January 27, 2010
Ship ’em up, move ’em out
One of the reasons I’ve been mostly absent from blogdom lately is that we’re trying to move. It’s time. We’ve been considering it off and on for a couple of years, and have even looked at some houses online, but for some reason we just never took the initiative to get it done. And now I’m glad we didn’t.
David landed a great new job at the end of last year (which would make a good post if I ever get around to writing it). He started earlier this month, and he’s working out of our home. So he really needs a room that can be dedicated to being his office and nothing else (we currently have our 3rd bedroom set up as a guest room/office.) There’s also that enticing tax credit that expires April 30. Those two things together seem to indicate that NOW is the right time for us!
We’ve been fixing, cleaning, painting, cleaning some more, painting some more, and I think are fairly close to having our house ready to put on the market. Our goal is February 1, which is next Monday—yikes! It’s interesting trying to stage a house with a toddler who gets bent out of shape when things aren’t in exactly the right place. (“Yes, sweetie, I know the Kleenex box goes there, but it doesn’t look good in the picture.”)
We are planning to sell it ourselves, but if it doesn’t work after a while, we will hire a Realtor. (Did you know “Realtor” is capitalized and is a trademarked term? I thought it was like “plumber” or “doctor” or something.) I’ve been trying to focus on house stuff exclusively until it is ready to show. But I really want to do some other things again, like exercise, read, work on photography, play music, and cook. Yes, even cook. Know what I did this week? I got some store-bought salsa. Oh, the horror! (And it isn’t very good.) I keep telling myself this is just for a short time.
Any moving tips, anyone? Especially those of you with little kids? :)
Comments(5)
Keep windex and a rag handy for quick spruce ups. Shine those kitchen and bathroom counters and faucets before you show.
Google House Staging. All kinds of tips will come up. I say do this even if you are not selling. Great ideas. Good Luck!
Write as much as you can about what you’ve put in each box on the outside of the box itself. If you’re really organized, you can even put a written list of the items in each box.
Pack yourself, but I highly recommend a moving company to do the actual move (rather than friends/relatives). In-town moves prices are really reasonable.
Pack up Anna’s room last, and unpack it at the new place first. It’d be best if you could take some time to set up her new room entirely before she has a chance to see it. Makes it more welcoming and less stressful for her.
We’ve moved three times since we had kids, so if you have any specific questions just let me know.
I have absolutely no helpful comments – I just think that’s so exciting! New year, new dog, new job, new home … yay!
There is absolutely no good time (of the month, year, your life, etc) to pack up everything you own and move it to another place. It will be hard and lots of work! But it will be worth it so just hang in there. Good luck! We’ve done it 3 times and managed to survive. Feel free to vent if you need to. :)
Probably obvious, but throw away or donate everything you don’t really need. If you haven’t used it in a year, you don’t need it.