Jump to content

Moving House


ausdon

Recommended Posts

Well, I have finally started.

I have about 17 yrs worth of crap really good ,essential items shoved into my cupboards ( and garage, piled up in corners etc) and now is the time to declutter. Seriously, no mucking around now.

We will put the house on the market in a couple of months and it is nowhere near viewer-ready.

Any tips on making moving easier?

:fca:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whenever we have a big project we rent a storage unit to keep some of our bulky stuff in until the project is finished. I don't recommend anything valuable unless you take pictures and either get insurance coverage or make sure your policy would cover any losses. Defintely helps take some of the clutter out.

Good luck with selling your home ausdon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I have finally started.

I have about 17 yrs worth of crap really good ,essential items shoved into my cupboards ( and garage, piled up in corners etc) and now is the time to declutter. Seriously, no mucking around now.

We will put the house on the market in a couple of months and it is nowhere near viewer-ready.

Any tips on making moving easier?

:fca:

After living in the same house for 38 years, we decided to sell it and move. We had so much stuff that we had never used or were not using anymore, but kept it just in case we needed it. I packed it all. Six months after that husband got diagnosed with Lou Gerich's disease, terminal, and we had to move again because the new house was two storys. This time I just got rid of all the stuff because we were renting a very small house. I just put it in boxes and called Good Will. We were in rented house for six months,and then moved so that he could participate in an experimental program for the disease. After living in house for 38 years, we moved three times in 18 months. I had to do all the packing each time. This time the move was easy because I had no "stuff."

My advice to you is bite the bullet and get rid of anything you do not need, or have not used for a year. You probably will never use it. A garage sale would be good. I did not have one because I was taking care of a paralyzed husband, so I did not have the energy. Whatever does not sell in garage sale, you could donate and get a tax deduction.

I have a tendency to "save" stuff, just in case. I thought after husband died that I would live simply and not accumulate "stuff." NOT!

Watch the show, "Hoarders" on A&E. It is scary! That always helps me get rid of "stuff," that I do not need.

If you de-clutter your house, it will look bigger, and will sell faster. The garage needs to be cleaned out also. I found that a "clean" house sells fast. Polish everything metal with Windex, including doorknobs. Wash and polish windows. It is not hard to make your house sparkle when you do this. It will not take much work either if you work with Windex. I even used it on my bathroom vanity counters, which were cultured marble. My second house went on the market on Monday, and I had a contract by Wednesday. The people that bought it said that most of the houses they had looked at were "dirty," and that mine being so clean was one of the reasons that they decided to buy it. Thank you Windex!

Good luck, and I hope you find your dream house!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you have time for a garage sale, do that by all means! One man's trash and all that!! And for items you don't sell: Goodwill is your FRIEND!!! Take the unsold items there rather than shoving them back in the closet. Use the next two months to organize and clean. Moving is NOT easy no matter what, IMO. We sold our house to the very first people who went thru three years ago and moved out of state. Within a year, we realized that was a mistake and moved back!! We were lucky to find a buyer that time as real estate wasn't moving as quickly. If you watch any of the HGTV shows about moving, you'll know that decluttering and making everything shine is very important to a faster sale. It does seem to be true that prospective buyers don't want to see all your personal photos and "stuff" that make a home yours. Good luck with the sale and the move. It's a LOT of work but can be very rewarding, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi ausdon!!

We had a huge break when we moved here after living in the same house for 22 years. We were able to leave some stuff since they were going to tear the house down, but we had a huge accumulation of stuff. When we had moved into the house in '79 all my aunt's stuff (minus a couple furniture pieces) was still in it. (I still have some of it! LOL) We also had 3 months between the time we settled on this house and had to be totally out of that house. I know you'd probably not have that kind of time tho!

I recommend getting large Rubbermaid containers to pack your stuff in. They look very organized and that's what the peeps on Clean House do when they come in a re-do someone's messy house. It looks very organized and clean to have color-coordinated containers sitting there in a closet, garage, or attic!

I know you're asking for moving out tips, but another thing that helped was that when we moved in, we erected shelves in the basement and unpacked all the extra stuff onto them, instead of leaving them in the boxes. There were some I hadn't unpacked for 22 years!

Good advice on the Windex and making everything shiny. I've also heard that it's good to have some frozen or canned bread products that you can stick in the oven for when there's a viewing of your house. The smell of warm baking bread makes a house really appealing for some reason!!

There's also the custom of burying a St Francis statue up-side-down near your front door that is supposed to help sell your house faster, but I am not sure of that one. I might even have the wrong saint!! LOL

GOOD

Clover_spins.gif

LUCK!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for all the good tips Ladies!

Fear, I have tried suggesting hiring a storage shed to my DH but he thinks I am crazy. I will just wait until his estate agent friend comes over and ask him , then he will think its his idea!

Desertrose, funny you should mention that hoarders show because I was saying to my sister the other day that I should watch that show as a form of "warning therapy" :D

Carocross, good to hear from you. Yes I absolutely will not while away good cleaning/decluttering time on the computer - except for FCA of course!

ChaCha thanks for the lucky wishes, I think I will need it. Steve and the boys have a very different idea of decluttering than I do. I think I may have to do their stuff when they're out and then deny all knowledge of the whereabouts of anything. Not that they would probably notice if half the junk went missing.

Today I will declutter more things. Tomorrow I am going to buy windex and paint.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...