13 May 8 Tips to Ensure a Worry-Free Moving Day

Selling your house is a big adventure, but there’s no doubt: It’s a lot of work.

Just because you accept an offer doesn’t mean the journey is over. There’s still closing — when payment is settled, the title is transferred, and you hand over the keys. And you still have to move.

Are You Ready for the Big Move?

Regardless of where you’re going next, the moving process itself isn’t very fun — it’s tiring, time-consuming, and potentially expensive. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be stressful. From our experienced Hermann London real estate agents in St. Louis, here are 8 helpful tips to ensure a worry-free moving day:

1. Start Packing Early

Whether you’re staging your home to sell, decluttering, cleaning and organizing for a showing or open house, the home sale process gives you a lot of opportunities to start packing ahead of time. By doing a little bit at a time, you’ll save a lot of headaches when it comes to moving day. You don’t want to be packing all your stuff the day before the buyer’s walk through.

Learn more: “Investing in Home Staging: Is it Important?“

2. Follow The “3 Piles Rule”

When decluttering and organizing your house for sale, divide all that “stuff” into three piles: things to “keep,” “throw away” and “donate.” Try your best to make the hard calls. Anything you can’t categorize in these three piles is just going to cost you more time and effort when moving day rolls around.

Pro Tip: If you’re not sure whether to get rid of something, ask yourself: “Have I used it in the last year?” If not, throw it out or donate it.

3. Focus Where the Buyer Does

Buyers pay extra attention to the places where you spend the most time, especially kitchens and bathrooms. As you prepare for showings and open houses, box up unnecessary dishes, pots and pans, and personal items. You’ll cut back on the amount of packing you need to do later, and your home will show its best. Trust us: buyers will open your cabinets, drawers, and closets when touring a home.

Pro Tip: Keep bathroom and personal items in plastic Tupperware containers and stored out of sight for home showings and open houses.

4. Consider Renting Storage Space

Renting space might sound counter-intuitive, but when you’re selling your home, don’t store packed boxes in the basement, garage or closets. Potential buyers want to see lots of storage space, and filling your basement or garage to the brim isn’t going to do you any favors. Consider renting a storage space when you list your home, and move a little bit at a time as you work to declutter, organize and stage for selling.

5. Consider a Moving Company

You can save a lot of money with a DIY home move, but as a general rule, remember: moving always takes more time than you think. If you’re concerned about time (or your back isn’t too excited about the heavy lifting), consider hiring a professional moving company. Professional moving isn’t cheap, but it can definitely lower stress on moving day.

6. Throw a Moving Party

Let’s be real, “Hey! Want to come over and help me move?” isn’t exactly enticing. But you can enlist the help of family and close friends by throwing a packing party. Provide a few pizzas and beverages for people willing to spend an hour or two helping you box up your stuff. You probably want to avoid throwing a big blowout backyard bbq because you want people focused on packing, not on eating and socializing.

7. Label What It Is and Where It’s Going

Don’t just stick a label on a box that says “Sheets and Blankets” — save yourself some frustration on moving day by also including where the stuff is going, like “Sheets and Blankets – Master Bedroom” or “Towels – Guest Bathroom.”

8. Pack a Suitcase

Save yourself the frustration of having to dig through boxes the first night and day in your new home. Pack a small suitcase with the essentials: a change of clothes, toiletries, and anything else you might need.