8 tips for selling a house you're still living in

Key takeaways

• Start packing non-essential items as soon as the listing goes live and use the time on the market to downsize, because fewer belongings make the home easier to clean, show larger to buyers and move when it sells. 
• Keeping the house clean at all times and removing personal items like family photos, collections and monogrammed towels are two of the most effective things you can do to help buyers picture themselves living in the home. 
• Coordinate a showing schedule with your listing agent that includes a minimum notice window and batched appointments, and leave the house every time a buyer arrives so they can walk the home without feeling like an uninvited guest. 
  

You are ready to move on with your life, but you cannot start shopping for a new home until you are sure the old one is sold. That is a common situation, and it means you may have no choice but to continue living in a house that strangers are walking through on a regular basis.

“Selling a home while you’re living in it requires a paradigm shift,” said Sander Scott, broker and owner of Net Real Estate, a Northport, Michigan real estate brokerage specializing in waterfront property, vacant land and long-term property usability.

“Sellers need to shift away from seeing their home as a place to relax after a hard day’s work to viewing their home as a place of business. Because when you’re selling your home, it is a place of business.”

These eight strategies will help you maintain your quality of life while giving your home the best possible chance of selling quickly and at a strong price.

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Moving is not enjoyable under the best circumstances, but living in a home while it is on the market gives you one advantage: time. Use it. Start packing non-essential items as soon as the listing is live or even before.

Box up anything you will not need in the next 30 to 60 days. That includes out-of-season clothing, books you are not currently reading, extra kitchen gadgets, decorative items, hobby supplies and anything stored in closets, the attic, the basement or the garage that you do not use on a daily basis.

Move the packed boxes to a storage unit, a friend's garage or a portable storage container parked in the driveway. The goal is to reduce the volume of belongings visible inside the home. Fewer items means less to clean around, less visual clutter for buyers to process and a faster move when the house finally sells.

Packing early also forces you to start making decisions about what to keep, what to donate and what to discard. That process takes longer than most people expect, and doing it under the pressure of a closing deadline makes it worse. Spreading it out over several weeks while you are still living in the home is far less overwhelming.

Your first step is to remove unneeded items from the home, Scott said. “Sellers need to be ready for the short-notice showing request,” he said. “If every item already has a place to go, the seller can reset the home quickly before showing.”

• Remove anything that makes the home feel overly personal or visually busy. “Put away that toaster!” he said.
• De-clutter
• Reduce extra furniture
• Straighten up paperwork
• Clear surfaces
• Straighten up storage areas. 

“Buyers prioritize storage, so you want to present your home as having plenty of it rather than seeming packed full,” Scott said.

Maintaining a spotless home while you are still living in it is one of the hardest parts of the process. It is also one of the most important. Buyers form impressions within seconds of walking through the front door, and a dirty kitchen, a grimy bathroom or a cluttered living room can overshadow every other quality the home has.

“A professional deep cleaning is often one of the best investments a seller can make,” said Scott. “Buyers will notice issues that sellers have become desensitized to such as dirty windows, dusty vents, stained fixtures, pet smells, or damp basements. Pay careful attention to smells and lighting as well.

”After your deep clean, focus your daily effort on the rooms that matter most to buyers.

• Kitchen. Wipe down countertops, the stovetop and the sink after every use. Keep dishes out of the sink. Tuck small appliances into cabinets. Make sure the trash can is empty or at least not overflowing.
• Bathrooms. Clean the toilet, sink and mirror daily. Hang fresh towels. Store personal products like toothbrushes, razors and medications in a cabinet or a bin that can be tucked under the sink.
• Living areas. Vacuum or sweep floors every day. Fluff pillows, fold blankets and straighten furniture. Remove any items that have accumulated on coffee tables, side tables and shelves.
• Bedrooms. Make the beds every morning. Clear nightstands of everything except a lamp and perhaps one small item. Keep closet doors closed and closets reasonably organized, because buyers will open them.

