getting PPOR ready for sale AARGHHH!

[pennyk]

We are planning to sell our PPOR in the next few months, after living here for 12 years. I'm sure its a challenging process for everyone, but we are not tidy/ organised people, so its even more so.
We're not at the packing stage yet, just trying to get everything in order so that we can begin to have inspections. But we have a "dumping" room, "storage" space in the garage and under the house and plenty of cupboards which we cant leave as they are for inspections if we want to get a good price.
We used to run a business, so we've also good all the business documentation/ files to sort through (some can now be thrown out after being retained longer than the statutory period).
Its a big, big job! We are taking time off this week, sending the kids away on camp and have booked a council clean up to try to get as much as we can finished in a short space of time.
But its almost enough to make me not want to move!

I dont want advice on what I should do.... just sympathy and pity please! ...

 

[wylie]

You have my sympathy and pity, but you know you are going to get lots of advice too, don't you?

I'll just say... Be ruthless. If you haven't used it for a while throw it out!

Good luck.

 

[Jacque]

Hi Penny

I hear your pain
Hang in there and do one room at a time. Be ruthless and if you haven't used it/seen it/noticed it for more than 2 yrs bin it or give it away!!
Happy cleaning and best of luck with your impending sale

 

[skater]

You have my sympathy and pity, but you know you are going to get lots of advice too, don't you?

I'll just say... Be ruthless. If you haven't used it for a while throw it out!

Good luck.

I share your pain. I hate moving. Each time we have moved, we have boxed stuff up and then not opened the box for ages when in the new home. Each time we have found that the stuff in the unopened box is dispensable. At the moment I have a couple of boxes, marked with what is inside them, still sitting unopened from the last move nearly two years ago now. I'm sure when I do open them that I'll just toss the contents of them.

 

[pennyk]

I share your pain. I hate moving. Each time we have moved, we have boxed stuff up and then not opened the box for ages when in the new home. Each time we have found that the stuff in the unopened box is dispensable. At the moment I have a couple of boxes, marked with what is inside them, still sitting unopened from the last move nearly two years ago now. I'm sure when I do open them that I'll just toss the contents of them.

oh, I have things boxed under the house that havent been out of the box since I got married 17 years ago!
Some of it is precious though, and just hasnt been put out cause I havent had a display cabinet until recently... so when we finally move, I will unpack everything and see what to keep.
Fortunately, we are not downsizing!

 

[Peterw]

Penny, if you havent used it in 17 years, dont throw it out, it is getting closer to being used, by the day. Down sizing .... dont do that ... unless there is room for a nice big shed. What's that you say .... I am a hoarder .... no way .... very frugal .... will not be caught ... not having some thing .... the day I need it ... . Ignore Wylie ... oops, better not be selective ... and the othersas well.

 

[silverx]

i thought i am that kind of minimalist person, i used to be able to move with 1 car with back seat folded down (hatchback) and that's enough

things change quickly when you have kid(s)

 

[pennyk]

my husband is a hoarder, and I am sentimental... its not a good combination!

He never throws anything out... although he is also stepping up to the plate this time. He just cleared out the tupperware cupboard and he managed to throw out all the used yoghurt containers he'd been saving...

I actually have regular clean outs, but like to keep the "special" things. Like my grandmas hat collection, and my mums glove collection, my old bridesmaids dresses. Things which arent easy to store............

but its the paper that really kills us... files upon files of financial, personal and other information.

oh, and the amenity packs from all the business class flights I take. I'm taking bets on how many I'll find stashed around the house..... anyone care to speculate!?!!

 

[Peterw]

Silverx, yes I did that once, in 1973, in my brand new Monaro, I moved to Townsville, with my life's possessions, in the car, and on roof racks, as well as a passenger. I know I cannot do that today.

 

[RumpledElf]

but its the paper that really kills us...

