As I write this post, every muscle in my body aches - every joint is sore. What I hoped would be a quick, efficient and painless move has been the most exhausting experience I’ve been through in a long time. Not that moving isn’t supposed to wipe you out, but this move was special.

Looking back, here are a few things I’ve learned that I would do differently if I had the chance. These are things that a good real estate agent ought to consider for their clients - especially if they haven’t moved in awhile themselves. After all, it’s only been 2 years since our last move, but oh how different the experience!

Packing

What we did right: The local grocery store gave us milk boxes by the dozens. These were awesome boxes because they are reinforced, heavy-duty cardboard with handles. Plus, they didn’t smell the way other “grocery store” boxes can. We had a newspaper end roll from our last move to tear off pieces to wrap and protect breakables. This is a great way to pack your dishes and fragile items without spending a bunch of money. Just go to the local newspaper and ask them for an end roll. Some will give them to you free, others may charge you a couple dollars or by-the-pound. Plus, when you’re done, you have a nice roll of paper that you can use for many other purposes.

What we did wrong: First of all, we didn’t start collecting boxes soon enough. Had we gathered our empty boxes earlier, we could have taken more time to pack and organize them. Also, we ran out of paper before we ran out of breakables, and since we had already run out of time to get another end roll, we ended up having a few broken items. Lastly, in terms of packing, I’m wishing we had packed “by the room” and labeled the boxes accordingly. That would’ve made finding all the junk we’ve misplaced a lot easier.

Realtor Application - An agent that provides his clients with end rolls and a network of box pick-up locations will be highly referred. Simply going around to grocery stores, or local industries that with boxes to discard can be a win-win for everyone. As more companies go green, cardboard disposal is an issue for some smaller companies. By helping them help your clients, everyone wins - especially you!

Transporting

What we did right: Mmmmmm? Not sure!

Here’s what we did wrong: We made a local reservation with U-Haul. The reason this is a bad idea is because U-Haul doesn’t actually guarantee any round-trip reservation. If they get a one-way reservation for the same truck, you could be screwed. Basically, that’s what happened to us.

We had a two-day local reservation for a 26 foot truck, but when I picked up the truck last Wednesday, I was told that it would have to be returned by 9am the next day because a one-way reservation had come in. This completely altered our entire move because there aren’t any other large truck rentals available in the immediate area. Because of this alone, we moved about 1/2 of our stuff in the truck and did the rest in our Chevy Astro van until I got the final load yesterday.

The last time we moved, we used PODS, which is by far the absolute easiest way to move IMHO. If you’ve never heard of them, PODS deliver containers to your old house whenever you want them and then pick them up when you’re ready and deliver them to your new location. Then, when you’re ready, they come pick up the empty containers and you’re done. This makes organized packing and unpacking a realistic proposition. Unfortunately, PODS aren’t available in our new location so it wasn’t an option this time.

Lastly, my wife and I basically did this move without any help. My in-laws were able to pitch in with cleaning and maintenance assistance, which was much appreciated. But, as far as the grunt work of lifting and transporting heavy stuff, we did it all ourselves. In retrospect, we learned on Sunday that the local church we visited has a “moving ministry” that helps people move. If we had only known that a week earlier, it could saved us some aches and Motrin. Plus, we would have made some new friends in the process. SO, if you’re lacking in moving help, check with your local church to see if they have a moving ministry.

Realtor Application - Many brokers have loaner trucks available to clients. This is a great rolling billboard and if you’re office doesn’t have one, consider getting one. Also, if you go to the trouble to get one, buy a 24 or 26 foot truck. The people that are going to benefit most from it our clients with families. The little 14 foot trucks that a lot of brokers own are not very useful for a family of four or more who needs to be out in one or two trips. If your church doesn’t have a moving ministry, talk to your pastor about starting one. It can be a great outreach into the community, not to mention a great service!

Children

What we did right: Overall, our kiddos did great without a lot of direction from us!The biggest help was having my wife’s folks watch them for the night when we had to get the truck unloaded.

What we did wrong: We should have packed for them like we were going on a camping trip, with the appropriate food, refreshments, games and books. Instead, we packed all their stuff and we’ve had to stop to find things that could have been available if we’d planned differently.

Realtor Application - Create a branded moving pack for clients with kids. Even if it only has some Capri Suns, Candy Bars, Word Searches and the like, at least it’s something that would be appreciated when it was used.

Preclosing Inspection

I’ve heard of these, but have never actually participated in one. I’m not talking about a property inspection here, but rather a walk-through of the property prior to closing. The buyers of our old home wanted to do this and it made me think about it’s purpose. What I realized is that it’s easy to take for granted how your home works. By spending a couple hours with the buyers of your home, showing them how the sprinkler system works, how to run the dishwasher, where to position the trash can for the trash man, you really can help them move in with a little peace of mind. It may not be very convenient if you’re still scrambling to move in to your new place yourself, but it’s a nice gesture to offer this. Kind of a ceremonial passing of the keys.

Realtor Application - Encourage this for all your sellers, and try to get your buyers the opportunity to have a walk-through on any property they buy with you.

Utilities

What we did right: We did schedule the switch-over in advance. I even overlapped slightly just to be sure. We didn’t really fail in this regard, however…..

What we did wrong: Cox Cable didn’t show up when they were scheduled to install our TV, Telephone and Internet connection. They were to arrive between 10-12 last Thursday. At 3pm, I called them to find out what was up and was told that they came and nobody was home. This was a complete untruth as someone was home that entire time. When I was told that they wouldn’t be able to send someone back out until Wednesday (Today) I about blew my gasket! Thankfully, I whined and complained so much (and threatened to cancel my order entirely) that they bumped it up to Monday. I should have called them at 12:01 pm to whine and complain and perhaps the cable guy would have made it out before the day was over.

The lesson learned here is that there are going to be issues that come up when you move that you can’t control and getting all worked up about those will just put you through unnecessary stress. Once I accepted the fact that I was going to be offline for awhile, things were okay.

Realtor Application - Provide your clients with a To Do checklist that they can go over prior to moving to make sure they haven’t forgotten to take care of any important details. And……remember moving is stressful. Anything you can do to show empathy or assistance will be worth far more than buying more pens with your logo on them.

Documents

What we did right: We sold our home FSBO in 4 days. I see this more as a case of offering a desirable property at an attractive price, and God’s blessing, than any formulaic method another could replicate. It happened so fast that we weren’t totally prepared to move. The closing was handled by a local title company that did a fair job, other than waiting until the last minute to mail out some of the final docs. This combined with a policy change at DHL that limits their service in Kansas, created some tension at the last minute, but otherwise everything went smoothly.

What we did wrong: We used DHL as an overnight shipper not knowing that their overnight service service to central Kansas was going to take a week since they now contract with the USPS out of Kansas City to deliver their packages. Had we used FEDEX or USPS from the get-go, it wouldn’t have been an issue.

Final Points

We tried to declutter ahead of time and held a garage sale. But, we should have got rid of, sold, given away, thrown away more stuff that we wouldn’t have had to move. I wonder how much it actually costs to keep junk instead of getting rid of it. My favorite resource on decluttering is at unclutterer.com

Lastly, I should have bought my wife a new pair of work gloves, BEFORE we started moving. They would have not only saved her hands, but allowed her to do more lifting.

There are probably a thousand other things that we did wrong but these are the ones I most feel today. Now, it’s back to the hot tub! Oh yeah, we don’t have one. Where’s the Advil?