Top Tips To Help You In Closing One Door And Opening Another

The day has finally arrived; after an exhaustive home search for your dream home that most likely resulted in several lost bids due to bidding wars, you are closing the door to your current home and heading to your new one.

In the robust Ontario housing market, the number of properties that are being snapped up in record time ( averaging 13 days on the market according to the Toronto July Housing Report) has many potential homebuyers in a competitive race to the housing finish line- closing on a new home.

The paperwork on your new home is signed, and you have found a buyer for your current property, firm purchase and ready to go; thoughts will inevitably turn to sorting through the mountain of stuff that may have accumulated in your home over the years. Even worse, you must now face the often dreaded job of packing up your belongings. Stressful? Yes, it can be.

Like anything in life, with a solid plan and the fortitude to see the job through to completion, packing and moving does not have to be a nightmare, it can be a stress-free experience.

With the following handy tips, you can be sorted, packed, and leaving your keys behind for the next owner, allowing the excitement of moving to your new home to be what you are feeling rather than being caught in the crossfire of the move itself.

1) After your current house is sold and your offer has been accepted on your new home:

• Do not leave the sorting and organizing of documents, household items, and clothing to the last minute. Allow plenty of time to look through your items, make a list of what is necessary, and either donate, sell or take to the recycling depot items of less importance.

• Take the time to go through room by room and clean each thoroughly to avoid large-scale cleanup in the hectic weeks leading to your closing date.

• When in each room, organize the closets and start to itemize things to determine what is done with them at a later date.

• You can use a tag system, or sticker system, perhaps a colour coded system. Any one of these systems or one of your own will definitely help you stay organized

2) A few weeks before moving:

• Look into a moving company by comparing prices and looking at reviews of each moving company online. Talk to friends about any moving referrals they have and make sure that moving insurance is included.

• Start to take an inventory of your utilities, this will allow you to cancel all services in time at your current home and set things up on your new home before you move.

• Make sure that the services you use now will cover the area where your new home is located. If not, become familiar with the new area’s utility providers.

• Touch base with your realtor, or mortgage agent or lawyer to ensure everything is on target with the closing on your property and move-in date of your new home.

• Check in with your real estate lawyer to also ensure all is good with closing on your sale/current property.

3) Day of the Move:

• Confirm that you have the keys to your new home or access to them through your lawyer.

• Walk through every area of your current home to check that nothing has been left behind.

• Ensure that the movers are aware of all that is to be brought and supervise their job as much as you can.

• Oversee and direct the movers at the other end when you arrive at your new home. Not all movers are the same, many can be very careless with your belongings, so keep an eye on things as much as you can. Look for any obvious damage and deal with it before the movers are on their way.

As a final note, after you hit the couch for a well-deserved rest, just focus on unpacking the essentials for the first few days. The rest can be done step by step. Breathe, look around your new home and enjoy --- and congratulations!!