Forum Thermomix
Welcoming Center, Management and General Chat => Chit Chat => Topic started by: astarra on January 12, 2015, 10:59:44 pm
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As the only time I have moved house was when I moved in with DH, I have no experience with either selling or moving... :-\ ... and after 4.5years of looking, we think we may have finally found what we are looking for. (another look through tomorrow afternoon)
Our place is not yet on the market, so hoping someone/s could give advise...please?!?
Also...tips on moving? and with kids?? :P
Thanks :)
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We have done it three times in 7 years. Only once with a child. My advice is to start packing and decluttering now :) then you've also given yourself a head start on packing for the move.
Also remove yourself from how you live in the home to how other people may live in your home. We had no bites for three weeks, swapped 2 pieces of furniture (making the room feel bigger), and people bought it straight away. Good luck!
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I have moved a lot over the last 20 years - probably over 10 times - with the last move from Australia to the US so I know a little about this stressful task.
My advice would be to de-clutter as early as possible and before you start packing for the move to the new house. I cannot stress this strongly enough. This will save you time and money. After you have de-cluttered and are only left with what you will be taking with you, pack items by zones (eg. Kitchen, master bedroom, living etc) and assign each zone a separate color. Then tape colored paper on the boxes and have a plan of the new house also marked out in the same colors for each zone. That way, on moving day, the Removalists only need to refer to the colour of the boxes and the corresponding house plan (colour matching!). There's no need for them to ask you where each box goes as this takes time and will cost you money. Packers/Removalists and children are not a good combination so keep your kids away for the day if at all possible. I sent mine to daycare for the day. That way you can concentrate on the task at hand, not the kids. I have always had the professionals do the packing as well because it's not that much extra in terms of overall cost. However, if you are going to do it yourself, a friend of mine did this and she packed one box a day, every day, leading up to the move day.
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I hope things work out for you astarra, you have obviously outgrown your current house. I haven't had to sell too many times but have watched a lot of shows on TV on how to present a house for sale. The girls are right - declutter, declutter and make your home look as spacious as possible. If you have a lot of photos around, remove most of them, have a nice bunch of flowers in the lounge room. I would repaint if necessary, neutral colours appeal more. If you have a small bedroom with 2 beds in it, remove one to make it look bigger. Of course the house needs to be spotless but we know you keep a tidy house at all times astarra. Best of luck, I hope the other house turns out to be just what you wanted. MEP has given great advice re the packing.
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As a family we have moved 3 times in less than 10 years.
Decllutter, kids toys, books, ornaments, pack as much up as yo can. We ended up renting a storage unit and storing everything there. Our last move we had a firm come in and totally clean up the the garden, it looked fab afterwards and made a huge difference.
Fresh flowers for every home open and the house should look as neat and clean as possible.
Good luck, I hate home opens, hard work selling with children around.
:)
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Sorry, regarding the sale of your house, ask the local real estate agents what they think you should/need to fix to appeal to buyers. They are generally very good at this as it helps them sell your house faster and that's a win-win for you and them.
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Thanks to a who have given me such a great lot of advice, gives me a great starting point. :-* :-* :-*
We painted right through 4yrs ago, and got new carpet put down, also a new kitchen at the same time (which I shall be sad to leave but the space we will gain in the new place will be amazing!), :)
All slightly off white with grey accents - very neutral (and what the land agent suggested then)
Thanks again ladies. You are gems. :-*
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Mep, Great color coding advice.
Astarra good luck with the move.
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Astarra we owned
The same house until we built here, but did do two transfers to the country. Everyone has given great advice. My only addition is to take the kettle, coffee, tea and UHT milk with you and some biscuits. You will need a tea or coffee and the removalists will be putty in your hands if you offer them one. Oops, they may take sugar so you had better have some of that out too. :D
Make sure everything is fully insured by the removalists when moving too. Check to see if they need to pack breakables for them to be insured. Lots do.
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Don't leave the toilet seat up when the photos are taken and have clean towels on the rack!
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Everyone has given great advise, love the colour coding MEP. Declutter asap, makes it easier for home opens and no need to transfer.
Good luck Astarra hope you get a great price on both and you have a quick turn around. I hate the what if and when stage.
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Great advice, especially Gert's. You would be amazed how many real estate photos have the toilet seat up.
Wishing you good luck Astarra. Hope you get the house you want and yours sells quickly.
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Great advice above. An additional recommendation (particularly for non-essential items you pack early) is to make a list of what is in each box and give the box a unique identifier. This makes it easier to unpack because you can work out the best order in which to open boxes and leave non-essential items til the end. Also helps if you need something that is still packed, you can go directly to that box. I write the unique identifier on the top of the box and every side so it is easy to see no matter what way the boxes are stacked. It does take a little bit of extra time but I have also used the list at times to help calculate contents value for insurance so it does serve a couple of purposes.
Perhaps keep in mind too that you will probably need twice as many boxes as you think :). Use good boxes, particularly for items that may stay packed away for some time.
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Be wary of the insurance scam as well. I found my house insurance covered me from the house to,the moving van and from the moving van to the new house. The moving company carries their own insurance so you are basically covered. I found it was very good advice and saved us quite a lot of money moving from Sydney to Cairns.
Gert
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Astarra, are you able to move into your new house before you sell.? If so you can hire furniture to fill the empty house.
Good luck, the advice given is good, especially coloured coding and writing contents on boxes. I used news paper to wrap China, nothing broken. I got some boxes from Bunnings for free.
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All good advice. I can add one thing.
