This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more information. Opinions are always my own.
This simple system has gotten me through two moves – in 2017 from Missouri to Seattle with a two-year-old and a newborn and then in 2020 during a pandemic and with my in-laws.
These lists cover my process from preparing to sell through settling peacefully into and maintaining your new home.
You will need a notebook and a pen. And you can interpret that as specifically as you like – setting up a new planner, using a three ring binder, downloading a notes app, or grabbing some printer paper and a paper clip. I used a standard size travelers notebook (4.33 x 8.25 inches). In total, I used about 12 pages or 24 sheets plus a lot of stickies and notepad pages. I labeled the pages as follows and will elaborate below.
Contacts
Spending
November
December
January
Selling To Do
Staging To Do
Staging Notes
Selling
Utilities
Buying
Inspection
Notes
The details…
Contacts
My list includes our real estate agent, staging company, lender, inspector, and moving company. Phone numbers and emails were also saved in my phone. I used these for reference while talking on the phone (still learning how to put my call on speakerphone and navigate ha!). Importantly for later, I will use this list when giving recommendations to friends and family down the road.
Spending
I like to keep track of our expenses as we go through the process. It can also help by providing your agent with the amount of money you put into certain repairs or updates of the property you are selling. Setting up a budget, or at least having a conversation about expectations, can reduce stress throughout the process. Some aspects of selling and buying will be somewhat out of your control, like costs of unexpected repairs, but prioritizing is still possible.
This spending list is different from determining our budget for our new home. That’s something we discuss together, scribble on many sticky notes*, and compare with multiple lenders before we start looking at new homes. If you are looking at a mortgage or renting, I highly recommend starting with your budget and then getting multiple quotes.
*Keep your sticky notes! I have a collection of miscellaneous information and math paperclipped to the front cover of my notebook. When helpful, I tape the sticky note to the appropriate page in the notebook.
November – January
You can use any monthly spread your mind finds helpful. I date this page 1 – 30 down the left side and write in high level deadlines and events. I do this for the month before our current home goes on the market and the following two months. This helps us plan when to complete any updates, deep clean, or otherwise prepare the house. The following months have dates that include staging appointments, showings, and closing appointments. Having this bird’s eye view of only events related to the move helps my brain stay focused. I like to compartmentalize different projects in my life but always maintain a master monthly schedule as well. I talk about this more on my YouTube channel, if you’d like to know more.
Selling To Do
Basically all the things that you may be able to ignore, but people viewing your home will not! Squeaking doors, chipped paint, loose handrails, etc. I highly recommend starting this list today, because it tends to snowball. It would be totally reasonable to have this as a first page in your notebook even. Identifying these tasks is the first step in making time to complete them. Don’t let tedious repairs slow you down when you get to the big decision days of moving.
When we moved across the country, packing and coordinating our pods was a major component. I’m using “pods” generically here, as there are many more companies out there now. Basically, we had an eight foot wide, eight foot deep, and ten foot high shipping container dropped off on our driveway. We coordinated when it would be picked up, where it would be stored in the Seattle area, and how much it would cost to store monthly. (We moved in with family when we first arrived up here.) So a big part of this process was deciding what we weren’t bringing, how much we could sell it for, what we were keeping and if it was safe to go in the pods, what had to be driven up by my husband, and what I needed to take on the plane with the kids. Yeah, I needed a few pages.
Staging To Do
How much effort you put into staging is up to you – and your realtor if you’re willing – and heavily influenced by your market. We have sold a home in the middle of Missouri, where homes are a dime a dozen, and in the Seattle area, which is one of the most competitive in the states. Story time here, because I am a believer in professional staging where the housing market supports it.
Our agent in Missouri walked through our home, rearranged some furniture, and recommended storing a few pieces. No big task list after her visit. (Note: I highly recommend cleaning and preparing your house as if you were showing it to a potential buyer before your agent arrives for the first time. Make a good impression and decrease the amount of work she feels the need to recommend. This gives you all more time to focus on the monetary conversations and big ideas that can help sell your home. I wouldn’t go all out on storing a giant couch or anything before you get a professional’s opinion though.)
Our agent in Seattle hired a staging company to help us prepare our home. Honestly, I did not even know that was a thing! This incredibly professional came to my house that we were listing and went room by room with me (and my notebook, of course). I have two pages of notes from her initial visit. And our home was recently renovated, sparsely decorated, and she wanted to use all of our couches, beds, and other large furniture. (Woah. I know. Just wait though!)
She recommended moving furniture within a room or to a different room, which house plants would look best in the photos, and which pieces she would not need (we could store them in the garage). BUT at the end of the day, it was entirely up to us which advice we followed. She just asked us to send her pictures when we were finished, and we scheduled a day for her to come back in one week. We were able to follow all of her recommendations, and she arrived with two vehicles worth of stuff like giant fake pears for the kitchen and alarmingly coordinating bedding. I’ll admit to being skeptical. But once I saw the listing photos, WOW. She knew her stuff. The colors popped, and the rooms looked so spacious. We had at least 90 showings from Wednesday to Sunday. We received 19 offers on our home. I trust my agent, and I trust my staging company. Happy to share her info if you’re in the Seattle area!
