AT reader Gen asks, "My condominium is for sale, which means that we have potential buyers coming by with very little notice, and open houses scheduled on the weekends. I have two children (one 3 and a 1/2 year old and one 13 month old) and my Realtor is gently suggesting that the place look as little as possible like children live here, to maximize our chances of selling. I laughed, but she is serious - nothing outside of their bedroom, and even that she wants looking spartan. We only have 2 bedrooms, no basement or external storage. Any ideas?"
We posted once that toy chests are the worst form of long term storage, but if all you need is short term storage, an adult-looking variation on toy chests might be the way to go.
Since your Realtor wants less a less kid-friendly atmosphere, maybe the trick is to hide the toys and general child-detritus in plain site, in very un-childlike containers. We really like these Resin Wicker storage boxes (pictured above), because they can be stacked, and also will fold flat if you don't need them in the new place. These are $17.99 each, and if it was us, we would buy a lot of them, and toss all the kids' stuff in them and then stack them unobtrusively somewhere, possibly in a closet, right before each showing.
Faux leather banker's boxes(right) are also pretty non-kid like, and could be filled, then stacked several high. And at $13.99 CAN each, a steal.
AT Readers, some of you must have been through the challenge of keeping a house in 'buyer ready' condition while still living in it with you kids. How did you do it, and keep your sanity in the process?
How about under-bed storage boxes? These hold a lot of stuff and can be hidden away for showings.
view Madhu 's profile
I like the suggestions above, but, do what you can, clutter-wise, and clean-wise, but please, don't make yourself crazy. I mean, how do you hide a high chair?!
I know I'm talking crazy here, but there are plenty of real live couples with 2 kids who live in... 2 BEDROOM APARTMENTS! Shameless! Get a good close friend or relative whom you trust to walk around with you and brainstorm trouble areas and then perhaps someone to come over Sat. morning before the open house to help pick up. It can be hard to occupy such young ones while picking up but a 3.5 year old can be enlisted to help out if you make a game of it. If you need a hiding place and you have a car, fill up a laundry basket with toys or whatever and put the basket in the trunk or backseat for the day.
view redcloverstar's profile
we also have tons of stuff in our apt that we don't need every single day (travel/umbrella stroller, carseat). depending on your situation, maybe you could box some of that up and store it with friends/relatives or in mini-storage? I have read that even no-child households are often told by aggressive realtors that they have too much stuff around, and that professional stagers do this all the time.
I'm not wild about stuffing things in closets, because a serious prospective buyer is definitely going to open those, and if they're a disaster it's not great.
view kjirsty's profile