What to Do with Kids and Cats While Showing House

I don't have a good answer for you, but i am sympathizing with you because I recently sold my house and had the same issue! The very best thing to do is to leave the house with the kids and cats. Buyers don't want to look at a house while the owner is there and they don't care for animals being around either. I know it is difficult, i just drove around with my 2 kids and dog every time we had a showing. My house sold very quickly and part of it was that we left the house. Sorry i don't have a better answer. Good luck!

There are 2 things you can do.

1. Don't accept showings during those times. You always have the option of saying yes or no. You can explain through your realtor that it's not a good time or that you'll be there because of naps (that they're welcome to visit), but that you and your children/babysitter will be there.

2. With the cat - we had the same issue. If it's only going to be a few minutes of showing, and you're going to be right back, put them in a closed closet or something with a post-it that the cat is in there.
You can also explain to the realtor that there is a cat in the house, to please not let it out and to leave all doors open so it isn't trapped anywhere.

We are in the same boat. I have a very social cat that would jump at the chance to meet new people or run out the door. SO we are putting our dog crate up in our daughters room. We'll put the cats in there, it will only be for a while anyway. THen they are safe.
You can specify times when you will not allow people into the house. 1-3 is off limits period. I told my realtor 24 hours. I have a dog that will bite and I want to be able to leave with the dog before any potential people come near my house.
I have moved 6 times with little ones. I have gone to the church nursery, the library, Target, McDonald's play place, the park, the mall. I have sat in my car with a movie on down the street.
I hate this part. I have three dogs, three cats, and 4 kids and I homeschool two of them.
Good luck.

Take your kids to the library or the mall to hang out for a few hours and crate the cats. If you have a garage that will be warm enough, I would leave the cats there, also make sure you put away the cat boxes - I love cats, always had cats when growing up, but they do smell. You will not be able to notice it, but someone else will as they step into your home - nothing is quite the turnoff like cat smell! Make sure your home is well aired before the showing.
I would not worry about naptime, maybe the little one will nap in the car or stroller... if your really want to sell the house one day with a non-regular nap should be ok.
Good luck.

I would drop them all off at a friend's house at least a couple hours before the showing to make sure you have enough time to pick up after the kids, hide majority of their toys from sight, and hide all evidence of the cats. You definitely don't want any of them there during the showing and since you're dropping them off ahead of time you can schedule a showing whenever works for the buyers since they can nap/eat/bathe at your friend's.

For this instance where the kids are with the babysitter during this particular showing...do you trust the babysitter to drive your kids? The sitter could take them to the Children's Museum. The 8 mo old is free and it's only 3 dollars for the sitter and 3 more for the 3 1/2 year old. I'm sure the older one will be so excited about everything that they could take a later nap just for the occasional showing.

I know you want to show your home at every opportunity, but if your kids are napping, then I would tell the realtor that the house isn't available to be shown at that time. In fact, if naptime is ALWAYS at the same times, you could make it part of the info... "call for appt... not available for showing between 11:00-2:00" or whatever naptime is.

I would not allow the house to be shown with your kids and a babysitter there. That is a very awkward scenario for your sitter. Just tell the realtor that your home isn't available at that particular time. If they want to see it, they will figure out an alternative time... often the agent can flip-flop the list of homes, starting at the other end of their list and your home can be shown an hour or two earlier or an hour or two later than first requested.

Honestly, people are uncomfortable looking at your house with you there. They want to be able to open closets and cabinets and look around in the garage without feeling weird about it. Your presence will be inhibiting to them and affect their "feelings" about your house as a potential purchase.

As for the cat, stick it in a cat carrier and take it with you when you leave for the showings. I did this with our dog when we were selling our house a few years ago. Every time they called wanting to show the house, I loaded up the kids (4 yrs and 7 yrs) and the dog (1 yr old- so still really a puppy) into the car and drove around, or took them to the park for an hour. It was really annoying when the showing ran late (or they ended up being no-shows)... but it happens, so be ready to experience it and try not to let it get to you.

I would tell your realtor that there will be NO SHOWING during nap time, it is still your house even if you are trying to sell it. Also anytime that there is a showing when the babysitter is there I would say no. People that are house hunting will find a time to see the house it they are REALLY interested in the house.

When hubby and I were looking at houses we saw two where the people did not leave (both had small children), I felt horrible because the kids were crying, screaming and upset about not being able to nap... so we rushed the viewing and since it was rushed could not make a good decision about saying 'yes we want the house' so we passed on it.

Regarding the cat, when we saw houses our realtor mentioned that there is a cat (also think there was a note on the door to remind the realtor) we did not mind but we have two cats. The cat did follow us around for awhile then disappeared. I would just leave a note on the door(s) saying that there is a cat(s) inside, but is/are well tempered. IF your cat hisses or is not well tempered around strangers then I would crate the cat and either bring with you or leave created in a room with a note that there is a cat in a crate so ignore the meowing/hissing and feel free to check out the room.

You can set 'no show' times for your house! Tell your realtor that the house is off limits during 'x' time, and stick to it. You shouldn't be there when the house is shown, it should be clean and empty when the prospective buyers arrive.

As for the cat, leave it be. He will likely hide or be pretty scarce when people show up anyway. Just put a note on the door explaining there is a housecat inside, and leave it at that. make sure the litter box is clean and there is no smell, that is a HUGE turnoff. We have two cats, so I understand. :)

I had similar issue. A couple of times, my house was showed during naptime. When they called to tell me about the showing, I'd tell them "Well my son will be napping then." and they'd let the realtor know but they still came by to see the house. The people just peeked in the room and I hung around outside in the backyard reading my book (it was summer in Texas). But in this situation, it might depend on the comfortableness of the babysitter, his/her age too, as to whether or not your house is shown while he/she is there. Talk to the babysitter about it.

My first thought was "where's the nearest chuck-e-cheese?" because that's free to enter (warm) and a few bucks if you actually play a game. Slide/climbing area are free. I got a coupon and spent $20 and now have tokens out the whazoo. They'll last me months! Wish it was warmer. I'd say just go for a walk and put the cats in a crate in the garage or something. And yes, put a post-it to let someone know that there's a cat in a cage in a certain room. Just so they don't jump if the cat meows or in case they are highly allergic.

Often, they give you a two hour window. When they call about wanting to view it, you could ask them to give you a 5 minute heads up, which they should have no problem doing. Just explain that you have two kids and nowhere to go, so you're going to drive around town or go walk at the mall, and you'd prefer to do that for 20 minutes while they view the house instead of for two hours of the window they've given you. Do you have a Chick-Fil-A? Another place with an indoor playground. Won't cost you anything unless the 3 yr old HAS to have a snack.