Selling your home can be challenging enough for anyone – but add the stress of working from home while juggling viewings by potential buyers and trying not to upset the staging effects meant to sell the place, and you’ve got a bit of a pickle on your hands. Here’s how to handle it.
Working at home is great, right? Certainly – but not necessarily when you’re juggling a home sale with your professional life. Take heart – it can be done. Here are a few tips to consider.
But I Need to Take this Call!
How do you keep your professional life going when your home life is in upheaval thanks to the impending move? Well, that’s why we’re here. We understand how difficult it can be to manage difficulties such as:
- Keeping everything clean in preparation for last-minute viewings
- Being prepared to vacate at a moment’s notice
- Juggling professional obligations and personal responsibilities during the sale
- Handling the general challenge of blending your professional and personal lives in one fell swoop
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Here are a few suggestions that may help make it easier for you to handle working and the sale all from the same spot:
- Do your remote work remotely. When it seems as though you’re going to need to clear out to let the buyer’s agent take their clients on a tour through your home, don’t loom. Instead, consider decamping to the nearest coffee shop or library. Heck, even a park can work if it has Wi-Fi and you won’t annoy the nearby pigeons by taking a phone call.
- It’s mobile-office time. Set up your car and work from your driveway, the beach – anywhere. Consider it a mini-vacation.
- Keep that desk clean. That may be easier for some of you than others, but keep in mind that clutter is a major turn-off to potential buyers. And while you’re at it, remember to stash personal toiletries and papers away, empty trash cans, and make the beds. Also, if the place smells like last night’s fish dinner, make sure you’ve aired it out before prospective buyers come to call.
- Set a showing schedule – but be sure not to be overly rigid about it. If you have recurring calls at, say, 11 o’clock in the morning, let your real estate agent know that you won’t be able to have the house shown at that time. That said, you’re going to need to be a little flexible here in order to get the place sold, so you might want to clue your employer or clients in on the fact that you’re going to be somewhat mobile for a little while during the process.
- Get a coworking space, even on a temporary basis. Coworking is becoming the new, hot thing – consider yourself a trendsetter if only for a little while.
Hone Your Relationship with Your Agent
Remember that it’s your real estate agent’s job to sell your property – and that may mean interrupting you with phone calls, emails, and even in-person visits as the occasion require. While this can prove annoying at times, keep in mind that they are doing it for a reason – and that reason is to make you (and them) money.
Talk to your agent about possibly prescreening buyers so that they don’t waste your valuable time, especially during working hours. For example, only those who have been pre-approved for a loan amount in line with your asking price may be allowed to tour during the week.
Good communication with your agent, a decent mix of boundaries and flexibility, and a long-range attitude (i.e., this WILL get done, so there’s no need to stress incessantly) will help you immensely in this process. Soon you’ll be back to enjoying your work-life balance from your home office.
