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silverspring_gw

Movers, carpet cleaners, selling an empty house

silverspring
13 years ago

Any advice for any of those? I'm hiring carpet cleaners. Should I go dry-foam or steam?

Movers... anyone know anything about North American?

And I'm moving out before we sell the house (we have kids, cat, dog, and it's just easier this way). How bad is this really? Personally, when buying a house I gravitated toward empty, clean and ready.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Comments (6)

  • larke
    13 years ago

    NA is about as big as van lines gets, so you should be fine with them. You need to talk to your insurance co. about how to cover the house when it's vacant - the requirements are different and it's important. Can you leave even one piece of (flea mkt.if necessary) furniture in each room - it really helps with making it look bigger; people can get some sense of proportion, whereas an empty room looks smaller.

  • cordovamom
    13 years ago

    We've used North American, Mayflower and United and they're all about the same. We've had minor issues with each of them, but I think that's just part of moving. Just make sure you inspect each piece of furniture after it gets off the truck and make it known to the driver if there is damage done. We had one driver (Mayflower) settle up on the spot instead of us filing a claim for damage to a cheap filing cabinet.

    I prefer looking at empty houses because I get to see the condition of flooring and walls etc without the distraction of the owner's possessions. But if you decide to sell the house empty it has to be spotlessly clean, floors, walls, everything. Because everthing can be seen. I also know when viewing an empty home that possession isn't going to be an issue.

    Many people do prefer to see a staged home because they have difficulty imagining how the space is used or laid out.

  • calliope
    13 years ago

    " But if you decide to sell the house empty it has to be spotlessly clean, floors, walls, everything. Because everthing can be seen."

    Oh yes.......and this is exactly why I prefer to look at prospective purchases when they are completely empty. I want to be able to see all the walls, all the flooring and concentrate my time viewing measuring and looking at more esoteric and often more expensive features. I'll tell you another thing I do when viewing houses. I try to hit them after major rainy spells, even if it means a repeated viewing. That speaks volumes.


    It should be a given that when a house goes up for sale it's spotlessly clean unless the seller expects to have money knocked off the asking price. I have had several really good buys on houses sold filthy because a lot of the other people looked at them and walked without going any farther.

    As said as well, it also tells me that I should not have possession issues. And it also tells me that when I take posession, there won't be junk left behind for me to dispose of myself. Been there and done that. That's why one piece of furniture in each room would scare me more than a houseful. I'd just look and say "what???" because it's obvious no one is living there that way.

    I found that not taking care of the minor issues like paint dings, scruffy woodwork, tears in screens and dirty ceiling fans, filters and appliance interiors give an impression of overall laissez-faire. I even put down a good acrylic polish on the kitchen vinyl, replaced sink strainers, cleaned out all the register runs and replaced venetian blinds. Cheap and easy issues. Then I went in once a week and ran a dust mop and vacuum and aired the house out. It looked like the new owners could walk right in and put food in the fridge, and in reality, after I bleached them out they could. It sold that house.

    So, there are two camps about 'staging'. It may appeal to some buyers, and turn others off.

  • marys1000
    13 years ago

    The moving industry has changed alot in recent years. I think a lot of companies sub contract to independent drivers. Sometimes that can get weird. There are forums out there you might want to do some reading on. In my case things went pretty well but the husband brought his wife along to do the inventorying and their 2 young daughters. I was watching out the kitchen window when one of the daughters, playing/helping let go of one of the dollies she was walking down the ramp from the semi trailer and it rolled down into my truck. They didn't say anything to me. I checked later and didn't see damage so I didn't either. It was just sort of awkward, the kids are in and out of the house, touching the walls and I'm trying not to freak because I don't want to have to clean all the dirty fingerprints and extra tracked in dirt.
    I don't think that sort of thing happens often, but if you ask and find they use sub contracted independents, you might want to see if you can request one who's used frequently with good reviews or something.
    Carpets, I usually did steam, did dry once. Didn't dislike it per se, personal preference?

  • totsuka
    13 years ago

    Clean your home as best you can, especially the kitchen, bathroom, spotless. Oven, M/W, tubs, ..either you do it or hire a service.

  • GLM1960
    13 years ago

    I recently bought a house that I will soon close on. The sellers are three siblings who inherited the house from their parents. This family has owned the house for 3 generations. One of the sibling and his wife had been living there for 9 years and now live in a smaller house a a couple towns away. This house has sat unoccupied for a year and a half while on the market.It is filled with 3 generations of furniture and other belongings. I did not mind this at all. In fact I love the antiques and it gave me a lot of ideas for decoration. Also, they are leaving behind an antique bedroom suite, dressers, washer and dryer and other items.