I am truly happy to have a Guest Writer making an appearance for us. Please welcome and enjoy this piece by Alexis Hall.
Alexis created SingleParent.info to provide support and advice for the many families out there with only one parent in the household.
Being a parent is challenging enough with a pandemic and social distancing ongoing. If you’re tossing finding a new home, selling the current one, and of course moving into the mix, you’ve more than got your hands full — and that’s especially true if you’re planning a move out of the state, which requires a lot more consideration and planning! Classy Mama Bear explores how to make it work, even with everything that’s happening in the world today.
Connect with Help
With the advent of social distancing measures, the house hunting and selling processes have changed. You still need to tackle prepping and staging your home, and tending family concerns such as contacting the new school system and forwarding medical records. However, marketing and house hunting look pretty different these days, so it’s in your best interest to connect with a real estate agent as early in the process as possible. Professional agents are intimately familiar with what’s working in your area and can guide you toward worthwhile choices in your family’s game plan.
Along those same lines, you should take a look at the local housing market to see what other sellers are doing. You can examine the faster selling listings, check out what people in your neighborhood are doing with their properties, and see what seems to be selling. Online searches can tell you quite a bit about your local market, and that’s one of the many tech tools you can use to help sell your home.
When purchasing a new home, you’ll have to shop for a mortgage as well. If you’re first-time home buyer or don’t have stellar credit, consider filling out an FHA application. FHA loans have flexible down payment options (as low as 3.5 percent), making them ideal for families who aren’t able to put 20 percent down on a home.
The Talk
A great source of angst for moms and dads who are getting ready for the whole moving process is talking it through with their children. While you might like to put it off as long as possible, the Spruce explains things tend to go better if you talk to your kids early on. This way, you don’t risk them knowing “something’s up” without knowing what, and then feeling betrayed when they find out. Keeping them in the loop and getting their input on various aspects of the journey will ensure they feel like they are part of the process.
Paring Down and Sprucing Up
Decluttering is a major component of preparing for your sale. You should work your way through the home, culling items you don’t need until you get to your new abode and packing them appropriately for moving. Include extra furniture in your edits, as rooms look more spacious with less in them, but leave enough pieces to tell buyers what purposes the rooms serve.
Have your kids select a few of their favorite toys, and in the event that you have any virtual showings or in-person tours, it’s best to select toys as easy to pick up if possible. This means avoiding things like building blocks and messy craft supplies. Make sure your children realize that anything they relinquish now will be there when you move into the next place, though!
One of the advantages of an uncluttered home is the ease of cleaning it. With less items to deal with, a thorough cleaning will be a breeze! Give your kids some age-appropriate tasks so they can lend a hand, and consider some attractive storage baskets or bins in each room to toss items into for last-minute cleanups.
Moving Day
While kids can be a big help with decluttering and cleaning, moving day is typically a different story. Whether you’re hiring help or aiming for a DIY move, it’s best to give them something to focus on while boxes and furniture are being loaded and unloaded. Set them up with a tablet and some games or, if the weather is good, turn them loose in the backyard. Once the ordeal is over, you can celebrate together in the new house with a pizza while everyone starts settling in.
Adjusting to a new normal dictated by a pandemic is tough, and it’s even tougher if you’re moving a family. To make things easier, connect with your agent for guidance and prepare your family and your home for the process. With your great staging and marketing, you and the kids will be enjoying your new place before you know it!
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Alexis Hall
