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Could you get your house ready and pack up and move in 5 months?


DawnM
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This seems like plenty of time to me, but DH is suggesting we wait another year.

 

It makes far more sense to me to move THIS SUMMER and not wait another year.

 

AND, I just hired an organizer today who will help me PURGE and pack/organize into plastic bins so that when we move we can just load up.

 

 

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Yes. We talked it over and two months from an offer was the fastest we could get renovated, moved, and settled. Any sooner and we'd have to fly back and forth for several long weekends to get it done.

 

Resume was updated today and we are verifying our references are okay with vouching for us. Then it's just wait and see here.

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Do you mean house ready, as in put on the market so that it looks nice for people to potentionally buy it? 

 

Currently our house in on the market. But we are selling to developers. So no one is actually coming to look inside the house. They only care about the location. We are selling it as a package deal with two my neighbors. If anyone is to come into my house they will just be making notes on what can be salvaged and how many dumpsters of stuff will it make when they knock it down. 

 

So we aren't worried about making it nice. 

 

But to pack it into boxes and move it to another location. Last time we did that we had movers, who even did the packing. :) I think I would take about on week to get ready for said movers. Two or three days for things to be packed up moved and unpacked at the new place. 

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I moved with 6 days notice once. Admittedly, from a rental so no renovations or whatever else but... seriously? people who rent get 8 weeks notice, if theyre lucky, sometimes less. I can't fathom how anyone could consider 5 months too short. 

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Do you mean house ready, as in put on the market so that it looks nice for people to potentionally buy it? 

 

Currently our house in on the market. But we are selling to developers. So no one is actually coming to look inside the house. They only care about the location. We are selling it as a package deal with two my neighbors. If anyone is to come into my house they will just be making notes on what can be salvaged and how many dumpsters of stuff will it make when they knock it down. 

 

So we aren't worried about making it nice. 

 

But to pack it into boxes and move it to another location. Last time we did that we had movers, who even did the packing. :) I think I would take about on week to get ready for said movers. Two or three days for things to be packed up moved and unpacked at the new place. 

 

 

I would actually love to get it on the market in May.  

 

We did things faster than this when we moved here.  I think he is forgetting.

 

And YES, I could get it ready by myself in just a few weeks, but with help, even faster.

 

I don't get his argument.

AND, if he gets laid off, which is a possibility, we have to do something anyway.

 

His resume is going out after busy season but I am pretty sure he won't have an issue.   I am filling out the online application for me to get a job and may see about going out there during Spring Break.

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I moved with 6 days notice once. Admittedly, from a rental so no renovations or whatever else but... seriously? people who rent get 8 weeks notice, if theyre lucky, sometimes less. I can't fathom how anyone could consider 5 months too short.

Our issue is that we have multiple projects to finish before moving - concrete sidewalks, redoing countertops, arjeoom flooring, painting the interior and possibly exterior, drywall repair, trim installation. Things we were going to do anyway but were budgeting time and money to complete. We could move but those need to be done to sell and that takes s little time. With four days I could have the house packed, especially with a mover to help with furniture. I'd be exhausted but it's doable. It's those projects and half dozen small people that slow it down.

 

In two months we could easily check out our new location, line up a rental, fly back, ship our stuff, drive down to the lower 48, get me and the kids settled, and DH fly back up to pound through the projects and get the place listed!

 

Five months would be overkill.

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5 months? Definitely plenty of time. Dh let me know mid April a few years back about a new job. Complete surprise! I had not been preparing to move.

 

We sold the house beginning of June, after having quite a bit of work and staging done. Moved 1000 miles away in July. Granted, the moving company did the packing. But I did all the decluttering, selling of stuff, and prep work.

 

I think waiting longer would be worse.

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We did. We went from setting a New Years resolution to have our house on the market by last April 1, to seeing a house we loved but lost out on February 14, to having our house on the market and with a contract on Holy Thursday/the third week of March, but I can't remember the exact date. We closed both our sale and our purchase on May 20.

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I did it! We were not at all planning on moving and we had been in the house for a decade and had tons of stuff.  We had alot to do ( decluttering of every single room, remodeling a bathroom, painting other rooms, cleaning just to sell).

