https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 14 Apr 2026 07:20:44 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2820072 Thu, 03 May 2018 12:01:37 +0000 Mrs D 2820072@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Ms. RV: Good luck!!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2819999 Thu, 03 May 2018 03:43:17 +0000 Ms. RV 2819999@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My house is officially on the market! It has been on the market for eight hours and has already 46 views on Zillow. Open house in three days! Eep! Thank you for all the suggestions, ladies. My realtor was very impressed. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815617 Wed, 11 Apr 2018 10:26:57 +0000 dc yoga bee 2815617@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsSCB: that’s exactly what we did. We did a rentback and are currently renting our house. It’s weird lol </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815504 Tue, 10 Apr 2018 15:22:53 +0000 MrsSCB 2815504@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Could you do a rent back from the buyers for a bit so you don't have to stay in a hotel? That's not uncommon around here, anyway. We're letting the sellers of the home we just bought rent back for two months, and ours was one of a handful of offers they received even with the rent-back part of the contract.</p> <p>ETA: That wouldn't save you money, though, obviously. In our case, the sellers will be paying our mortgage for the time they stay in the house. Might still be cheaper than a hotel depending on your mortgage, though? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815446 Tue, 10 Apr 2018 12:18:27 +0000 dc yoga bee 2815446@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Ms. RV: Unfortunately, we couldn’t take off work either. I have zero leave or flexibility at the new firm I’m at. It sucked but we did it all at night when DD went to sleep or early morning before work. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815355 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 20:15:26 +0000 Ms. RV 2815355@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@avivoca: There is a good chance we will be potty training during all of this (we would rather wait, but DD is complaining about diapers) so I might pick up a can!</p> <p>@gingerbebe: I had no idea that carpet cleaning people did tile too! My kitchen floors are a hot mess. I totally just booked an appointment for the kitchen, hall, stairs, and family room (i.e., the only places that ever see foot traffic). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815350 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 20:02:13 +0000 Ms. RV 2815350@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gingerbebe: I have a pretty good steam cleaner now that generally makes a world of difference now. I am fortunate to have carpets in pretty good shape... but there are two rooms that could probably really use a professional. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815344 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 19:53:27 +0000 avivoca 2815344@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Ms. RV: this saved my bacon. It was like t never happened. She was sick but still it was the worst time to have diarrhea. </p> [attach=2564/18/p6y2h3.450x600.image.jpg] https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815343 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 19:51:22 +0000 Ms. RV 2815343@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@avivoca: :shocked: Bad dog! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815342 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 19:51:18 +0000 gingerbebe 2815342@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Ms. RV: OMG hire a carpet cleaner! The guy was in and out so fast and his machine is so much more powerful! We paid $150 to just do the high traffic areas of our 2000 sq ft carpeted house and he was done in like an hour. Renting a Rug Doctor plus the solution would have cost us like $50-75, plus the time and hassle, and it will NOT look that good. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815340 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 19:48:09 +0000 avivoca 2815340@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Ms. RV: I bought a Groupon for carpet cleaning. I outsource things like that. I probably *could* have rented one from the store and did it myself, but I didn’t want to. </p> <p>Now, when my dog shit on the carpet two days before our appraisal, I did clean that myself. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815339 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 19:46:49 +0000 gingerbebe 2815339@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Ms. RV: Since you have the storage unit, just throw everything into it ASAP! It doesn't have to be perfectly packed since you know its gonna sit there until you move into the new house several months from now. Particularly with your new baby coming and his/her health needs, just get it out of the house as fast as possible and deal with it later! At the end there, we literally were just hucking things into duffel bags and black garbage bags because I just needed everything out of the damn house. </p> <p>We actually had a problem with closing at our new house (paperwork error) so we were displaced in a VRBO for a week. It was the pits because had a deep freezer full of food, fragile things, etc. You know, the stuff you move yourself in bags with your car on moving day. We literally had to move all that stuff and store them into the garage of the VRBO and then move them again a week later to our new house. Not to mention all the stuff we actually needed to live for a week! The closest VRBO to our house was 15 minutes away so it was a lot of driving back and forth. UGH.</p> <p>So if you have any sensitive stuff like that, I'd ask a relative or close friend if you could store that stuff at their house now and retrieve it later so you don't have to worry about your husband juggling it while you and the baby are in the hospital. If you have a choice of rentals, maybe try to pick one that could be fun to make it an adventure. We rented a VRBO that had a pool, so that was a fun treat for our kids, and just made the best of it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815336 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 19:38:40 +0000 skipra 2815336@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went through a 2 part move while I was pregnant. My suggestion is to try and make it a single move. You can make that part of the contract that you won't close until x date or that you will close and rent it from new buyers for a certain amount of time. And hire movers whatever you do. My husband thought it was a good idea to try and do the first part with a friend. It was not. Hire movers! