Moving is not something that most people look forward to. While there’s a certain element of excitement, adventure, and renewal inherent to any major move, it’s not at all uncommon for people to harbor a fear of the unknown. And leaving familiar places, friends, and the life you have known behind is never easy. But when you have a family the entire prospect becomes even harder. For one thing, you probably have a lot more stuff to pack and keep track of now that you’re not single. But you also have to contend with a spouse that may be leaving a job behind in order to follow you, not to mention kids that will be taken out of the schools they love and away from all of their friends. They simply might not understand why you have to move, and they will almost certainly be upset about the prospect. In short, moving could cause a lot of stress for you and your family. But there are things you can do to make the process easier on everyone

Image via: David Philips

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1. Have a family meeting.

A great way to assuage the fears of your family when it comes to moving is to sit everyone down for a family meeting. This way you and your partner can explain the process and the reasoning to kids, and they can discuss what is upsetting them about the move. Just talking through the issues will help to get your whole family on the same page and ensure that everyone is at least comfortable with prospect, even if they’re not totally happy about it.

2. Find Scout locations and activities for the kids.

One of the best ways to prepare your family for the upcoming move is by taking the time to do a little recon. Kids may not be keen to leave their friends, their school, and their activities behind, so find something for them to get excited about. You might look into clubs or sports they participate in now so that they know they won’t have to give up everything they love when they move. Perhaps there will even be new activities for them to try. And once you’ve found a home, check out local parks or kid-friendly hangouts, see if there are other kids their age in the neighborhood, and pop in at schools to meet teachers and see what they have to offer.

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3. Get organized.

Help your family get organized, this will help you to make sure that everything gets done in a timely manner. You can create a master schedule and set deadlines for a variety of activities as a way to avoid some of the major stresses associated with moving. And you should also use a comprehensive system for packing by which you number boxes and note what’s in them for easier unpacking upon arrival.

4. Hold a yard sale.

Over time you have no doubt accumulated a lot of stuff, much of which you don’t really need or use. So do a massive cleaning before you start packing boxes to weed out items that can go to Goodwill or get sold at a yard sale. This could significantly lighten the load when it comes to packing and everyone will be happy to replace outdated items with new products once the move is complete.

5. Hire movers

Hire movers like United Van Lines to make the transition easier. Packing, moving, and unpacking are a lot of work. But you can easily hand off at least one part of this equation to someone else by hiring professional movers. It can be pricy, but leaving the heavy lifting to someone else can take a huge burden off your shoulders, both literally and figuratively.

For more moving tips on Stagetecture, click here.

So you’re a first-time home buyer looking for tips, some dos and don’ts perhaps, to help you navigate your way across some pretty unfamiliar territory. No problem. The Internet is stuffed full of tips. The biggest problem you’ll likely encounter is deciding how many you want…10 tips, six tips, five tips, three? You get the picture. Then there’s that other problem – whether or not to trust the information source in the first place.

Image via: Dave Hubler Photography

Therefore, a good start has to be Microsoft, with its excellent real estate channel. The article ‘7 tips for first-time home buyers’ is worth reading carefully, not least because the information is provided by the highly trusted Bankrate, Inc., the Web’s leading aggregator of financial data.

Through its flagship website, Bankrate.com, the company provides free rate information to consumers on more than 300 financial products, from mortgage loans to credit cards, new and used automobile loans, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans and online banking fees.

Compare other homes for sale in the area:

The first tip suggested is so obvious you might not even have considered it. But don’t worry too much about that. You’re a novice after all! Do a check on the selling prices of similar homes in your area through any of the gazillion websites likely thrown up by a Google, Yahoo or a Bing search.

Consider what you can afford. Common sense, right? There are many online mortgage calculators which will give you some kind of idea of the monthly repayments involved. But use the calculator along with MSN Real Estate’s home affordability calculator, to add in additional costs such as taxes and home insurance. So that’s tip two and three.

