Shannon Milligan Henrico County Homes for Sale

Staging Your Richmond Home for Sale While Raising Children

There are days when my home can look like a beautiful white canvas - clean, crisp, and untouched. Then, on any given Sunday (or Monday, or Tuesday...), my home can look like a work by Georges Seurat - little dots of clutter making up one large painting that showcases a mess!

My point is, as a mother, I know how hard it can be to keep a house clean on any day of the week let alone trying to keep your home in SHOWING condition when your house is on the Richmond real estate market. It certainly is a challenge. But, with these tips and a little preparation ahead of time, you can be assured that you will survive!

·Edit - Take inventory of the toys. Chances are, there are more toys out than your kids could play with in a month. Pick out the toys your children must have on a daily basis and pack the rest in a box and store in the basement or garage. Don't worry - if they get bored or request a certain item, you can easily go back to the box and retrieve it. But my guess is they won't even miss the them. Bonus: once you are moved and settled in your new home, your kids will feel like it's Christmas morning all over again when you bring back their bounty!

·Organize - With the remaining toys, make a plan to organize them. Remember: Rubbermaid is your friend! Purchase inexpensive containers and get everything grouped together. Games/puzzles in one, dolls in another, and those too-many-to-count cars in a third. Tip: buy the clear containers so your children can see what is inside each one.

·Store- Once you have all the toys neatly organized into their respective boxes, store them in a bookcase, under the bed, or inside an ottoman. Not only will this look uniformed, but will also create a nice, calming effect. What's the saying?..."cluttered space, cluttered mind!"

By following these tips, you are one step closer to having your Richmond home in tip-top shape for all those pesky showings!

And one last thought - Relax! If you have chosen a Richmond Real Estate Agent you feel confident in and priced your home IN the market and not simply ON the market (what's the difference? Call me! I will be happy to explain it!), you will sell your home in no time and can be back to living life the way we all normally do...with clutter and all!

Ready to list your home IN the Henrico County Real Estate or Richmond Real Estate market? Contact me, Shannon Milligan, at Home Sweet Henrico with Keller Williams Realty Richmond West today!

Last week my kids had a snow day from preschool and absolute terror crept in - what in the world was I going to do to entertain them all day? Typically I would have our days planned out with activities and errands to keep us busy. But this...this was unplanned and my somewhat OCD mind was racing! Then I had an idea: we would bake! It would take up a lot of time, be somewhat educational for them, and at the end of the day we would have something delicious to share together.

I told the kids of my plan and they were thrilled! Having bought a brownie mix the week before, I thought this would be the best place to start. Until...no eggs! No EGGS! I was in trouble and my kids were not going to let me off the hook easily.

Normally I would just walk next door and ask one of my friendly neighbors. That's what they are for! But we had recently moved into our new home and at that moment I realized I had not taken the time to introduce myself to those around me.

I can come up with many reasons for why I had not introduced myself (busy unpacking, busy running my business, busy being a wife and mom) but I won't lean on those excuses. Truth is I should have gone over the first week and said a simple hello.

Since I didn't know any of the neighbors and the roads were too bad to drive on, my only option was to scrap the baking and I was sentenced to playing endless hours of dress-up, Candyland, and watching several Disney movies.

And what did I take away from this? Neighbors are terrific resources but only if we actually get to know each other! To that end, my new project for the week will be to knock on every door on the street and introduce myself. I will even steal an idea from my old neighbor who had made a chart of every person on the street with address, phone number, and ages of their kids and then distributed the list to everyone on the block. So get ready neighbors, I am coming for you...and your eggs!

Thinking about moving to a new neighborhood? Then contact me, Shannon Milligan, at Home Sweet Henrico today! I would be happy to show you around and extend some neighborly advice!