Each year, 43-million Americans pull up stakes. Here are ways to make the move go more smoothly.
By Times Staff Writer
Published May 10, 2003
First come the "For Sale" signs, and you've probably noticed lots of those in neighborhoods all around the Tampa Bay area these days.
In the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area, 2,391 homes sold in March, the most recent figures available, up 2 percent from a year ago, the Florida Association of Realtors reports. The median price was $140,900, up 9 percent from a year ago. Statewide, 15,391 homes sold in March, a 7 percent increase from March 2002.
Sales figures for March show that the statewide median price rose 12 percent, to $151,700, from a year ago, when it was $135,600. In March 1998, the median price was $96,800, for an increase of 56.7 percent over five years, the realtors association says.
When the "For Sale" sign comes down, the moving van isn't far behind.
Each year 43-million Americans move, and more than half of those moves take place between May and September. Families with children prefer to move during the summer so school is disrupted as little as possible.
Those 43-million moving Americans include 13-million children younger than 19, according to the Census Bureau.
The average American moves 12 times in a lifetime, and most of those moves are made earlier in life rather than later. Thirty-five percent of people in their 20s move in a given year, but just 5 percent of those 65 and older move, the Census Bureau reports. That should undercut the notion that every retiree in North America wants to move to Florida.
Moving is ranked as the third most stressful event in life, after death and divorce, the Employee Relocation Council says.
If you'll be filling and toting boxes in the next few months, here are tips from major moving companies:
Sort through belongings and get rid of things you no longer want. There's no point in paying to move things you don't use. Give them away or hold a garage sale. Take a picture of a favorite but no-longer-needed object or piece of furniture before you give it away or sell it.
Use up supplies that are not transportable. A few weeks in advance of your move, start eating the food in your freezer, and use up cleaning supplies.
Take the phone book from your old location to your new one. You may be calling to finish up business in your old hometown. Calls to Directory Assistance add up.
Leave the remote for the garage door at your old house.
Keep moving documents and other important papers in a portable file box that you carry with you on moving day. The box should include the registration number, names and phone numbers of the agents at your cities of origin and destination, and the moving van's driver's name and vehicle number. Exchange cell phone numbers with the driver.
Take care of business before you leave town. Family members should arrange for haircuts and doctor's and dentist's appointments and should have prescriptions filled. You don't want to have to find these vital services in the first few busy days or weeks in the new city. Have the car serviced. If a holiday or birthday is approaching, have cards and gifts ready to send, or order online for delivery on the big day. Who needs the stress of trying to buy Grandma's birthday present in a strange place? Pick up your dry cleaning, clean out your safe deposit box, retrieve spare keys from friends, and collect school, pet and medical records.
Put together a survival box for the first day in the new place, and take it in the car. Include a coffeemaker and coffee, can opener, light bulbs, paper towels, toilet tissue, soap, garbage bags, basic tools, tape, pencils and paper.
Update your address book, personal organizer or computer address list with contact information for friends you're leaving behind.
Unpack the bathroom and kitchen boxes first, or at least get some basics in place: shower curtain, soap, towels and toilet paper in the bathroom; basic dishes and glasses in the kitchen, towels, dish washing detergent. Consider the virtues of paper plates and cups for a day or two while you get set up.
Make life easy on yourself. Order in or go out for dinner the first night or two.
Pack linens and towels in the drawers of one dresser so you'll know where to find them quickly on the first night in the new home.
Think of ways to leave a mark behind as you leave school, job or faith community. Maybe the kids would like to donate money for books to the school library, where their names can be acknowledged as the givers. Plant a tree at the softball field with a plaque bearing your family's name. It's a nice way to close the circle on your involvement in the life of that organization and to know that you'll be remembered for a long time to come.
Print business cards with your new address. These are easy to do on a computer (and a thoughtful farewell gift from a computer-savvy friend). Include your e-mail address, new phone number if you know it, or a cell phone number if you'll be keeping it awhile. Hand these out to friends, use them for change-of-address cards and keep a couple in your wallet so you remember where you live now.
