What to Do Before You Move

People consider changing their home for many reasons — your family of two has grown to three or four, the kids have moved out and you don’t need as much space, you want to live in a particular area or maybe your financial situation has changed.

Increasingly, more people are working completely or mostly from home — why not head to the suburbs where you can buy more house for less money? Whatever the reason, some big things need to be done before you can make the move.

Prep Your Current Home for Resale

If you are planning to sell your current home, you may have some work to do — particularly if you’ve been in your home for many years. The first thing experts recommend is decluttering. You also want to de-personalize — take down family photos and box up personal items.

Brighten Up Your Home

Investing in a major upgrade for your existing home might not be the best idea. Instead, why not use that money as an allowance for the new buyer to make renovations suited to their style? That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do any fixes, however. Neutralize and lighten any dark paint to be in line with current trends, tidy up the yard and plant flowers, and change out light bulbs to LED to brighten rooms. If a project is going to cost only a few hundred dollars and only takes a weekend to complete, go ahead and do it — buyers don’t want to be faced with a multitude of items that need to be repaired before or as soon as they’ve moved in.

Some people prefer to have their home inspected before it’s listed — then there are fewer surprises that may delay the sale of your home. Find out what’s wrong now and either fix it or adjust the price of your home.

Find a Real Estate Agent

You could sell your home and buy your home without a real estate agent, but why? Realtors understand the paperwork and the buying process. They have invaluable information about local neighborhoods and communities. And they understand the current housing market and can negotiate the best price for your home.

When choosing your Realtor, make sure to talk to more than one; not only will this help you choose someone who best matches your personality, but also who would be more knowledgeable about selling your home and helping you find your new home. Some homeowners may be wary of downsizing, thinking they are sacrificing luxury. A real estate agent will know which communities offer well-appointed, smaller homes with designer features.

Ask your prospective Realtor how much they would price your home — those that give you similar pricing are probably in the right range. An agent who says they would list your home for much higher may just be trying to get your business with an over-inflated price.

Decide Where to Move

As with any home purchase, you’re not just buying a house — you’re buying a community. When choosing where your next home should be, take a serious look at your lifestyle.

Do you like to swim for exercise? Look for pool complexes that offer swimming lanes. Like to cook, but always seem to need one last ingredient? You’ll want a community with a good — and convenient — grocery store where it’s easy to pop in and out of. Do you envision an active social life? Look for a community that has a packed calendar of activities for all ages. Matching your community to your lifestyle will have you enjoying your new home more than ever.

Life in Your New Home

One final tip — after you’ve successfully transitioned into a new home, only taking the things that give you joy and fit into your new space — make sure to keep it that way with a one-in, one-out policy. It will help closets, cabinets and drawers from overflowing.

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