5 Tips for Maintaining Your Sanity When Selling Your Home

Have you noticed a theme? Over the past few months, I have mentioned moving, purging, and selling my home quite a few times. Well, I’m sorry, but this is my life right now! Originally I stated that my husband would be moving in during the summer. Well, we decided to go another route. We are building a new home! It will be OUR home. Moving can be a very long road depending on the path that you take. And, it is very stressful. Some people may consider themselves pros, but I have not moved that much in my adult life. I have moved only 4 times so far as an adult, and one of those was a temp move to my mom’s house while waiting for our home to be complete. Move #5 and #6 are coming up soon. Although not many, each time I have moved I have learned something. I have learned a bit about making things go smoother. And my HGTV obsession has provided many tips for preparing a home for sale. Here are a few things to consider when selling your home.

Make a List

I’m obsessed with making lists… on actual paper. I make lists for everything! Do I always mark everything off? Most of the time. 🙂 While moving in general includes a certain set of things that need to be done, selling your home adds a whole new set of to-dos. Things like painting, getting the carpet cleaned, removing family photos, hiding valuables, making repairs, and finding a realtor gets added to the home selling list. And for moving make separate lists. Make a list for packing. Make a list of companies, credit card companies, etc. that you need to remember to change to your new address. Make a list of utility companies to switch over your service. And make a list of things to check and do once you move into your new home.

Get Help

You cannot do it all. Don’t drive yourself crazy trying to. Enlist the help of friends and family to help you pack up items for donation, move furniture, or do repairs around the home.

Purge Early

I am so proud of myself! Once I knew that I would be selling my current home I set a plan into action and started purging. In fact, I wrote about purging on this site back in March. As mentioned I watch HGTV all of the time. Plus, I have viewed plenty of homes. I like to think that I know what turns buyers on and off while viewing a home. And while you know it’s important to look at the bones of a home rather than the stuff, having a ton of stuff around makes this harder. Get rid of as much as you can. You may have to get a storage locker. I highly recommend getting a PODS unit. So easy! They can deliver it right to your driveway so that you can load it up at your leisure. I have one being delivered in a few days.

Secure Your Valuables

While we want to think that all people are good, they’re not. You never know who might come view your home during the open house. It’s usually 2-4 hours of your home being open to whoever wants to walk through. Of course, most of these people are looking for a new home, but again… you do not know them. Sometimes people bring friends or family members with them to attend open houses. Even your neighbors may decide to roam through. The day of my open house people got here early. They were lining up outside before we even left! I wrote once before about how uneasy it made me to have strangers roaming through my home while all my possessions are still here. Yes, I am selling the house, but until I do, it’s still my house! My family and I still live here. Secure your valuables in a safe like the SentrySafe Extra Large Digital Fire Safe. Put away electronics that you do not need to use over the next few days. Hide things under the bed. There is no reason for everyone in the neighborhood to know what you have in your home.

Clean, Clean, Clean

As mentioned above, you want your home to give a good first impression. It should not only be clutter-free, but clean. Dust, clean the chandeliers, get the cobwebs that you usually don’t even notice. Buyers will notice. People who put offers on your home will get to know a bit about you! They will know your name, and maybe more! You never know who they know! I have an image to uphold. The last thing I want is someone posting on Facebook that they visited a home today during an open house and it was filthy. All it takes is one mutual friend who knows you to put two and two together and start rumors about your housekeeping skills.

These are just a few of my tips for attempting to maintain your sanity while selling a home. But, trust me… you will lose some of it anyway. 🙂 Just keep the finish line in mind. It will all be worth it!

What are your tips?

Disclosure: This post is brought to you by Master Lock. All opinions are my own.