So…..you made the decision to move your family to Charleston and you are in the process of looking for a rental. You made a special trip here for the weekend to find your new home! Everyone is excited …even the dog. Wait…..please don’t bring the dog on your house hunting trip….he will reap the benefits once you have found a place to call home! But, you do have your kids who aren’t sure about this whole move “thing” anyway! New home, new school, new friends….that’s a lot of new stuff for tiny humans to process!
If you can, do not involve your kids in your house hunting trip. Parents tend to spend more time watching their kids instead of looking at homes, and later they don’t remember much about the properties they’ve looked at. The process has to be productive and time efficient. But, if they must come, keep them busy for your sanity as well as theirs. An iPad is a wonderful thing on showings. Make sure you have plenty of snacks and drinks with you too. Beware: Walking through owner-occupied homes where young kids live can be incredibly distracting for your own children, who will likely be fighting the urge to dig into others’ toys. Help them fight this temptation by coming well-equipped with their favorite games!
Maximize your showing times…..plan on spending 10 to 15 minutes at each property. If you’ve come prepared with the aforementioned diversions, you’ll get in and out with minimal meltdowns and distractions. If you walk into a property and know right away that you don’t love it, speak up so you can all move on to the next listing. You don’t want to waste time when your kids are in tow.
Also, take your own car and follow the agent behind. This makes it easier so you don’t have to deal with transferring car seats or moving toys and kids’ essentials around.
Before you begin the house hunting trip do some research…….find pictures of new schools, parks, the beach and nearby attractions, and show them to your kids. It helps build excitement for them—and it keeps everyone in a positive frame of mind.
Happy house hunting!