 

Dh took a job out of town the week before Christmas and we moved into our new home on Memorial Day.  We could have gone sooner but we were waiting for the contractor to have time for the bathroom remodel and then we pushed closing back a few weeks to get through finals for my high schooler.  

 

Dh was out of town and I had four kids still finishing up school and sports/activities.  We were also disorganized and had never done an out of town move.  

 

If I can pull it off, anyone can.  Really!

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It can be done by other people but it would be difficult for me to do it. We've been here 23 years and have a LOT of stuff to go through.  Also, we have some projects that MUST be done before the house is ready to sell and many cannot be done during cold weather so I make little progress during winter months. 

 

If getting the house ready to sell wasn't part of it then yes I could do it.  

 

Dh is planning to retire in 23 months and we are  already starting the decluttering and other things we have to do.  He's a sentimental guy and has TONS of stuff- starting this early is good for him. If we tried to do it too quickly he would freeze and not be able to let go of much. 

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I could definitely do 5 months. The last time we moved, we found this house on a Thursday, put in an offer that was immediately accepted, cleaned and purged like crazy for a week, put our house on the market the following Saturday (9 days later), and had 3 offers by the following Monday. We accepted the offer that was highest, but also wanted us out in 2 weeks. So it was less than a month from finding our current house, selling, packing up and moving. It was crazy, and I wouldn't want to do it again, but I could if I had to.

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It can be done by other people but it would be difficult for me to do it. We've been here 23 years and have a LOT of stuff to go through.  Also, we have some projects that MUST be done before the house is ready to sell and many cannot be done during cold weather so I make little progress during winter months. 

 

If getting the house ready to sell wasn't part of it then yes I could do it.  

 

Dh is planning to retire in 23 months and we are  already starting the decluttering and other things we have to do.  He's a sentimental guy and has TONS of stuff- starting this early is good for him. If we tried to do it too quickly he would freeze and not be able to let go of much. 

 

We do have some projects to finish up and we do need to sell.

 

And since the kids are in school, we need to get to our new location and get them enrolled for the next school year.

 

I guess we will see.

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We do have some projects to finish up and we do need to sell.

 

And since the kids are in school, we need to get to our new location and get them enrolled for the next school year.

 

I guess we will see.

 

I think you can do it! You're very motivated. 

 

Our house was built in 1880 and many of our projects are things we do ourselves and they're pretty time consuming. I'm redoing a room right now that had been damaged from a roof leak- and just generally needed redoing. Ceiling is fixed, needs stain blocker and paint. There are four door openings and one window and every bit of the trim had to be removed, stripped, sanded, filled, painted, reinstalled. Then paint the room and do a bit of floor repair and install combination baseboard pieces to reach a height of 10 inches to match the rest of the house.   It has to be done to sell the house but paying someone to do it is cost prohibitive.  

 

I'm going to miss this old house but will enjoy having free time to sew. 

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yes.  it would give me an excuse to get rid of stuff my depression era grandmother ingrained into me to hang on to, because "you might need it some day".  and stuff I'm just too cheap to toss, knowing that I might want it one day. . . . . :glare: 

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We spent two weeks getting house ready to sell.  Put it on the market on the 10th of February.  It sold on the 14th of Feb, and we moved on the 28th.  We did have professional movers, but since our stuff was going into storage, I packed fabric and some of the food ( spices, etc) in rubbermaid containers.  I did have to empty the fridge and freezer.  I just can't even imagine how I did all that.  My husband was away during the work week.

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We spent two weeks getting house ready to sell.  Put it on the market on the 10th of February.  It sold on the 14th of Feb, and we moved on the 28th.  We did have professional movers, but since our stuff was going into storage, I packed fabric and some of the food ( spices, etc) in rubbermaid containers.  I did have to empty the fridge and freezer.  I just can't even imagine how I did all that.  My husband was away during the work week.

 

You're a moving rock star. 

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I moved with 6 days notice once. Admittedly, from a rental so no renovations or whatever else but... seriously? people who rent get 8 weeks notice, if theyre lucky, sometimes less. I can't fathom how anyone could consider 5 months too short.

