Make moving easier for your clients

Buying a new house is exciting. But moving into it? Usually not so much.

Moving is typically associated with frustrations, stress and hard work. Help your clients have a seamless transition in their new home by providing them with a few tips, courtesy of Brandpoint.

• Make room for new memories. Although clients will want to preserve some memories, taking everything with them isn’t necessarily the best decision. Moving is the perfect opportunity to organize and purge items that aren’t needed in their new residence. To lessen the load on moving day, suggest they hold a garage sale or donate unwanted items to a local charity. Remind the that when trying to sell their current home, the less clutter the better. Once they’ve determined which objects will make the move, decide where they’ll go in the new place. While some of the belongings are currently in the den, will they be in the spare bedroom now? Make the unpacking process simpler by suggesting they create a plan for the new space in advance and pack according to where things will go, not by where they’ve been.
• Organize, don’t agonize. Starting the process early can help avoid nerve-wracking, last-minute packing, and give them time to be a bit nostalgic. Before they begin boxing things up, suggest they take videos and photos of each room to preserve memories of that space. Remind them not to forget to include outdoor areas, like a backyard treehouse or handprints in the patio cement. Then, they should make a checklist of everything needed to be accomplished before moving – packing, cleaning, cancelling and restarting utilities, registering the kids for school – and set a timeline for completing each step. Once they’re ready to start packing, they should do it methodically, working room by room to make the task seem more manageable. They should start with decorative pieces that aren’t necessary in day-to-day life, keeping items the use daily for last.
• Protect delicate possessions. To ensure belongings arrive safely, it’s essential to pack possessions with extra care. Safeguard breakables with wrapping materials designed to protect fragile goods, such as bubble wrap cushioning. Items should be packed in clean, sturdy containers in a variety of sizes. Larger boxes should be used for bulky, yet lighter furnishings, such as pillows and blankets, and heavier objects should be placed in smaller boxes to avoid unnecessary strain. Boxes should be sealed securely with a quality packaging tape. Suggest they label boxes clearly, marking them on the sides of the boxes, not the top. This step makes it obvious what’s inside, even if they’re stacked. Different colored or printed packaging tapes on boxes helps to quickly determine what room each box belongs to – red for the bedroom, blue for the kitchen, etc.
• Have help on hand. Moving is hard work, so suggest they recruit friends and family to help with packing and unloading on moving day. It’ll help them with the transition to see that loved ones aren’t too far away to make the trip. Encourage them to promise and provide plenty of food and drink as a reward for their hard work. Clients should put together an “open-me-first” box with the gear they will need immediately, such as tools to assemble furniture, cleaning supplies and shelf liner for drawers, closets and kitchen cabinets. Be sure to include some festive treats, like a favorite dessert, so the family can relax and enjoy your new space.

And remind them, moving should be more celebratory than stressful.