When people view your home bake bread before they come so it smells great, and leave the loaf/rolls on display and leave a chopping board and some veggies so it looks like you are about to cook.
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I find the real estate agents give very good advice on what needs to be improved for a quick sale. Quite often we don't "see" these issues since we live in the house. Their recommendations are not necessarily expensive.
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All awesome advise, thanks again all. :-*
Gert - toilet seat up?? :-X ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
Chookie - I highly doubt we will be able to move in first unfortunately. :( I wish.....!!! Would make it alot easier. Finances prevent it tho. :-\
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Astarra, it can be a stressful time, especially with young children!
Everyone else has covered most aspects of shifting, however I will add my 5c's worth haha
I have 4 kids, all grown now. We moved several times when they were little. I always made a point of setting their rooms up 1st after the shift, that way they could help put their own things away, like toys, shoes, books etc.
This is where labelling boxes is a MUST!
Good luck and stay calm.
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I have just thought of something else Astarra. Put some fresh mulch over the garden beds. It hides any stray weeds and makes everything look fresh.
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Good thinking Cookie, I have done that before. ;)
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1. You have one chance to make a good first impression. Make sure your house looks welcoming from the kerb otherwise many prospective buyers will keep driving. That means having the green green lawn mowed regularly (make sure its green ;)), weeds pulled, leaves raked, garden mulched (thats a biggie like cookie suggested), maybe some flowering pots or a pot near the entry. No spiders webs. Get a new front door mat. Your doorway needs to look like the gateway to heaven. Sweep it every day.
2. Pack away most of the kiddies toys (except for maybe their precious ones, the kids will survive without them believe it or not). Get rid of all the clutter, have a garage sale and or donate to charity. Buy each kid a big crate to store in the garage and get them to fill it with only the stuff they want to take to the new house, or stuff that is not junk. Once that lid goes on - thats it for them. You need to be harsh and non-emotional because when you get to the new house you will find that you have actually brought a lot of cr$p with you that you are going to have to find a space for. You can always take photo's of things that perhaps you are finding hard to decide whether you need to ditch.
3. Rooms should be designated spaces. Don't have a junk room where you have heaped lots of stuff cos you don't know where to put it. Buyers will see that and it will be a big turn off because it looks like your house doesn't have a lot of storage or cupboard space. Don't have dual purpose rooms ie. an office and a bedroom, a sewing room and a bedroom - make it one or the other.
4. Vacume regularly and just before a home open or inspection just spray some Mr Sheen or use something similar around and people will associate it with a 'clean' house ;) (works for me).
5. Make sure your sink is clean and spotless.
6. If you are unable to justify hire furniture perhaps consider making a budget for "selling the house" but that you can also take with you eg. buy some really nice cushions for the lounge, doona's for the girls beds, mats from IKEA, a table runner and a really striking table decoration.
7. If you have a home open or inspection get your pet accessories out of the picture. People who do not like say dogs or cats will be put off by seeing their beds, food & water bowls, toys and scratchie carpet tower thingos. Likewise with pet doo, out of side out of mind.
8. If the agent calls and says they have someone who wants to come through now....think...look...and just get rid of all the cr$p that is not in its place and have a box to throw it all into and store in a cupboard out of view, or even... throw it in the boot of the car and just take off to the park etc!
9. Lucky last - if your house is basically ready to view and your agent has a prospective buyer who wants to go through, don't put them off by saying one of the kids has to go down for a sleep. Get the buyer through the house by all means and forego the sleep, or maybe the sleep can be had elsewhere at a friends/relatives house in a portacot or in your arms at a park etc. You need to set your priorities.
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Great advice CP. I couldn't agree with you more.
Our house sold within one week after two home opens and two private opens. We sought advice from the real estate agent and did pretty much everything he and you've suggested. My DH was still potting plants at the back when the professional photographer was taking photos at the front and inside of the house! When I left the house for home opens, the car had two clothes baskets full of shoes that normally live by the front door and the dish rack from the kitchen sink with detergent etc. the only items left on the kitchen counter tops were tmx, kitchen aid mixer, coffee machine and a very nice canister of kitchen utensils.
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All very interesting, thank you all. :-*
Just had two agents through and both said they would be very happy to show it exactly as it is!!! :)
The only thing that we need to do is to clean the guttering around the back (which funnily enough DH had commented on just last night that he should to that this w/e!!!) 8)
Both also said to do nothing to, as far as decorating or cushions or moving furniture etc :D
One thing I thought interesting is that one of them suggested having the washing machine going during home inspections as it creates a feeling of 'homeliness' 8) Had not thought of that one.
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Good luck Astarra. It sounds as though you have everything under control.
We were lucky when we sold our house as we had already shifted, so the house was empty. We put flowers round. Some of the bedrooms were on the small side and without furniture they looked large. We actually sold it ourselves and it sold effort the second home open. I had told DH if he didn't sell it in two weeks it was going into the hands of an agent.
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smart cookie :D
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Actually it was really a smart DH but I don't want him to get too big headed. ;D ;D
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I'm sure you would have no trouble selling your home Astarra as it would be spotless and beautifully furnished. I wouldn't be having the washing machine going though, it wouldn't make me think it's homey, I would think the owners weren't organised enough to get the washing done before inspection. DJ's suggestion of baking bread and a nice wooden chopping board with veggies on is a good idea.
When I sold my home on the Central Coast before marrying DH, I set the outdoor table as I had a lovely outdoor entertaining area. My home sold in 4 days at the price I wanted.
Are you going to stay in Tassie or moving elsewhere?