Image via: Lands End Development – Designers & Builders

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Determine how much you’ll spend in closing costs:

The fourth tip suggests finding out how much you’ll likely pay in closing costs such as origination fees charged by the lender and title and settlement fees. Tip number five suggests looking at your budget and determining how a house may or may not fit into it. Fannie Mae recommends you spend no more than 28% of your income on housing costs.

The last two tips recommend talking to real estate agents in the area to gauge the local climate, and considering the bigger picture.

Bankrate adds, “While buying a house is a great way to build wealth, maintaining your investment can be labour-intensive and expensive. When unexpected costs for new appliances, roof repairs and plumbing problems crop up, there’s no landlord to turn to, and these costs can drain your bank account.”

Image via: David Whelan

That’s seven good tips to get you thinking. Meanwhile, Forbes have a few more worth considering including advising first-time home buyers to cough up a good 20% down payment in order to immediately add equity to the house and lower monthly payments.

Be realistic about costs, says Morgan Brennan at Forbes. However much you make, don’t shop for a home that will gobble up most of your income each month. In addition to mortgage and principal payments, buying a home means paying for insurance, maintenance and real estate taxes.

Don’t cut corners with home inspections:

And finally, don’t cut corners on inspections. Always cough up the extra cash for a good home inspection, especially if you’re buying a foreclosed home.

So there you have it. As you can see, there is no shortage of high-quality tips for first-time home buyers providing you know where to look. Although moving is never easy, you can at least reduce some of the stress by conducting a little research before taking that first exciting step.

For more home buying & selling tips on Stagetecture, click here.

When trying to sell your home, first impressions matter. Your home should look its most attractive before you invite potential buyers in for open houses and private showings. A clean, open-space home will appeal the most to potential buyers and help them imagine what the space could look like once they move in.

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Clean Those Carpets

A clean carpet is brighter and fresher than one that’s been accumulating dust, stains, dirt, pet hair, dander and odors for years. Save yourself the effort by calling in a professional carpet cleaning team. In less than a day, they can make the carpets in your home seem like new. Give the carpets a day or two to dry before you move back furniture and let in potential buyers.

Clean carpets are crucial to maximizing your home’s sale value, and the cleaning won’t cost as much as installing new carpets. Plus, there’s a chance the new owners will dislike the carpet and tear it out and install new carpet anyway. There’s no need to spend hundreds or thousands on new carpet when a simple cleaning will suffice.

Clear Out Clutter

Even though you might be living in your home while trying to sell it, it’s crucial you make your home appear less lived-in when potential buyers come by. Buyers have a hard time picturing themselves in clearly defined, cluttered spaces. Get rid of clutter through donation, online auction or a garage sale — having fewer things will also prove helpful during your move. Put away things you want to keep but won’t use for months in a storage unit or in the attic or basement.

If you can’t put a great deal away in storage, do your best to make the home appear clean and organized. Remove clutter from tables and counters and move it into cupboards, shelves or boxes. Leave only attractive, simple decorations out in the open, such as flower vases or books on a coffee table.

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Renovate Affordably

If money were no object, you’d completely renovate your home before a sale to make it as modern, clean and attractive as possible. Even if you had the money, though, there would be little point to changing your house to suit your design tastes before you pass ownership on to someone new. You can, however, make small investments that will go a long way.

Focus on affordable, small renovations that will help to erase the signs of wear and tear on your home. Some ideas include:

• Painting chipped walls.
• Removing outdated, dusty wallpaper and painting the walls instead.
• Swapping out the handles on cupboards for brighter and cleaner handles.
• Buying new shower curtains.
• Replacing the shower heads.
• Swapping out old curtains for new ones.
• Planting flowers outside the home in spring or summer.

Clean the House

The carpet isn’t the only area that could use a cleaning, although it’s often ignored when sellers try to spruce up their homes. Wherever there’s mold or mildew, you have to get rid of it, as no one will look favorably on that. Use bleach to make tile grout brighter or repaint bathroom walls when necessary.

