A complex move calls for bringing in resources to achieve a successful result.
The competitive state of the current housing market is no secret to most, which means being opportunistic about when you list your home for sale. This was certainly the case for our clients, Mr. And Mrs. Farmer … and their plans to move from the greater Boston area to New York City made things even more complicated.
Sale Prep
We were referred by a realtor with whom we have worked with many times over the years and who knows we can make a lot happen in a short period of time. In this case, from the moment of initial consultation to finalizing the pack up of a 3-story, almost 3,700 sqft house – plus a basement – took 7 days, a task which would have normally been spread out over about 1 month. We rallied our resources and started organizing into the following categories:
- Stays in the house for staging
- Goes to our selected mover, Gentle Giant, in storage for an eventual move to NY
- Goes to Gentle Giant storage for delivery to the Farmers Cape Cod home
- Goes to short term Gentle Giant storage to be returned to the home during the closing period
We measured all the furniture before it went into storage so we could assist the Farmers with creating a scaled floor plan of their new NYC residence. Gentle Giant has an inventory system that creates a .pdf file showing a thumbnail photo of each box and piece of furniture along with the associated inventory number and QR code. We can add each piece of furniture’s dimensions to the document so that we have a fully functioning set of data available to create a scaled floor plan even months after the piece is wrapped and stored away.
Plans Changed
The Farmers found motivated buyers quickly, which also meant that the closing timeline was fast. We needed to return for a final clean out of the house and make quick decisions on the items remaining for staging. Due to the short closing timeline, the Farmers elected to remain in their Cape house until their move to NYC. Items that had been stored with Gentle Giant intended to be returned to the Boston house were marked for eventual shipment to NYC instead.
The Importance of Resources and Partnerships
The Farmers purchased a new condo in NYC from the Hendersons, through a family connection, which seemed ideal. But the Hendersons were having difficulty organizing their move out of NY and finding a place to move to in Massachusetts, which delayed the overall sale and renovation timeline. The Farmers now needed to stay on Cape much longer than originally planned. In a discussion with the Farmers regarding the delays to the NYC move,
it was apparent that the Hendersons could benefit from a local NYC Move Manager, so we offered suggestions for vetted Move Manager colleagues in the NYC area to get the Henderson move/transition underway. The Henderson’s then realized they needed more professional help during their move and hired Transitions Liquidation to unpack them in Massachusetts!
Marie LeBlanc, President of Transitions Liquidation Services, says, “Our ability to bring resources to bear are key to moving a project along, especially when challenges appear. Thinking out-of-the-box is critical to get a demanding project like this one accomplished.”
The Timing Was Tricky
The holidays played a role in the timing of the Farmer’s NYC delivery. Gentle Giant sent two moving trucks & five experienced movers on Christmas Eve to make the delivery. With their move-in falling on Christmas Eve, the Farmers asked us to connect them with Move Managers in NYC who could assist with the unpack, which they elected to not use but were comforted to know the resource was available.
It was an exciting end to a complex project. One that would not have had such a successful and happy ending without the problem-solving abilities and resources of the TLS staff as well as our valuable and skillful working partners! It certainly did “take a village” of competent associates to get the job done!
For more information on making your next transition smooth and as stress-free as possible, call Marie LeBlanc at 617-513-0433 or send her an email.