How to Get Ready to Sell Your Home

Hey all! A lot has happened in our humble abode since last week. In case you didn't see, we are in the process of removing our outdated and unnecessary bar. We debated for a while if we wanted to tackle this project ourselves or bring in a professional. After lots of discussion, and a very fair quote from the building contractor, we're letting the pros take over. 

This was a picture sent from the contractor in the middle of demolition. 

Some of you have protested asking "why??" when it comes to removing our bar {seriously, have you seen it?}. Other than being a complete eyesore, the Sliger-Jones household has some exciting news, we're moving!!! The title of the post kind of gave it away didn't it? We're not exactly moving yet, but we're getting ready to sell our apartment. 

Brit got a new job in Stamford, CT in December {so proud of him!}, and with my job approaching nonexistence, we figured this was as good a time as any to pack up and get out to the suburbs. While our "plan" {listen for God's chuckle} was to stay in the city for a year or two more, there really is no point in me starting a new job just to leave it in within a year. And there's no reason for Brit to continue this reverse commute if I'm no longer working in the city either. So we're getting our apartment ready to be put on the market and preparing for the 'burbs!

Clutter Free
To get our apartment ready to sell there are a few things our real estate agent suggested we do. #1 - remove the bar {check, or at least in progress}. She also said that we have to get rid of personal effects, such as pictures, and clutter. Clutter? Us? Never. In order to remove the bar and "clutter", we had to do a serious clean out. Like I mentioned before the bar served as a huge storage area for us. So when it came time to empty it out we really needed to reassess our storage situation. She suggested we move things into a storage unit until the place sells, luckily Brit's parents offered up their basement so we were able to save a little dough there. 

We had to get the ball rolling pretty quickly in order to get everything ready by the date she suggested we go on the market, May 1st {eek!}. So we got started right away sorting through everything that was housed behind the bar. We packed up 35 boxes of stuff. How in the world did all of this fit in our apartment!?

We sorted through just about every space in our apartment figuring out what we absolutely needed for the next few months {hopeful we'll sell quickly}, and what we could do without. Unfortunately we didn't have time to sort out items to donate or sell, so everything got packed up. Brit and I are so looking forward to the day we go through the boxes of things we've lived without for months and just purge. 

These are the questions we asked ourselves when packing up:

1. Will we need it this season? Again, hoping we can sell within this season, if not, we will do a little switcheroo of seasonal things. We are also hoping that Spring/Summer will be here soon. We're actually counting on it, winter coats have been packed.  
2. Does it add or take away from ambiance? For example, our board games. Everyone likes to play games right? But will having Battle of the Sexes sitting out make our home more appealing? Probably not.
3. Is this just our taste? We had to pack up some things that we knew could put off potential buyers. Such as our Elmo, Gimzo, and Dancing Sock Monkey. People want to be able to immediately picture themselves in your home and, surprisingly, not everyone has an Elmo doll to put on display. 

We ordered 30 boxes from Amazon. The boxes came with a roll of packing tape and a black marker for labeling. We already had about 2 extra rolls of packing tape, which was good because apparently we pack boxes like we're packing up Fort Knox. 

Here's hoping we've moved by football season, otherwise this box is getting unpacked. 

We also ordered some bubble wrap for all of the breakables. I'll be honest, I was not a fan of wrapping up each one of these individually. BUT I'll be glad they're all in one piece when we open them again. 

Here are some tips for packing up your things: 

Pack Like Items Together
When packing up a space or a room, try to pack the items from that space together in the same box. When taking things off the bookshelf, try to pack them all together if that's how you want to display them again. Seems simple enough, right? But sometimes this can get a little tricky when a box is halfway full of one item and you've run out of other items like it. This is when we would pull items from another space that could potentially be displayed or stored together in the new place. In our board game box, we added toys and costume jewelry to fill the box. All of these items could be stored together in a play area in our new home, making the unpacking process easier {we don't have kids yet, but we do have nieces, hence the need for a play area :) }. 

I love it when boxes pack up this perfectly! 

Label, Label, Label
I know I go on a lot about labeling but it truly does help us stay organized. If you're not one who likes to label things within your home, I highly encourage you to label storage boxes. Have you ever packed up a box, taped it shut and thought, Crap, I have no clue what I just put in there. After we packed up a box, we put a bright pink post-it on the side listing everything that was in the box. Then added a little more tape over that. This might be why the excess supply of tape was necessary. 

Don't worry, I didn't pack Brit {Simon} into this box, just his belongings. 

Keep a List 
In addition to labeling the boxes, we numbered them and created a list to keep track of everything. I used an app called Wunderlist to keep track of our boxes. I created a shared list with Brit called "Storage Boxes", he has access to the list from his app as well now. I added each box as an item, for example Box 1, then listed all of it's contents as subtasks. Notes, due dates, and reminders can be added to the list, but weren't necessary for this particular list. 

This will be super helpful when an item is "missing", we can easily check to see if we've actually stored it away and keep track of our belonging so much easier. 

Now our apartment feels super empty but it's pretty refreshing. I almost don't want to bring everything into our new home, but hopefully the 'burbs will provide a little more space to spread out as well. 

Below is an update on the progress of our bar removal. It's moving along very quickly and is super exciting. There is still some work to do on the floor, but just look at all of that open space! 

Notice the mirror is still in tact! So excited to see what we can do with that. 

There is still more work to be done so I'm labeling that bottom picture as "during", can't wait to have an "after" shot to share. 

The living room area is just a bit chaotic at the moment as well, but hopefully will be able to be put back together soon. 

And here's a look at the floors underneath the bar and shag carpeting. The floors will need a little work after not seeing the light of day for over 50 years, but we're just glad it's all the same flooring! 

Thanks for visiting!