Whether representing you on the sale or purchase of your home, a key goal of every Golden Real Estate agent is to help you minimize the stress of moving. Here is some advice and information you might want to save for future reference.
Plan ahead. It’s never too early to start packing, especially if you will be putting your home on the market. Get those excess possessions out of the house, whether to storage or Goodwill. If you’re our client, you can use our truck for that purpose, and we can recommend a storage place that often gives the first month free. If you’re moving out of state, consider using a “pod” mover. They will deliver a pod (available in different sizes) to your driveway, which our laborers can help you load. After you fill it, your mover takes the pod to their facility, where they will store it until you’re ready to have it delivered. You’ll want to interview two or more moving companies. As with all vendors, search for online reviews and Better Business Bureau ratings on movers.
If you are moving within Colorado and use Golden Real Estate, we can be your moving company. We have two trucks and can provide a driver and movers.
U-Haul stores and Home Depot have good deals on moving boxes. Also, you can try craigslist. If you’re our client, we provide free boxes and packing materials, which we keep in a shed behind our office. If you are moving locally, we’ll pick up your flattened boxes and packing materials after you have unpacked.
Are you downsizing? If you need to dispose of certain furnishings, there are several solutions. We encourage donation of your better items to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore. Google that term to find their many locations throughout the metro area.. We have three estate sale companies on our smartphone app (see the link at right) for those items you want to sell. For items that will be in your house while it’s on the market, we recommend putting a price list of items for sale on your countertop. With multiple offers, we’ve been successful in convincing buyers to purchase many or all of the items on that list to help win a bidding war
As soon as you know your moving date and new address, use www.usps.com to file your change of address instead of doing it at the post office, because you’ll get a bundle of useful discount coupons from stores like Lowe’s after completing the online form.
Plan on taking a mini (3-4 day) vacation when showings begin on your home. If your home is priced right and marketed well — our specialty —, you’ll have multiple and even overlapping showings for the three or four days it takes to accumulate multiple offers. Take your pets and leave the lights on for those initial days. Relax and let your agent do the work!
About notifying utilities. The title company notifies your water provider. You call the electric/gas utility the day before your closing to get your final meter readings done. The buyer will make his own call. Your final reading will be buyer’s initial reading. Also call your internet, TV and other providers. Call your homeowner’s insurance company the day of closing. Expect a refund on the remainder of your policy term within 30 days after closing, sent to your forwarding address.
We recommend you interview the moving company, estate sale companies, and other vendors who are on our “Service Providers” app, which you can download free from the App Store and Google Play — or by visiting www.ServiceProvidersApp.com on either your computer or smartphone. It lists almost 100 vendors in over 50 categories. The great thing about our app is that the businesses don’t pay to be on it. They are only there because our agents or clients reported favorable experiences with them. If a future client reports a negative experience with a business on our app, we can remove them, and they know it, so it’s always good to tell a vendor that you found them on our app. That way they’ll strive even harder to please you so they stay on the app and get more referrals.
Call us for a free handout with other useful tips on reducing the stress of moving.
Published April 13,
2017, in the Denver Post's YourHub section and in four Jefferson County weekly
newspapers.