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815330 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 19:17:40 +0000 Ms. RV 2815330@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs D: You are crazy as me! And yes to the million plastic bins. We have soooo many and bought even more. </p> <p>@Mrs. Pickle: I hadn't thought about having a time block on showings. If the house is still on the market when DS comes home, I am so doing that. I looked into Airbnb (hadn't thought of that!) but everything around here says that they don't accept children. Boo.</p> <p>@Becky: Unfortunately we don't own the land where we are building, the developer does until the house is done. </p> <p>@avivoca: If you don't mind me asking, did you clean the carpets yourself or did you hire a company? I have an awesome steam cleaner, but I know it probably won't be as nice as professionals.</p> <p>@dc yoga bee: I wish I could take a week off work and just finish everything for the house, but I have to use two weeks vacation for FMLA for DS. Also, I have to do some weather dependent stuff and it still snowing. </p> <p>@muffinsmuffins: We just moved into our storage unit Saturday, and will probably be putting more stuff in it every weekend.</p> <p>@NorthStar: Thanks! I will definitely read this.</p> <p>@autumn865: We bought a storage ottoman to replace our coffee table so we could throw stuff in there in a hurry but I never thought of my car! </p> <p>@gingerbebe: Eating outside is such a good idea. Same with only using one bathroom. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815314 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 18:36:24 +0000 gingerbebe 2815314@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@autumn865: Yes, for sure about photos! Our realtor had a real photographer come and he took amazing photos in great lighting for our house. The listing looked great and really made all the hard work we put into the house shine.</p> <p>Another thing we did was we actually made tags and labeled all the fruit trees in our backyard (not relevant to everyone, I know), but apparently it was a hit with the people at the open houses. We had one lady apparently actually start weeping that she wanted our house SO bad because it was everything she had dreamed of (dramatic much??) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815274 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 15:49:45 +0000 autumn865 2815274@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We listed our home May 1st 2017 and after an open house and about 2 weeks later we were under contract. I agree with previous posts about the importance of decluttering and purging. My girls were 2 and 4 at the time. I went through their toys and books and packed away anything they didn’t play with much (probably about 50-75% of their toys actually) and they didn’t bat an eye. I went through closets and packed away anything I could, leaving only clothes we immediately wore. We have storage in the basement of my husbands office so everything went there. On days of showings the house was imaculate; counters completely clear and I would even go so far as throwing dirty laundry and dishes in bins and throwing them in my trunk so they were out of the house! On our open house days we brought our cat to pet smart pet hotel for the weekend and completely removed his food and litter box area. I also can’t stress enough the importance of good pictures. For most buyers looking online at the different real estate sites is their first impression of your home and may or may not lead them to asking their realtor to see your home. Dark, cluttered, weird angle pictures may turn off a buyer even before they step into your house. We did not set limits on times for showings figuring it’s a short amount of time (hopefully) and not wanting to limit the number of people seeing the home. It sucked (tbh) and there were a few nights and days we were definitely inconvenienced but in the end it’s worth it to sell your home. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815273 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 15:40:20 +0000 NorthStar 2815273@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Check out this blog post. She just did this and it has a bunch of great tips:</p> <p><a href="https://www.younghouselove.com/2018/04/staging-tips-for-selling-your-house/" rel="nofollow">https://www.younghouselove.com/2018/04/staging-tips-for-selling-your-house/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815272 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 15:30:16 +0000 muffinsmuffins 2815272@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would 100% rent a storage unit. We had a stager come and basically we had to declutter and make each room have a role rather than just random stuff everywhere. It was so easy to just box stuff up, rent a big van for a day (included in our storage unit fee) and drive everything that wasn’t essential there. Then pick it all up and move it to the new house! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815271 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 15:30:06 +0000 dc yoga bee 2815271@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are building a new house that will be ready first week of July. We spent five days getting our house "show ready." I mean "show ready!" We put 70% of our house into storage. We deep cleaned. We touched up little paint spots. Listed February 19, had five showings, and accepted an offer 5 days later just before the open house. The buyers wanted us to cancel our open house. Nope. Full list no closing costs. The absolute key was packing up 70% of our home. We also cleaned the bathrooms, vacuumed, and made the beds each day. Leave the fans on low so the house feels open and breezy. I did not light a bunch of candles or have home scents. Oh, and we made our dogs disappear lol. No evidence whatsoever that we own dogs.