When thinking about selling a home, most people are laser focused on hiring a real estate agent and getting their property in good shape for the purposes of a short sale and strong offer. It’s a heavy lift to prepare a home for sale but working with an experienced real estate agent and reputable agency can prevent problems along the way.
Real estate agents (also called real estate brokers) are not only experts on the most effective ways to get your home ready for sale but can help with other important tasks that can be stressful such as moving OUT of our home! For example, your agent can provide you with a list of vetted moving companies and keep you on task as to what needs to be done. Using your real estate agent as another partner in your entire process from listing your home to the big moving day will eliminate many unwanted headaches. Home sellers often forget to seek advice from their agent or allocate enough time in advance to make sure each step runs smoothly. Here are the ProTips to get you started.
Call a Mover once you have an offer to buy your home
According to Unified Movers, putting together a checklist will keep you on track when it comes to moving out of your home. They recommend a 6 – week checklist guide to help you through the process so you don’t forget anything. Unified Movers
Think about what will fit into your new home and how it will be packaged. Do you need professional moving help to package and move the items for you or can you do it yourself with companies such as PODS? Container moving companies offer mobile containers that are dropped off at your home. At your leisure you can pack the container and then schedule a pick up date for the container to be shipped to your next home. These companies offer services across the entire country just like professional moving companies such as United VanLines. Don’t just think you have to hire the large companies if you need packaging materials! Container companies also offer packing materials or you can go to your local post office or hardware store for boxes which is much less expensive when you do the packing yourself.
Keep your moving costs down by assessing what you really need to take
Determining what items you want to sell, throw away, donate to charity and take with you can be an overwhelming task and very time consuming. Make sure you give yourself at least 2 weeks to get everything out of your home. Start by asking yourself what items will go with you and what items stay behind?
Keeping your load as light as possible will keep costs down
Start putting items into piles such as:
Do your homework and make sure you call a few companies to determine who has the best rates and availability. During your sorting process if you determine you have too much garbage and don’t want to make trips to your local dump yourself, consider calling a company such as 1 800 Got Junk who will take items of any size and shape and charge by the weight. It is likely that, like most homeowners, that you have items in the garage or basement that do not fit in the regular garbage pick-up from your home. For example, long pieces of extra wood from a backyard deck project to old garden tools or that banged up dresser you never had time to restore. This is the time to purge as much as you can before packing up all the rest!
Look for local charity centers such as a community center, church or GoodWill to drop off those lightly used items that can be passed down for use by others. You can also pick up donation forms from them for tax write-off purposes.
Consignment is a great way to make some extra cash on the side and pass off nicer pieces of furniture or clothing. Most consignment shops have a particular focus such as antiques, modern or traditional style, tabletop items only, etc. Make sure to ask your real estate agent for recommended stores in your area! Most consignment shops will review photos in person or by email and will let you know the potential interest and value of the piece to help you avoid making any unnecessary trips.
Items left should be those that are very useful or dear to you emotionally. If you find your new place does not have a good spot or the right style for your current pieces, be sure to ask family members, friends or neighbors if they would like any of these items before donating them to charity. You will be pleased to know they are still in the hands of people that you know who will take care of them and value them.
What is left?
A much smaller pile of your essentials and treasured items to take with you!
Now is the time to start that pizza packing party!
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