Moving Tips for the Home Seller

The whole process of selling your house can be tiring in itself. Because of the stressful undertaking, some people may overlook the weight of the moving process. Once you manage to sell the home, you still have to think about moving what’s inside to your new abode (and looking for your new place of residence is another thing in itself!)

Don’t underestimate the value of preparing for the big move. Time passes by ever so quickly, and you wouldn’t want to find yourself scrambling around to hit a buzzer-beater! Because there can be many unknown variables to moving (available time of movers, availability of the new home you’re getting, etc.), it would be good to manage the factors that you can control. You might want to start moving as early as you figure out the closing date. If you have the packing dealt with as early as possible, that’s going to be one huge thorn off your back.

Trust us.

Have a Checklist Prepared

Let’s be honest. We’re not the best at remembering things. And even if you can, it’s undeniable that having to remember a ton of things can be a headache. Here’s what you should do:

1. Swallow your pride
2. Get a piece of paper
3. Write things down.

This doesn’t only work for moving, but for almost every aspect of life.

What should you jot down? You can list down specific areas of the home to be cleared off bit by bit. This works well if you’re extremely busy and prefer to do things one step at a time. For example, you can make a bullet list like the one below:

• Seasonal clothes
• Linens
• Frames and photos
• Kid’s toys
• Unused cutlery and kitchen appliances

The idea here is that you can set your expectations on how much work you’re going to put yourself in and pace yourself accordingly.

Decluttering

No. This is not about minimalism or the inner peace you can have by owning less. But going on a little decluttering session could make things easy for you.

Selling certain items in the home means fewer things to bring out or fewer things to put into storage! If you’re not a fan of having garage sales or eBay posting, you can easily donate them and be of help to others! You don’t even have to go outside. Local charities such as Goodwill and Salvation Army have pick-up services for your convenience.

How should you start? An easy way to do this is to segregate your things into “keep”, “sell”, and “donate” boxes (or piles). Just like with having a list. You can easily understand how much you’ll be bringing to the next house, how much you could potentially earn by selling things, or how much you’re helping others (sometimes we need to pat ourselves on the back).

Speaking of Boxes…

With all the trees burning all around the globe, it might be wise to recycle used boxes from old appliances, printer paper, or Amazon packages. If you feel like you don’t have enough, your neighbor might be happy to let go of a few boxes for some free space! Still not enough? Try out Craigslist, eBay, or even a local retailer!

Packing Proper

Below are some useful packing tips to keep in mind:

1. Organization. You don’t need to be overly-obsessed about compartmentalizing your boxes. But labeling each box could help you identify which box has which. Remember, if you made that list because it’s tough to keep them in your head, why not give yourself a favor here too?
2. Documents. If you’ve been living in that home for a significant amount of time, you’re bound to have collected an invaluable stack of documents along the way. Title deeds, contracts, receipts, and lots of other pieces of paper can’t easily be replaced if lost or damaged. To keep them safe, store them all together and keep an eye on them.
3. Cling Film Hacks. Instead of taking out the small stuff from your drawers, you could just wrap the drawer up with some plastic foil to keep them from popping out during the move. You could also use cling film to seal up for shampoo, soap, lotion bottles, or other containers of the same nature. If only all our problems could be covered up with Saran wrap…
4. For fragile items like glass cups and plates, you could use linens as a layer of protection. Wrap them up, and now you have both your glassware and linens packed at the same time!
5. Knives. A small accident could lead to big trouble! Keep knives and other sharp objects in oven mitts or wrap them in thick linen to prevent unfortunate accidents from happening.
6. Furniture screws. For furniture that needs to be disassembled, keep their small screws in tiny bags to keep them organized and stick those bags to the furniture itself so you know where each set of screws belong to.
7. The back of your TV. To save your sanity, you could take a photo of the backside of your TV so you could see where you put those pesky cables and avoid an hour of trial and error!

Sourcing a Moving Company

It’s essential to find a moving company as soon as you know the closing date. Don’t settle for anything less. Find the best fit for your circumstances. It might not be a good idea to go with the first one you come across and force yourself into a tight schedule. Try to compare prices, double-check if they’re licensed, and look at some reviews.

Before they arrive, protect yourself by taking photos of your stuff (not just the back of your TV). You don’t want any “It was like that when we got there” types of situations. Accidents can happen, and sometimes accident-makers might not admit to it to prevent you from making claims.

You’re part of the move as well!

All your things may be ready, but don’t forget about you and your family! Prepare for your first day in your new home. You’re likely not going to want to unpack ALL your stuff as soon as you step into the house.

Here’s a list that gives you that idea:

• Clothes (don’t forget your underwear!)
• Valuables (wallets, certain documents you might need, asthma inhalers, etc.)
• Power banks and chargers (life in 2021 gets pretty boring without a phone)
• Snacks (life since the BC times have been pretty boring without food)
• Toiletries (can’t forget about that toothbrush)

Keeping these things within reach in a suitcase or a large bag prevents you from having to deep dive into a pile of boxes for your toothbrush. There’s also a chance that the kitchen isn’t equipped yet for a grand meal, so you may want to be mentally prepared to eat outside or have some frozen food to reheat in the microwave.

Don’t Have a Closing Date Yet?

With all these packing tips, your speed in preparing for the move will be off the charts! However, if you’re still waiting on a buyer to come around forever, you can’t show off your moving efficiency. But what if you can easily turn that green light on?

If you seem to dislike the lengthy work that real estate agents put you through just to sell the house, you might be interested in working with a real estate investor instead. No renovations, listings, nor numerous home visits! All it takes is a call or a message. We’d encourage you to find several trusted investors in your area, but if you’re in Panama City, you could start your search from Shorefront Investments (that’s us!) through a call at (850) 713-4866, an email, or a form on our front page.