Should you move out to sell your home?

The Creative Home Podcast | Episode #200

If you are getting your house ready to sell  and you are wondering where you need to focus, I have a pre-recorded webinar for you. It’s called the “4 most important rooms to stage” and in it I bust some staging myths, the 4 most important rooms to stage and what you can do to get it ready.Check out my free pre-recorded webinar, 4 most important rooms to stage, and get your house ready today!

When it comes time to selling your home, you may wonder if the hassle of doing all the work and then living in it is worth it? It’s hard to keep up with the clean house especially if you have little kids (or even big kids) or pets that make it feel impossible to keep up with the “show ready home”. Well let’s dive into this episode where I talk about whether you should move out of your house to sell it or not.

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Should you move out when selling your home?

I have to tell you that I try to be very neat in my normal daily life. Dishes don’t sit out in the sink after more than one meal. Laundry gets done normally that same day. Trash gets taken out almost every day. And if these things scare you or you don’t live that life style, then living in a staged home may not be an easy thing for you.

I’ve lived in each of my homes when we staged them, without kids and then with small kids. Every time we sold our house, I found myself packing away A TON of stuff because the less stuff you have out, the less likely it will create a mess that you have to clean up. This is especially true when it comes to toys.

I think toys are the biggest clutter bomb that you can deal with as a parent. just a box of legos can make a parent twitch! And if you are wondering which rooms you need to focus on when it comes to staging, I created a free pre-recorded webinar that you can download and watch at your leisure. It’s called the 4 Most Important Rooms to Stage. In it you will learn the 4 most important rooms, what they should look like and what you can do to get your house ready to sell.

But in the meantime, here are some questions to consider if you should move out or not when selling your home.

1| Do you have a place to stay with family or friends?

If not, hotels can get expensive and you have less room to spread out. At least in your home, you still have most of your stuff, you can still cook meals and have the kids/pets play outside. If you can move in with friends or family, then this might be an option for you. 

2| Is your next home available to move in?

If so, this might be an option for you. You can start moving things that are excess and get them moved into the new home especially if it’s in the same city. I’ve never been lucky enough to have a new house in the same city let alone the same state. So if you do, then you might want to consider moving out while your house is on the market.

3| Do you have the budget to rent furniture?

If you are moving out before you can sell your home, do you have the budget to rent furniture? I ask this because empty homes tend to stay longer on the market than staged homes. I had one couple who had military orders and they had to leave quickly in 2 weeks. They had to schedule the movers, get their stuff squared away and move out to the next assignment. I understand that you don’t have much time, or you lived in your house when it’s on the market but now you can’t wait any longer. This couple hired me to bring in rental furniture and at the same time left a few things behind that I could use to help stage the house. It sold 2 weeks after they left but the rental furniture and new paint helped sell the house quickly. So consider setting aside some money to rent furniture.

Our house in New Mexico took 4 months to sell (back in 2007) because the online pictures showed an empty house. We moved to the DC area after 2 months and stayed in a temporary apartment until we sold our NM house. We couldn’t carry 2 mortgages so we had to wait until the NM house sold before we could make an offer on a house in VA. I learned that the hard way that empty houses take longer to sell. If you want to hear more about it, listen to episode #170, why do home sellers empty their home? 3 reasons to keep your stuff.

4| Once you have your home staged and cleaned, it is easier to maintain than before

You have less stuff out so there is less stuff to make a mess. If you pack away things you won’t need i.e. snow boots in late spring, winter coats etc, then it doesn’t clutter up the space. You may even realize that after you pack away certain things, you may not really need it. I found this to be true when we moved to Germany. We could not realistically take EVERYTHING from our 3,000 sq foot home to a rental where we could realistically have 1,500 square feet (or less). So we only took the essentials and left the rest behind. Now I wonder what I have left in storage when we get back and whether I will still want it since I haven’t used it for 3 years! 

So these are a few things to think about before moving out when selling your home. For some people, moving out is the easiest and less stressful. Others may not have the option and have to stay in their home while it’s on the market. If you do have to stay, know that it will only be temporary and you will soon be in a new home where you can leave your laundry behind without a worry.

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