The Teacher Becomes the Student: 13 Things We Learned from Our Own Move
Moving is soooooo stressful.
We genuinely, and very recently, get it.
Like many families, the last couple of years have inspired lots of reflection about life and the future. For us, those conversations resulted in a brilliant, long-term plan: We decided to invest in a rental property near Heather’s mom, rent it out until she was ready to downsize, and then, at that point, she’d move into our rental and we’d move into her home so we’d be nearby. The perfect plan.
So we set up a search (just like we do for our clients), and we settled in for a slow but steady process of finding just the right investment property.
Well... the universe, it turns out, is way smarter than we are, and she had another plan in mind.
Long-story-short, an amaaaaaaaazing bungalow popped up on our search. It was pretty near Heather’s mom, but it wasn’t good rental property material. But that’s OK… because it was fantastic let’s-scrap-our-original-plan-and-buy-this-place-for-ourselves material.
See, although we adored our hip, cool LoHi space, it just wasn’t serving our needs in a way that felt sustainable. For example, the place was so open-concept it literally had no doors (other than the bathrooms). And we both work from home. And, at the time, we were also homeschooling. It was a COVID sh*tshow, basically.
But this bungalow, you guys. We decided we had to have it. And we became our own clients.
13 Tips to Get Your Move On
Listen, we do this buy and sell thing every day… but for other people. In those situations, we’re slightly removed from the heat of it all, and it’s easy to forget just how taxing the process is.
Well, friends, we learned some stuff in our move—and because we like you, we want to share our lessons with you. Follow these 13 tips, and your next move will be far less sucky!
#1 Get your act together. Like yesterday.
Having your finances in order before looking at properties is a game-changer. We were able to seize the moment and bid on the house we wanted fast, because we already had our ducks in a row. If we didn’t have our finances in order, we may have missed that precious window and lost out on our new home!
If you’re even thinking about buying, start today by evaluating your finances.
#2 Don’t put blinders on.
As we mentioned, we loved (loved!) our swanky spot in LoHi. We weren’t actually looking for a new place for ourselves. But because we didn’t hold on to our plan too, too tightly, we were able to recognize a much better opportunity when it came along.
Be open to what the universe has for you. You just might love it!
#3 Be prepared to confront your stuff.
As organized as we are, trading spaces was a whole other ballgame. Moving suddenly required us to confront the sheer amount of stuff we own.
We had to remove our personal stuff so we’d be ready for showings.
We had to store all that stuff.
We had to purge all the stuff we didn’t want to move.
We had to envision all our stuff in a new space.
We had to buy new stuff to make our new space feel like home.
So just… be prepared for all that stuff-age. Also, create a clear plan—before moving day—for where all your stuff is supposed to land in your new place. If you don’t, let’s just say you’ll end up like a certain someone who didn’t have a plan and ended up with all the boxes in the garage.
#4 Move before you move.
Getting your house ready to show is often the most stressful part of selling. One way to cut down on all that pain-in-the-buttness, is to move before you move.
In other words, totally depersonalize and remove all nonessentials from your home.
Pack them up and put them in storage. Yes, it’s a ton of work, but it’s so worth it! Rather than scrambling after every “you’ve got a showing in an hour” phone call, your place will be buyer-ready all the time.
(If you’re thinking, OK, but we’ll still live there so we’ll still be cleaning all the time, just wait ‘til you get to tip #7.)
#5 Have confidence in your pricing.
Moving is so stressful it’ll have real estate professionals second-guessing the price of their own house. Yes, really. We tend to overvalue what we already have but sometimes we undervalue. Our goal was a quick sale for top dollar (that’s always the goal, amiright?) so we called in the opinion of a trusted friend and fellow agent to check our pricing. Had we been left to our own devises, we might have underpriced it. Having another set of objective eyes on us gave us the confidence we needed to price it correctly.
That’s why you need an ally in this real estate game, friends. We are your hype women, and make sure you get the best price for your home.
#6 Invest in great photos and videos for your listing.
