You have bought a new house or found a new apartment. How exciting, but don’t underestimate the amount of work and extreme stress you are about to face. I have had the great pleasure of moving 9 times in 10 years, or was it 10 times in 9 years? I’m married to a builder, and in order to survive this unavoidable danger of the industry, I’ve learned to stick to these 10 essential moving hacks.
1. Start the moment you know you are moving. Organizing, cleaning and packing takes more time than you think. So don’t waste a precious second, get started now! Take the number of rooms divided by the number of weeks until the big day. That’s how many rooms you have to pack each week.
2. Know the terms and conditions of your lease or sale contract. Make sure you meet all move-in requirements. If you are renting, understand what you need to do to get your security deposit back. Most leases require the tenant to vacate by 5:00 pm on the last day of the lease. When selling a home, unless other arrangements have been made beforehand, the owner is expected to hand over the keys at the time of liquidation, so plan to be away from your property at that time. In addition, many rental agreements and some sales agreements require professional carpet and/or home cleaning to be performed when you vacate the premises. Since the new person will likely move out the day after you move in, there is little room for error. So schedule any required cleaning now.
3. Get Organized and Stay Organized: Sort through that pile you’ve been meaning to get to, organize and put everything away, clothes, shoes, toys (make sure you have all the pieces), and you’ll even need to find the matching lids for all those Tupperware. If you have too much to fit in that toy box or closet or drawer you’ve designated, or if any of the pieces are missing, guess what? Got it, go to step 4.
4. Give away, throw away, sell anything you don’t need or can’t fit comfortably in the new place. Also, if something is broken and you haven’t fixed it yet, you probably won’t. If this move is temporary, then perhaps a storage locker is in order. But more often than not, a storage locker is a dank, forgotten place where things rot and die, so when in doubt, get rid of it now. Plus, the money you make from selling things you can’t use will help reduce moving costs.
5. Have the right supplies on hand. Start with about 10-12 boxes of different sizes and build more boxes as needed. Boxes, packing paper, and tape are available through your moving company or your local moving and storage store. You’ll need some small boxes for heavier items like books, but you’ll mostly want medium and large boxes. When you pack up the kitchen, you will also need 1-2 barrels for dishes. They are stronger and designed to protect glassware and breakable items. And when it’s time to pack up coats and hanging items, you’ll need wardrobe boxes.
Other things you’ll need to have on hand to pack include gallon- and sandwich-size freezer-resistant plastic zip-lock storage bags. I use them for everything from cutlery to undergarments to lose to liquid items like makeup and office supplies. You’ll need tons of extra-strong trash bags, markers, packing tape, scissors or a tape dispenser, and lots and lots and lots of newspaper or packing paper. If you have a lot of fragile items, bubble wrap is also great. Store these supplies in a clean, dry, and easily accessible place, but not under your feet. And designate and clear a place where the packed boxes will go.
If you’re not using a professional mover, you’ll also need a dolly, furniture pads (old blankets are great), and something to throw across the floor, especially if the weather doesn’t cooperate or you have hardwood you want to protect.
6. Help with alignment: Whether or not you plan on using a professional moving company, you’ll still need help. And if there’s no moving company involved, you’ll need all the able-bodied men and women you can find. Schedule them now, before they put anything else on your calendar.
A. Organize babysitters
b. Designate one person to go to the new house, well before the movers. Ask her to bring her cleaning supplies, including a vacuum cleaner and trash bags, in case she’s not in a state to move.
against Who will bring lunch? By the time the troops reach the new house, they will need a rest and something to eat.
d. Designate someone else to stay in the old house. Have him double check that all rooms (including porches, decks, exterior buildings, attics, and other less obvious places like the inside of the dryer) have been completely emptied. Have him bring his cleaning supplies and some trash bags, and do the final vacuum, remove any leftover trash, and make sure the place is left in broom-clean condition.
my. Line up that important person that he’s going to unplug and plug back in all that electronic equipment and ask him to bring his own tools. Also, try to schedule the cable guy to be late, after the TVs are in place.
F. Do you need someone to hang window treatments? Who will that be? He must also bring his own tools and a ladder. Have you previously measured the windows and bought what you will need?
gram. Also, ask at least 2 more people to come equipped with an assortment of tools, some extension cords, batteries for the smoke detectors, and make sure someone brings another stepladder.
7. change your address: A mailing address change will forward all regular mail. But that can take up to an additional 10 days and the reshipment is only good for six months. So things that arrive once a year, like your 1099, and other items that prohibit forwarding, like vehicle registration and driver’s license renewal forms, will be returned to sender. So, in addition to that generic mailing address change that will catch anything you’ve missed, make every effort to get all address change requests submitted at least ten days before you move. And don’t forget to notify your employer, your child’s school, your doctor, or any mail-order items that arrive automatically, like prescriptions, from your new address.
8. Schedule Utilities: You’ll need to turn on the utilities at your new place, and you’ll also need to turn off the utilities at your current home. If you do not request final bills and the new occupant does not set up service, you may be responsible for the charges. In addition, it prevents public services from being cut off, both at the address where you are moving from and the one where you are moving. It can be expensive, damaging, and difficult to reignite.
9. Plan and Pack for your NEW Home. Take photos or draw the layout of the kitchen cabinets. Decide what will go in each cabinet, mark the location of the plates, glasses, etc. on your photo or drawing, and pack your items according to where they will go in the new home, not where they are stored in your current home.
Next, get the room sizes, including window, door, and closet locations, and draw a simple sketch of each room in your new home on inexpensive graph paper. That way, you can easily determine where the furniture will be placed in advance. On the day of the move, give the sketches to the person who will be going to the new house before the moving team. Have her tape each sketch to a door or window or some other easy-to-see place in each room. That way, one person can store the items in your kitchen, while another can direct the heavy hitters on where to put that oversized cabinet you couldn’t live without.
And make a list of the important items you’ll need to buy for the new house, such as curtains, blinds, and shower curtains. Having these things with you on moving day will prevent unnecessary surprises.
10. Place a spare set of sheets for each bed in a box marked FIRST BOX TO OPEN. Keep the sheets clean by packing them separately in a plastic bag that is clearly marked: Terry’s room, etc. To this box also add one bath towel and one face towel for each family member, at least two rolls of toilet paper for each bathroom, and other bathroom essentials like shampoo, soaps, etc.
The morning of the move, have each family member strip their bed and place the dirty sheets and any dirty clothes or towels in an empty laundry basket next to this box. Each person should then place all of their toiletries, separately packaged and clearly marked in a zipper-type plastic bag, inside this FIRST BOX TO OPEN. Then each person should put their pillow next to this box.
If possible, this box, the laundry basket full of dirty items, and all pillows should travel with you, in the back seat or trunk of your car. You may think it sounds ridiculous, but I promise this simple step will prove essential later on, when you’re exhausted from a hard day of moving and all you want to do is brush your teeth, find your pillow, and climb on it. a freshly made bed.
Good luck and good movement!