Hi. Congratulations on starting your blog. It looks like it will be informative and interesting. I am planning on moving in the next six-to-nine months, and while my house is not scheduled to go on the market until Spring, what can I do to best prepare for this?
Hi, David:
Thank you for submitting your question. Your timing is absolutely perfect, and I can give you some advice on how to make your move more manageable, not to mention less expensive.
The first thing that you need to do is to begin to assess your situation. How far will you be moving? Will your new home be larger, smaller or the same size as the one that you have now? Will you be living somewhere temporarily? How much stuff do you have that you can get rid of?
I'm a big fan of taking small chunks out of a huge job, so I suggest above all that you begin preparing for your move right away. Take 20 or 30 minutes per day (or evening) and begin to go through your things. You should sort into three piles: Garbage, Give Away and Keep.
The garbage gets tossed. Immediately. The Give Away pile can be separated into donate (which should be donated soon) and tag sale, if you plan on holding one before you move. Things that you plan to keep should be put back away, if they are essential to your daily life, or packed to move (that's right, even 6 to nine months away from a move is not too soon to start packing) and put in a garage, a dry basement, or a storage unit that you've rented for that purpose. And they should be labeled and inventoried on a separate piece of paper (this comes in handy once you've moved and are looking for things. As well, they help if your movers lose or damage any of your things.).
There are two reasons to begin your packing early. The first is to make your move easier. I've had clients who had not yet begun to pack THE DAY BEFORE THEIR MOVE. Not a pleasant experience. The second reason is that if you are selling your home, you want it to be as un-cluttered as possible when you put it on the market. Perspective buyers need to see your house rather than your stuff.
I hope this helps. Good luck!
