Any advice on selling homes and moving?

[astarra]

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??  
Thanks

[Jamberie]

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!

[MEP]

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.

[judydawn]

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.

[Halex]

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.
 

[MEP]

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.

[astarra]

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. 

[obbie]

Mep, Great color coding advice.

Astarra good luck with the move.

[cookie1]

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.  


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.

[gertbysea]

Don't leave the toilet seat up when the photos are taken and have clean towels on the rack!

[Bedlam]

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.

[Kimmyh]

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.

[consumerate]

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.

[gertbysea]

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

[achookwoman]

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.