STRESS-FREE GUIDE TO SELLING OVER SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

Having it rain on your wedding day, catching a cold on the first day of an international vacation, and getting a flat tyre on the morning of your first day at a new job are all events which we hope will never coincide. Of course, one might just as easily add ‘selling a home during the school holidays’ to that list… 

Selling over the school holidays can be stressful. Keeping the place tidy while your children spend weeks at home is no easy task. However, sellers should never turn away buyers if they can avoid it. Instead, sellers should do their best to keep the home as presentable as possible in case they get any viewing requests over this time.

Here are some of the ways sellers can keep their homes in order over this long school break:

1) Get out and about
The easiest way to keep things tidy over the holidays, quite simply, is to arrange that you and your children are not at home. If you’ve taken leave to be with them, then fill the holiday with all kinds of external trips. If you’re low on cash, then take them to visit granny’s, spend the day in a park or go to the beach. If you’re not at home with them, then arrange that they spend the day at a friend or relative’s house or enrol them into a holiday aftercare programme.

2) Set up a chore table  
Especially if you’re at work all day, it is incredibly difficult to come home to an untidy space that you will have to clean by yourself. Instead, if your children are old enough, set up a chore roster and get them to help you clean up at night. Not only will this encourage them to be tidier during the day, but it will also teach them a valuable lesson in responsibility.

3) Make sure they’re busy
As the old idiom goes, the devil finds work for idle hands. Boredom leads to mischief, and mischief most always leads to mess, so be sure your children have things to keep them busy at home. Think carefully before purchasing new toys for the holiday. Avoid messy arts and crafts projects that could result in your home looking like the crime scene of a glitter bomb explosion by the time you arrive home. Try and encourage them to spend time doing educational (and tidy) activities like reading a book or completing puzzle book activities. And, most importantly, remind them to pack away the toys when they’re done with it.    

4) Manage the mess daily
Keeping a home presentable is the only real stumbling block when selling during the school break. Try to keep on top of the mess daily rather than allow it to pile up. The last thing you want is to have to clean up a build-up of a week’s worth of holiday chaos before a viewer comes around one evening.