Selling Your Home When You Have Children

Selling your home is a lot of work. There is lots of purging, cleaning, re-organizing, packing, viewing, moving and setting up to be done. Add kids to the mix, and it is a task for only the strongest of heart. However, know that the task ahead is not impossible. You have extra bodies to coordinate, but it has been done successfully before and can be done successfully again.

Realize that your kids are as much a part of the move as you are. They are going to have to say goodbye to the property and all the memories they made. They might be preparing to leave friends behind. They may not understand why you are moving to begin with. This is a huge deal for everyone involved. 

Get your kids excited about the moving process. Explain to them why you are moving and shift your focus on how fun this next adventure will be, not how sad you are to be saying goodbye to this last adventure. If you frame the move positively, it will help your kids tremendously. Keep a close eye on your attitude and nip any negativity in the butt. 

Involve your kids in the move. There are lots of simple tasks that need to be done when you are moving, such as cleaning and packing. Benefit from the extra set of hands. Have fun playing home decorator with them. Make treats for open house guests with them, and when there is a viewing, take them out to a movie or do some other fun activity. You can turn the process of moving into something fun, not overwhelming. 

For some kids, moving won't even faze them. For others, it will be their first experience of having to say goodbye and letting go. Don't undermine their emotional attachment to your house--it's where they grew up! Celebrate the time you had on the property by doing something to memorialize it. One popular thing people do is make an impression of the house key in clay, then turn it into a little plaque or Christmas tree ornament. 

When you get to your new house, do something special to kick off the good memories. Even something as simple as having a pizza party picnic on the living room floor with your kids, before everything is unpacked, will be a memory you can all look back on fondly. Consistently reinforce the new property as 'home,' and soon it will start to feel like one. 

While you take care of your little ones during a move, make sure to also take care of yourself! 

Good luck!

(Photo via Canva)

Posted by Ken Richter on

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