Packing to Move

Moving is stressful. It doesn’t matter if you are buying, selling or renting a home, moving is the pits.

What can you do to reduce some of that stress? One of the most stressful parts of moving is packing. No matter how clean you think you are, or think you don’t have ‘that much’ stuff, packing shows it is all a lie! There are some packing tips that I have learned after 17 years of helping people buy and sell homes.

• Don’t unpack your dressers. I had a client who went to Costco and purchased 5 rolls of their saran wrap, and she wrapped up the dressers. They moved them right in to their new rooms.

• Leave your clothes on the hangers. Take your clothes and saran wrapped the hangers together. Throw an extra-large garbage back over the hangers, make a hole in the bottom of the bag for the hanger handles to come out, and knot up the loose bottom.

• Good boxes are important. Ask your Realtor about boxes. A lot of times, we have a client who just moved, and they are happy to get rid of their boxes! This can save you money. Wal-mart and Home Depot also have nice boxes that are very affordable.

• Pack your photos and pictures in boxes with your towels and linens. Pictures and family photos are those things that make home… well, home. Packing them up with the linens and towels protects your pictures, and towels and linens are usually one of the first boxes you will unpack.

• Pack up least used items first. This sounds like a nobrainer, but when you are getting ready to start packing, it always seems difficult to know where to start.

• Number your boxes and color code your rooms. I have a client who color-coded each room and wrote the box information with that color of pen so the movers (or friends/family) knew in which room to put the boxes.

• Get rid of things you don’t need. As you pack, you are going to find so much stuff that you don’t use, that is broken or is just garbage. Every client I have is always shocked about how much “stuff” they have that is no good. We used outdoor garbage bags in grey and black. The grey bags were for items to donate. Every time a bag was full, it went in the back of my car for a drop-off. The black bags were for garbage. When those bags were full, they went in a truck for a dropoff to the dump.

• Eat as much as you can out of your cupboards and freezers before your move. It’s easy to eat out when you are packing, but it’s smarter to eat as much as you can out of your pantry and freezer before you move…. and cheaper too.

• An hour a day. Packing is hard and we are busy. Every little bit helps, even if it is only an hour a day. When you are buying a home, the closing period (from offer acceptance to key day) is usually about 30-40 days. It seems like a long time, but everyone is always scrambling at the end because it goes by very quickly. Plan at least an hour a day to pack.

• If you are planning on using a mover, start calling around early. Ask your realtor for recommendations as well – we always know a guy. The friends and family option is always great, but we know that isn’t an option for everyone. Whether you are using movers or the friends and family option, calling around early to reserve movers, or to reserve a U-HAUL is important. One of the best things about the movers we used was they took apart the beds and put them together again at the new home. They also put all the dressers, tables, furniture, etc. in the rooms at the new home so all I had to do was unpack and put boxes away.

• As you are packing, where are you going to put everything? Some people have clean garages and store their packed boxes in there. Some folks rent a storage unit to store packed boxes, or things they don’t need during the selling process. When we sold our home, we got a POD for our driveway to put our packed boxes into. It got them out of the house and that was so very helpful.

• Valuables. Always keep your valuables together and bring them with you.

• Bathrooms and kitchens last. Knives can be packed in dish towels and saran wrapped together.

• Take a picture of the back of the TV, or other electronics so you know where everything goes when you get to your new home.

• Don’t waste space. Small things like spices can get packed inside your pots and pans, or inside your blender, crock pot, etc.

• Use your suitcases/totes for a travel bag for you and the kiddos. Pack your essentials and their favorite toys.

We will tackle more tips on moving next month!