on the move

When your house is on the market, nothing sounds better than that magic word: “Sold!” If you’re starting to feel antsy about selling your home, here’s the good news—real estate experts say May is the most popular month for buyers. After all, spring is in the air, school’s out for summer, and people are ready for a fresh start! But to attract their attention, you’ll need to help your home put its best foot forward. I’m here to help you do just that.

Allison’s Pre-Moving Tips

Lighten the load. Purging clutter will help you not only beautify your space, but also lighten the load for when moving day comes! (You don’t realize how much stuff you have until you start boxing it up.) It’s time to let go of things you no longer need, want, or use. Offset your moving costs by holding a yard sale or selling items online using Craigslist or Ebay. If you’d rather just unload unwanted items, enlist a local non-profit like Salvation Army to come and take those things off your hands.

Set the stage for a sale. Once your domain is decluttered, it’s time to get your home prime for showing! The key is creating a clean slate. While you might love your tchotchkes and collectibles, prospective homebuyers probably won’t. You want them to be able to picture themselves in your home and not be distracted by family photos or your teapot collection. Still not convinced? Here’s another incentive: the less stuff you have, the bigger the space will appear!

Think inside the box. Now that you’ve de-cluttered and streamlined your stuff, you’ll only be taking the items you’ll actually use in your new home. (Right? Say it with me: “There’s no place like [a clean] home.”) Packing will be so much easier! To simplify the process even further, pack room by room and label each box with its contents and corresponding room. It’s also helpful to number boxes and create a spreadsheet that keeps track of the numbered boxes and their contents.

All of that labeling does take a little extra time, but it will be well worth it in the end. If a box is missing, you’ll know right away by looking at your inventory, instead of tearing boxes apart looking for your prized possessions.

Allison’s Must-Have Tools

Sturdy appropriately sized boxes—In this case, one size doesn’t fit all. Take into account all of the items you will be packing and get boxes that will match your needs.

Good quality packing tape—Save yourself the hassle of dealing with flimsy packing tape that tears too easily.

Sharpie—Make an indelible mark! Use a thick black marker so you (and your movers) can clearly see where the boxes go and what’s inside.

Bubble wrap and packing paper—Don’t pack your home without these must-haves for protecting fragile items in transit.

Handy Hint

Color you organized! Using color-coded labels will enable you to easily see which boxes go where as you settle into your home.