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Tuesday, February 21, 2017

We signed a sales contract! Advice on moving options and strategies?

After just 10 days on the market, we had 2 very good, full price offers on our house plus a full price but weird one. We negotiated a few details and a sales agreement is signed. Inspection on Friday while we are out of town. Here we go.

Happy, excited, overwhelmed, hoping it goes all the way to closing, focused on family visit and house buying trip, and so on.

Any tips on what "PODS" type company to use to move? I've identified U-Pack, PODS, and United-Mayflower as all having that container option.

Once we pick a new home we can evaluate what furniture will fit and therefore to move as the new house will be quite a bit smaller overall and especially in the den. We will have a month to pack and dispose of large items that aren't going with us.

Looking for any advice on:
- what to pack ourselves vs paying to have them pack
- how to get good boxes for less
- finding pet friendly lodging as we drive across the country
- anything else you can think of for moving us, a dog, and our stuff across country.

This ride is getting exciting!

12 comments:

  1. Congratulations, all of your hard work paid off! Your journey has been an inspiration.
    Good free boxes...join Freecycle. Usually you should offer something before asking for anything, then ask for and look for moving boxes. As a local member I have used it to declutter and gotten at least one item. I often see lots of free moving boxes on offer.
    Pet friendly places while traveling...many hotels will take pets. Many AirBnBs allow pets. Having used both (though not with pets) my preference now is AirBnB. Sign up, use their filters to search for pet friendly places. Look for Super Hosts and read ALL their reviews.
    Regarding what to pack yourself...check with moving companies, read online and hopefully you will get great advice. Often whatever you pack will not be covered by movers liability policies.
    Now go, enjoy your trip and unless a family heirloom think long and hard about the cost to move an item, plus a new home and lifestyle. Going into a new home (to you) may require letting go and truly moving on and selecting furniture locally to fit your new home and pared down lifestyle.
    Again, well done!
    Sonja

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    1. Thanks Sonja - great advice. We have already let go of lots of stuff including almost all books, some big furniture. We will not be taking care of a yard so all that stuff will not go. That is why we are considering the PODs type container moving. We are taking personal items, art, photos, electronic, kitchen stuff and whatever furniture will work in the new place and is also in great condition! Mostly don't want to go with not furniture because buying under pressure tends not to work for us and we will be starting with getting a bed LOL. The dog was not asked to downsize her toys though.

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  2. Congrats! So excited for you. :) Have a wonderful time with family on your trip.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks - really looking forward to seeing the kids and new granddaughter! Nothing to motivate project planning (our move) like a clear deadline.

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  3. I have to say that we packed up our stuff. You could put out the word and hire someone to pack for you. I had A college student who did a wonderful job and nothing was broken. one of the advantages of getting our own truck were the valuables. If we had not been driving ourselves, all our mementoes, jewlery and photos and the like would have gone with us, as it was they were in the truck as we were in the truck. We didnot use the pods system but as I recall at the time we were most impressed with the ones that one of the truck companies offered (not uhaul, the green one i think). And yes, there are very nice hotels that take pets, we usually aim for the drury inn. if you can afford it I would take all the furniture and sell the excess at the end. I only sold one room of furniture and that was because I hat a gigantic king sized sleigh bed that was a room hog.

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    Replies
    1. We definitely will hire help with the hard stuff! Hubby doesn't want to drive a truck from Atlanta to the West coast (I don't blame him) so it will be some sort of other moving system.

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    2. Thats a looong drive. It took us three days from Dallas to Denver, and I would not drive any further, especially in those high plains.

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  4. Been through 3 moves in 3 years. Get rid of MORE than you think you should.You will not miss it.I promise. Look on craigslist and freecycle in your area ..many people advertise FREE BOXES when they are done moving..they have to get RID of their empty boxes!! Oh, and did I say, GET RID OF MORE STUFF. We had to practically give away some of our furniture which I did love, but it would not fit in new smaller home.I just sold it for what I could and blessed it on the way out the door.Seasons change,times change.. move on!! And good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I so agree with you on getting rid of stuff. The smaller stuff was culled pretty well to stage the house for sale. Now that we have picked our next home we will be making decisions about larger furniture. I know it is hard to get rid of stuff and that we will end up paying someone to haul away some of it.

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  5. Your preparations paid off!
    I haven't moved in 25 years so no advice, just congradulations.

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  6. Being military we have traveled across country a lot! We have always used La Quinta Inn's and highly recommend them. Comfortable, clean, priced right and right on the highways. They are everywhere and even provide a very generous breakfast each morning. Can't go wrong with La Quinta Inn. Best wishes.

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    Replies
    1. I will check out their pet policy as they are a great deal. Right now our thought is to avoid staying near large cities and go for the smaller towns/cities both to save money and have less hassle driving into the area for lodging and meals. So Tupelo, MO instead of Memphis and so on.

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