We just moved, making now a perfect time to talk about moving. Last time we moved, 16 years ago, I said “Never Again”. Like childbirth, the pain and stress eventually wear off and the joy of something new—take your pick, a baby or a home–outweighs the pain.
You would think that since I’m a Realtor® and I deal with people who want or need to move every day and the challenges that come with a Real Estate transaction, I’d be immune. Not the case at all.
The first part of the whole moving process is the decision to make a move. If you are being transferred and need to relocate, that decision may be taken away from you, but you still have the stress of being kind of forced into something.
If your move is one that you initiated because you wanted to downsize (like we do) or upsize, or go for a new community, a different style or type of home, want to save money, or make money or any one of a million reasons you can dream up to move—that also comes with its own set of stresses. Am I making the right decision and then second guessing your decision multiple times being the biggest stressor we like to place on ourselves.
The next anxiety is getting your home ready to sell. Maybe you have collected lots of “stuff” over the years and view the move as an opportunity to de-clutter and purge yourself of items no longer useful or needed by you and your family. I love getting rid of things and wiping the slate clean, so this part is fun for me. But for others their “stuff” is cause for major deliberating. Some people just have trouble parting with their belongings and when faced with putting their precious household items and memories in a pecking order of what goes and what stays—confusion and yes, stress, take over.
This is all just the beginning. Next you have to pick a Realtor® to help you market your property and get it priced right. Do you already know and trust someone who is a Realtor®, or do you have to pick a stranger? Best advice, preferably choose someone you know & trust and who is a good communicator. Communication is key in a Real Estate transaction and you definitely want someone you can easily talk with and who can communicate your wishes on your behalf to all the parties involved. In my case, it was easy, I picked me. Obviously, I didn’t have to communicate anything to myself, but the interesting thing was my husband kept asking me to go over what’s next, and several times he said to me, could you explain how this works again.
This was a valuable lesson for me. If he had all these questions, was unsure and wanted to be reassured of the process multiple times, certainly my other clients would feel the same way.
This whole moving process has helped me to appreciate what my clients go through in their moves and reconfirmed the importance of communicating the details, and the value of checking-in—communicating regularly and frequently what’s happening and what’s next.
You might be curious to know what our 2 biggest challenges where in our move. For us it was coming up with a solution for our onsite septic-system that didn’t pass inspection and dealing with our 16 years of accumulation of “stuff”. 
First we had to fix or replace the drain field on our septic system. We ended up solving that problem with a unique new technology called Soil Air. If you end up with a drain field that doesn’t pass on the home inspection, I highly recommend you look into adding a Soil Air System to rejuvenate your current drain field. We were lucky that we had a very competent septic expert to communicate the possible solutions and explain our options. Thom Noll was one of the best, if not the best contractor I have ever worked with on a project.
We were also lucky in that the buyers of our home liked it enough to hang in there and were not scared away by a less than perfect septic system. Again in all of this I think communication was the glue that held the transaction together until closing.
So we weaved our way through the drain field horror and a delayed closing date and made it to the big day. I cannot stress enough how important it is to organize, pack and purge your treasures until you have culled it all down to what you are certain you will need and use at your next home. This is where we were in “stuff shock”. Where was it all coming from? Had the walls somehow absorbed clothing, electronics, papers, kitchen wares and now they were seeping into the rooms no matter how many times we emptied them? It seemed that way, and we were under the impression that we were “under stuffed” compared to most people.
Now I’ll be better prepared to help my clients through their septic problems that may arise as well as brace themselves for stuff issues.
It’s a good feeling. I’ve purged and learned some valuable lessons that I’ll be able to pass on. I’ll also be better prepared for the next move in 7 or 8 months when we’ll move into a home we are building. Just wait for those stories!
Have you moved recently? How was your experience? What would have made it better? We’d love to learn from you too. Leave your comments below, and if we’re not already connected on face book, hop on over there and say “Hi” as well. We appreciate you and your readership http://www.facebook.com/beappreciative
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