Buying A Home
belle785
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Staging tips with baby
We are listing our house this week and have a ton of baby stuff that I have to find something to do with. Some of the stuff takes up quite a bit of room and he still uses (like his jumperoo & swing). I don't have room to store it in the closet to make it look like there is still room in there. I'm just not sure what to do with it. Also, how should I stage his room? What are items that I absolutely have to find a place for?
Last but not least, any other general staging tips that you have would be great! Thanks!
Re: Staging tips with baby
One of the hardest things about listing your home is going to be the pressure to keep it tidy, and "show-ready" at all times. With a baby, this challenge becomes even greater!
I would suggest finding some inexpensive storage ottomans or decorative crates with lids to hide the small stuff (stuffed animals, toys, etc) and commit to doing a 15 minute "clean sweep" each night, to put everything back in its place.
Small baskets can help corral items like powder, lotion, diapers, and wipes, and make them look like an organized display, rather than a group of clutter on the counter.
There may not be a practical way to completely hide the large items, especially if you use these everyday; I would make sure to store and clean the spaces around them, so that the rooms are not crammed. In a pinch, you can always move these items to the garage during a showing (buyers will have lower expectations of this room being clean and spotless)
IHeartOrganizing has some great tips on organization for kid stuff here:http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2010/03/march-featured-space-kids-stuffed.html
General staging tips:
*Keep bathrooms clean! (a dirty bathroom is a huge turnoff for everyone) Keep a bottle of cleaning solution handy, and give the counters and surfaces a quick wipe down every couple days. Doing this more often will cut down on the time it takes, and will keep it sparkling.
*Invest in an odor neutralizer. You will often not realize smells in your own home that could be a turn-off for others (especially if you have kids or pets!), but dousing the room in floral spray can be equally noxious. Neutralize the odors, and use a light clean scent sparingly.
*Replace burnt out light bulbs. All spaces show better with lots of light!
*Sweep off your front steps, and tidy up any garden spaces near the entrance. You don't need to go crazy and overhaul everything, but this is the first impression your home will make, so a neat and tidy front entry will set the mood for the showing.
The most important thing for your sanity is to invest in solutions that are easy for you to maintain on a regular basis -- the easier it is, the more likely you are to do it!
Hey. We just sold our home a few months ago and we have two little ones both under 2 1/2.
For their rooms, we just put away all photos, and things with their names on them. We put stuffed animals away in storage and we moved out some extra little pieces of furniture (a toy box and a little decorative stool. They are cute, but they took up space and we wanted the rooms to look as big as possible). We got rid of the diaper champ so there were no stale baby room smells and we always were sure to spray air freshener in there and open windows whenever possible.
As for larger items around the house like chairs and bouncy stuff. We tried to get as much of it as possible into the basement whenever there was a showing. We didn't hide it in the basement, just put it down there so it was out of the way and not taking up space.
In selling a home, you want your potential buyers to think the rooms are as big as possible. So, putting baby stuff away in a storage area (even your car) is good.
It's pretty darn inconvenient. But, it's tough to sell homes these days in most cases, so you want to do whatever you can. The little things matter.
For general staging...
1. Declutter your kitchen countertops...having a container of utensils, a plant and a coffee maker are pretty good. But, I wouldn't have much else.
2. Take all things off of your fridge doors/sides.
3. Take down personal knick-knacks and photos.
4. Declutter shelves of knick-knacks and piles.
5. Try to get your closets very orderly. If they can be 2/3 empty that's good. Use underbed stoarge to put out of season stuff.
6. Clean out and organize kitchen and bathroom drawers and cabinets.
7. Swap out any nasty looking bathroom items like rugs or shower curtains.
8. Scrub grout in bathrooms so it isn't dirty or mildewy. Tilex with bleach and a toothbrush plus good ventilation are great for this job.
9. Have some fresh cut flowers and potted plants.
10. Wash down your front door and porch area.
11. Cut shrubery away from house/shape it up and edge your lawn.
12. For showings, put on all of your lights even in the day time.
13. Be sure squeaky doors, stuck windows and loose items are fixed and burned out bulbs are changed.
14. The color yellow is said to evoke an urge to buy. So put yellow flowers in some places (kitchen, porch, etc.)
15. If the exterior of your home is dirty, power wash it (you can rent these at Home Depot for $77 for 24 hours).
16. Lastly, keep your emotions out of the process as much as possible. It's hard. But, you will do yourself a huge favor if you set your asking price right the first time. Everyone wants to think they can get tonsof money out of their homes these days. The truth is, you cannot in pretty much all markets. If you break even on your sale, consider yourself lucky. Expect to lose money.
I think one of the best tips I read in regards to keeping tidy and showing a house with little ones is to keep an empty laundry basket handy. Do a quick sweep throwing anything out of place into the basket and take the basket in the car with you.
I think big baby items are hard to hide. If you can't do what PPs mentioned of tossing in garage or basement on your way out, then I think you just keep it neat around the area. It is going to be clear you have kids, so the buyer isn't going to be surprised to see some of this stuff. The key (and obvious) is to keep the house neat and de-cluttered to the best of your ability.