time for cleaning time!  Yep, no shame over here in turning on George’s all time favorite show, Shaun the Sheep for cleaning time.  We have a 2 hour window before a showing and I turn on that TV, give him a snack and he is set.  He does not peel his eyes away! I have learned though to save TV time till that time when I have to clean because if I do it before, he gets bored and wants to help me vacuum.  🙁

This is what has helped me survive this first week and season of life! I would love to hear what you moms have done when you have sold and showed a home! 🙂  I hope you all have a great weekend.  We are headed to Destin today to the beach for a week.  A vacaation is just what this mommy needs.  I hope each and every one of you mom’s have a great Mother’s Day weekend. XO!

 

Selling and Showing a home with a baby.
Selling and Showing a home with a baby.
Selling and Showing a home with a baby.

Selling and Showing a home with a baby.
Selling and Showing a home with a baby.
Selling and Showing a home with a baby.

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10 Comments

  1. May 13, 2017 / 2:38 pm

    You have such a beautiful home! I moved several times with my parents and remember how hectic it can be before showings!

    By Lauren M

    • McKenna
      Author
      May 17, 2017 / 11:44 am

      Thanks so much! Moving is for the birds lol! Can’t wait to be in a forever one day and never move again!

  2. Courtney
    May 14, 2017 / 4:46 pm

    You have a gorgeous home! Best of luck on your move and thanks for all the tips! I’ll definitely keep these in mind for the future!

    Xo,
    Courtney whatcourtwore.com

  3. Christina
    May 14, 2017 / 8:04 pm

    I can only imagine the task of doing all of this with a baby!! But your home looks amazing and you have some life saving tips!!

  4. May 15, 2017 / 3:45 am

    Wow this is absolutely stunning! Best of luck!

    xo,
    Steph
    @trendyinindy || trendyinindy.com

  5. May 15, 2017 / 6:00 pm

    Your home is gorgeous! We are house hunting right now and I can’t even imagine how stressful it must be to list!

    xx,

    Lacey
    http://theglittergospelblog.com

  6. May 16, 2017 / 5:27 am

    I love this post!! There are some really good tips here. I’ll have to pass it along to friends with little ones.
    Angela