Tips on Cleaning Out Belongings Before a Move

Relocating provides a great opportunity to streamline your possessions and eliminate items that have not been used since your last move. Cleaning out your belongings can help give structure to the move process, as well as lighten the load. Especially if you are doing your own preparation, the tendency is always to begin packing immediately in anticipation of your coming move.  As is often the case however, a little advance planning and cleaning can save you both time and money.

Tips to Cleaning Out Before a Move

  • Find Things to Purge: Once you have established a move date, go through your entire residence (including basement and attic spaces) and identify items that you intend to purge or donate.
  • Save Time and Money: Purging/donating items will not only decrease the overall moving costs, it will also save you time as you prepare for moving day.
  • Organize Items Not Moving: Set aside a specific area of the house for all items you will not be moving.
  • Use Salvation Army: Contact the Salvation Army or a local charity in your area to have belongings picked up from your residence well in advance of the move.  Many of these organizations have capacity limitations, so do not wait until the last minute to contact them.  Aside from the tax benefits of donating unwanted items, you will also reduce the amount of time required to move into your new home.
  • Donating Canned Goods: Consider donating canned goods to Move for Hunger or a local food pantry.  It is often more expensive to move canned goods on a weight-based interstate move than it is to replace these items.
A household recycling bin issued by the local ...
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Additional packing and Moving Preparation Tips

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Congratulations to the Olympia Moving Team

Here at Olympia Moving we wanted to take this opportunity to thank our employees for their hard work and dedication.  2011 was the busiest summer in the company’s nearly 20 year history; which is a testament to the commitment and performance of our staff.

Lowest Claim Ratio

Despite the fact that we were close to capacity from a scheduling standpoint, our crews achieved one of the lowest claims ratios in the company’s history; which currently stands at just 4% YTD.  Olympia Moving gets Wheaton Award

Our Customer Feedback via Survey’s

In addition to Olympia’s superlative claims ratios this summer, our customer surveys reflect the results of enhanced training at all levels of the organization.  Of the customer surveys received between May and September, 94.3% indicated that they would use Olympia’s services again and 96.7% gave their moving crew the highest possible rating.

Wheaton World Wide Agent of the Month

As a direct result of the performance of Olympia’s crews, drivers and customer support personnel, Olympia was honored with Wheaton World Wide’s Agent of the Month award for August.

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE WHO MADE THIS POSSIBLE.  KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!

Home Staging and De-Cluttering Your Home

If you are in the process of selling your home, your realtor has likely discussed the possibility of “staging” with you.  For the uninitiated, staging is the process of configuring your residence in order to maximize your sales opportunities.  Typically this process involves removing furniture that buyers may not find attractive, de-cluttering (PDF download) the space, re-arranging the furnishings, and potentially adding in some small finishing touches.  Essentially, you are trying to help your prospective buyer to envision themselves living in the space.

Checklist Clipboard for Ways to De-Clutter Your Home

From an economic standpoint, the basic premise is that you sell your home in less time and closer to the asking price.  According to the International Association of Home Staging Professionals, homes that are staged spend 83% less time on the market than those that are not staged.  Any realtor worth their salt will tell you that staging represents a critical tool in their sales arsenal.

In light of this growing trend in real estate, Olympia Moving has put together a special “De-Clutter” program (PDF download) designed to work with home sellers interested in staging their properties.  The gist of the program is that Olympia will offer up to 2 free storage units for a maximum of 3 months.  While you are required to pay for the moving services, this represents a savings of up to $330.  We have had great success in working with several real estate and staging professionals on this program.

We view this program as a win-win – your home will sell faster and, once you have a chance to see our moving crews in action, we are confident that you will use our services to relocate to your new home.  For more information on Olympia Moving’s “De-Clutter” program, click HERE