We’ve got a few moving tips for you, because let’s face it, the very word “MOVING” conjures up feelings of either excitement or total and utter panic. My family has spent most of the month balanced somewhere between the two emotions. On the one hand, we are very excited to start fresh in a newer, larger house that we created from the ground up. It’s on a lovely street and only a few blocks from where we now live in Cheviot Hills.
Inhabiting this new home, however, is the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Before getting to live there, much work in our current home had to be done. Unless you are the one in a million
who lives in an immaculate home with zero flaws, for the rest of the 99.9 percent of us, getting a house into shape before selling it can be all consuming. Eliminating clutter, touching up paint, sprucing up the landscaping and keeping it neat is no easy task, especially if you have young children.
“Eliminating clutter, touching up paint, sprucing up the landscaping and keeping it neat is no easy task, especially if you have young children.”
We had actually done a good job maintaining the infrastructure of our 1920s home but still asked Julie Manz, a professional stager that is part of my team, to assess what we had to do to get the inside ready for “show time.” She walked my wife and I from room to room and like a general on the battlefield, authoritatively commanded what furniture should stay and what should go. She pointed out dings that needed repairing and personal artifacts that had no business being on display for the world to see.
Yes, this is my profession and I am an expert in all matters real estate, however, you know what they say about doctors being the worst patients? When it comes to turning a critical eye to my own home, it was hard to be impartial especially when every item I own is a beautiful, treasured piece of priceless perfection!
Clearly we needed serious marching orders and Julie whipped us into shape. It actually felt good to let go of some things we had no use for and weeks after starting this process, on our first Sunday open, our beautiful home was almost unrecognizable it was so pristine. We received multiple offers that day and felt the success was in large part due to our preparing as best we could to present the finest product possible.
Our house sold quickly (the easy part), but the next obstacle: to continue the arduous task of further decluttering before actually boxing everything up to move out. My wife would not entertain my usual delaying tactic of saying, “Let’s just pack it all and we’ll deal with it when we get there.”
Nope — the time to get rid of everything non-essential and non-sentimental was now. Not an easy task but the reward would be worth the effort. It would feel so good to move to our clean slate of a home and start amassing all priceless, perfect treasures all over again. Because that’s what we do. We collect, we admire, we enjoy, we put in the garage and then we forget until the next time we decide to move.
“The time to get rid of everything non-essential and non-sentimental was now.”
Hopefully, though, we are officially settled down and won’t have to go through this again for a long time.
When it’s all said and done, the destination will be worth all the trouble, but getting there really
isn’t half the fun.
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