These tips will help you maximize your profit and maintain your sanity.

How can you live in your house while you put it on the market for sale? Your home has always been your sanctuary, your one true personal space, but now it’s listed for sale and will soon get a ton of foot traffic.

Of all the noteworthy things involved with selling a home, one thing people don’t often talk about is how truly weird it is to be living in a for-sale property. This can get very stressful, and make it really difficult to continue living your normal life in your house, especially if you have young children or pets. So here are five tips that we put together to help you continue living your life in your for-sale home and keep things a little bit less hectic.
“This can get very stressful and make it difficult to continue living your normal life.”

  1. Start packing now. The weeks before your home gets listed for sale are the best time for clearing out clutter and minimizing the amount of stuff you have to deal with while your home is listed for sale. Think about everything you know you can live without while your home is on the market, and then pack it up and get it out of the house. Packing and storing boxes in the attic or garage is completely acceptable. We want to open up as much space as possible, so we’re emphasizing the floor space in the square footage. The larger it feels, the more money you’ll get.
  2. Sell, donate or throw it away. In addition to packing up the things you don’t have a use for in the near future, spend some time looking through your belongings and get rid of everything you no longer want or need. Less is always more when it comes to both optimizing your home for a quick sale and moving, so edit down your items and don’t hold on to anything that isn’t serving some sort of purpose in your life. We recommend that if you haven’t touched an item in a year and it’s not an heirloom or a close memory, then it’s time to part with it and try to at least donate items that are still in decent condition that other people can make use of.
  3. Get squeaky clean. You’ll need to do a major deep clean before having professional photos taken for your listing sheet. After that, it’s just a matter of maintaining the same level of cleanliness. A clean, cared-for house can net you $5,000 to $10,000 more for your sale. Shoot for a five-star hotel perfection when cleaning and focus particularly on the bathrooms, the kitchen, the windows, and the floors. Just make it sparkle.
  4. Always maintain privacy and safety. Living in a for-sale home means you never know who will come through. So it’s important to think about the worst-case scenario and safely stow away valuable items, important documents, and even prescription medications. Clear out space in a safe or lockable drawer and keep these items there for the duration of the time your home is on the market. Buyers will be looking through your closets and other areas people typically wouldn’t see, so we want to ensure there’s nothing valuable or personal anywhere they can find. If you’re unsure about an item, be on the safe side and lock it away someplace secure. This includes medications as well.
  5. Involve your children. Get the kids to help. Nothing’s better than having your kids be part of the selling process. The easiest way to get them involved is through games or a reward system, so they help you clean the house and prepare it for showings. You won’t believe how motivated kids can get when there’s something fun tied to a chore.

If you’re considering selling your property, please have a professional walk through the home with you to determine what work should be done. If you would like help building a strategy for prepping and servicing your home for sale, give us a call at (916) 919-5775. We love the opportunity to help.