12 Weeks to Buying or Selling a Home: Week 8

A Real Estate Series

Here we are in Week 8 of my home series! We only have a few more topics left to cover over the next several weeks, and this week we will be focusing on some tips for packing and moving with and without kids! Here we go!

When should we start packing to prepare for our move?

So you have a house lined up to buy and you are super excited to get started on packing everything up so you are ready for moving day! But hold your horses! Remember in previous parts of this home series I have explained how long the buying and selling process can take and how there are in fact things that CAN go wrong - not necessarily that they will, but that there is always that possibility. To be safe, I would suggest waiting until all the major checkboxes are complete before packing: inspection and appraisal. Once those two items are finished and agreed upon, then you can start packing away!

Where should I look for moving boxes?

You do not need to pay outrageous amounts of money for boxes if you just start planning ahead! Facebook is a great place to start. Make a post and ask people you know or search on Marketplace! Find someone you know who recently moved and may have some extra boxes laying around. Visit your local grocery stores and ask them if they have any boxes from recent product shipments. Not only will you save the money, but you are saving the environment simultaneously by recycling unwanted boxes. It’s really a win-win!

What is the most organized way to pack?

Obviously we are all different people and have different ways of doing things. John may wait until the morning of moving day and throw everything he can into random boxes to deal with later with no organization whatsoever, whereas Sally may individually wrap every item she owns in newspaper and place them into room labeled boxes. Who is doing it right? I’m not here to judge, but having some kind of plan and organization will definitely make moving and unpacking much less stressful. I think falling somewhere in between John and Sally is a good start:

1. Label your boxes by room/person

2. Give yourself several days to pack not hours

3. Reach out to any family and friends you have far in advance to help with packing and moving day

4. Determine if you are going to rent a moving truck, get a POD, hire movers, etc.

Also please keep in mind that if you do have family and friends helping you with all of this, you need to reward them! They gave up a lot of time to make this process easier for you, so buy them a dang pizza and give them some adult beverages!

I have kids so how can I make packing and moving easier?

As a mom of 4 kids who has personally experienced moving with and without kids, I can say with certainty that throwing children into this mix is not really a fun time. But there are solutions to help alleviate the added stress!

1. PLAN AHEAD!!! This could mean asking friends and family to help out with watching the kids while you move which removes them from the situation altogether. I love this option if you can find people willing to watch your angels for a whole day.

2. Now, if you have wild children like we do and people are super hesitant to spend an entire Saturday watching them, then you move to Plan B: electronics and snacks. Yes you heard me correctly. Moving day is not the day to win “Parent of the Year”. It is the day to survive getting this very important task completed in a timely manner and still love your family when the day is finished. Food and iPads are your very, very dear friends on this day, and you can resume your rules when moving day is done.

Those are just a few of the tips I have for you to make the entire moving process less daunting! If you have any other ideas or things you have done in the past to help make moving easier, comment them below for others to see! Thanks for joining me again this week, and I look forward to our next chat in Week 9 of our series where we discuss how to find and schedule the right contractors to make your new home your dream home!

About the Content Creator:

Courtney Burke is a real estate agent and co-owner of Welcome Home Realty Group, LLC located in Franklin, Indiana. She spent 9 years as a Biology teacher at Franklin Community High School but left teaching in 2021 to pursue a career in real estate alongside her husband, Chris Burke, who has been in the business since 2014. She uses her background in teaching to educate her clients on the steps to home buying, selling, and investing and help them reach their goals.

For more information, contact Courtney at 317-416-3073. You can also visit her website at www.whindiana.com.