When you are out viewing homes, sometimes the kids are part of the deal. Babies and the 10 or 11 plus age brackets are usually reasonably controllable as they are either asleep (i.e.: baby) or tagging along checking their iPhone (the older kids). It’s those in-between ages that can prove difficult.
From our many years of showing families through homes we can confidently tell you that having a plan in advance will make the whole process a whole lot easier for everyone. The children will enjoy it more, the likelihood of something getting broken or damaged is reduced and mom and/or dad may even be able to view the home with some kind of clarity which is kind of the idea.
Some suggestions include:
- give your 8 year old a clipboard and a checklist to “be in charge of”, keeping track of such important things as type of rooms, colour of walls, is there a fireplace or do they see a musical instrument. Empowering them with a job will help loads. We have one of these already prepared so be sure to ask!
- make them the tour guide. Rather than follow us REALTORS around, let the kiddo(s) be the leader.
- ask them what they think of the rooms. The more you try to stifle the excitement a child feels, the more they will protest. Making them feel that they are part of the process will calm the “I’m bored” instinct.
- for the 5 to 7 year old age group, similar to the clip board concept, a match game is always a hit. For example, a page with common household items pictured on it that children put stickers on. Again, we have these created so make sure to ask.
- of course, there is always the ‘leave them with the in-laws’ approach but knowing that the ideal scenario and the realistic scenario rarely line up, these suggestions may prove helpful.
If you are looking very closely at a home (i.e. 2nd showing), that is when we would recommend childcare assistance which frees you up to really get serious and spend the proper amount of time prior to writing an offer.
Have you discovered other secret recipes that appease the family young ones?
Let us know!
We would love to add to our magic bag of tricks.
Contact us anytime.
Thank-you for visiting.
THEbTEAM
Thank-you to Ben Wicks for the photo.