Selling the House You're Living In With a Baby and a Toddler! Not for the Faint Hearted
We just sold the townhouse we live in, with a nine-month-old baby and a two-and-a-half-year-old in tow. We didn't have the luxury of moving out during the campaign, so we lived through every open home. As a buyer's agent I spend my life on the other side of inspections, so this was a useful (and humbling) look at the seller's experience. Here's what worked, what it cost, and the hacks I'd pass on to anyone selling while still living in their home.
Why we skipped the staging rental
A full professional style of our three-bed townhouse was quoted at around $7,000, and a partial style at $3,500. I want to be clear: I absolutely believe styled homes get better results, and staging is money well invested. But renting styled furniture isn't the only way to get there.
A full style wasn't going to work for us anyway. The baby still needed a cot and our toddler needed a single bed, not display furniture. And we already had a house full of stuff that would have needed paid storage on top of the styling fee.
So we did it ourselves. We pulled out every piece of furniture that wasn't a necessity or wasn't very nice (with two young kids, we are not in our white couch era), then spent about $3,000 across IKEA, Bunnings and Koala on a new couch, chairs, pot plants, fresh bed linen, throw rugs and new outdoor furniture. The bulk of that was the couch. Without it, we'd have spent closer to $1,000.
The difference from a staging rental? We keep all of it. We're upsizing, so that furniture moves with us and partially styles the new house. Instead of $3,500 that disappears when the stylist's truck leaves, we spent $3,000 on things we own.
The storage hack that cost us nothing
Where did all our old furniture go? We asked a friendly neighbour if we could borrow their unused car space for a couple of months. We offered to pay and they refused. Everything non-essential went in there. If you're in a strata complex, it's worth asking around before you pay for a storage unit.
The logistics still took effort. We hired a GoGet van twice for the IKEA and Bunnings runs (two car seats in the back means our seats don't fold flat) and called in friends to help assemble everything.
Surviving inspections with young kids
This is the part you need to mentally strap in for. We had one mid-week inspection and one Saturday inspection every week. In theory you tidy the night before and walk out the door when the kids wake up. In reality, kids wake at different times, need things immediately, and create mess on the way out. My husband and I tag-teamed: he'd take the kids out while I finished the reset. It was exhausting but we were invested in the outcome.
It wasn’t without challenges though - the night before our first open with the floors cleaned and mopped, suddenly a bowl of spag bol got dropped! If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry!!!
The hacks that genuinely saved us:
Airtasker: The night before our photo shoot, time poor, kids to feed, furniture to put together and boxes to be removed. We simply didn’t have enough time so at 3pm I logged a request on Airtasker and by 5pm we had some hired help on our doorstep for the next 3 hours to help us get it together.
The linen layer. The kids slept in their normal bed linen, and before each inspection we laid the crisp white styled linen over the top. After the inspection, lift it off. No remaking beds, and it didn't matter if their everyday covers got grubby.
A robot vacuum. Run it overnight, then again as you leave in the morning. The floors are clean when the agent arrives even though you're not there. Highly recommend one even if you're not selling.
Storage tubs. When buyers open your cupboards (and they do), they see four tubs stacked neatly. Inside is the manic chaos thrown in that morning. Nobody looks inside your tubs. They look at the cupboard space.
The washing machine. Anything homeless on inspection morning, towels included, goes in the washing machine or dryer with the door closed. Out of sight.
Windows: clean your windows and remove the fly screens. The windows look dramatically better. We left ours stacked in the garage where any serious buyer could see they exist and simply go back in.
I think it scrubbed up alright!
If you're selling in strata, present the common property too
It's not your responsibility, but first impressions absolutely shape how buyers feel about a strata block. I know this because I walk buyers through these properties every week. Before every inspection I swept the common garden path to our unit and even the footpath out the front. If your unit is up carpeted stairs, vacuum them the day before. And if your block has basement parking, prop the common door open with a witch's hat so buyers can wander down to see the car space without the agent leaving the unit.
Thinking about your own move?
Selling and buying at the same time is a juggle, especially with a young family. If you're planning a purchase and want someone in your corner who has been on both sides of it recently, book a free call with me here
