After 20 years in the military and relocating seven times or in the Army we called them Permanent Change of Stations (PCS) which were from cross country to cross continent moves, we’re firm believers in ensuring that your house is ready for relocating ahead of time—whether it’s a self-move or you’re hiring someone to do it all. We don’t know about you, but when we don’t have a plan, and the things around us are disorganized, our life feels a little out of control. And when you’re dealing with the stress of relocating, the last thing you want is to feel out of control. Besides that, in most cases, the more stuff you move, the more your move costs. That could mean preparing your house is a money saver too. Maybe it sounds intimidating, but really, if you do it right, it doesn’t have to monopolize all your time.
Relocating to Tampa. 10 Tips to get your house ready
Tip #1 Purge, eliminate…whatever you want to call it, just get rid of stuff you don’t need
Don’t do it all at once though. Make it a goal to clean out one room a day…or week (depending how much time you have before your move day). Pick a room and clean out all drawers, cabinets, boxes—anything that holds “stuff”—and separate it into donate boxes, garage sale boxes, keep boxes and trash.
If you haven’t used it in the last year, purge it. If you won’t use it at your new home, purge it. If it’s stuff you want to keep, but won’t use right away, go ahead and box it up. This can actually be very therapeutic at the same time. You may actually find some things that you forgot about. And mostly you probably will see how much “Stuff” you have accumulated since your last move.
Tip #2 Have a garage sale
Or give it all to charity…whatever you prefer. Garage sales are a lot of work, but if you’re looking for a way to make a little extra money—maybe to pay for a couple of nights on the road while you’re moving—they’re a great idea. Looking for Free Advertising for your Garage Sale?
Try Garage Finder GarageSaleFinder.com is free tool to help you find garage sales and yard sales easier than ever before. With our free garage sale map, you not only can see at-a-glance where the garage sale hot spots are, you can print turn-by-turn directions to the garage sales of your choice.
If you decide it’s not worth the hassle and prefer a charitable donation, make sure to get a receipt for a tax deduction. Salvation Army, Goodwill can always use donations.
Tip #3 Organize the stuff you keep
It’s OK if you’re not ready to box up the stuff you’re keeping. Just organize it. You’ll find that if everything has a place, it’s much easier for you and your moving labor crew to pack safely and in an organized manner (where you know what box everything is in when it gets to your new home).
Put it in a clutter bucket that you can decide on after you’re done with everything else. If you need help keeping everything clean, there are a lot of gadgets that can help, as well as stuff you probably already have lying around.
Tip #4 Clean as you go
Once you’ve gone through all that work, you probably won’t ever want to do it again, so now comes the (seemingly) hardest part: keeping everything clean and organized. It’s much easier than it seems, though: in fact, by putting all those chores on autopilot, you can keep everything clean with what feels like minimal amounts of work.
For example, instead of striving for perfection and going through big cleaning sessions every once in a while, just cleanup 15 minutes a day. After 15 minutes, stop. You’d be surprised how quickly you get to perfection with such little effort. Every time you leave a room, take one item that doesn’t belong there with you. A few minutes a day is all it takes to keep everything clean and organized for the time before the day your relocating day.
Tip #5 Use things you can’t take with you
Most moving companies have a do-not-ship list that includes items like perishable foods, household cleaners, candles and propane tanks. So, have a packing party complete with candles, perishable foods, and burgers on the grill (to use up the propane). Then, finish off the cleaning chemicals when they leave. Seriously though…use it up, so it’s not wasted.
Tip #6 Begin an inventory
There are a number of important reasons for taking a home inventory of your possessions. You want to have an accurate record for insurance purposes in case of theft, a fire or other disaster strikes your home, resulting in losses. Completing a home inventory checklist is also one of the most thorough and efficient ways to catalog your belongings before a household move.
Room-by-Room-You can use your home inventory as a general reference, but it might make sense to break your inventory down by room. That way you’ll have mini-inventory checklists of the kitchen, bedrooms, etc., which also gives you a way to cross-check your inventory. Document all the items in each room, but you can use general categories like “bedding.” You may want to make a note of any high-value items and snap a photo if you don’t already have a record. Even better—make a video of each room!
#7 Create a “move file”
When you’re moving, you’ll have tons of paperwork—quotes, estimates, receipts, contracts—and it’s all important stuff that you don’t want to misplace. Put it all in a labeled file and keep it with you. You’ll definitely need it during your move, and you may need it after your relocating for tax purposes.
Any office supply store or even Walmart has the plastic portable file cabinet that you can put the hanging folders inside and you can label the folders so it is easy to just open up the file cabinet and drop in the receipt and continue with the move.
#8 Gather all important forms and documents
As you’re purging, organizing and cleaning, locate all school records, dental records, medical records, bank records, tax information, birth certificates, social security cards…any paperwork you may need to start a new school, change residency, register to vote, register your vehicle or visit a new physician.
Put it all in a “forms and documents” file that you keep with you throughout your move. Which when you go to your plastic portable file cabinet you will ready to go with all important documents, paperwork while you are preparing, while you are on the road and especially when you get to where you are relocating.
#9 Begin collecting boxes and moving supplies
If you’ve decided on a do-it-yourself move or you want to save money on a full-service move, you’ll need good sturdy boxes. I’ve heard of people using throw-away grocery store boxes, or dumpster diving behind liquor stores for boxes, but we don’t recommend this practice —these kinds of boxes are not designed to protect fragile household goods. Instead, use boxes that were designed for moving. Start looking early, you may find good quality used boxes online.
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#10 Return any borrowed or rented items and pick up any items you’ve loaned out
If you hire packers to put your belongings in boxes, they won’t know what’s yours and what’s not. You don’t want to take rental DVDs, library books or something you borrowed from a friend with you. Imagine what the cost that could be incurred with a DVD or Library book could be now. And as you know mailing something is not so inexpensive any longer.
So, while you’re purging make sure you give back the things that don’t belong to you. At the same time, don’t forget to pick up things like dry cleaning and things you’ve loaned out to friends.
Nick & Cindy Davis are here to make your move to the Tampa Florida area as smooth as possible. To get PDF copy of this report simply click the Download Now Button below. If you have any questions you are more than welcome to Nick & Cindy Davis at 813-300-7116.