Moving? 9 Tips to Make Packing Easier

You've picked out your new house, been approved for a mortgage, and had all of the inspections completed, and you feel as though you have accomplished a lot. The biggest hurdle for some people in the home-buying process is packing- it really is never fun. Here are some great tips to make your life easier when you are stuck with the task of packing...

You’d really have a hard time finding many folks who enjoy packing for a household move. Still, if you are moving, the packing part must be tackled — whether you do it yourself or hire a crew to do it.

“Packing is expensive, time-consuming and stressful,” said Denise Baron, a home and lifestyle expert in Philadelphia.

If you’re going the DIY route, here are nine tips to make the task simpler:

1. Clear out the junk

Get rid of items you don’t plan to move to your new place, said Lori Matzke, a home-staging expert and former home organizer in Minneapolis.

“If you
 intend to give something away to a friend or family member, either deliver 
it to them promptly, or set a deadline for them to come and pick it up,” Matzke said.

For those items that aren’t being handed off to friends or relatives, consider selling them at a garage sale or donating them to charity, or simply toss them.

2. Collect free boxes

Rather than forking over money for boxes, check with local grocery, liquor and hardware stores to see whether they can give you leftover ones.

“Liquor store boxes are ideal for books and heavier items, as they are 
usually more compact, easier to handle and sturdy,” Matzke said.

3. Label the boxes

Based on the rooms where they’ll go, label boxes on every side.

“You never know how things are going to end up being stocked in the 
moving truck, and nothing is more frustrating than having to flip a box 
around to find out what room it belongs in,” said Kevin Smits, a residential real estate agent in Frisco, CO.

Matzke recommended picking a labeling color for each room, such as red for the kitchen, blue for the bathrooms and green for the master bedroom.

4. Don’t skimp on tape

Smits said he’s seen far too many people buy cheap packing tape, and then apply just a single piece to the bottom of a box containing Grandma’s cherished china.

“Buy good tape, and buy a lot of it,” Smits said. “It is easy to open 
those boxes later with a knife or even a set of keys.”

Don’t forget to pick up a heavy-duty tape 
dispenser made for shipping, Matzke advised. You can buy one for $20 or less at office supply stores and other retailers.

Read more:

http://www.zillow.com/blog/tips-for-packing-for-a-move-144121/

How Men And Women 'Home Crush' Differently

Being that it is so close to Valentine's Day, it only seems appropriate that we discuss how men and women "crush" on homes differently. Every real state agent knows that when they bring a couple to a house, men and women usually view a prospective home differently. This article is about a recent study done by realtor.com on how women and men fall in love with homes in their own unique ways.

Maybe it's the classic white picket fence. Or maybe it's the quaint colonial structure you've always wanted. Or it could just be that you couldn't have dreamed of a more perfect location. Whatever the reason, when you find the one, you swoon. That's right -- we're talking about home crushes. And according to a recent Realtor.com survey, 69 percent of us get hit hard by the housing Cupid's arrow.

“We conducted the survey to see how searching for ‘the one’ in real estate correlates to searching for ‘the one’ in love, and we found that they are very similar,” said Barbara O’Connor, chief marketing officer at Realtor.com. “Buyers have to evaluate crushes based on turn-ons and turn-offs and whether the home is in their league, so they often find themselves spending a good amount of time checking out their crush online.”

To read more:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/11/men-women-home-crush-differently_n_4769054.html?utm_hp_ref=real-estate

Do You Own the Air Above Your Home?

When purchasing real estate there are so many things to consider, that you might overlook a thing or two before moving day. A nice piece of land can be a great asset, and many people want land above any other aspect of the house. Have you ever considered the air above your property? Do you own it? This article from Zillow explores all the reasons that you would want to own your air rights, read below for more information.

Most of the time, you only hear about “air rights” in crowded urban centers, such as New York City, where vertical living is the norm and space is at a premium. Still, every homeowner should have an understanding of air rights in general. Do you own the air above your home by default? And if so, what can you do with those rights?

Most people own the air rights above their homes, up to a point.

In real estate, air rights, which refer to the empty space above a property, are one type of development right. Before the 20th century, anyone owning property also owned the unlimited air rights above it, as well as the ground beneath it. Then and now, most property ownership laws are based on the Latin doctrine, “For whoever owns the soil, it is theirs up to heaven and down to hell.”

But with the arrival of airplanes in the 20th century, air rights became more limited. Homeowners only had rights to the airspace above their home that they could reasonably use. This restriction was necessary; without it the airline industry would never have taken off because airplanes would be trespassing everywhere they flew.

Your air rights probably may not enable you to build higher.

Every town and/or neighborhood has zoning restrictions. Those restrictions generally prevent a homeowner from, say, building a small office high-rise on their property in a residential neighborhood, even though that homeowner owns the air rights to their property. Have a small home but want to go up a few stories? Zoning restriction will likely restrict you from building out too much, even though the air above is yours.

 Read more:

http://www.zillow.com/blog/2014-01-31/do-you-own-the-air-above-your-home/