Your House Is Sold – Now What?

Congratulations!  Your house has finally sold and you are relieved to have that huge step out of the way.  But what comes next?  What are the steps you need to take between now and the time you actually move out of the home and into a new place?  Putting in some time and effort in advance will make a big difference in ensuring a smooth moving process

Moving arrangements

It’s never too soon to make moving arrangements; there’s nothing worse than having moving day rapidly approaching and not having anyone lined up to physically move your stuff to your new place.  In fact, it’s a great idea to contact movers before your house is even sold so they can come to your home and determine just how many items and what size items you will need move.  They will use this information to give you an estimated cost.  As soon as your home actually sells, get in touch with the moving service right away to be sure you can get on their schedule for the moving date you need.

If you are planning to rent a moving truck and take care of the hauling yourself, get in touch with local rental companies and reserve a truck as soon as possible.  Rental trucks tend to be hard to come by around the very end of the month and the very beginning of the month because this is their busiest time.  If at all possible schedule your move for mid-month; if this is not possible then the earlier you can reserve your truck, the better.

Don’t skimp on the size of truck you choose to rent.  A smaller truck might be less expensive than a larger truck, but if you have lots of items to move you may end up making two, three, or even four trips to get everything moved.  It’s much easier on everyone concerned to rent a larger truck and then make only one trip from your old place to the new place.

Packing

Most people underestimate the importance of proper packing, especially if they are only moving across town.  Packing, however, is a critical part of the moving process and can have a huge impact on the ease (or difficulty) of your actual moving day.  Using the wrong size boxes or improperly packing fragile items can cause a lot of extra work and leave you with broken items.

If you can afford the cost, it is well worth hiring a professional moving company to come in and pack your things for you.  Professionals are skilled in choosing the right boxes for the right items, not over-packing or under-packing.  They also have the personnel necessary to come into your home and make quick work of the packing process, plus they have the right tools to pack quickly, efficiently, and safely.

If paying for professional packing is not possible, then be sure to allow plenty of time in advance to take care of the packing yourself.  Choose smaller boxes rather than larger boxes whenever possible; a smaller box is easier to handle on moving day, while a larger box can quickly become too heavy or too awkward to be easily moved.  Don’t skimp on the quality of boxes or the packing material to be used in them; this is especially true for your fragile or precious items.  It’s well worth the cost to invest in specialty boxes for items such as china and other breakables; you can flatten the boxes and store them once you get to your new place, making them available for the next time you need to move.

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