If you are considering selling your home, you’ve likely spent hours upon hours of researching, agonizing and dreading the inevitable stress that comes with moving. Try not to let the aggravation of needing to move take away from your excitement for a new opportunity. Here are some tips on why you should utilize storage when selling your home, and attempt to stay sane in the process. Plan to have a hiccup or two, and prepare for things to move quickly once you start getting offers!
A quick inquiry on any search engine regarding selling your home will offer you a multitude of different ideas, most of which have merit, they are tried, tested, and true blueprints that have helped thousands of people sell their homes! Top of the list is finding a great realtor, someone who knows their market and emphasizes your home’s most appealing features. Think of the reason you were drawn to your home over others in the first place. Next, you’ll want to have your home appraised and your realtor to create a comparative market analysis, also called a CMA, to help you find the true and competitive market price. This will help you sell your home more quickly, and we highly recommend it!
Now, the fun and scary task of packing your belongings. There are a lot of different packing styles, but I prefer the methodical approach of taking inventory, organizing, labeling and boxing route! I spent all of my college years hastily throwing my things in garbage bags and random containers on the day of the move (YIKES). One time I even did this the night before moving to Texas; I do not recommend this! Either way, the remainder of this post is dedicated to the importance of staging and the benefits and best practices of packing your belongings.
Why You Should Stage Your Home
I’m sure you know that staging your home is so incredibly valuable to you as a homeowner because so many prospective buyers begin their search online. Having a staged home with great pictures will get you more interest, and give you a headstart on packing. Making your home stand out by having it neat, and lit properly, lacking clutter or disorganization is absolutely key to getting more inquiries, and this is what I want you for you! And, staging is not just useful for buyers. If you look at the big picture, staging your home gives you the opportunity to take inventory of everything you own. Now I am going to refrain from making any examples because I don’t want to offend anyone, but we all have that thing, or those things, that we have been saving for years, waiting for the perfect time to use, or fix, or whatever; maybe it’s time to throw that stuff out. But, for all those things that are perfectly useful for us in our day to day lives, but might seem like clutter to a stranger, should be put away when buyers come through in person and virtually. Here is a simple instruction guide for packing, taking inventory, and getting those things stored away.
How To Pack Efficiently
Things that you’ll need:
Boxes: A typical bedroom needs about 4-7 large boxes for books, bedding, pictures, clothing, and Misc. items. And remember, a lot of things don’t need boxes at all, like furniture. Kitchens will use a similar number of boxes, and other rooms will probably need considerably less boxes.
Tissue paper, newspaper, foam, etc.
Sharpie
Paper or online spreadsheet
A place to store your things
A moving company (optional, but recommended)
Let’s get down to packing! You really want to make sure to place things that are similar together. One of the best ways to do this is to start by putting all of your things that you can in the middle of the room, separate them into piles; you do need to organize them at this point. You will most likely end up with a junk pile; ignore this for now. Next, you can grab a box, label and date it with a Sharpie, and begin neatly putting things into this box. With clothes, you’ll want to fold them and separate them by season. For books, you will want to stack them by size and content matter. For bedding, I recommend putting matching sets together, and comforters all together as well. Don’t forget your packing materials, newspaper, tissue packer, and foam are great for fragile items! You can use your discretion for pictures and miscellaneous items. It is helpful to label each thing you put in the box on a spreadsheet or in a notebook and keep one copy with you and one on each box. The goal is not to lose or misplace anything during your move. As you go through your home room by room, you will probably be amazed with the amount of stuff you have accumulated. You will want to try to do one or two rooms a week. I suggest this slower paced timeline so you can maintain your sanity, but by all means, I totally believe in your ability to pack and I know you got this!
Organizing may seem like a tall order before you begin, but the most important thing is to just start. As foreign as the concept may seem in adulthood, sorting is one of the first mathematical skills we learn as children. Sorting and classifying things begin around the age of 2, so if you must, think of yourself as a very advanced two year old and try to put similar things together. This is in your nature and you can do it.
You Are Ready To Use Self-Storage
By the time you are ready to call us at 4 Season Storage, you will have a better idea of how big of a space you need, we can help with our professional opinion if you need more guidance. When your belongings are securely placed in storage, you can focus on staging your home. Having less in a room will make it look bigger and people will be able to easily imagine themselves living there and putting their own things into it. Sometimes homes sell quicker than others, if they’re staged better, located in a more desirable neighborhood, and even priced more competitively, but data shows us that if you follow these rules, your house will sell more quickly than those that don’t meet the above criteria. Wouldn’t you want to give yourself the best chance at selling your home and getting the best offer you could?
In short, staging your home will increase your chances of selling in a timely manner, and getting the most out of selling your home. Staging is an art form and, if it’s in your budget, you may want to consider consulting with a professional. In the meantime, you will want to get started on your packing and finding a secure place to store your belongings during the interim of selling and moving to a new place.
Nearly every day I am in contact with people who are in the midst of a major transition in their life because of the nature of the business I am in at 4 Season Storage. Professionally speaking, having a customer say “Thank you so much for helping. This is one less thing I have to worry about” is music to my ears! This is exactly what we are here for, and it’s what we’re passionate about. I hope you’ve found this information helpful! If you use any of these tips, I’d love to hear from you at our email 4seasonstorage@gmail.com. If you ever want your story featured on our blog, anonymity is optional, feel free to contact us! Thanks again for reading this and stop by next week for more.