A Mummy’s Guide To Selling Your Home & Moving House (With The Whole Family In Tow!)
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They say two of the most stressful things you can do in life are to have children and sell your home.
However, when it comes to doing the latter when you have the former things can get tricky, to say the least. After all, not only do you have to provide all the usual parenting to your little ones but prepare your home for viewings as well as plan, negotiate, and pack up for the move as well.
A task that can be anything but simple, even when you haven’t got kids! Luckily, there are some tactics you can use to minimise any stress. Selling your home is a topic that you can read more about in my post below.
Selling Your Home
Think carefully before you put your home on the market before selling your home
The first piece of advice I have here is that you need to think very carefully before putting your home on the market when you have children. This is because not only is it much harder work to pack up your home, but you will be uprooting the kids as well.
Of course, this may not seem like a significant thing to adults. For children, moving away from everything and everyone they have ever known can be tough. Therefore, it’s vital that you factor in the impact that it will have on your children before considering a move.
Know about the place you want to move to before selling your home
It may seem like common sense, but you would be surprised at how many parents uproot their kids to move to a location without thinking it through as thoroughly as possible. In fact, this can even happen when considering moving overseas! This is something that can be particularly problematic. It is even harder to correct a mistake if you are in another country and away from your support system.
To that end, especially if you are thinking of moving abroad, it is wise to educate yourself. R
Clear away at least some of the kid’s clutter when selling your home
When it came to selling your home, clutter is a big no-no. Unfortunately, that means kids clutter such as toys and games as well. Of course, you don’t want them to have to pack away every single item they own. However, getting them to do a bit of tidying up is always a smart idea.
If you feel that your home has become overrun with the kid’s stuff, here is a tip! It can be useful to pack unused items into plastic boxes. Store them in the shed for the duration of the viewing. After all, less stuff will make your property look bigger. It will also help potential buyers to envision their items in the home as well. All things that can help to sell your home faster.
Entertain the little ones while people are viewing your home
Next, it is also a smart idea to ensure that the kids are well entertained when people come to view your home. After all, you will want to give them a positive and calm experience. If the little ones are throwing a tantrum, this can be difficult!
Some families even send their kids to a babysitter during open houses or individual viewings too. This is just to give
Prepare the kids for what is happening
Lastly, even when you are just in the selling stage and not at the moving step yet, it is crucial to explain to the kids that are old enough to understand what is going on. After all, having a bunch of strangers tramp through your home can be confusing.
Of course, by explaining that you may be selling your home and moving into a new one at this stage. You are also allowing your children enough time to process what is happening. Something that will help to prepare them better for when you do move as well.
Moving
Give yourself as much time as you can
Once you have sold your home, it comes time to pack up and move. It is essential that you give yourself as much time as possible.
Yes, I know that when you were young and first moved out all you needed was a few garbage bags and boxes. You could be done and dusted in a weekend. However, that really isn’t going to be the case when you are moving your entire family to a new property. Not if you all want to stay sane and happy, that is!
Have a plan for when things don’t go to plan
Next, this tip is imperative to remember. No matter how well you plan your home move, things don’t always go the way you want them to. In fact, it is pervasive for buyers to drop out, for things to be delayed, and the like.
What this means is that it’s also essential that you have a plan B in case this sort of thing does occur. After all, it’s not just you that will have to cope with the disruption but your kids as well.
That means if you have planned to leave your job, and then the time you need to stay in your current location gets extended, you will also need to have an alternate plan to bring in enough money to provide for your family until you take up your new job.
Allow the kids to say goodbye
The emotional side of moving is also something that you need to think carefully about when you have kids. Even if they are still quite young. In fact, you will want to give them enough time to say goodbye to their friends and family in the area. Something that you can do by having a going away party.
If they have any particular
Throwing a leaving party is a positive way to allow the kid to say goodbye.
Get the little one involved in the packing process
Of course, kids, especially those under 10 will be quite limited as to what they can do to help the packing process, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t get involved with it at all. Little ones are often much better at this type of thing than we would expect, albeit with some adult supervision.
It can be useful to start sorting through their items with them ahead of time and getting rid of anything that they have outgrown or no longer want, to make the packing processes much more manageable.
In fact, if you explain that they will be given these items to other little boys and girls that need them you may be really pleasantly surprised as to how well they perform at this.
Move the kids in first
It can also be an ingenious approach to move the kid into your new home before you get to grips with all of the other rooms and tasks. Of course, the way you do this will be different depending on how far away your new home is.
This is because if it is around the corner or on the other side of town, you can just pack up the kid’s items, and then unpack them when you arrive at the new home. Something that means they will be settled with their beds, bedding, and familiar items straight away.
However, if you are moving further afield or even overseas, you won’t be able to make a trip just dedicated to your children’s possessions. Instead, you will need to pack up their stuff last, something that can work pretty well to keep them settled anyway. Then, as these items will go on the van last, they can be unpacked first, and you can achieve the benefits mentioned above.
Get some supervision so you can focus on what matters
Finally, anyone that has ever moved home before knows that moving is not only stressful, but hard work, and you need to be able to give it your full attention.
This means that moving with kids and having to keep an eye on and tend to them as well can make it even tougher.
To that end, it can be constructive to ask a family member or a trusted friend to look after the kids while you pack up your old home and then unpack your new one.
Of course, if you take the time to move the kids in first as suggested in the section above, they will still feel involved in the process too. Something that means you can move home with as little stress as possible and begin your life as a family in a new location as quickly as possible too.
