Timely Tips from a Realtor to Make your Move Easier

Having moved recently, and helping many clients during the moving process over the years, I’ve gathered some useful ideas that might help make your move easier when the time comes:

1. Have a sense of urgency – it will take more time than you think
2. Declutter Declutter Declutter – if you don’t love it or need it, get rid of it – purge, donate, toss, purge, donate, toss, purge, donate, toss
3. Now is not the time to be sentimental – take a picture to remember it, then bless someone else with it
4. Give yourself permission to throw things away. Or, if it’s useable – donate
5. Use a large garbage can lined with a heavy duty bag – fill, toss, repeat. Move from room to room. Bottom line – you want to move with less stuff
6. If it’s still packed from your last move – GET RID OF IT
7. Get rid of craft supplies you don’t use, buttons, material, crafts you’ll never complete, old pillows, old towels and blankets (seriously, how many do you need?)
8. Don’t throw it in a box because you don’t know what to do with it – get rid of it
9. Ask for boxes on Facebook or look under “free stuff” on Craigslist
10. Spend the money on packing paper, real packing tape, and at least two tape dispensers (Target, Walmart, Lowe’s, or Home Depot)
11. Put a tag (post it note) on cupboard doors and drawers as you finish clearing so you’re not continually opening to see if they’re empty
12. Pack kitchen first. Pack everything but absolute essentials
13. Cut inverted triangles on opposing sides of each moving box as handles \/
14. Pack glasses in wine boxes – if they’re very fragile, put them in socks first
15. Use cheap paper plates between dishes
16. Sort through utensils and get rid of duplicates and broken items – put rest in a plastic bag so they’re together
17. Use a bathtub or corner of a room to set aside items to be donated (see item #42)
18. Make a bag of first-day essentials – include coffee, linens for bed, towels, shower curtain, pjs, toothbrush, soap, medicines, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, box cutter or scissors, trash bags, wet wipes, cereal (<– mugs to eat it in), plastic plates, forks and cups, cooking utensils and pan. Oh, and wine. Don’t forget the wine.
19. Each person can pack their most important and personal items in a suitcase or overnight case that is kept separate from the moving truck
20. Keep a pair of comfortable shoes on your feet
21. Don’t leave those suitcases and luggage empty, especially if they have rollers – pack them with heavy items (like books)
22. **For each room, apply different color duct tape or neon stickers or washi tape or colorful post it notes on room boxes (and even furniture!) so they are easy to identify when they get to the new house (you can even use colored magic markers). For example, all master bedroom boxes are marked with blue post it notes and the door frame of the master bedroom at the new house has a blue post it note so everyone helping knows which room it goes to. Have a master list to know your coding system – no need to even write on boxes!**
23. Differentiate between essential and non-essential boxes and put non-essentials in the garage until everything else is unpacked
24. Put spillable items in Ziplocks. Or open the container, put Saran Wrap over the opening and then put the lid on – no spills
25. Put hardware for specific furniture in a Ziplock and tape to the furniture (beds, tables, etc), or wrap screws in packing tape, clearly marked, and attach to item
26. Use towels and blankets to wrap fragile items and pictures
27. Put masking tape in an X over glass and mirrors to absorb shock
28. Don’t overload the boxes
29. Grocery shop a few weeks before your move, eat the food, take as little as possible
30. If you’re taking your fridge, defrost at least 24 hours before the move
31. Pack a cooler for refrigerator items
32. Have a box set aside with important paperwork (including children and pet vaccinations, car titles, passports, prescriptions, wills, etc)
33. Cling wrap for drawers, cabinet doors, books, loose items, mirrors, pictures (with towels or paper between fragile items)
34. Fill large empty items with small things – spices in a crockpot, silverware packed in Ziplocks stuffed into bowls
35. Hanging clothes – group of 10 to 12 hangers, use a large trash bag to cover clothes, tie a knot at bottom to keep them together
36. Transport linens in laundry baskets
37. Leave clothes in dressers, if possible. If not, wrap with cellophane tape and you won’t have to pack and unpack when you arrive
38. Take a photo of electronic connections before you unplug them
39. If you’re leaving the area, go see the things in your current town that you never got around to seeing
40. If there are furniture indentations in the carpet where you’re leaving or going, put ice cubes on the ‘holes’ and they will pop out
41. Whether you’re selling, or leaving a rental, make sure to take lots of pictures of the property after everything is out, and of the property you’re moving into before your possessions arrive
42. BEST THING I DID – empty out one room close to the front door. Fill the room with clothes, furniture, knick-knacks, or anything that’s going to be sold or donated. If you list items on Craigslist, people don’t come past the front room, everything is there for display to purchase or let them take, and the day before the move, have a donation center haul off whatever’s left.

ENJOY YOUR NEW HOME!