How to Sell a Home During Back-to-School Season

It’s almost back-to-school season again.  And, though your kids might be excited to get back into the swing of things, you might be wondering how you’ll survive the start of the school year with your home on the market.  It can be difficult enough to manage showings (and don’t forget about staging) with kids out and about, locked into their summer routines, but throw the back-to-school rush into the mix, and it can be down-right overwhelming to try to sell your home.

So, to keep you and your family sane as you attempt to sell your home during this crazy time of the year, here’s what you can do to minimize stress, and keep your home show-ready:

• Create a Blank Canvas – While you may love all of those personal touches that make your house a home, now you need to re-calibrate to create a blank slate with potential buyers in mind.  When you’re trying to sell a house, it’s not about whether or not you feel at home; it’s about whether or not the buyers feel at home. This means it’s time to pack up all of your kid’s art, and take those family photos off of the fridge, because it’s hard for buyers to see past your life to see theirs.    
• Create Easy Storage – With all of the back to school chaos and new supplies, clothes, shoes and more littering your floors, it’s time to box it all up.  You can easily manage this chaos by creating easy storage that’s both functional and attractive since it will have to stay somewhere in your house.  Look for storage in large bins or even benches that can double as furniture. Just make sure that everything fits away nicely so that no stray items are left loose, and only keep the most critical, every-day items.  The rest you can pack away and put into storage along with everything else that isn’t essential to your everyday routine.
• Create a Prep Checklist – When you list your home for sale, you don’t want any showings to catch you off-guard, so create a prep checklist, and set scheduled buffer zones for all home tours.  This way, as soon as you get word that a potential buyer wants to look around your home, you can just go down your checklist to quickly and efficiently tidy up your home to take it from back-to-school chaos to summer chill mode.  And, don’t forget to include the outside of your home.
• Have a Showing “Escape” Plan – Plan ahead of all showings to have you and the family out of the house during tours.  Identify a number of places where you can pass the time, even quiet places where kids can get their homework done.  These times can even be used as opportunities for back-to-school shopping excursions.
• Pack Your “Escape” Supplies in Advance – Be sure to have all backpacks ready to go at a moment’s notice with all of the supplies that you and your family might need while you’re out of the house during showings.    

Selling a home inevitably presents challenges. But, with a little preparation, there’s no reason you can’t get your family in the back-to-school mode and still present your home’s best side to prospective buyers.