Listing Your Home for Sale?
Thinking about moving? Now what? Don’t be overwhelmed—ask a Professional Organizer for help!
If you haven’t sold your house yet or placed it on the market, now is the time to start a checklist for packing the
treasures to keep and clear out your current house to appeal to all future home buyers!
- Buy some multi-color-coded stickers to identify items you plan to KEEP/MOVE = Green; SELL= Yellow; DONATE
= Red; TRASH = Black and walk around your current house like it’s the first house tour for a potential buyer.
Ask yourself: “Would I want to buy this house?” Ideally, when you start packing up the things that made your
house personal for you with family photos, eclectic mementos, unique décor, religious or political items, it will
showcase the general “bones” of your house and give potential buyers a blank canvas for them to visualize
creating a home of their own. - Contact any children/siblings/relatives to see if there were any special memories or other items stored in your
home that they would like to retain and provide a deadline to arrange collection, transportation or hauling of
furniture etc. Sometimes this can be a challenge if other former inhabitants or children left their belongings and
may not have surplus storage space, but a firm removal deadline is a must—and it will thin things out for you!
3. After you donate, remove and trash surplus items you will have a better idea of how many packing supplies may
be needed to pack up the things you know you want to move but don’t want to keep on display. You may
procure wrapping papers, bubble wrap for fragile items and boxes from U-Haul (previously used are available
FREE at some locations www.uhaul.com ) or any contracted movers, Lowes/ Home Depot. Most retailers
provide a full refund for any unassembled boxes. - You may elect to choose an Eco-Friendly option to rent sturdy plastic boxes from St. Louis Rent-A-Box
https://www.stlrentabox.com/ that may be delivered, filled, moved, and picked up after unpacking. - Start small! Even a junk drawer consolidation can feel like a HUGE accomplishment and allow you to catch the
organization bug to expand to bigger pantries, closets, basements, attics or garages - Don’t get overwhelmed with a time crunch—work your way backwards from a target listing date and enlist
support from any family, friends, professional organizers to stay on track! Remember, some things may be
emotional to part with, so you don’t have to make snap decisions you may regret later—but now is the time to
pack it and finalize your decision later vs. a lengthy trip down memory lane with each photo album - Sort like items together but consider weight per box and don’t risk damage keeping complete sets of dishes
together if they will travel more safely split in two smaller boxes. Large and extra large boxes should be
reserved for either awkward shape items like table lamps/shades, or non-fragile lightweight items such as
pillows, blankets, surplus bedding. - Label box contents clearly and include the room they were packed FROM and where they may be going TO. In
some cases, it may be going from an office to a den desk area. Specific vs. general: Blue Plates NOT Kitchen
Miscellaneous