Selling your home and moving to a new house takes time and planning but it is a whole different beast if you’ve been living in the same home for a decade or longer. You’ve had years and years of accumulating stuff and no need to downsize. Perhaps it has been a while since you last organized, de-junked, or even cleaned certain areas of the home.
While this can make the task of moving feel even more overwhelming, this also presents a good opportunity for you to get a clean slate upon moving into your next house. As you prepare to move, you can shake off the dust and prepare for a new chapter in your life.
When you have decades of life to move, the key is preparation.
1. Time to Downsize
When you’ve lived in your home for a very long time, you tend to collect a lot of things that you no longer need. There is no reason to move with these things, so now is the time to donate the toys and clothes that your children have outgrown. If you have collections of things that are no longer interesting to you, then you should put them on consignment. Clean out the attic and closets for stuff that you haven’t seen in a long time, and you should make it a point to quickly decide to keep it, sell it, donate it or trash it.
2. Estate Auctions
In the event that you are moving because you’ve reached retirement age, your children have grown and moved away or you just want to downsize, you might want to consider holding an estate auction. Pack up everything you want to keep before auction time, and then allow a licensed auction company to sell off the rest of your possessions. This is a nice way to put your hands on some cash, move with a much lighter load and start fresh at your new location.
3. Consider a Storage Unit
In some cases, you will find that you literally just have too much stuff to deal with in a timely manner. You will need time to have the house cleaned out for the new owners, so you might want to consider boxing up things in a rented storage unit until you actually have time for sorting. Many storage unit businesses offer a free first month, so you potentially wouldn’t have to pay too much for this convenience.
4. Hire Professional Movers
Your family and friends are probably great about helping you move, but you need professional help when you are faced with a huge move. Don’t just pick someone out of the phone book, or you may not get very good results. Ask for references from others who have moved, check out the moving company’s record from the Better Business Bureau, and look for any feedback from their customers before you decide to hire anyone.
5. Yard Sale
If you have a lot of odds and ends to get rid of, you might consider making a quick buck with a yard sale. Not only can you sell clothing, furniture, and random items, but you can also sell any large appliances or home items that you don’t plan to take to your new home. If you have a ten-year old washer and dryer and want to upgrade when you move into the new house, you can easily get rid of the old appliances by selling them to a neighbor at discount.
Use these tips as a base to get the job of moving done as easily and efficiently as possible. Granted, this project will be massive, but it can be done. Plan ahead, and you will soon be enjoying the comfort of your new home.
This article was written by Dixie Somers, a freelance writer who loves to write for women’s interests and the home niches. She lives in Arizona with her husband and three beautiful daughters. Dixie got advice for this article from the professionals at Island Movers, a moving company in Hawaii.
