Moving next fall! Hints/tricks for keeping stress levels down? Also, selling house?

[elcodfish]

Husband and I are moving to FLORIDA next fall! I am super excited! However, we both moved from our parent's houses, into the house we have now, which is 15 minutes from where we grew up and this is about 1200 miles!

We believe we are going to use ABF relocube. It is more expensive than a u-haul but it is cheaper than PODS and has good reviews and we can pack and unpack it ourselves, and not have to try and drive a 16' trailer. They also have a tracker trailer service but that has some negative reviews. Saving the stress is worth the extra cost.

Decluttering! We have already been getting rid of a lot of stuff. We are also selling a bunch of furniture and trying to simplify life in general and will keep doing so over the next 12 months.

So what do I need to do to make the move as easy as possible? What can I do now that I am 12 months out? Also, we are selling our house, so any hints or tips there? We redid the windows 5 years ago and thy have a 20 year warranty which is transferable. We did the roof this Spring and it has a 10 year warranty.

Any hints or tips are appreciated!

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

Tips for handling stress:

Make a list. Do one thing at a time. Mark them off as you go, knowing things are getting done.

Try not to look at the entire overall picture of how much there is to do. Try and break it down into smaller goals :

Sat - clear out bedroom 1
Sun- clear out bed room 2

on weeknights do smaller tasks that may only take 2 hours vs 6-8 hrs, like clear out laundry room, clear out linen closet, clear out hall closet, clear out coat closet, etc

The one thing I regret on our last big move (1700miles) was that we did not declutter MORE.

After arriving we ended up having a hug yard sale to get rid of more stuff. After living with out it for months, you no longer really "need" things you thought you did.

The other big thing was furniture. I wish we had brought with us just the bare minimum, because we ended up purchasing a good bit of new. Was just a waste of time and money moving it, hauling it, trying to make it work in the new house and in the end not using it/keeping it.

 

[timmac]

Regarding house selling... do some research up front compared to other sale prices in your area, and get a sense of what your house is worth. Also, make sure you go into the process with a solid understanding that "What it's worth" most closely resembles "What people are willing to pay", and not necessarily "What you paid" or "How much is owed on the mortgage"

 

[Maddle]

A notebook. As you think of things now to do then, keep a list and add to it.

As you accomplish things, make notes such as when and who and confirmation numbers, etc.

You will find it is a great stress relief because you are not trying to keep everything in your head.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

If you haven't already, make it more neutral. Nothing turns off buyers like Brightly colored walls, outdated wall paper ect. People can visualize their own taste against neutral, but if you have dark colored walls, all they are going to see is the hours spent primering it

 

[irishsharon]

We moved from NY to IL and 3 years later we moved back again(I missed my family) I started to pack things that I knew I was keeping but could do without like my fine china,crystal,vases and good silver.Then as each holiday was over I would more carefully pack all of my decorations,tableclothes and other holiday decore. With our first move I took everthing BIG MISTAKE! The trip back home I was very selective of what I took.So keep asking yourself do I use this,wear this,need this and do I really want to unpack this As others said breaking it down into small projects is less stressful and the more you have packed away will make it easier to clean and show off all the space your home has for potential buyers.I also had a few packing parties with friends, they would come and help and I would provide wine and nibbles(we didn't get a ton done but it was great way to spend time with the people I would miss) Good Luck

 

[pigletto]

If you haven't already, make it more neutral. Nothing turns off buyers like Brightly colored walls, outdated wall paper ect. People can visualize their own taste against neutral, but if you have dark colored walls, all they are going to see is the hours spent primering it

Totally agree with this.
We won't be moving for awhile but I check the houses available in our price range and chosen area every few days. One I loved but every single room was a different very very bright color and from the pictures the rec room appears to be black. Ummm.. instant turn off. I can envision painting and redecorating but when every inch of the house is something I'd want to change I am way less interested and more likely to say "next".

 

[Zuzu03]

We're moving to Florida too! We're shooting for June 2013 right after school is finished (I'm a high school teacher). We're in the same situation about decluttering, getting the house ready to sell, etc. It can really become overwhelming, but the list is a great idea. We've started ticking things off of our list and it is such a good feeling. What we've also discovered is not to get too crazy about making everything "perfect" in the house, just neutral, spotlessly clean and VERY decluttered. It's weird without all of our family photos and kitsch, but it makes a big difference to potential buyers so that they can see their own stuff in your house!

Best of luck to you and keep us posted on your progress!!!

 

[lucigo]

Regarding ABF, we justed used them to move from FL to VA (I know, wrong direction, I'm not happy about it LOL). We used the trailer, and the service was very good. My only problem was that the truck is very tall, and the movers we hired to pack the truck for us packed it all the way to the ceiling. The problem with that was that many of the rubbermaid totes were crushed in transit. Luckily we didn't lose anything important.

One thing I did as I packed I moved everything to the family room and basically packed the family room full so that the movers could work faster, saving me money.