Selling
It’s time to go live! Well, almost. This page had a quick list of recommendations from the photographer before he arrived, such as pull cars out of driveway, hide garbage bins, remove door mats, turn on the lights, and open the curtains. I’m happy to make his job easier and even if some of this is obvious, I need a list. Remember, this is one of the most stressful things a person can do. My motto is to write it down, no matter how obvious. Because in the moments that I’m actually preparing the house for photos, I’m also talking on the phone, multi-tasking as a mom, delegating tasks (hopefully!), etc.
This list is also really similar to the “prepare the house for a showing” list, and I piggy-backed the two. In Missouri, I usually got about a one hour notice to magically make the house perfect and scoop a six-month-old and two-year-old into the car so we could drive to the park – or more realistically, around the block so I could nurse the baby. But we made it! Our house was on the market for three weeks and we had less than a dozen showings. But each one was like a little marathon for this momma. Fond memories!
In Seattle, we moved out for the few days we were on the market. We were so fortunate to be able to stay with my in-laws. Once the house was on the market, we went by in the morning to open all the curtains, turn on lights, etc. and went back at night to close up, check locks and such. Temporarily leaving was an easy choice for us during the pandemic, but it is also routinely recommended in quick markets.
This page also contains notes like how many showings we had each day (our agent loved to update us), early offers we received and how we responded, and notes from the review date. (Review date and time is when the seller compares all the offers received and selects one. Another thing that I had not heard of until we moved to Seattle.) I eventually included our final sale price and negotiations on the inspection and appraisal.
Utilities
It would be great if we could just reach for that meticulously updated “home binder” and copy all of the utility information so efficiently. (Note to self: update home binder.) As a seller, you will be asked to list all of your utilities and their contact information. Bonus points may be awarded if you have your average heating and cooling costs or bills for the last year in a neat graph that your agent puts in a page protector inside a binder oozing with wonderful facts about your house. (This is something our agent asked us to help compile in Missouri.)
But use this list for you too! Record when you called to cancel (or transfer) that service and who you talked to that day. Note any billing irregularities or refunds to expect. Partially due to the pandemic changing communication lines, it was really helpful when I was able to pinpoint who I spoke to and when. A couple of companies lost our requests in their new systems (no big, it happens), and that information enabled them to see where the gap in the system was happening.
Similarly, start a page for your new property’s utilities. I like to include if we have created an online account, the billing schedule, and if the bill is autopay. Once everything is set up, I can quickly transfer the info to the budget sheet in my home binder – you know, the one that is not-quite-ever-up-to-date.
Buying
Oh, buying. Not for the faint of heart in competitive markets. Since the market here is fast-moving, I only recorded offers we placed on homes in my notebook. My Redfin and Zillow apps tracked all the showings we went on, and my notes on each home. Final negotiations and sale price of the home we did purchase (and love!) are also included. In Missouri, I kept the physical data sheet from the agent and kept my notes on that.
My notes included pros and cons of the property and neighborhood, obvious repairs to be completed, and sometimes design ideas I wanted to remember for later.
Inspection
This bad boy deserves it’s own two-page spread in my notebooks. At least. I have learned the absolute most about my homes from the inspectors I’ve worked with during buying. I’m talking about both pre-inspection and routine pre-closing inspection. So much good information! The people I have worked with asked me up front what my priorities were (safety and kids), invited me to follow them closely, and encouraged me to ask questions. I also show up with my pen and notebook on a clipboard. A little nerdy sure, but I enjoy the process. This is something you are (likely) paying for, too, so keep that in mind. The inspection report not only serves as a negotiating tool, but it is also our manual for caring for our house well. And yes, a to-do list for needed repairs. But with the inspector’s help, we are able to more easily prioritize those repairs. I joke with my husband that we need to get an inspection every five years just so I can learn more and have the most peace of mind!
Notes
Notes happen! I try to keep them where they belong, but as mentioned I usually end up with a fat stack of sticky notes paper clipped to the cover of my notebook. I don’t toss them out well, ever. But in theory, I should go through them at the end and tape in the important ones.
As we got closer to moving into our new space, my brain switched gears to updating a home notebook or binder. But a lot of this is going to end up on notepads and sticky notes. One of the first things we like to do is to measure all the rooms. This helps determine furniture placement. (I said “like” not actually do…If the couch doesn’t fit, maybe find out before you haul it up the stairs? Just a random example.) So also maybe measure the your furniture if you are like me and your spatial awareness skills do not extend to furniture.
And I love how wildly our priorities change for us as we settle. When we were getting ready to move in, I was obsessed with changing the kitchen as soon as possible. I felt motivated to collect all these ideas and sketch out plans. Then I lived there for a day and things changed! The kitchen was going to take a backseat. But I still have all that good energy and research at my fingertips when I’m ready. One day, I’ll share our home folder/binder/notebook/glorious mess of information and inspiration.
Good luck!
I’m not going to talk about the minutiae of moving (like labeling your boxes specifically, packing your silverware inside your cups inside your pots, or measuring your new home before doing anything else), because that’s what Pinterest is for! I’ve shown my obvious positive bias for professional staging and home inspection. But if I had to pick the most important information for moving (aside from determining budget up front), it is the inspection. Take notes, ask questions, print the final report and compare your notes from that day, and keep the inspector’s card for questions that arise later. Thankfully, we have been able to actually save money by properly maintaining and prioritizing repairs on our homes.
My husband and I moved a lot as kids and as adults, but we think we are in our forever home – for now! Please ask any questions here, on instagram, or via email. Take care. And when in doubt, write it down!
