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house hunting/moving. any tips?

AlliJ2008

AlliJ2008

Downsizing!
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Aug 30, 2009
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Last year we moved from Texas to California and now we are only moving about 1.5 hrs north but I am still stressed about the house hunting & moving part. Anyone have any great tips for either to share? :helpy
 
After loads of house hunting and moving, here's my best advice.

For the home search, the internet is your friend, especially realtor.com. When we look, I usually narrow it down online, then I take my camera when we go and look. Do an outside shot first, including the house number, so you can match it up to the listing information later. I find that the pics help to refresh me, especially if we've looked at lots of houses in one day. My DH being the super organized IT type also makes a matrix of all the things we want, so that we can check things off as we talk through a house. We both will usually right a little "score" on the top of the listing sheet too so that we can easily find the ones we like best at the end.

For the move, I numbered each box and then kept a list of what was in them. It was nice to be able to say ohhh Box 23 has the pasta strainer (or whatever). I also color coded the boxes with duct tape by which room they would be in the new house. So, for example, all of the kitchen stuff had red tape on it; all of the master bedroom had blue, etc. I hung a sign on each door with the room color, so it made for very fast sorting. I always tag a few boxes of the most important stuff to get up and running so they get unloaded first.

Good luck with your move! It's stressful, but also really exciting!! :)
 
Wow, Laura, you are super organized! Those are all great tips. I love the list with what is in each box. We still have boxes that never got unpacked from last summer because this house is smaller than our last one.
 
My husband is in the Navy and we move a lot! But I don't have much advice, I guess we just do it without really thinking too much about it. I agree about doing as much research over the internet as you can, we are moving to Malaysia in 6 months and I am already doing as much as I can now and learning something almost everyday. You will feel more settled and comfortable if you unpack as much as you can as soon as possible. I also use every move as a good opportunity to sort and cull beforehand. We always have a priority box, the things you might need the first day of unpacking like basic tools, tv remotes, telephone, a few essential kitchen items, etc. It is the last box to get taken and the first unpacked and it is labelled well!

btw, where are you moving too?
 
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good luck with your move! if you have time, one thing that REALLY helped me was to do a good job packing - i donated/threw out a BUNCH of stuff before packing, so that i didn't bring anything i didn't want/need anymore. i also made sure to pack according to room and clearly label boxes, so that it would be easier to unpack. then, i hired some people to come to the new house and help me unpack the boxes and put stuff away - this was really helpful, especially in the kitchen and bedrooms (where it was pretty clear where stuff went) - then, a few days later, i had them come again to hang pictures, etc and finish up with any remaining boxes!! i was just really happy to get everything done at once and it was well worth the cost to me ...
 
Thanks Amanda & Dana! Very helpful hints. Moving overseas would be really hard for me. Since we just moved halfway across the country 10 months ago after living in the same house for 8 years I sorted, threw away, and gave away a ton of stuff so hopefully there won't be as much of that needed this time.

We are only moving about 1.5 hrs north of where we are in California so it isn't far but we still have to pack everything up which just gives me such anxiety!
 
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