Carlsbad Relocation A to Z

Encinitas, California

An informational source for people who are relocating, with a particular focus on moving to the Carlsbad area of North County San Diego (and nearby coastal communities), with advice, guidance and true stories to help you on your way and make it a great journey, from a REALTOR� with plenty of personal (4 major moves, most recently from Boston to Carlsbad, California) and professional relocation experience. Are you running into problems selling your home? Need to find a new one quickly? Never moved before and haven't a clue? You'll find some great tips on how to solve your relocation issues here. Or ask me a question any time and I'll share some solutions or tell you where to get more information. CA DRE License #01490977

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Carlsbad Relocation A to Z

Getting Organized - Preparing Your Home To Sell (Part 3)

Jan. 30, 2008

Categorized in: Selling Your House

Tagged with: packing to move, preparing your home to sell, relocation

Here we are at the end of our discussion on preparing your house to sell. Since you need to pack to move, Kathi shares her tips on how to use this need during the purging phase of getting organized as you continue on your journey of learning how to addSpace to your life.

In case you missed them: Part 1 - Get Organized: Preparing Your House for Sale;
Part 2 - Get Organized: Preparing Your House for Sale

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Pack to Move

As you purge your excess, also pack the items that will move with you. As you pack, group like items together. Consider how they will be stored and organized within your new home. Think about their “home”, where they will live, within your new home and place them in a box marked and destined for that location.

If you are unsure about an item’s destination and can’t figure out how to mark the box, consider what type of activity relates to using it. For instance, if you discover a grill cover, tongs for grilling, bug spray and outside chair cushions, they might be destined for the same area, your fabulous new deck! Items that will live together in your new home should also live together in the same box until unpacked. Place the heaviest items on the bottom of each box to avoid damage enroute.

Mark each box clearly with the room destination desired so that the movers can do most of the work for you. This also helps you locate items if you need them in a pinch before they are officially unpacked and stored.

Reload Your Closets

If you are simply purging and not moving, stop before you reload your closet or cupboard. Consider each item and whether it should actually keep living where it was found or if it would serve you better in a different location. Things end up in the craziest places by default when life gets busy. Take a moment to reconsider before you tuck it away into the same space.

There is Help Available

Professional Organizers thrive on this kind of challenge. We love this process! If you feel overwhelmed and under-motivated, help is a phone call away. As a Board Certified Professional Organizer, I can expedite this process and make your home or move less stressful. Call me direct at 760.840.9997 to discuss your challenges and I will explain how the Professional Organizing solution works. You can also visit my website to view actual client ‘before and after’ storage solutions .

Moving On

After you have sorted, packed and purged your closets and cabinets, you are ready to strategize for the actual move. Or maybe you will enjoy your newfound space so much that you will decide that your house really isn’t too small, it was simply packed with too much stuff! No joke, I have witnessed this phenomena with actual clients!

Next up, we will cover the big day – the move and how to best prepare for this dramatic shift in scenery!

Kathi Burns

Founder - addSpace to Your Life!

670-840-9997

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If I can provide more information about the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360
or email me at JDowler@remax.net.

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Getting Organized - Preparing Your Home To Sell (Part 2)

Jan. 27, 2008

Categorized in: Selling Your House

Tagged with: preparing your home to sell, relocation

As you continue on your journey of learning how to addSpace to your life, here are some suggestions for how to get rid of STUFF you don't need by DONATING or TRASHING/RECYCLING.

In case you missed it: Part 1 - Get Organized: Preparing Your House for Sale

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Donate

If you choose to donate, simply place the items into an empty box and keep adding to this box until full. At the end of the day, load your donations into your car to take away to your local charity the next time you drive away. Do not let these boxes stockpile, get them out of your life as soon as possible! Momentum is your objective!

