Moving? Here’s What You Need to Know to Save Time (and Money)

Moving can be a process full of mixed feelings, especially during hard times. On the one hand, you’re excited to move. You’re moving towards a new thing – maybe it’s a location better suited for your business or your family, maybe it’s a whole new city with a new job and new opportunities. Maybe you’re downsizing after the kids have left the nest, and you’re excited to have a smaller property to take care of and have more free time to spend doing the things you enjoy rather than caring for a large lawn and home.

On the other hand, moving can be a huge pain. Getting your home ready to sell, going through the selling process, and finding a new home can take a lot of time. Even if you’re just moving a business, you still have to go through all your personal property, pack, and spend time emptying the drawers and closets that you haven’t cleaned out in the past decade or so. It’s enough to make anyone dread the moving process.

Before you start the moving process, here are some things to keep in mind to help you save time throughout the process.

Selling your house or building

If you own your home or business property, selling can take several months. You’ll need to deep clean and make some repairs to get it ready to go on the market. Once you list your property, plan to spend a lot of time each day keeping it tidy and clean to be ready for showings. It might be wise to invest in a cleaning company for the time being, to help you keep up with everything that needs to be done each week. Keeping your home clean helps it show better and will hopefully result in a quicker sale for you.

Once you find a buyer, the process of getting the home inspection, negotiating repairs, and going through the appraisal process can take several weeks and in some cases several months. Even when you find a buyer, you may find that closing on your home is delayed because the buyer needs to find a buyer for their own house before they can buy yours!

Read more on having a moving home checklist

If the marketing times in your area are long, or you don’t have the time or money to invest in fixing up your home, companies like We Buy Ugly Houses Chicago might be able to help you by making a cash offer on your home. They can close quickly and help you move to the next phase of the process.

Finding a new place

The tax benefits of home ownership are definitely an incentive to buy a home. Before you start looking for a new home, make a list of “must-haves” and a list of things you definitely don’t want in a home. Number of bathrooms, number of bedrooms, garage spaces; the more information the better your chances of finding just what you want. If you choose to work with a real estate agent, make sure your agent has your lists. Don’t waste time looking at homes that don’t have exactly what you’re looking for. A good real estate agent can help you find a home that meets your needs and help you negotiate the best price. They can help apply pressure to the sellers to get you to closing quickly.

Read more on selling your house quickly

Moving

Nobody likes moving. To make the process easier and faster, consider hiring a moving company. They make the process a breeze, and many offer packing services as well as moving services. You’ll sit back and tell them where to put everything, and once they are done all you have left to do is unpack! The time you’ll save by hiring out this work is well worth the time savings. You don’t have to pick up a moving truck, purchase hundreds of boxes, or make runs to the store for extra packing tape either. Movers also retain insurance, so if anything happens to your belongings en route to your new home a replacement may be covered.

Sometimes big life changes happen suddenly. When time is of the essence, these tips can get you moving along to your new home quickly and with as little stress as possible. Moving doesn’t have to be an anxiety inducing hassle. Knowing ahead of time what steps you’ll take to make the process run more smoothly will help you sleep better at night, so you can look forward to your future at your new home instead of dreading the process of getting there.