Selling the home that you’ve raised your babies in is never going to be easy. Let’s make it clear that I’m extremely grateful for the home that my family and I have ended up in. I still pinch myself every morning when I wake up here. That doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a bloody hard slog getting to this point, and the hard work isn’t over.

The Backstory

After probably six years of inspecting homes that would suite our family’s growing needs , we decided to once again renovate our three bedroom home. We didn’t want to leave our fabulous kitchen and sustainable backyard that we’d created for any of the homes we had seen.

We couldn’t avoid the fact that we had outgrown our home though. Especially since my husband and I regularly work from home now.

BUT, just as we were about to submit plans to council for approval Mark found a house. We decided to have a cheeky look at it from the street on our way to lunch. Low-and-behold, the real estate agent turned up to do a private viewing for another couple and we got to have a look around. The next minute we had bought a house.

This obviously meant that we needed to be selling out home as soon as possible. Ssssh, top secret.

Meaning that we needed to get our home that we had been living in for 13 years and raised two children in ready for sale. Quick smart.

It was a physical and emotional rollercoaster which I still haven’t recovered from all these months later. No regrets, just exhaustion.

Jobs to Do Before Putting Your Home on The Market and Selling

We sorted through our belongings. Selling some on Facebook Marketplace, putting some out on the street for people to claim, and donating toys, books and clothes to charity. Inevitably we ended up taking some things to the tip.

Then it was time to spruce up the house for sale. Mark and I did a lot of the dirty work ourselves since the more work we did the more we could see that needed doing. We hired a professional pressure cleaner to make the outside of the house shine. I can highly recommend that everyone does this. It was the best ‘bang for buck’.

We also got Alex from Alfresco Landscapes in to tidy up the gardening masterpiece that he created over the years. Side note, he is currently creating garden where lawn was at our new home. Creating lifestyle selling backyards is our jam.

Once we were done making the house shine we questioned our decision. We loved our home so much again that we didn’t want to leave her.

In the 13 years we had been there we built a vegetable garden, chicken coop, and play equipment for the kids. We renovated our kitchen and it really was ours, and of course I covered our roof in solar panels. Our home was my sanctuary, but when the universe speaks it pays to listen. A sea eagle flying over when I was looking at our new home was the most obvious sign I was ever going to get.

Things to Think About For Your New Home

We are extremely grateful that after multiple open homes, we sold for a price that allowed for us to install solar panels in our new home within months of moving in. We didn’t even get our first electricity bill before solar panels were installed.

Sustainability is extremely important to me, and I feel my best when my home is running as environmentally friendly as possible.

So now we are waiting for the technology of batteries to improve and for the cost to come down. The solar companies told me to expect to happen in April 2024, fingers crossed. I used the service at https://www.solarquotes.com.au/panels/ to gather quotes.

Never Underestimate The Power of Gardens when Selling Homes

The backyard in our old home was a biodiverse shop stopper, with chic sustainable living additions. Friends are still taking about our old garden. If you can add some trees to make your yard shine then it’s a win for you and a win for the environment.

After a few weeks of being in our new home I was aware of the fact that I wasn’t feeling great. At first I put it down to the rollercoaster ride of energy and emotions. So, I went for some retail therapy at the garden center and ended up buying a WaterUps Planter Box to grow some kitchen herbs. I needed to get my hands dirty, and indulge in some much needed garden therapy.

We then got to planning where my vegetable garden was going to go, because I clearly needed it. I will admit right now that only half of the garden is planted out. I’m going to blame whatever stole my carrot and bean seeds for that.

Writing about the vegetable garden reminds me that I still need to organise irrigation for it. I’m going to try these drip hoses that I haven’t used before. I will let you know what I think of them after testing them.

Once the vegetable garden was done it was time to turn the depressing lawn and hedge garden into my happy place. Alfresco Landscapes is certainly delivering the goods yet again.

We have a succulent garden in what was a dead space, and natives where there was lawn. Slowly the lizards and butterflies are visiting our yard. I’m still yet to see a bee in the garden, but now there is hope.

Hacks I Learnt From Open Homes

It might seem like a no brainer to some people, but a few things that I didn’t think about, when we were selling, buying and moving were:

• If you have children and have the option to leave them with friends or family on nights before open homes, take it. Preparing your home for strangers to walk through takes a lot of effort.
• Budget for eating out the night before open homes so you aren’t scrubbing the kitchen before styling it.
• Shower the night before open homes to avoid any moisture in the bathrooms.
• This one goes completely against my sustainability heart, but I will confess to running around the house with cleaning wipes and a plastic bag right before leaving the house because the more you do the more you see that needs doing.
• Have tasks that each family member is responsible for so your prep works like a well oiled machine.
• Finally, manifest a good result by telling the universe your intentions. I declared that if our new mortgage was manageable enough I would install solar panels and a beautiful garden as soon as possible. Keeping that promise to the universe feels so good. Now lets all cross our fingers that interest rates don’t go up.

The Basics The Remember When Moving

• Redirect your mail to your new address, if you live in Australia go to https://auspost.com.au/receiving/manage-your-mail/redirect-hold-mail
• Update your address on your drivers (and boat) licence at https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/change-address-with-nsw-government
• Make sure any delivery subscriptions are updated to your new address.

Hopefully soon the backyard project will be finished and I will share photos of it with you. I’m also hoping to regularly get back in the vegetable garden and reap what I sow, watch this space.

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