If you decide that an item could be given to someone else, realize that this action will require more energy. Also, keep in mind that your clutter might become their clutter. Most people are not very good at saying no when offered something for free, even if they don’t have a use for it, especially when that offer is from a friend. After all, they don’t want to hurt your feelings. Make sure that they truly need what you offer and will actually use it.

If you decide to give multiple of items to a single person or charity, arrange for them to pick them up within a set time frame. Many times my clients have fantastic intentions taking time and trouble to pack goody boxes for their friends or friend’s children and then no one shows up to claim the goods. Arrange a timeline with a predetermined deadline that, on a certain date, everything still on site will go to charity

Recycle / Trash

If you decide to discard an item, try to recycle it instead of adding it to the local landfill. Visit my website to see a comprehensive list of San Diego’s recycling or donation stations for your castaway goods.

In the next post I'll talk more about packing to move as part of this purging process.

Call me if I can help (760-840-9997) or visit my website.

Kathi Burns

Founder - addSpace to Your Life!

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Start your CARLSBAD HOMES SEARCH here (and other San Diego communities)

Download FREE BUYER AND SELLER REPORTS here

Visit CARLSBAD COMMUNITY REPORTS for profiles on communities, subdivisions and neighborhoods (including other areas)

Are you a first time home buyer. Check out FIRST TIME BUYER CENTRAL.

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Getting Organized - Preparing Your Home To Sell

Jan. 25, 2008

Categorized in: Selling Your House

Tagged with: preparing your home to sell, relocation

Here's the first installment in our series on Getting Organized before, during and after your RELOCATION. You are in for a treat - there is a ton of great stuff here, so get ready to get organized and addSpace to your life!

Kathi Burns will guide you on your journey to organization. The first 3 articles will focus on PREPARING YOUR HOME TO SELL.

And even if you are NOT moving, these tips will help you get YOUR HOME more organized.

Know someone who could use this help too? Please pass along the link to this article.

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Preparing Your Home to Sell

Your home is your castle. Unfortunately, with the abundance of closets and cabinets, you probably have no idea how many treasures you actually have tucked away into the nooks and crannies.

Preparing Your Carlsbad Home To Sell The best way to prepare to sell your home is to begin by methodically taking inventory of your possessions and purging all unwanted possessions and clutter. Adding space to your home makes it more desirable to prospective buyers and also solidifies your intention to move.

Before I moved to Southern California from Florida, I began getting rid of excess possessions. I did not know how or when we were going to be able to move, given the dramatic difference in real estate values and cost of living, I knew that we had to begin somewhere.

The fact that the move would be across the entire Untied States made it easy to see what I didn’t want to pay to move! The actual process of de-cluttering set the intention that we were going to move. I feel very strongly that by starting to downsize. purge, plot and pack, our dreams became much easier to manifest!

An easy place to begin in decluttering your life is to methodically empty closets and cabinets. You will be amazed at the things you have managed to store away over the years! As you empty each space, examine each item and make a decision. I’ll explain more about that process in Space Clearing 101.

Once you have mastered clearing, organizing and/or packing the items in your hidden spaces, it will be easier to clear the visible spaces. You will have fresh eyes and a new perspective about how much stuff you really own. This makes it much easier to let go of the tchotchkes collecting dust throughout your home.

Buyers want to see wide-open spaces, clear ledges and countertops. Space helps them visualize how their possessions will look in their new home. If your home is overflowing with clutter, it is more difficult for them to see their life superimposed in your home. Make it easy for the buyer. Give them plenty of space in which to dream their own dreams as they take the grand tour!

Space Clearing 101

To prepare for your de-cluttering project, equip yourself with empty boxes, packing paper and trash bags. Pick a door, open it and get started! As you pull items out, ask yourself these questions:

When was the last time I used this?

Will I need it or even want it in my new home?

If so, is it worth packing and paying to move?

If you immediately catch yourself thinking, “where did this come from?” instead of asking yourself one of the above questions, this is a good indication that you should quickly donate it and move on!

Each item will involve one of three possible actions. You can