Clean windows, dust shelving, vacuum the floors and sweep the porch of trimmings and leaves. If you have a pet, run the vacuum one extra time before potential buyers stop by, and use a pet hair attachment on furniture, curtains and anywhere else where fur tends to stick. Even if you’re not selling the furniture, excessive pet fur around the house can be a turn-off. Keep your pets away from the buyers, too.

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Let In the Light

One last thing: If you’re showing the house during the day, open the curtains and let in natural light, even if you usually don’t. If you’re going to have a number of showings at night, put in brighter light bulbs, or add lamps or light fixtures so that rooms appear brighter when people are looking around.

Shanae Rosado is a contributing blogger and real estate agent. She advises sellers on how to spruce up their homes for open houses in ways such as using carpet cleaning by Coit.

For more home staging ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

If you are currently in the market to purchase a new home “Congrats!” That is, without question, a goal that many people wish to obtain. However, if you ask a lot of people who are already home owners some of the things that they wish they knew before signing on the dotted line of their mortgage, you might be surprised that when it comes to getting the “American dream”, if you’re not careful, it has the potential to turn into an absolute nightmare.

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So, what are some of the common mistakes that a lot of first-time home buyers tend to make? We have our top five for you right here:

Not having a budget.

When it comes to thinking about the kind of home that you’d like to have, it’s fine to fantasize about how many bedrooms or how big of a kitchen that you want. However, none of that is really going to matter much if you can’t afford to pay for it all. Before you start looking at homes, make sure that you are realistic about how much you can afford to pay.

Not going with a reputable agent.

This is already a tough market for real estate and so there’s definitely something to be said for getting a professional agent who can help you to get your finances in order. If you can find one through the referral of a family member or friend, that is preferable. If not, try looking for one on the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA.org) website.

Not understanding what it means to get a foreclosure.

A lot of good homes went into foreclosure. There’s no doubt about that. But, don’t assume that every single house is a great deal. Just because one was once worth $500,000 and it’s on the market for considerably less, that doesn’t mean that it is currently appraised for that same amount. You definitely need to do your research on that before getting too attached.

Not having the home professionally inspected.

When you’re looking into buying a house that you really like, it’s understandable why your emotions may get into the way. All you may see is the fireplace, but not the shaky foundation of the mantle or the big bay windows that need to be double-pane or the vintage bathroom that could use some new plumbing. Every home needs to be inspected before someone moves in. There’s no way around that fact.

Image via: Gladu Design

Not putting your “poker face” on.

People who are selling homes tend to read body language pretty well. When your excitement translates into desperation, that makes it really difficult to do some serious negotiating. So, when you’re in the process of discussing the house with the seller, try and be as businesslike as possible. It’s OK to express interest, but try and avoid giving off the impression that you are willing to do just about anything to move in. Assess your finances, look over the house more than once and then offer a fair price. If it’s meant to be, it will work out without you having to become extremely stressed (or financially destitute) during the process.

For more moving tips on Stagetecture, click here.

Among the many difficulties of moving homes is the challenge of keeping your home furnishings safe during the process. This has never been easy; for years and years, individuals and families have been packing up their belongings to move to new dwellings, only to find at the end of the process that their beloved armoire or priceless desk has been busted along the way. After all that trouble and hard work, something always manages to get ruined. Spare yourself this stress by taking the right precautions to keep your home furnishings safe during your next move. It won’t be much trouble at all, and you’ll find yourself much happier at the end.

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Put together a list

Before you even start loading, it’s important to plan everything out down to the finest detail. Put together a list of all the items you’re going to be moving, starting from the largest, and visualize how these things will fit together so that you can get an idea of what size truck you’ll be needing. This will help you develop a plan for loading your furniture before you even start, making things much easier on the moving day. If you already have a plan for your cargo, you won’t have to take risks with any split second decisions as you load everything into the truck.

