Saturday, January 05, 2013

Home sweet home

We are counting down the days now until we all are together in Richmond with Brandon. He goes back to work on Sunday and will stay until Friday.

This week we met with our movers and planned our packing and loading times. We also had a showing and finished the house inspection and our home loan application.

Buying a home is hard work. But, so nice that we have help with it. I don't know how people move without it.

Showing a home with kids (aka herding cats)

Selling our house is going well. We haven't had any offers yet (one month on market), but we have lowered the price and have had 5 showings. This isn't exactly the ideal month to sell though. So we are happy with this traffic.

Here are some tips for showing homes with kiddos or what I have been doing.
1. Eliminate clutter.
2. Paint your areas that are bright (blue or green) to a more neutral palette.
3. Add bowl of fruit.
4. Use oxiclean to make everything sparkle. Put it in your sink and let it set for 20 min.
5. Open your windows and make sure your home has no lingering odors. We hated going to houses that smelled like their animals or strong cologne.
6. Light. Make sure your home is fresh, light and clean. It doesn't have to be decorated amazingly. Just really fresh. Open all your blinds and turn on all of your lights.
7. Hide clutter or daily items in baskets.
8. Make sure toilet lids are closed and showers and fridges are clean. People look here.
9. Have a nice greeting for them at the front door. We have a live wreath that smells like cin. and clean the storm door with windex.
10. Breath. Do all that you can, but realize you have kids. And that's just equals imperfection sometimes.