You need to find your local recycling place that'll take paper by the box/trailer load. And learn to love that place

I'm not sentimental or a hoarder, I'm just lazy. So paperwork builds up. Every now and again I have a cull - its actually pretty good at the moment, we only moved about 6 weeks ago. Blasted childcare place is the worst offender for paperwork, we seem to get a newsletter and 3 account statements a week, plus receipts when we pay. I'd be happy with one statement when it builds up to at least $50 instead of one every time it goes up by $5 ...

I use the backs of the statements as shopping lists

 

[Jodie701]

We're currently getting ready to put our PPOR on the market too. We also have a 'junk room' filled with boxes from the last move nearly 4 years ago. It's a painful process. I open these boxes and they are filled with memories, that I'm still not ready to part with!
We currently live in our dream home and a part of me really doesn't want to move because it's so perfect here and yet the reason I really do want to move is because I've finally come to my senses and realise we should have a smaller more modest home and smaller more manageable mortgage. In which case there'll be no room for a junk room in the next house and hence no room to keep so many memories.
So I can sympathize with you. It's a lot of work and stress involved with moving but it's a great motivator for a good spring clean.

 

[Cherry Pro]

Good luck, Jodie and Penny as you begin this monumental task.

I simply follow this principle : if it's not beautiful or useful to me now, I toss/donate/give away. :

My husband and children have learned to live like this and put things in place else Mum will trash.

 

[RumpledElf]

Useful *now* is a bit extreme - maybe useful within 12 months

If I just went with *now* I'd be tossing the Christmas tree and cookie cutters, the post hole digger, my seedling raising trays, the potty, my ultra-heavy lambskin coat etc lol

If you haven't used it for 2 years or the tax paperwork keep-until date, get rid of it. I'm currently getting rid of my fat clothes, since I just lost 20+kg and am back to my 'usual' weight and if I need clothes that size again, I should be dieting not hoarding clothes in anticipation It is so NICE actually being able to wear all the clothes that have been sitting in my cupboard for ages and I didn't fit into them ...

 

[Jaggannath]

Yeah, I've got a move coming up, being in defence means we get moved regularly. My book collection is the most onerous I think, slowly but surely I've been recycling all the paperwork and old clothes. Op shop people know me by name I reckon, do a clear-out of rubbish every 3 months or so

 

[The Y-man]

Useful *now* is a bit extreme - maybe useful within 12 months

If I just went with *now* I'd be tossing the Christmas tree and cookie cutters, the post hole digger, my seedling raising trays, the potty, my ultra-heavy lambskin coat etc lol
.

Yup.... I could be tossed out if my wife went with that policy....

The Y-man

 

[pennyk]

Yup.... I could be tossed out if my wife went with that policy....

The Y-man

classic!!!!!

 

[pennyk]

Funny, we had an appraisal from RE Agent this morning... see my other post about Jenman agents. He said it wouldnt make any difference to the sale if we didnt tidy up..... I was shocked. He thought we should prune back the yard, but not worry about the house too much....... and this is of a house where there is one room, the "dumping" room which is hard to even get into. It would have made me feel better, except that its so clearly ridiculous!

 

[Jaggannath]

In theory he's right, the fundamentals don't change... depends on the type of house, a house that needs reno he's more right than a new house.

I cringe when I see cluttered houses for sale.

 

[Deena]

I do hear your pain, we sound alike. My last house I had lived there for 18 years, ole that was very painful. Hang in there.

 

[skater]

Paperwork is my nemisis. My desk is rarely clear. Always full with "stuff". I tend to procrastinate, rather than do something with it. Of course, having the computer on the desk is a good destraction.

Hubby is just hopeless with his tools. We have a garden shed the size of a single garage stuffed with "stuff" he "needs". Whenever he does something around the house, he leaves his tools inside. Always a different place, and often a screwdriver here, a utility knife there, a tape measure in the corner as well as a toolbox too heavy for me to lift elsewhere.

This drives me mad and he complains that I nag him about it. In honesty, I often let the stuff stay where they are for a few days, but unless I say something they won't get moved. Sometimes in frustration, I pick up all the stuff I can, and deposit it outside, under the awning for him. I won't put it back in the shed, because I know I'll probably be in trouble for putting it in the wrong place.