If you’ve never sold a home before, then you probably aren’t aware about the challenges of Keeping Your House Clean & Tidy When Its For Sale.
Trying to keep your house clean when selling it is not easy, and if there’s more than one of you, then it has to be a joint or team effort.
If you have kids and pets, it makes it just that little bit harder and can feel like trying to climb Mt Everest with flip flops on. If your kids are young and can’t cleanup after themselves, then you need to make sure that the opportunity for them to create a mess is kept to an absolute minimum. A good idea, assuming they are of pre-school age would be to talk to, or bribe grandparents or favourite aunts or uncles for the kids to stay with them for a few days, or so to help minimise the chores.
If they are of school age, then there’s every chance they can be reasoned with, (or bribed) and also, they need too be aware that any messes made need to cleaned up (by them ideally) and that this is a non negotiable point.
Likewise, anywhere the children play or sit should be kept tidy and clean, and whilst it can be difficult at times, it does pay to pass on the responsibility to the children to make them feel like they’re part of the team and have as much input into the selling result as anyone else.
Apple cores, lolly wrappers, toys, or anything else they might leave behind should all be followed up (by mum or dad) to get the kids familiar with the expectations, albeit for a three to four week period whilst the house is being marketed for sale.
Other keys things you need to ensure are done every day are;
1) Making sure the breakfast or dinner dishes are washed and put away each and every day. Whoever is the last to leave in a morning needs to allocate a few minutes to clean the dishes, or put them into the dishwasher, put away any rubbish in the outside bin, give kitchen benches a wipe over with a clean wet wipe, and put away any appliances that may have been put to use in the morning (jug, coffee machine or toaster, etc)
2) Make sure you pick up all or any dirty laundry off the floors and either deal with it immediately or alternatively hide it away in large scale laundry baskets (out of sight) so that it can be dealt with at a later time.
3) Keep a ready supply of wet-wipes and other ‘easy wipe’ cloths handy for cleaning up those ‘little messes’ that happen unexpectedly and often including pet messes, cat fur, dog smells, kids spills, etc. Also having a bottle of spray and wipe handy (next to the wipes) will make cleaning up those ‘little messes’ that much easier.
4) Having floor mats at the front door or by the entry door from the garage (if you have internal access from garage) helps to keep the floor clean. In terms of helping to keep the floor clean, have a shoe rack by the front door or garage entry, so that all shoes can be removed upon entry into the home.
Make this a non negotiable point for all family members. It will make floor cleaning maintenance just that little bit easier not having to deal with bits and pieces bought into the home on shoes. Also having a rechargeable mini vacuum handy allows you to quickly vacuum up any of those little spillages or those food crumbs that can’t help but be attracted to the clean floor. (As an aside-I heard an old saying about Murphy’s Law recently that I thought was hilarious (but true) -‘the chances of a piece of jam covered buttered bread falling face down on your carpet is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet’)
5) Consider the thought of using disposable paper plates and plastic cutlery-use whilst you’re on the market, thereby eliminating the need to do the dishes, or alternatively, buy takeaways more often during this time. It will help to keep messes and cooking smells at bay and makes it a breeze to keep the presentation of the home always looking fresh and clean.
6) Buy some fresh flowers for displaying in a vase on your dining table every three or four days, ideally the fragrant sort, so they will impart a nice floral aroma through the room and can also help override any other smells like pet odious and cooking smells.
7) Get a big wicker basket and have it around the living room for quick and easy storage of ‘stuff’ that you haven’t got time to put away. You could even have a different basket for each family member for their own stuff.