Create a checklist to establish a daily cleaning routine, said Scott. “Before the home goes active, sellers should decide exactly what needs to happen before every showing,” he said.
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Potential buyers are going to explore every corner of your home, from the closets to the garage. That is expected, but it means you need to take steps to protect your personal information and valuables before each showing.

• Lock up or remove sensitive documents, including tax returns, bank statements, insurance policies, passports and Social Security cards. A small safe or a locked filing cabinet stored off-site is ideal.
• Put a strong password on your computer and log out of any accounts that are open on shared devices.
• Do not leave your mobile phone, tablet or wallet lying around.
• Secure jewelry, cash and any small valuables that could be pocketed. Most buyers are honest, but open houses and showings bring strangers into your home, and the risk is not worth taking.
• Remove mail from the counter or entryway table before a showing. Envelopes from banks, medical providers and credit card companies contain information you do not want a stranger to see.

Think of it this way: Anything you would not leave visible in an unlocked car should not be visible during a showing.

You love your pets, but potential buyers may not. Pet hair on furniture, a litter box in the laundry room, a dog barking at the front door or an unfamiliar animal approaching a visitor can all create a negative impression that distracts from the home itself.

If you can arrange for your pets to stay with a friend, a family member or a doggy day care during the listing period, now is the time to do it. If that is not realistic for the full listing period, at minimum remove the pets from the home during every showing and open house. Take them for a walk, drop them at day care for the afternoon or bring them to a neighbor's house.

Before a showing, vacuum pet hair from furniture and floors, wash pet bedding, clean litter boxes or outdoor areas and store food and water bowls out of sight. Neutralize any odors with a thorough cleaning rather than air fresheners, which can signal to buyers that something is being masked.

Some buyers have allergies, and even the suggestion of a pet in the home can be a dealbreaker for them. Removing the evidence is as important as removing the animal.

Potential buyers want to picture themselves living in your home. Family photos on the walls, children's artwork on the refrigerator, monogrammed towels in the bathroom and personal collections on display all make that harder. They are your memories, but to a stranger walking through, they can make the house feel like someone else's home rather than a space they could make their own.

Pack up framed photos, diplomas, religious items, political signs and any collections or memorabilia that reflect your personal life. Replace them with neutral decor if the walls or shelves look bare. A simple framed print, a vase with fresh flowers or a small stack of books can fill a space without personalizing it.

This rule extends to smells. The longer you have lived in a home, the more you become used to its odors. A deep cleaning should eliminate most of them but avoid cooking anything particularly fragrant when there is any chance a buyer could visit in the near future. Strong spices, fried food and fish can linger for hours. Stick to simple meals or eat out on days when showings are scheduled.

When buyers arrive, leave. Do not hover in the kitchen. Do not sit in the living room reading a book. Do not follow them from room to room offering commentary. Your presence makes buyers uncomfortable, shortens the time they spend in the home and prevents them from speaking honestly with their agent about what they like and do not like.

Use showings as an excuse to get out of the house. Take the kids to a park, go to a coffee shop, run errands or catch a movie. If a showing is scheduled during a workday and you work from home, pack up your laptop and work from a library or a coworking space for a few hours.

Leave the lights on, open the blinds to let in natural light and set the thermostat to a comfortable temperature before you go. A home that is bright, comfortable and empty feels more inviting than one where the owner is lingering awkwardly in the garage.

Showings are necessary, but they do not have to be chaotic. Work with your listing agent to establish a showing schedule that gives you enough notice to prepare. Most agents can set a minimum notice window, typically one to two hours, so you are not caught off guard.

Ask your agent to batch showings when possible. Grouping multiple buyers into the same afternoon is less disruptive than scattering individual appointments across every day of the week. If there are times when a showing is simply not possible, such as early mornings before work or late evenings when kids are in bed, communicate that upfront so your agent can manage buyer expectations.

Be flexible, though. An eager buyer who wants to see the home on short notice may be the one who makes an offer. Turning down a showing because the kitchen is not perfect could cost you a sale. Build a quick-turnaround routine, a 10- to 15-minute checklist of the essentials, so you can get the house into showing condition without a full cleaning session every time.