Posted by Julie Signore on June 26, 1998 at 13:52:03:
In Reply to: Getting house ready to sell posted by Mary Lou on June 26, 1998 at 11:22:35:
: Where do I start to prepare my house to go on the market? Also, any packing and moving tips?
Aloha Mary Lou!
Whewh! Selling/packing/moving are all huge topics to cover even independently -- let's see what we can do here...
Are you in a position to hire a Professional Organizer to assist you first of all? I noticed you signed the guestbook & mentioned IL. There are
several PO's in your area -- just so you know :)
When selling the home you need to go for "eye appeal" a.s.a.p. -- therefore you really need to get what I call the *surface* areas cleaned up first. ie: nothing on the floors, cloths put away, eliminate piles of all sorts.
The next areas I would pay special attention to immediately is the kitchen, bathrooms & closets -- these are the rooms & areas that potential buyers will relate to first in visualizing your place as *their home sweet home"
Give yourself 15-20 minutes at the beginning & end of each day to tidy up whatever did not get put away. The one thing you don't want -- is to find out at 8 a.m. that they are doing a showing at 9 & you have tons to do! Keep this time as stressless as possible -- you'll need all the peaceful moments you can muster for packing & relaxing in the midst of all of this.
Moving is a *perfect* opportunity to sort through all the things you haven't used for eons, outgrown cloths, broken items etc... Start creating boxes for the appropriate categories. Actually so I am not redundant here with very detailed info -- check out the "Kitchen organizing recipe" there is a very well defined system that can assist you on the weeding & sorting.
What I would suggest is that you pack the items that you know you want/need -- yet don't use as often immediately -- which means having an area in the basement or garage for "packed boxes" would be very useful. (hint: label the room the box belongs in & the contents of you boxes on all sides so you can easily distinguish them when you arrive in the new place)
Is it ok if we address the *packing* in more detail as you proceed? After having moved my entire home 6,000 miles -- I definitely have tips for you as you go ;) Are you moving a great distance or staying in your general geographic area?
keep me posted!
Much Aloha,
Julie Signore -CEO
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