We are former military
Before I put any of the houses on sale I
got a storage unit
Removed 1 piece of furniture from each room
padked away all nonessentials, books, stuffies, toys, crockpot and baking things, tools in garage
If you have a company coming to move you---
Put all like items in one area, all knickknacks from all rooms go in dining room
All glassware in kitchen
all pictures off walls in one spot
all harps and mirrors off dressers, these should all be picture packed or mirror packed
If you move yourself---
All linens are wrapped around mirrors and pictures and breakables
Decide either you pack with like kinds or by room
Packing by like kinds mean all glassware into dining room and pack it all together, separate it at the other end
Now, pack up all nonessentials and get them out, each room should have the bare minimal
Pack the linen closet with that you will not use to buffer glassware, heavy quilts etc
Remove all holiday to the storage unit
Have the kids rooms packed in one day and let them have one suitcase each for their loveys, do this about two days before you pull out
Use paper plates at the beginning of the pack week and get the kitchen packed
At the other end unpack the kitchen first and one bathroom and the kids .
rooms. Then work on the other areas
if the clutter is under control it isn't too hard to keep clean
Every night run a swiffer and a quick dust over everything
At night get set up for a show the next day, no matter what
If you are caught and things are messy, fill a laundry basket with whatever is laying around, grab the dogs and throw everything into the car and go.
Kennel the pups before any open house, two days before and clean
Use Airwicks judiciously
If you can have Grandma keep the kids for the week you move.
I keep all change in a piggy bank, then in three years we use that money to eat on when we have to move.
Paint the house neutral.
Take down all family pics, anything personal
DO NOT LEAVE VALUABLES!! Put jewelry in a lockbox for the duration of the move/selling of the house, or give to Grandma for a while
Buy fresh fruit for the table ---- staging for a showing, lemons are especially cheerful
Or a new bunch of flowers every week, usually about $10 from the grocery store, for a showing
Power wash the outside of the house
Have carpets cleaned, I actually redid both my hardwoods and my carpets in the last house.
Plant summer flowers, petunias and verbena, lantana, low maintenance, but showy.
Anything you are not selling with the house, like an undercounter radio, or similar get it packed. Curtains, pack them if you are not selling them with the house.
Buy fresh clean throw rugs for the kitchen and new towels just for showings.
Do all repairs now, before any inspections
We've moved 7 times, I was homeschooling through two of them. People understand use, like using a table for homeschool, they do not understand gross, like leaving a half eaten lunch on the counter.
Good luck, daunting is right. Our worst move was with 4 kids, one was an infant, and one was 3. THis last move we had 5 kids, three dogs and 3 cats. My son was home from the Navy and we had a foreign exchange student.