Let’s be honest, even though my business is helping people buy and sell homes, I know that packing to move is THE WORST! Getting ready to sell your Orangeville home was no walk in the park either.  All the decluttering, the fixing-up, the staging and voila…you are on the market! The inconvenience of showings – scampering to clean and get out (almost always) at the most inconvenient times, finally your home is sold! Time to celebrate! Well maybe for a day, but really now is the hard part, MOVING TIME!

You feel exhausted, excited, relieved and every other emotion after your Orangeville home is sold firm and now you just want to take a break.  Sorry, not yet.  Depending on your closing date of your home, you may need to kick into overdrive.  Sometimes a shorter closing date is better, because you are already in “moving mindset” so it is easy to keep the momentum and get organized to move.  The long closing dates give people a false sense of security; they feel they have “loads of time”.  Funny how the time passes and they are the ones scrambling at the last minute!

Whatever you think, “time wise” it will take to pack your Orangeville Home, double it!!! I know from personal experience it is not as easy as you would think.  The key is to be organized.  Even if this is NOT one of your shining characteristics, it is imperative to get organized for this.

As soon as you know for certain your moving date, book a few days holidays before move day.  To keep your sanity, this just gives you a little breathing space.  Also book your mover or if you are going to do it yourself, book a moving truck/trailer.  Having done both ways over the years, I personally feel it is worth every penny to have professional movers.  Things get packed into the moving truck so professionally and wrapped so extensively in blankets that nothing moves during transit and does not get damaged.  We have used Sommeville Van Lines on several of our moves and have had nothing but 5* service each and every time.

There are many charts that tell you at this many weeks notify this company etc.  Just keep a list of places/utilities you have called and as you receive mail, make a list of companies you will need to do a change of address for.  You should also have your mail forwarded to your new address for at least 6 months so you can catch anything that you have maybe forgot.

Packing!!!

This is the tough part.  If you have lived in the same home for many years, you have most likely accumulated a great deal of stuff and memories.  Keep in mind the space you are moving to.  If you are downsizing, this is the time to “thin the herd” so to speak.  Why bother paying for moving something that is not going to fit into your new place.  As you start in a room, make piles, stuff you are keeping, giving away and throwing out.  As we were moving, Mike had a saying, if you haven’t used it in 6 months, get rid of it!

Packing supplies always seems to be a problem.  If you have a friend that has just recently moved, you can ask them to save their boxes and recycle them.  Also you can check with grocery or furniture stores to see if they would save some boxes for you, but you will have to pick up quite regularly as they do not have the space to save them for more than a day.  You can buy boxes but look around for the best pricing.  We can recommend places to buy boxes reasonably.  Your movers will also have boxes available and tips and tricks on how to best pack your items.

In your planning, you need to have time to clean your home.  As you empty cupboards, it is always nice to give it a wipe for the new owners.  You would hope where you are moving to has done the same.  Make sure to be buying very little groceries the last month before the move.  Use up everything in the cupboards, freezer, fridge and cold cellar.  Yes that’s right, you will be eating pickles with every meal!!!

Moving day comes; house is emptied and cleaned, think it’s time to relax?  Now the unpacking! But feel assured, this you can take your time to do, and make things at your new place, exactly how you want them!