Buying a home, whether it’s your first or your last, is a lot of work. There are so many moving parts in a transaction, and even with a strong real estate agent by your side to navigate you through the process, there is a lot to do. After the search, finding your dream home, the mortgage process, and the inspection, you still have the move to look forward to. This is an unavoidable step, but it could be the most fulfilling depending on how you do it.

Here are some top tips from a real estate agent to help you get organized and actually enjoy the process of filling your new home with all the things that bring joy…the way Marie Kondo intended.

1. Bring Only What You Love

Start the process with eliminating things that you never really liked, don’t use anymore, or things that are simply just taking up space. Pull open cabinets and drawers and remove all the things that should go. You could ‘Marie Kondo’ your home in a weekend while keeping elimination as the focus rather than tidying.

2. Pack Like-kind Items Together

Next comes the tidying. Clean and pack every item carefully rather than throwing things in boxes randomly. When you unpack, each item can be placed in it’s new home easily rather than having to fix, clean or fold for hours before it can be put away. Unpacking takes a lot of time. Set yourself up for success by doing more ahead of time.

3. Use Green Boxes

Green boxes are reusable boxes.  These are often plastic containers with lids that are reusable, stackable, and sturdier than their cardboard counterparts.  Not only are you helping the environment, but you’re lessening your chances of boxes collapsing because they are too heavy or are getting rained on. Green boxes can be rented from your moving company. They are dropped off ahead of time and collected after your move. You also don’t have worry about breaking down all of those cardboard boxes!

Click HERE and use promo code “twodoorgroup” to get FREE rental of 4 Wardrobe Boxes, 2 Mattress Bags and 1 TV Box from our favorite movers, Move-Tastic.

​4. Mark the Destination of Each Box

Instead of listing the content on the box, pack items from the same room together and mark where the box should go  at your new home. This eliminates the piling of boxes in entryways or a common space and leaving you to go through each box to find it’s contents’ final destination.

5. Unpack One Room at a Time

Start with the room you are likely to use first. This may be a bedroom or bathroom or perhaps you are planning on cooking on the first day and want to get your cookware out and ready to use. Move from room to room and finish each ending with removing boxes and giving it a last vacuum or sweep before you move on. When unpacking becomes tiring or overwhelming, you can always use a finished room as an escape to catch your breath and reinvigorate the mind.

6. Give Yourself Time

Everything does not have to be done in one day.  Rome wasn’t built in one day!  However, if one day is your goal, be sure to start early, eat and relax intermittently, and do so with music or loved ones in the background to make the process fun. You can easily take a few days to complete a move. If you complete one room at a time, your most important rooms are ready for use as you ponder other spaces.

7. Done is Better than Perfect

Don’t expect your original plan for furniture placement to be a hit from the start. Move things around in a month or two once the room has revealed its best use. Give yourself some months to a year to have the permanent placement for furniture locked down. Until then, getting a room done and useful is the best way to enjoy your home from the onset. It’s perfectly normal to find that furniture doesn’t look best the way you had originally envisioned.

8. Plan, but DON’T BUY

While you are ridding yourself from furniture and belongings that don’t spark joy, you might be tempted to buy a new couch or something else that does spark joy for your new home. Trust me, DO NOT make big purchases between going under contract and closing on your new home without the go-ahead of your mortgage professional. DO NOT open a new credit card to buy said purchase to take advantage of a special offer, either. Your purchasing potential is often a fine balance between cash at closing, your debt-to-income ratio and your income. A quick loan from your BFF on the morning of your closing will not get you out of this one. The last thing you want is a new couch and no home to put it in.

With these tips, the final home buying step can be simple and stress free! Your new home should only bring you joy after all. For more tips or to find help with buying your next home, contact the Two Door Group!

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