</p> <p>Oh yeah, also we painted the whole house pencilsketch grey by Behr about three months ago. I painted it with the idea that we would be selling soon and buyers love their greys. I'm in a townhouse community in the DC suburbs where townhomes are a dime a dozen. Why buy your two year old townhouse when I can buy new! That's why I had to try to make ours stand out as something move-in ready and like new (ours is 2 years old) that is also nicely decorated. </p> <p>Best of luck! Declutter!!!! We also emptied out the garage. One thing with townhouses is they're always lacking storage is a common complaint. Ours is 2400 sq feet and we have the same problem. Storage room! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815261 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 14:54:28 +0000 avivoca 2815261@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just listed our home in February. We listed Thursday, had 15 showings on Saturday, and accepted a contract on Sunday. It was nuts, Saturday was the worst day of my life because we couldn't be home, but it was done. I started getting the house ready about five months prior because I was doing everything as time and money permitted. I packed up 3/4 of our stuff and stacked it neatly in the garage. Our house looked PHENOMENAL. The only room we didn't do a whole lot to was our daughter's shared room. I took down anything with their names on it but basically left all the art on the walls because I wanted it to still be *theirs* as long as possible. We just cleared out a bunch of toys and made sure everything was neat and clean. I also cleaned the carpets prior to listing photos and it made a huge difference. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815252 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 14:17:43 +0000 Becky 2815252@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I haven’t done this myself, but my parents had an Air BNB in backup just in case they couldn’t get into their new house on time. That way you don’t have to unpack dishes, furniture, linens, etc and come in around the same cost as a hotel. They rented these storage cubes that in your case could be left on your new land. Also holy cow to how quick that close process could be. Ours was considered fast on the second house we bought at about 70 days. The first was 4 excruciating months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815233 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 13:37:36 +0000 Silva 2815233@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>this is really helpful. we suddenly found some land we like, and while I think we would just try to swing the ridiculous land only loan for awhile before building its comforting to know that even people with kids can list a house and have it go smoothly!</p> <p>my plan was to put half our stuff in storage and send my kids to my parents house the first week we listed. and hire someone to clean. you all are much more thoughtful! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815205 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 12:33:21 +0000 gingerbebe 2815205@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We sold our house last summer on extremely short notice and it was really crazy. But our house went way over list, sold way more than the comps in our area, and was under contract very quickly. We listed Thursday, had open houses Saturday and Sunday, had a dozen separate private showings over that weekend, and reviewed offers Monday night. </p> <p>DH and I took no time off during this process, we had 2 kids under 3, and it was like 115 degrees all summer so it was a lot. The biggest help for us was:</p> <p>- Our housecleaner, obviously. We let her know the house was going on the market and asked her to really focus on things like cleaning the walls, cabinet fronts, and baseboards in addition to the regular cleaning stuff. She really made a point to keep our windows sparkling too.</p> <p>- Our lawn service - we also let him know we were going on the market and told him to do what he needed to make the yard look as neat, pruned, and maintained as possible. </p> <p>- We rented a storage unit near our house. It made packing, staging, and decluttering so much easier because I could just have DH throw a bunch of stuff in the unit (it was like 1 mile from our house) as I packed it or tagged it for donation. We also removed all the excess toys and furniture in our house and it made the place look so much bigger and spacious. We ended up getting a 3 month rental on our unit (it was some special and it was a better deal on a bigger unit) and it was SOOO helpful. </p> <p>- Did small maintenance/touch-ups like every evening for about an hour. This was stuff like touching up paint, going at scuff marks with a magic eraser, replacing all the light bulbs with new ones to get a brighter light in the house, bigger/newer light switch faceplates, replacing mismatched towel bars/toilet paper roll holders/knobs, etc. I also recaulked all the bathrooms so they looked sparkling clean and neat. We laid fresh bark mulch all over the property. So cheap and easy and made the yards look so much better maintained. The year we sold the house we also took advantage of a Home Depot free install deal and replaced all the metal mini blinds in our house with the cheap 2-inch faux wood blinds. For $600 it made a WORLD of difference and made the house look so much more upgraded.</p> <p>- Hired a handyman and plumber to come do some smaller jobs that I knew would come up later during the contract period. I didn't want to deal with some long repair list and get angry about it, and it really helped me to stand pat against the buyer when they tried to ask for a zillion things because I knew I had done my due diligence. So we had 2 posts replaced on our patio, I had some some drywall and baseboards replaced in the bathrooms from where there was a little warping from water, and we replaced the sinks/faucets in the master bath. All of our choices were middle of the road, nothing super trendy, basic fixtures/colors.</p> <p>- We hired a carpet cleaning service to do the high traffic areas of our house right before the open house (so Friday) so that it was clean and perfect for the showings.