Grasshopper New Media Presents...

Let’s play a game. It’s called, “What If You Had To Sell Your House Next Week?”

Fun game, huh?

We’ve been telling our friends, neighbors, and the Internet (as always, the Internet knew first) that we are moving across town. I keep thinking, this could be worse. We could be moving first cross-country, then out of the country (as our former nanny and her family just did), we could be moving from a big house into a small condo, we could be selling off property and bawling our eyes out (like members of my extended family have faced in the last couple of years). It could always be worse. (Knock wood that my house doesn’t realize we’re abandoning her and start falling apart in her despair and panic.)

There is a lot of stuff you can do now, that won’t cost you the price of a kitchen remodel, even if you’re not planning on selling soon — or ever. Be prepared! It’s a good motto.

My suggestions, for your consideration:

* Clutter is not your friend. I’m looking at a stack of bumperstickers, several books for review, DVDs and videos (I swear to you they multiplied since I stacked them last night), old insurance cards (we switched providers, but I have to keep dealing with glitches from the old plan), a camera, two hard drives (???), a server, fax machine/phone, scanner, printer, four speakers, a large conch shell (again — ???), two rolodexes, an atlas and a photo box. And that’s just the desk alone, not the coffee table or the bookshelf.

The plan for the weekend is to lose the electronic clutter in one of my file drawers, which will then be used for all of the accoutrements which now grace the surface of my desk.

* Touch-up paint. Use it. Baseboards. Shine them.

* Ohhhhhhhhhhh windows. I do not like doing windows, and it shows.

* Kids’ rooms. Try to get them (and yourself) in the habit of making the bed daily, folding clothes and putting them away, recycling old magazines, passing on books to Goodwill or friends.

* Candles? Burn them. Save a few in reserve for power outages. When my grandparents moved from a large house into a smaller one, my grandpa unearthed my granny’s collection of holiday candles — all four boxes of them. Yikes. How many burning snowmen do you really need?

* Utility bills — keep the most current statements, shred the rest. Ditto, clippings, letters, credit card statements. Actually, I don’t think you want to take advice from me on this one, because I can never get it straight. Mortgage documents: hang on to, but only until your re-fi or sell the place, and have new mortgage papers? Taxes: Save seven years’ worth? Credit cards: Once they’re paid off you can shred the statements (and the cards, but hang on to one?)? Sure, that all sounds right. (For real, consult a financial planner on this one.)

* Garden shed, garage, attic space, workshop: Deal with them, because they are what you will be kicking and screaming about when the moving van is on its way over. Broken things, unfixable things, ugly, moldy things — you have my permission to ditch them. (Our attic, by the way, is packed full, which is giving our realtor fits — seems that home inspectors like to be able to actually inspect the attic, and can’t if you have it full of rocking horses and old clothes, like we do.)

* Bathrooms: Clean the grout, ditch what you can from the medicine cabinet and make-up drawer, purchase matching towels. (My new handtowels are thrilling me. My bathroom looks so fancy now! And I have extra rags now, from all the old shredded towels.)

* If you actually are moving, and not just playing this game for fun and better organization, rent a PODS or similar container for packing. Then once you’re ready to go, the movers haul it to your new place and voila! You’re home. And the potential buyers don’t have to see your Star Wars collection, in all its glory.

* Weed, weed, weed. And keep everything pruned at least six inches away from the house, garage and shed.

* I hate weeding more than windows. You?

Happy straightening up to you!

by Wacky Mommy

[tags]family, home, house, selling, moving, preparations, cleaning, organizing, condensing, adjusting[/tags]
Photo graciously provided by Dom Dada, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved