Quick ways to Keep Your Home in Show Condition
This week’s question came via Twitter.
“We currently have our home on the market. We asked our Realtor to give us as much notice as possible for showings, but occasionally we get last minute calls. My husband and I both work and we have three kids. Keeping the home looking good is a real challenge. Any suggestions?”
Thanks for the question. It IS a challenge to keep the house looking top-notch while selling. Whether you have kids, pets, a husband like me… keeping the place not just cleaned up, but show quality, has the ability to drive someone insane.
I contacted a bunch of my clients, all with 2+ kids, two full time working parents, and all with ready-to-show at any time homes. Here are their suggestions:
One of my clients (with FIVE kids!!!) takes her mess to work with her every morning. “On the way out in the morning, I grab a clothes basket, and throw everything in it that needs to be dealt with. Clothes, toys, dirty dishes, etc. all go in the basket. Then I throw it in the car when I leave. I deal with it when I get home.” What a great idea!
Another client handled things with her three kids in a slightly different manner. “Every morning I pulled around one of those three-bin office containers on wheels. I put everything from each kid in their corresponding bin. At the end of the day, if their bin wasn’t clean, everything in the bin was thrown away.” Yikes!! But guess what? It worked.
Yet another client, with two children under the age of four, handled things another way. “On my way out the door, I Windexed my way out of the house. Everything got a quick wipe down.”
There is a definite pattern here. All three clients began their explanation saying “On my way out” or “Every morning.” Some clients I work with freak out when they get a call for a showing because they do not keep up with general cleaning of the house. If you tackle this chore every morning, it’s really not much of a chore at all. But if you put it off to once a week, especially if you have small children, it can turn into a monumental task. And you can’t just throw things into the closet, or shut a door to hide a mess from a possible buyer. Buyers are going to open every door in the house. The house has to be actually clean.
Keep the questions coming! Hit me via Facebook, Twitter, or Email. And don’t forget to subscribe to my blog.
Thanks!
~Troy