We also sold a LOT of stuff on craigslist that would have been expensive to move. Just keep in mind that when you get to your destination you may be sleeping on a mattress on the floor for a while, eating at the kitchen bar, etc until you can rebuy that furniture.

 

[chris31997]

Get a pocket folder and put in it important papers.

Marriage licensees
Birth Certs
Moving Receipts
Passports
Shot Records
Anything that you want to keep on hand while in transit.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

This may sound silly and like a waste of money but ive moved over 20 times in my short life. Hire someone to unload the truck (or in this case cube). Its so lovely at the end of a long day to pull out two lawn chairs and WATCH someone else bring all your crap in. Also i swear by those colored dot stickers, We put a differnt color on each room (bedroom- blue, kitchen-pink) and then number each box. THen you write out the contents (pinkdot 1- coffee pot, sugar....). Be very detailed. you may not think your going to need that one red shirt you havent worn all year, till your ready to move. I have had to open many boxes on mad stuff hunts.

 

[gammagirl]

We have used ABF tractor trailer service twice. From NC to Vermont and back to NC 3 years later. We had no issues. The only scratches/damage we got was minor and due to not securing the load well enough against settling in transit. The first trip we did all loading/unloading ourselves. On the second move, I learned and hired movers to load/unload on each end. It cost about $250 for that and was worth every cent! Good luck with your move!

 

[DisneyLover83]

We just moved from NC to FL in September and used ABF Trailer and it went great. No damage of any kind, we paid to have help loading and unloading. I second the notebook idea, also have a few folders for moving related items.

 

[tenaseewalker]

I'm Sorry I don't have anything to add. I just wanted to say "I wish I was moving to Florida".. Congrats and enjoy!!!

 

[MouseEarsForAll]

Be very detailed. you may not think your going to need that one red shirt you havent worn all year, till your ready to move. I have had to open many boxes on mad stuff hunts.

Yep, that's Murphy's Law in full force for you..."I just taped up this box and have to rip it off again?!"

 

[angwill]

Husband and I are moving to FLORIDA next fall! I am super excited! However, we both moved from our parent's houses, into the house we have now, which is 15 minutes from where we grew up and this is about 1200 miles!

We believe we are going to use ABF relocube. It is more expensive than a u-haul but it is cheaper than PODS and has good reviews and we can pack and unpack it ourselves, and not have to try and drive a 16' trailer. They also have a tracker trailer service but that has some negative reviews. Saving the stress is worth the extra cost.

Decluttering! We have already been getting rid of a lot of stuff. We are also selling a bunch of furniture and trying to simplify life in general and will keep doing so over the next 12 months.

So what do I need to do to make the move as easy as possible? What can I do now that I am 12 months out? Also, we are selling our house, so any hints or tips there? We redid the windows 5 years ago and thy have a 20 year warranty which is transferable. We did the roof this Spring and it has a 10 year warranty.

Any hints or tips are appreciated!

My hint and tip is to not get your hopes up high about your house selling in any certain amount of time. We were where you are 3 years ago and did the decluttering, getting rid of, and packing anything I would not need in a 6th month period and taking it to storage. We put our house on the market almost 2 years ago and here we still sit. I had to rummage through boxes last winter to find our winter stuff that I packed away expecting the house to sell before last winter. We lived our lives planning on our house selling soon. We no longer do that.

My advice is to keep living your life like you are not moving. Do not drive yourselves nuts with should I pay for that or sign up for that if we may not be here then. Keep your house relatively clean just incase you get that call for a showing and can clean it to show easily enough. Relax and don't get your hopes up too high unless you can afford to leave without selling your home. I keep hearing how our housing market is getting better but I certainly don't see it.

Good luck to you and may your luck be better than ours has been.

 

[lucigo]

My hint and tip is to not get your hopes up high about your house selling in any certain amount of time. We were where you are 3 years ago and did the decluttering, getting rid of, and packing anything I would not need in a 6th month period and taking it to storage. We put our house on the market almost 2 years ago and here we still sit. I had to rummage through boxes last winter to find our winter stuff that I packed away expecting the house to sell before last winter. We lived our lives planning on our house selling soon. We no longer do that.

My advice is to keep living your life like you are not moving. Do not drive yourselves nuts with should I pay for that or sign up for that if we may not be here then. Keep your house relatively clean just incase you get that call for a showing and can clean it to show easily enough. Relax and don't get your hopes up too high unless you can afford to leave without selling your home. I keep hearing how our housing market is getting better but I certainly don't see it.

Good luck to you and may your luck be better than ours has been.

We went through huge disappointment over the summer when we realized there was no way we could sell our house. Its worth almost half of what it was worth a few years ago. Our answer was to refinance it (save $250 a month on the mortgage) and rent it out. To our surprise we are actually getting enough to cover the mortgage, rental agency, and a home warranty. The bonus is that maybe if we are lucky some day we can go back to Florida and have a place to live!

 

[StitchFanZ]

Ask a realtor to come walk thru your house to give you an idea of things you could work on that will help it sell.

Also, get a pre-inspection done to see if there are any issues that might come up for sellers.