Moving is a time consuming and stressful event in the life of a family or individual. No matter where you’re moving, there seems to be a million and one things to get done in a condensed period of time. This is magnified when you factor in a long-distance relocation and family members who are coming along with you to set up a new life on the other side of the United States, or even in a new country altogether.
Getting ready for a long-distance move doesn’t have to be painful, though. Planning a cross country move can be an exciting experience for you and your family if you approach the opportunity with the right frame of mind.
Take advantage of the bonding time that’s available during the packing and moving process, and lean on the industry‚Äôs solutions and services in order to make your move one that you‚Äôll never forget for all the right reasons.
Organize your finances before any new opportunities are borne out.
Keeping a lid on your finances is an important part of homeownership for all of us. This includes renters as well. Maintaining a healthy cash flow and keeping ahead of bills and expenses is the only way to continue saving for your new home and the surprises that life throws at you along the way. Buyers are often advised to begin saving for their intended home for a year or more before they seek out a mortgage loan to complete the buying process. Real estate agents will drone on about the importance of strong finances for many reasons, but primarily this is because a weak cash flow spells disaster for those looking to move into a larger or more advantageous home.
As you get ready for your move, you’ll have to organize the process of leaving behind your old home‚Äîif this is a rental, you might have a few months left on your lease, and if it‚Äôs a home that you own, you may be stuck with it for months or longer. Many homeowners choose to sell their old home with the help of a real estate agent, but looking into how to sell your house without the help of a pesky real estate agent is another option that many homeowners choose in order to cut down on their expenses by removing the commission that real estate agents take off the top of your final sale price.
Keeping your finances in order will help you lock in the best available interest rate and repayment terms on your new mortgage as well. Utilizing a well-rounded strategy that includes paying down credit card debt, tracking and minimizing spending‚Äîespecially splurge purchases‚Äîand pursuing an aggressive savings strategy in the six to twelve months before your application for a mortgage loan has the potential to save you thousands. This months-long endeavor can even reduce your total expenses by tens of thousands of dollars over the life of the loan that you’ll be taking out in the near future.
Consider home improvements as early as possible.
Not only is it important to take care of your credit score and financial health, but you also need to splash out on the new house as you begin to make it your own. This will help you make the space personalized and create the specific amenities that you’ll want in your home for the years ahead. Home improvement is a huge market in the United States. American homeowners spend more than $400 billion on home renovation projects each year. With the continuation of working from home as a result of Covid-19 restrictions and precautions looking to extend indefinitely into the future, creating the ideal home is more important than ever.
Many home improvements that homeowners love for their utility and quality of life improvements are kitchen upgrades, solar panel installation, and the introduction of hanging plants around the home to improve upon its green space and relaxation factor.
Utilizing a self-storage solution for your new house, as well as car storage in Chicago in the early days of your move-in is are great ways to create the space necessary to facilitate these upgrades and the decoration work that must be done in order to make this new space your home. Dropping all of your belongings into the home and trying to sift through a mountain of boxes and furniture is a recipe for weeks of headache and difficulty in imagining the best possible layout for the home’s space.
Self-storage is also a great way to create the open space necessary for home renovation work. Building on an extension for a guest or additional bedroom, or even creating a home office at the back of the home can improve upon the utility of any new home to suit your tailored needs. By keeping your belongings in storage for the first weeks or months of your move, you can create the space necessary to rebuild some essential elements of the home to better suit your needs without the hassle of constant shimmying in the living space. Bringing in only the essentials might feel a bit Spartan at first, but getting the renovation work completed and then adding the remainder of your possessions is a great way forward.
Alternatively, renovations outside the home will simply require access to the property. Utilizing a firm like Loanpal—headed up by Hayes Barnard—is a great way to fund a solar panel installation project right away. With the addition of solar capabilities on a new home, you can immediately cut down on the outgoing expenses that you’ll see on your electricity bill, and many states even offer tax reductions for this green energy solution. Speaking with a local realtor is the best way to identify opportunities to reduce your carbon footprint and monthly expenses in any marketplace. Realtors are pros at their subsection of the U.S. market and can help you identify these and other opportunities for home improvement.
Making a move to a new city can be challenging, but with a plan and the ability to improve your new space, you can make this a great experience.