It depends on how big your house is, and how much stuff you have. :)

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I have way too much carp and so on, and we downsized and we had some catch-up to do....and we did it in 4 months.  

 

Peak selling season is NOW through August, though, in most places, so you might want to get started....

 

At least that is what we were told. 

 

 

ETA:  I will add that I am still scarred.  :0)

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If I put my mind to it, I could.  My problem is that we've been in our current house for about 23 years and have collected so much stuff.  I'd want to sort through everything and keep only 1/4 of it, so that's what would take up so much time.  I'm actually anticipating moving in the next year or two, so should get started on this!

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Start sorting and getting rid of stuff (charity, Craigslist, garage sale) now. Do it as a way of organizing.

 

It takes my dh a long time to get rid of stuff he doesn't use. Especially if he's put a might use label on it in his mind, but really anything. So I will focus on my stuff and get the kids in the habit of sorting their stuff too. As you get through layers of clutter, you can start noting home repairs that might be needed.

 

Sometimes you have to put in the work ahead of one spouse. I know with my dh you could say move/sell in two years and in 1.5 years he won't have done anything and will say that not enough time. I found I declutter stuff that's not his and start on the painting, he won't have anything to argue.

 

Changing routines which includes making time to do the work of moving is just hard for some people.

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I could do it in a day.  We don't own much.

 

We own WAY TOO MUCH.

 

But the organizer is starting and I am ready to PURGE.  

 

DH said one U-haul only.   Fine by me, we will have to downsize significantly anyway.  

 

The trick is going to be staging the house with the furniture but being able to get rid of it before actually moving.

 

But since I am ok with mostly donating, we should be fine.

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I think you can do it! You're very motivated. 

 

Our house was built in 1880 and many of our projects are things we do ourselves and they're pretty time consuming. I'm redoing a room right now that had been damaged from a roof leak- and just generally needed redoing. Ceiling is fixed, needs stain blocker and paint. There are four door openings and one window and every bit of the trim had to be removed, stripped, sanded, filled, painted, reinstalled. Then paint the room and do a bit of floor repair and install combination baseboard pieces to reach a height of 10 inches to match the rest of the house.   It has to be done to sell the house but paying someone to do it is cost prohibitive.  

 

I'm going to miss this old house but will enjoy having free time to sew. 

 

Dh is the man who did most of the fixing up himself and is very handy, but he now has NO TIME.   UGH.

 

And I work full time.

 

But I will do what I can.  Purging and donating I have already said I will set the timer and start devoting 30-45 min. per day to it when I get home.  And I can work fast, so I will make the most of that time.  I am starting TODAY in my bedroom and should have a couple of large bags of shoes and clothing and sheets and towels to donate.  If I have extra time, I will hit the office a bit.  I have a lot of JUNK in there.  Old cords, old electronics, etc....

 

I have all this stuff I meant to use and never did.  I probably won't even try to sell, I will just give to people who I know will be happy to get it.  I told my oldest, "We can BLESS someone else with it."  He responded, "Is that the Christian-ese way of saying, 'here, take my junk?'"

 

HAHAHAHA

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I told my oldest, "We can BLESS someone else with it." He responded, "Is that the Christian-ese way of saying, 'here, take my junk?'"

 

HAHAHAHA

 

"Here is my junk." That is funny, but also it's good to learn how such "junk" is handled. Where I live there is a large local thrift shop (as well as salvation army, Goodwill, etc). If I give you local shop, I know almost all the staff is volunteer and the space they use is a deeply discounted rent. I know that some people shop there with cash that goes right into the charity sponsor. The charity sponsor supports a daycare, a homeless shelter and some other things. Some people like to shop thrift for fun. However some people need to shop thrift. It's much better for them to feel self sufficient buying their own things than getting a hand out. So someone could give a family winter coats, but if they have a chance to get coats for $10 a piece then they feel pride and the money gets good use in the community.

 

Not that you have time to explain this to a teen-ager, who may not be ready to get it.

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We've packed up and readied a house to sell in a few weeks to move internationally--twice. Both times the house sold after we'd moved.

 

If I had 5 months, I'd use the time to slowly start painting and making minor repairs, but I'd still wait until the last couple of weeks to actually pack. We don't have much we don't use.

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