House Hunting with Kids

Cutler Real Estate Blog: Tips for House Hunting with Kids: By Hans Brings Buying a house is in equal parts exhilarating and nerve wracking. Unless you have that perfect house just waiting for you, financing ready to go, and no competing offers, your home search can be time consuming and fraught with ups and downs.  Add your kids to the mix and you might feel completely overwhelmed before you even get started.  

I saw this link pop up, and it was a topic that hit home with me.  We recently moved with small children, and many of my friends have had the same experience.  House hunting with kids can be stressful and overwhelming.  Depending on the age of your kids, you have kids who don't understand what the move means, who might be leaving behind an old school, or their neighborhood friends.

You can follow the link above to the original article, but I wanted to share my experience below, with some advice for other families.

When my husband and I were house hunting, we had three children three and under at home.  My three year olds didn't really know what was happening.  They were concerned about people coming into our house for showings, loved houses that we saw that we didn't like, and were concerned about what would happen to their stuff when we moved.  Not fun for any parent.

With older children, I know you would want to include them in the home buying process, but for us, with smaller children, I would recommend leaving them out of it until you find the house you think you want.  In other words, leave them home with a babysitter if you can!

If you can't, and you do find yourself house hunting with kids, here are some tips to make it easier.

• Plan around naps and mealtime - if you can avoid the crankiest time of day, you will have a much more pleasant experience.  If you do have children who still nap and they will sleep in the car, the opposite advice is true.  Let them sleep in the car while you and your spouse take turns going through the house.  
• Bring snacks - Bring the good ones.  In my house, there are many treats that are saved for special occasions.  These are the kind of snacks you want to have in your bag of tricks.  
• Bring entertainment - whether it is books, a portable DVD player, or your IPad, have something for your kids to do in the car.  You may be house hunting in a neighborhood 5 minutes away, but treat it like a long road trip.  
• Plan breaks - if your day includes a lot of showings in one day, plan for breaks to eat, stretch and use the bathroom!  If you are looking in a particular area, let them check out their new park, or a neighborhood playground.  
• Don't get their hopes up - This is a tough one, but when you are dealing with very young children, try to keep your enthusiasm down until you know for sure it is going to be your future home.  You don't want your kids falling in love with something about a house that becomes their one that got away.  
• Give house rules - If you are bringing your kids through a house with you, remind them that it is not your house.  They need to stay off the furniture, keep their hands off of valuables, and don't play with toys if they are there.  Keep an eye on your children (a hand is better) at all times in a house you are seeing.  Even if the house is vacant, you don't know what they might find to get into. 

Buying a home for your family is an exciting but stressful time.  Try to make it fun for your kids, but remember that this time is stressful for them too!