Tips to Make Moving In Go Smoothly
Moving is a life event that just about everyone will experience at one point or another. Right now, the moving rate in the United States is 11.6 percent. That’s historically low, and an opportunity to invest in some truly inspiring properties.
If you’re planning a move, use these tips to make the final step of your home-buying process go as smoothly as possible.
Hiring a Maid Service.
We often don’t realize it until we’re about to move: People accumulate a huge inventory of stuff. Chairs, toasters, garden tools, that VCR you never threw out – who has time to box all this up? To navigate the chaos, consider hiring a maid service to help you clean.
Make sure you sign on with a reputable company that’s willing to view your home before setting a fee schedule, rather than give you some off-the-cuff price that might be too much for what you need done. Explain that you’re moving and what you need help with to maximize their efficiency, free up your time, and eliminate your stress.
Tidy up before they come so that they don’t get bogged down going through every piece of paper bursting out of the manilla folders in your office. Also, leave out a memento of your appreciation. Even a "Thank you" sticky-note on the fridge will brighten up someone’s day.
Declutter and Depersonalize.
Now that you’ve got the dander off the sofa and the grime out from under the window sills, take a look around. Figure out how much of what you own that you really need. Remember, this stuff will seem way less valuable when you have to lug it across town (or cross-country).
Decluttering doesn’t just happen in a day. Budget enough time so that you can go room by room organizing everything over a period of weeks or even months. And steel yourself for perhaps the cornerstone of staging a house: Depersonalizing. To finalize your sale, your task is to make people imagine this place is already theirs.
That means removing all hints that you ever lived here. Put away your diploma, take the framed pictures off the mantel, and pack up all the cat litter, dog leashes, and food and water bowls. Yes, this has long been your family hearth, but now you need to view your home the way a customer would – as a good buy.
Hiring a Contractor.
After you move into your new home, consider hiring a handyman contractor to make little improvements on it. Some of these improvements might include adding storage in your garage or walk-in closet.
Even if you have a small timetable of one to two days, the right contractor should be able to snap up the job and deliver on what you want. Figure out your plan, and then contact a range of specialists to see what their bids are. Meet them face-to-face to see who you like.
Finally, decide who you want to work with, and put your agreement in writing. Prices are going to differ depending on where you are in the country. Hiring a handyman in Los Angeles, California, for instance, will be $165-$573, whereas it might be far less in a small town in the midwest. So, be sure to check out the contractor’s rate.
Moving is consistently ranked among the most stressful life events, right up there with death, illness, divorce, and job loss. But it doesn’t have to be. Just be sure to keep in mind some of the precautions above to minimize your stress as you’re moving forward.
Photos by Form, bruce mars, and Ian Schneider
Suzie Wilson is an interior designer with over 20 years' experience. What started as a hobby (and often, a favor to friends) turned into a passion for creating soothing spaces in homes of every size and style.
She created the Happier Home website as a side project to help people near and far learn how to enhance their homes so that they’re picturesque and peaceful. Suzie's debut book, The Ultimate Guide to Prepping Your Home for an Open House, is coming soon to online retailers and bookstores near you!