United Built Homes, Real Estate Expert Offers Stress-busters for Moving Chicago, IL (PRWeb) March 13, 2007 -- Visions of fresh beginnings in a new home motivate homebuyers and renters to make the leap and sign the documents. But, the reality soon sets in, how are we going to get all our stuff edited, organized, packed and moved to the new place? Not to worry, Mark Nash author of 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home, a confessed serial mover shares his tried and tried advice and tips for getting through the grunt work and into your new digs.
Qucik tips for beiginning the streamlining process: Paperwork and document files. Boomers are guilty of hording income tax returns, phone bills, and credit card statements from the Nixon era. And those fading Polaroid photographs should go too. Out, but shred them, one thing that hasn't changed is your social security number. Maybe the boomers will be remembered as the over-archived (originally the Pepsi) generation. You should admire the X'ers and Y's, they truly do save trees by having their files and folders stored electronically. Cassette, eight-track, record albums and VHS tapes. Many boomers never did have a disco ball, but could still have a significant collection of Donna Summer cassette tapes, which replaced the albums we purged, but really how long has it been since you listened to them? If it's more than year, out! While you're at it, purge those ugly cassette tape storage towers that don't look like anything, and the cheap plastic boxes that are filled with knock-off copies of Dallas and Dynasty. The X and Y's have the lean and mean perspective because they have all these cool compact file cards, I-Pods and watch television shows on their cell phones, so neat and tidy. Paint. This goes hand-in-hand with serial movers. The old adage that paint is the cheapest way to redecorate is true and our collection of left-over and decorating disaster paint is huge. Ralph Lauren had a collection of metallic finishes a decade ago, they were expensive, and even though they never looked good on incorrectly prepared walls, chronic-savers can't throw gallon of excess away. Now's the time. Paint and other chemicals need to be disposed of properly. Old bed linens, how many drop clothes does any self-painter need? The X's and the Y's have something in common with boomers, they love earth tones and natural colors in decor (remember the 1970's?) and they can buy a home in many parts of the country that feature this decor in it's 'original" state, which is so, green, and thus, move-in condition. Kitchen stuff. Julia Child made us believe that every viewer could be a French chef. Boomers and allot of other American's cupboards are full of beautiful flan cups, odd coffee mugs from significant birthdays we would rather ignore, the bundt cake pan from the 1980's, Savers know they'll come back into food-style, but when? Plus, all those seasonings and cake decorating supplies that savers know they'll never use, but they were so expensive for just one use. Plus, paper coffee filters to fit any and all coffee makers, even the ones we haven't owner since the first Mr. Coffee. Who can't appreciate the X's and the Y's; they are firmly entrenched in the belief that a kitchen is for reheating take-out and throwing out empty Starbuck's go cups. Clothes and shoes. Imelda Marcos isn't the only one guilty of indulging in over-consumption of shoes. And guys, you're just as guilty; it's about time you come out of the shoe-for-every-outfit closet. The problem with being a serial mover is that it's amazing how much my waistline changes between moves. Don't forget to take the boxes of used dry-cleaning hangers back to the source, and try to to use the clear protective bags, double bagged as purging receptacles. Boomers are addicted to dry-cleaning, and having midnight blue-black as the new black feeds the addiction, dust, lint and hair doesn't go with any shade of black. You know the X's and the Y's, they enjoy clothes, but synthetic fibers and an Abercrombie & Fitch look are not iron-friendly. Hardware and duct tape. Even if you're not handy, you have picture hanging hardware, screws, nuts, bolts and twenty Allen wrenches that fit twenty different pieces of something you had to assemble. Add in door-stoppers from your last house, those dreadful beige wall switch plates you took down, but are worth something, and surge protectors, cable TV wires, computer coaxial stuff, and your first, second and third cell phone. Duct tape, don't you wish you invented it? From it's availablility in grocery stores to home centers, it's a home run for either gender. It's in a drawer in way too many American rooms and it's great for putting a band-aid on any household problem. You can't help but like the X's and the Y's, they've never heard of Architectural Digest or This Old House. So what if the switch plates are faux Mediterranean or the recycling basket is coming apart from being over-stuffed, and duct tape? Never heard of it, and don't care too. Whatever. Us Americans are as much a nation of consumers, we're also a nation of savers, leftover from the depression mind set our parents had. After all what are, attics, basements and garages for? But, Ithere is a tried and true saying that real estate agents use with clients who are just starting the daunting task of preparing for a move; 'when in doubt, throw it out". It works. It's easy. And, it doesn't wait around to be picked up by a charity, so you can re-decide to keep it. Being a serial mover has taught the moving re-runners some hard lessons about preparing to lift up their worldly goods and take them on the road again. A road far too well traveled for most Americans. Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved. Mark Nash Mark Nash is the author of five real estate books, new for 2007; Real Estate A-Z for Buying & Selling a Home. William J. Sittig, Chief of the Science, Technology and Business Division of The Library of Congress has invited Mark to make a presentation on 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home to the members, public and staff of the Library on March 21, 2007. Nash has been featured on Bloomberg Video-on-Demand, CBS The Early Show, CNN, and The Today Show. He is a syndicated columnist for RealtyTimes.com and reviews books for MyShelf.com and The Midwest Review of Books.
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