Don’t get careless when you start carrying your furniture from the house. About half of all furniture damage during moves happens in this early stage. Take your time and be patient. Figure out the best ways to carry your larger items to avoid any accidental drops or scrapes against walls and doorways. Using dollies and hand trucks can help you carry a lot of items safely. Always remove drawers and tape doors shut on your furniture–these things will try to swing open or fall out while you’re carrying them.

Think about transporting your belongings

As you start to get everything loaded up, think about how your furniture will fare on the drive to your new dwelling. The roads, somehow, are always three times as bumpy when you’re in a moving truck. To protect your home furnishings from jostling and banging together on the road, use blankets or furniture pads. Be sure to put some kind of padding anywhere that two hard pieces of furniture might touch one another, and on top of pieces with vulnerable surfaces. Be sure to die down your furniture with straps or bungee cords to keep them from moving and falling over. Most moving trucks have utility handles lining the walls for just this purpose.

Moving your home furnishings safely is a simple matter of planning and precautions. If you’re facing a particularly large and intensive move, you might consider calling in professionals like the Westborough moving company to handle the task for you. For most local and small-home moves, however, you can get the job done yourself if you’re prepared to put in the work. Pack carefully, and you’ll be able to move happily.

Image sources: 1, 2

For more moving tips on Stagetecture, click here.

From researching moving services and getting in contact with estate agents, to changing billing addresses to the actual move itself. Moving house can be a very emotional, time consuming and pressurised time for anyone. However, by following the guide below the moving process can be made a lot less stressful process.

Preparing correctly and being organised weeks before the move are extremely important. By making the proper arrangements in the build up to the move, the day of the move will be made a lot easier;

Tips to help you make a smoother move:

• Research; Utilise different resources at your disposal; books, internet and friends advice are just some of the options available. You will pick up a number of useful tips on moving that will save you time and money.
• Moving Services; make sure you’ve booked your moving services well in advance of moving day to guarantee you get the date you want. There are certain times of the year that people want to move – generally Spring or Fall as movers are not charging there highest rates.
• Insurance Policy; Take out an insurance policy that covers accidental damage or loss – this includes goods from both properties during the move. It’s well worth looking into third party moving insurance.
• Billing Address; Change you’rebilling addresses or close them this includes gas, electricity and heating accounts. It’s a good idea to get this out of the way first and set a date when you want them to be changed over, so you’re not sitting in a freezing house two weeks before the move.
• Extra Cash; Have cash at your disposal to cover yourself as a number of unexpected issues can arise on the day of the move.

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Packing;

the biggest part of moving, here is a list of tips to remember;

• Write down a list of everything you are packing.
• Never fill a box that it’s so heavy you can’t lift it safely.
• Colour code boxes for each room.
• Use bubble wrap or newspapers when packing fragile items.
• Label or mark boxes.

Disposal;

Try not to hold onto items you don’t use, it can add to the cost of the move, obviously this doesn’t apply to goods that hold sentimental value .

The majority of the hard work should be taken care of before the day of the move. The most important thing to remember that on the day of the move put a plan in place and follow that plan;

• Assignment of roles; It’s tradition on the day of the move that friends and family members will come around to give a helping hand. Do not let it turn into a social gathering and make sure everybody knows what they need to do. Assign people different jobs.
• Make a list; create a recording system of how many boxes you have, what’s in each box and what room it’s going into – it’s advised to use a colour coded system.
• Welcome box; Pack a separate box of essentials you may need for the first night at your new house. Things like toiletries, cutlery, kettle, phone charger among other things.

These tips should give you a head start in moving and help relieve some of the stresses of moving house.

This post was written by Olan Ahern on behalf of Rajapack, who offers a wide range of packaging products and services, from warehouse equipment to office supplies.

Image sources: 1, 2

For more moving tips on Stagetecture, click here.