</p> <p>- We didn't end up needing it, but we had the number of someone locally who hauled junk so that if we got to a point where we needed someone to just take a truck full of stuff to the dump, they could handle it. </p> <p>- We ate out or ate outside in the yard a lot. Kept things cleaner and easier. I kept drop cloths under the boy's chairs at the kitchen table so that it minimized floor messes. We took away a lot of their toys and stored them early on so that cleaning up every night was simple and fast.</p> <p>- We designated ONE bathroom to use in the 2 weeks leading up to list because the master bath had a big spa tub and a glass shower and a lot of counter space and I didn't want to constantly clean that area up. So we used our tub/shower combo guest bath for all of us and just kept all the bath products and toys and stuff focused in that one bathroom. </p> <p>- We were a family with 2 kids and we staged the house appropriately for that. People want to imagine themselves living in a home and we knew it was a perfect place for a family with kids, so we focused on that demographic. We put all the big toys outside on the patio arranged in a little play area, we had our high chair out, and we had a toy sorter with neatly organized toys visible. We had our boys' rooms staged to look as cute and coordinated as possible. </p> <p>- We decluttered our kitchen the most. Big kitchens sell and we just grabbed everything out of the cabinets, kept the counters as bare as possible, and kept it gleaming.</p> <p>- We kept the living areas pretty "adult" - meaning we didn't have a LOT of kid stuff out there visible and just staged our furniture in a way that was inviting. We also took down overly personal photos and things like that and just left up artwork. </p> <p>- We bought cheap hand towels, bath towels, and kitchen towels from Walmart and hung them to give it that hotel fresh feel. Everything looked coordinated and neat.</p> <p>- We got some plants to spruce up the house. Nothing big, but just a small potted succulent made our dining table look so much more inviting. </p> <p>People asked if our house had been professionally staged, so I took that as a huge compliment. May is a great time to sell so I'd just try to get in whatever maintenance and updates you can do now (take advantage of that nesting urge) and purge all the things! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815196 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 12:09:19 +0000 Mrs. Pickle 2815196@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I got a weekly house cleaning so that I could focus on keeping laundry, dishes, and toys cleaned up to keep the house show ready. </p> <p>Before listing I went through every single closet and drawer and donated, threw away, and stored what I could. I made sure every one of them looked neat and clean.</p> <p>I put a showing block on my house. I didn’t allow showings before 9am or after 7pm so that I could keep my toddler on her routine as best as possible. </p> <p>I planned to be out of the house every evening during the week for the first several days. I had multiple showings starting around 5pm. That was tough.</p> <p>My house got multiple offers the day it went on the market. We are closed on it on 3/30 and aren’t closing on our new house until 4/30. It’s tough! We stayed with my mom some, but she has a tiny house. We also spent a couple nights in a hotel. We are in an AirBNB now and it’s so much better. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815158 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 10:48:25 +0000 Mrs D 2815158@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went through selling our home in a crazy time (DD was 3 months old), over Christmas/Thanksgiving holidays, with DH in trial. I'm still not sure what I was thinking. Here is what worked for us:</p> <p>-I bought a million plastic tote bins, different colors<br /> -I prioritized purging first...I purged everything I knew I didnt want/need in my new home. I found a local church that takes all sorts of household items to re-purpose into the community<br /> -Next was packing what I knew we would not need (out of season, etc) into bins. I used a color scheme to pack bins - all kitchen items went in blue bins, all linens went in clear bins, holiday stuff into red/green/orange/etc bins.<br /> -Last was an assessment ... how cluttered did my house still look (mostly closets at this point). I then decluttered the closets, either into more big bins, or into smaller bins that could stay in the closets until it was time to list.</p> <p>All the big totes were stashed in the unfinished part of our basement, orderly. The stuff I packed last (to make it sufficiently un cluttered) stayed towards the front since there was a chance I'd need it. The smaller bins stayed in their closets until time of listing, then I had DH move it all down to the storage room.</p> <p>For food, I cooked a LOT and filled my freezer (and garage freezer) so I needed less cooking utinsels/tools to be unpacked.</p> <p>We hired a cleaning service to come every other week.</p> <p>I didnt use them at the time, but if I had known about ThredUp at the time I would have ordered a bunch of donation bags and just donated all my clothes that way rather than going to the church with all that stuff!</p> <p>Good luck...fwiw...we listed our house somewhat on the high side of the market and it sold in 12 hours for 5K over ask. The decluttering paid off big time for us! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-on-selling-home-with-a-million-other-things-happening#post-2815149 Mon, 09 Apr 2018 10:07:17 +0000 Ms. RV 2815149@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have decided to build a new house (downsizing and simplifying). It will be ready late July.</p> <p>I am planning on putting our current house on the market in early May. It will be priced to sell. Average time to contingency is currently 10 days in my neighborhood.</p> <p>I will be about 35 weeks pregnant with #2 when the house goes on the market. He will require a several week stay in the ICU due to a heart condition that will require surgery after birth. </p> <p>We won't be pulling DD out of daycare. </p> <p>If we close on selling the house before the new one is ready, we will probably end up staying in a hotel and possibly staying a week in our RV on OH's parents' land to save a little money.</p> <p>Any tips on maintaining sanity? We are already planning on outsourcing our lawn care, and we have moved a bunch of stuff we won't need for a while (i.e., Christmas decorations) to storage. </p>