When Your House Goes on the Market

 Are you about to put your house on the market? It’s an exciting and stressful time. How do you even get started? You have a household of things… and a deadline. Don’t panic! Just take everything step-by-step. With a moving checklist in hand, you’ll be able to get out of your old home, and into your new home, in no time at all. 

How Soon to List House Before Moving

Your realtor can tell you the average “time on market” for your area. Most areas have an average time of 30 to 60 days, so you should plan to move within 30 to 60 days of placing your home on the market. You can always negotiate more time with a buyer, but many buyers are also eager to move into their new home. 

If you want to do renovations to improve your property value, you may want to move even before listing your house. 

Creating a Checklist When Moving to a New Home

Everything that seems complicated is made easier through checklists. Create a checklist for organizing your current home and moving into your new home. Here’s what you need to do:

• Deep clean and organize each room. Go through each room organizing everything: closets, attic, garage, and basement. Going from room to room, rather than tackling the entire house, can keep the process from feeling too overwhelming.
• Separate your items by use. Create piles: things you never use, things you sometimes use, and things that you use constantly. This will help you pack and organize later on. If something’s in your hand for more than a few minutes, set it aside and work on something else. The goal is to get through as much of your stuff as possible!
• Get rid of the things you never use. Now is the time to have a garage sale, donate items you don’t use, or ask friends and family members if they would like these items. You don’t want to move items to your new home if you’re never going to touch them again.
• Pack up the things that you don’t use very often. You may still be in your home for a few more weeks, so you don’t want to pack up everything at once. Start with things that you don’t use often. Pack up closets, basements, and attics, then move on to the pile of general things that you rarely use.
• Make sure everything is well-labeled. Keep an inventory of every box as you complete it, and write on each box the room that it’s from. When you’re unloading things later on, everything will go into the room that it’s for, and unpacking will be made much easier.
• Find a reputable moving company and get an estimate. Moving estimates can vary. Contact moving companies for a written, accurate estimate based on how many items you’re moving and how much of the move you want them to do. If you want them to pack things up, that’ll be extra! Schedule a date.

Once you have a moving date in hand, that’s when you should start packing up the items that you frequently use, emptying out the refrigerator, and doing your final cleaning. 

What’s Next?

• You can make the process of putting your house on the market much simpler with a checklist.
• Once you put your house on the market, start sorting and packing your items immediately.
• Get rid of any items that you don’t need, and make sure the things you do need are labeled.

Contact Tiger Moving and Storage today for a quote!