For more than the two-year span of the pandemic, a married couple of political consultants worked from their suburban Washington, D.C., home. But by this spring, Zoom fatigue had set in.
“COVID-19 reminded us that life is not a dress rehearsal. So now in our 60s, we’re planning to retire and move to Idaho, where our grown kids settled with their children,” says the wife.
There’s only one thing slowing this couple’s transition: the need to prep their colonial-style house for sale.
“Sorry to say that during all the busy years we spent building our careers and raising our kids, our interior has become dated and a tad rundown. To maximize our sale, we really need to replace our front door, improve our kitchen and paint both inside and out. Also, we must rid ourselves of a lot of junk,” the husband says.
Sid Davis, the Utah-based author of “A Survival Guide to Selling a Home,” doesn’t know the couple in this true story. But he says nearly all owners, including those in strong seller’s markets, are justified in spending the time and money needed to upgrade the cosmetics of their property.
“Yes, in these days of inventory shortage, you can sell a house without lifting a finger or spending a dime. Yet you’ll be a whole lot better off in the end if you give your home that wow factor buyers are all looking for,” Davis says.
The consultants have both the motivation and funds to make the place where they’ve lived for 31 years more appealing to buyers. But because this is their first-ever home renovation, they feel overwhelmed by all the tasks involved.
“Many people who’ve never done a remodel have a tough time managing this major project. Yet with forethought and planning it’s very doable,” Davis says.
Neen James, a productivity consultant and author of “Folding Time,” says it’s understandable that those tackling a home sale would feel overwhelmed.
Due to the scarcity of free time, she says many homeowners need a strategic plan to accomplish all the tasks necessary to make their place saleable. These can include contacting contractors, getting estimates and culling through a large volume of excess accumulations in closets, drawers and stash areas, such as garages.
Busy people attempting to tackle all that’s involved in the preparation for a home sale, or any other major project, do well to break their work down into 15-minute increments of uninterrupted time.
“No one has a whole hour of dedicated, uninterrupted time to devote to a project anymore. But you can get a lot done in 15-minute segments. In fact, I believe you can conquer the world in 15-minute time slots,” James says.
She recommends that in between 15-minute work sprints, you take “mini breaks” to help maintain momentum during any long, tedious project. These could include stretching for a few minutes, going outside or drinking a cup of coffee.
“On your break, you don’t want to eat a lot of carbs or sugar because that will give you an energy slump later,” she says.
Here are a few pointers for sellers:
-- Make sure you launch your work with adequate planning.
Stefanie Coleman, who’s taught management seminars for more than a decade, says all home sellers should start with a strategic plan.
“You don’t have time to not plan,” says Coleman, who adds that planning at the front end reduces the need for backtracking and reworking as a project progresses.
To Coleman’s way of thinking, project planning should be done in several stages. The first involves brainstorming and itemizing all the possible tasks that could help you move toward your end goal -- a process many in the productivity field call “mind dumping.”
Second, revisit all the items on your list, crossing out those that sound impractical and highlighting those that will have the most impact in helping you reach your desired outcome.
Third, put all the remaining items on your list in order of priority.
Your fourth and final step before heading into your project involves scheduling -- placing all the key tasks in your project on your calendar within time periods when you expect to be free of other obligations.
-- Beware of overscheduling.
Though Coleman emphasizes the importance of putting all the key steps in your project on your calendar, she cautions against scheduling your time too tightly.
“There are often interruptions or unexpected developments, like a sick relative who needs your attention that same day you planned to clean your garage,” Coleman says. To allow for the unexpected, she urges prospective home sellers to allocate an extra 20% cushion for unscheduled time.
-- Consider engaging a support person.
As James says, getting outside help with home chores should hasten the pace at which you can sift through your belongings. That’s because someone not living in your place can look at your accumulations with fresh eyes.
One way to find personal assistants in your area is through the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (napo.net).
“Outsiders bring a high level of objectivity to the process. This should help you to make quicker decisions on what to keep or give away and should help speed your way through to a happy ending,” she says.
(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)