The second most stressful part of selling your home is the waiting game between listing and offers rolling in. Speed up the process by investing in irresistible photos and videos of your home and neighborhood.
We had an exceptionally unique property, so we took the time to capture it on photo and video to pique potential buyers’ interest. And it really worked! We listed on a Thursday and by Sunday we had several offers!
Remember you’re marketing your home to sell. Take the marketing seriously and invest in great photos! (When you work with us, professional photos and videos are baked into our marketing strategy. You won’t pay a dime extra for them!)
#7 Hotels are your friend.
The day after we put our house on the market, we did a short-term move into a hotel. Why? Well first, it’s like a mini vacay. And second, it opened up our house’s schedule for so many more showings.
Without having to work around our schedules, we were able to manage 30 showings in three days. Moving out for a little bit will help you get the showings you need to quickly close the deal.
#8 Don’t be afraid to break the “rules.”
We always, always tell our sellers to am-scray when it’s time for showings. No buyer wants a homeowner breathing down their neck when they’re scoping out closet space and measuring bedrooms, right?
Well, we didn’t actually follow our own advice. It was an accident, though.
See, Lane decided she had to fluff pillows between every showing. No biggie, right? That’s an in-and-out kind of deal. But before one particular showing, one little task led to another… and before she knew what was happening, she was attacking our lawn with a leaf blower.
Moments later, a man pulls up for a showing—fiancé on FaceTime and both sets of parents in tow. Lane was mortified! Thankfully, it turned out OK. Lane could tell the potential buyers were actually glad to have her around and she knew the buyers’ agent super well, so she stuck around to answer questions. And they bought the place!
For the record, we still advise sellers to be elsewhere during showings. But if the universe has other plans, be a friendly, helpful host!
#9 You can buy before you sell.
We hear this all the time: I have to sell my house to buy the next one. Where else am I going to get the money to move?
As Compass agents, we offer several resources to help you buy before you sell:
Compass Concierge will pre-pay for any upgrades to your current home to get it market-ready. Then, at closing, you’ll pay for the upgrades with your new cash influx!
Compass also offers the Bridge Loan program. This is a short-term, low-impact loan that helps you bridge the financial gap between buying and selling.
With these resources, you can absolutely buy before you sell.
#10 Schedule your movers ASAP.
Once we knew our closing and move-in date, we scheduled our movers. Six weeks until the big day! Three weeks out, I tried to change our reservation. They were totally booked up.
Imagine if we hadn’t scheduled when we did! We’d be up a creek without a paddle, majorly screwed, totally SOL.
If you’re opting for a moving company, schedule ASAP to avoid bumps in the road. May we recommend Amazing Moves? They are, well, amazing.
#11 You’ll need more boxes than you think.
First, order at least twice the moving boxes you’re thinking of getting. (Trust us.)
Second, make your move more sustainable with Simply Box’d! They’re a Denver-based company that delivers reusable moving tubs to your doorstep. Then, when you’re done, they pick them up at your new place.
#12 Go for it.
Once we found our home, we bid fast. By the end of the day, we decided we wanted the place so badly we upped our offer. By the next morning, we asked him to name his price.
That’s right, friends. We launched a bidding war. With ourselves.
Would we ever advise you to bid against yourself? Maybe! If you really, really, really want a property, we’ll cheer you on to do whatever you need to do to land it. But first, we’ll make sure you’re fully informed about what your decision will mean long-term, and we’ll do our best to help you avoid screwing yourself over.
It’s a delicate balance. And we’re really good at it.
#13 Be reachable on offer day.
The seller verbally agreed to our third offer. And then, as we were finalizing details, we lost cell service.
Let me repeat that: We lost cell service. In the middle of finalizing our offer.
Thankfully, the seller honored his verbal agreement even though he didn’t hear from us for 90 minutes. Despite receiving two higher offers in that time!
Save yourself the stress and double check your cell service—and maybe your schedule—on offer day.
We’ve got your back.
You deserve a totally amazing, smoother-than-ever, extra-special real estate experience. We can help you make the best use of these 13 moving tips and lots more. Book a Discovery Meeting today!
