1) We have learned to live again without cleaning ladies that used to come biweekly. This has saved us quite a bit of money, the kids have been more accountable in their cleaning, and the house stays cleaner in general because we know we have to clean it up ourselves. It is also more convenient to our lifestyle to not have to clear out for a few hours in the middle of our school and work week.
2) Wow. Our kids were being rough on the house! We have always prided ourselves on children who are relatively well-disciplined about appropriate behavior and decorum. I think if you saw our house you would think it was in decent shape too. When we started to scrutinize our house for resale though, we were shocked to discover the dirt and damage to our wood floors, the beating our new kitchen cabinets were taking, and the fingerprints on nearly every window, wall, and molding in the whole home. For about a month you could hear us say about ten times a day, "Stop touching the wall! Stop touching the window, the house is on the market!" After about a month, we discovered we did not have to yell as much, and we dropped the "on the market" part because we simply wanted the habit to be permanent. Trust me, the kids are not scarred for life by this new habit.
3) A woman's work is never done. Ugg. This is truly the worst part about having a house on the market with a big family of little ones. Every waking moment meant that I was working. During the day, if there was an idle moment it meant I was suppose to be processing laundry, emptying the dishwasher, picking up toys, wiping a sink down somewhere, sweeping or mopping or otherwise engaged in some maintenance routine. Every night we went to bed with the house in pristine condition, and every day we left the house in pristine condition whenever we had to go out, just in case we got a call for a showing. This meant really limiting our clutter and constantly keeping up on it. I never let things pile up. It was kind of nice to have to house always near-clean, but I felt a bit neurotic and OCD, and I don't think it was all too pleasant for the kids. This is one habit I am not sure I could maintain after the real estate adventure is done. But it had another unintended consequence I hope to keep up...
4) Ultra-punctuality. Because we opted for a short showing notification (1 hour), we had to leave the house in pristine condition. This meant that I had to start cleaning up our homeschool activities or the kids' toys and preparing to leave the house nearly a full hour in advance of any event. The unintended result was that we were sometimes ten or more minutes early to every event. Amazing for us, since we use to arrive just-in-time or late. It makes our commute more peaceful and we are not losing money from piano lessons or swim team (since time is money!). I hope I can keep this punctuality up.
5) Decluttering. Every one who has ever put a home on the market knows that the first rule is to go through and declutter all the surfaces of personal effects. We took this to heart, and the 60 tchotches on the kids' bookshelves went into storage. The refrigerator surface became spotless and visible. The bathroom counters and bathtub were devoid of toys, bottles and more. Turns out the kids can live without their clutter, my oldest only asked once for something I had put into storage. I loathe to bring that stuff back out. Also, the kids are constantly trying to encroach again into the clutter zone by not putting things away properly, or collecting more knick-knacks on surfaces. I now "inspect" the rooms every morning to ensure the kids are putting their stuff away properly.
What lessons do you have from kids and real estate? Have you been able to keep up the habits after the sale?
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