If you’re planning to move, hopefully you are well along the way toward putting your plans in place. If not, you’ll find that the days leading up to the Big Move will be stressful ones, certain to add tension to what already is a very stressful time in your life.

On the other hand, if you’re like me, you’d much rather have your move go as smoothly as possible — without all of the aggravation that comes with scrambling to make everything happen quickly at the very last moment.

Can you get rid of stress completely? Only if you are comatose! Seriously, you can minimize the aggravation by ensuring that you develop a plan and put it place ahead of time. The following practical tips will help you do just that, IF you’re willing to put them in motion:

Get Your Moving Boxes Now — Some of the best boxes for moving are those copier paper cartons at your workplace. Sturdy and durable, they can handle most anything, are stackable, and easy to seal up. Just don’t grab them at the last moment — they go fast and often never make it to the company dumpster.

For Special Boxes Visit Your Big Box Retailer — Plenty of stores can sell you large packing boxes, but the best deals are usually found through your warehouse club or big box hardware chain. Look for special boxes for mirrors, paintings, glass, clothes, and other items. Buy in bulk; save money!

Pack What You Don’t Need Now — If you know that there are some items you definitely won’t need until after you make your move, then pack these items now. Lots of seasonal and holiday stuff can be packed and ready to go. Clear out your attic, garage, basement, or shed of all unnecessary stuff — sell off what you don’t need and pack the rest. Label everything clearly!

Get Top Notch Supplies — Besides using sturdy boxes, get packing tape and a thick black marker to label everything. Write on the top and on the sides the room where the box is to be placed. Use bubble wrap and newspapers to pad the contents.

Stuff You Need Now — As you near the moving date, set aside personal items and clothing you’ll need for the days leading up to and through the move. You’ll bring these things with you or, if you are flying to your new home, you can pack these on the date of your move and send them ahead of you via parcel post.

Stress is the part of every life change, but you can minimize its effects by planning way in advance to ensure a good move.

Further Reading

Getting Ready For Your Big Move

Home Buying 7-Step Plan, Step 6

Moving At Year End: Tips To Ease The Crunch

7 Steps For Buying Your Next Home

Tags: Home Buying, moving, real estate, realtor, selling

Homeowners who are preparing to put their houses on the market are understandably nervous these days. Will a buyer be found? Will they be approved for a mortgage?

This sort of uncertainty has some owners thinking about spending extra money to make repairs in a bid to improve the marketability of their homes. While major repairs should be handled before the home is offered for sale, most sellers can make minor repairs and still sell their homes.

Before you sell, you need to assess how your home looks to potential buyers. A skilled real estate agent can suggest what repairs you should make before marketing your home; those tips are likely to include the following:

Clean up your landscaping — your front lawn could make or break a sale; if your home doesn’t have curb appeal, then buyers may not be able to “look past” the front door. Trim bushes, put grass seed down to fill in patches, plant flowers, and lay down mulch. Trim trees which are obviously diseased too.

Refreshen your front door — does the entranceway to your home “wow” your visitors? If not, consider applying a new coat of stain to the front door, fix broken glass, clean the light fixture, lay down a new welcome mat, apply a fresh cost of paint around the frame of the door.

Interior walls — short of painting your home’s interior, touching up walls by removing smudges and repairing cracks could be all that is needed. If wallpaper has obviously aged and looks dated, remove same and repaint the walls with a soft color.

Too much furniture — remove extra furniture as too much furniture can make a room look smaller than it should. If a chair or sofa is worn, put a new slip cover over same or remove that piece.

Carpeting, flooring — ripped carpeting should be fixed. If old, replace it or if there are wood floors underneath, have the floors refinished — you’ll save money over buying a new carpet.

Bathrooms — replace that old toilet seat with a new one, fix dripping faucets, caulk the shower/tub, clean the tile, replace the shower curtain and rug.

Kitchen — keep all appliances even if they are old as long as they work. Your next buyer will probably replace these items anyway. Re-stain or repaint cabinetry and fix counters that are cracked, worn, or otherwise needing a makeover. Remove excess small appliances when showing the home to create a more spacious appearance.

Closets, nooks, and crannies — sticking everything in closets or other out of the way places is a no-no. Organize these areas to “show” exactly how they are to be used; avoid filling up your attic, basement, garage, and shed with stuff you really don’t need and won’t ever use again.

HVAC — an old furnace, air conditioning unit, or hot water heater could be a sale stopper. Replace these appliances before putting the home on the market.

Instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars readying your home for sale, you could spend just a few hundred to a couple of thousands of dollars and have a home that will sell quickly. The key, of course, is to do the minimum repairs in advance of marketing your home, to help you maximize your profit and move on with your life.

Resources

Doors and Windows

Garden Maintenance

Home Projects

Upstairs/Master Bathroom

Tags: bathroom, bedroom, carpeting, deck, dining room, floors, FSBO, home exterior, home interior, home renovation, home repairs, home sell, kitchen, landscaping, porch, real estate, realtor, roofing, siding, walls

If you are planning to buy or sell your home, having as much information available to you is essential if you want to get the best price for your home. Buyers don’t want to overpay and seller’s want to make sure that they are receiving fair market for their homes. Real estate comparables (comps) can help both parties out, but for some people they just don’t go far enough.

These days consumers have much more information at their finger tips thanks to the internet. Much of this information is free, but not all of it is accurate. Yet, consumers continue to do their research online before buying or selling a home. Read on and we’ll take a look at several sites which could make the difference for you.

Realtor.com — As the largest site listing homes for sale online, you can get a strong feel for local housing prices by researching available listings. Run by the National Association of Realtors, therefore not all “For Sale By Owner” offerings make the list. Visit FSBO.com to find homes being offered directly by their owners.

Realtor Networks — Though most of their listings eventually get on the Realtor.com site, for the most up-to-date information visit the national network sites for Coldwell Banker, ERA, ReMax, and others for listings. Strong, regional networks can also be quite good, but never forget your mom ‘n pop real estate broker — oftentimes, there personalized service trumps all and their listings are exclusive to them.

Zillow.com — Exactly how much is your home worth? With Zillow, they try to give you that information and they do it for free. Not always accurate, Zillow does best with homes of medium value and in neighborhoods where home buying and selling occurs on a regular basis. Other sites with home valuation information include HomeGain.com and RealEstateABC.com.

SayLending.com — Okay, we’re a bit prejudiced. SayLending and SayEducate are part of the same network. Still, if you are looking for free mortgage calculators, money tips, and other real estate information, then a stop here can certainly help you out.

What could be the biggest advantage to using online sources? Saving money on your real estate commissions. Expect that online home valuations and home buying/selling to continue to grow, making the real estate agent’s 6% fee a thing of the past.

Tags: home buy, home price, home sell, home valuation, real estate