You decided to sell your home for one of two reasons, you either needed to or you wanted to. So from the very beginning you probably had a vision of what you were going to do after you sold your home. In order to make the transition from your sold home to your new home as smooth as possible, there are two areas that you now need to concentrate on—finding a new home and packing.
Let’s address them both:
Finding A Home
Usually about the time you first put your home on the market, you might feel the itch to go out and look for your new home. Whether your buying a brand new home, an existing home, or needing to rent, it is best to start this process as soon as possible. Why? It gives you an opportunity to see what other homes are available on the market in the price range and area of your choosing. It also gives you a jump start if your home sales quickly. Realistically it’s possible that your home could sell in a few days or a week or two.
If you’re planning on purchasing another home you’ll probably have the Realtor who is selling your home also looking for a home for you. There are also other sources of information including the internet and printed media. If you’re planning on purchasing a brand new home, you may find the timing of your move to be difficult to assess mainly because most builders today do not build homes in large quantities like they did in the past. The effect of this is that several phases of a development may be sold out before those homes are even built resulting in a move-in date that could be several months away.
Basically your only two choices are to request a rent back option in your sales agreement which the buyer must agree to or you may have to make a “double” move in which you may have to rent a house or apartment for a short period of time until your new home can be moved into. If you are going to rent, start looking for a rental early also. Since most renters give a 30 day notice and most landlords require about two weeks to clean and paint, that is very typical of the time it takes an escrow to close.
Packing
Packing can be very strenuous and exhausting. The great thing is that you realize that you have a lot of stuff that you don’t need and it’s a great time to have garage sale. This really works! You’ll have less to pack, less to move, and cash in your pocket. If you don’t really have a lot of household goods and you have a lot of friends and family, you may consider renting a truck and moving yourself. If you have a large quantity of items, do yourself a favor and hire a mover. Either way, the key to minimizing the effects of packing is try to be consistent and do some everyday.
If you started packing away your “clutter” that means you’ve already got a head start on packing. Now that your house is in escrow you can pack your boxes and put them in the garage. If you decide to hire a mover, it is important that you try to keep all of your boxes in one place or at least in a few groups. The reason for this is that many movers charge by the hour and if they have to go all over the house to gather up boxes, it can be very time consuming. If you rented a storage unit, take a few boxes everyday. If you have to make a “double” move, it is almost imperative to rent a storage unit. Split your household goods into stuff you need everyday and stuff you probably won’t need and take that to storage. And if none of this sounds like very much fun…hire a mover who will pack and move you, though you will find this to be a rather expensive solution.
