House-hunting can be an extremely tedious process. But when you add work, kids, chores, and other responsibilities to the mix, it can feel impossible to accomplish. Nevertheless, it has to be done if you want to find the perfect home sooner. However, it doesn’t have to be a completely stressful and exhausting experience.
With these tips, you can make house-hunting easier despite being a parent with a busy schedule.
Screen every home
When you’re a parent, you probably don’t have the luxury of wasting time. That said, house-hunting is much easier when every house for sale you tour has been screened beforehand. After you round up all of your choices, screen them again to ensure that they are worth taking the time out of your day to tour. Doing this is especially important if you can’t take your kids and have to hire a babysitter; the last thing you want is to spend money on child care and find out that the house is not worth the visit (which can be determined if you read through the listing thoroughly).
Leave your children at home
It’s much easier to leave your young kids at home with a babysitter or a family member while you and your partner look at houses. Touring houses can be exhausting for kids. And if they tag along, you may not be able to look through the house thoroughly because you’re busy making sure they don’t hurt themselves in an unfamiliar house.
Pack everything, as well as extras
If leaving your children at home is not an option, minimize the potential tantrums of the day by packing their essentials (and extras of those essentials just in case). Bring lots of snacks, toys, books, diapers, and an extra set of clothes to ensure that you’re ready for anything. It may seem like overkill, but you never know if you’ll get stuck in traffic or end up having to tour a house longer than you expected.
Drive to the locations
Most realtors drive to the potential houses with their clients so that they can talk about the properties in the car. If you are bringing your children, however, opt to drive your own car instead. In this way, you won’t have to worry about your kids making a mess in someone else’s car. Moreover, your kids will feel much more relaxed in an environment that’s familiar to them, decreasing the risk of an unexpected tantrum while driving from house to house.
Don’t overbook your day
Your child will get tired and bored much faster than you, and so, they may not be able to handle more than a certain amount of houses in a day. If you are bringing them house-hunting, plan the day ahead with your child’s limits in mind. You should also have breaks in between houses to allow your child to rest and entertain them so that they will remain happy.
If you can, it’s a good idea to hire a babysitter to tag along with you. In this way, you won’t feel the need to rush through house tours because your child is getting antsy.
Take plenty of pictures
Having your kids tag along during showings can be very distracting, especially if they are that age when they tend to run around. To ensure that you remember each house you tour in clearer detail, take plenty of pictures while touring and separate them into folders for later viewing. If you can, it also helps to take videos as you go along the tour.
House-hunting is best done while you are focused, unrushed, and well-rested. But when you’re bringing kids, doing so can be a challenge. To make house-hunting easier as a busy parent, keep these tips in mind and try to make the most out of the day.
