We've bought ourselves a motorhome and our targetted launch date is early December.
We want to move out of the house completely and rent it out. That means, packing up EVERYTHING and putting it into storage.
Anybody got any hot tips?
I've got the first half dozen boxes packed down and ready to seal and have taken a few loads to Vinnie's and given away a fair bit to friends but there's MILES to go.
I'd love to hear how others have dealt with this.
thanks in advance.
Allirah
Hendo said
12:16 PM Oct 4, 2015
Hire a skip bin, be ruthless and toss everything that can be easily be replaced.
Enjoy the adventure!
banjo said
12:29 PM Oct 4, 2015
Simple, get rid of the lot ! apart from personal bits and pieces, by the time you have been on the road a fair while most of the stuff will be either junk or out of date, the storage costs astronomical, and her indoors will want new stuff anyway.
Another thing is you will maybe want to downsize then so most current furniture will be too big for a smaller place, and after renting you may not have a house left worth living in left ! (I used to do real estate rental repairs in a previous life, and have seen first hand what some renters can do to nice houses).
We have been on the road 4 years now and maybe getting ready for a base again (not me, my good lady) no way would we want to move back into our old house now, thank god we sold it. And no maintenance and on going worries while away.
Lesley F said
12:32 PM Oct 4, 2015
Get yourself decent tenants, with references you can check.
Arrange post office to hold mail, or a trusted person to collect and re-address.
As another advised, de-clutter as much as possible. Have a massive garage sale before you sent stuff to charity, the money is better in your pocket.
Sell on ebay, gumtree, or find an auctioneer who could sell it (they charge a commission).
Have an awesome holiday.
woolman said
12:55 PM Oct 4, 2015
Put epsom salts in with clothing and will keep bug out.
Can buy in 20kg bags at farm merchandise stores fot he same price as 2 packets at grocery store.
Neil
Bruce and Bev said
01:04 PM Oct 4, 2015
You haven't said how long you intend to be away and whether it will be a one off or you intend to make this a regular thing.
If its a one off and youre only going for, say 6 months or so, then use this as the time to get rid of all the things you no longer use (like spare beds. large furniture and kitchenware and all the garbage that's collected in the garden shed/garage. Keep what you will actually need and use when you get back and put into storage. Plus the sentimental things that you want to keep but cant take on your travels. VERY IMPORTANTLY, check the insurance cover on the storage facility (if youre paying for one). Friends of ours have their household goods stored in a national storage outfit. About 6 weeks ago, a Tradie using an angle grinder else where set fire to someone elses goods. It set off the fire sprinklers and the contents of the whole row of storage units got water and smoke damaged. Although the storage company had insurance, our friends had major problems with the insurance assessor and had to fight for everything - justifying the cost of each item (difficult if you don't have a tax invoice for every item).
It is often better to get your own Insurer to cover the goods for an agreed (one you set) amount. If you confirm the Storage company does also provide similar insurance, what you pay as a premium to your own Insurer will be low and you wont have the same punch-up our friends had
Dougwe said
01:21 PM Oct 4, 2015
Welcome to the gang Allirah, enjoy here and out in the playground.
Cull, Cull and more Cull.
I whent through all this this time last year. As already mentioned, be ruthless. You have to be.
I was a little different though as I was selling base camp and heading out here to be a full time GN. I didn't want and don't have the added expense of a storage place. I still kept certain things but soon found a little more culling was needed. Then a little more.
I am now happy with what I have and never looked back. I also think that is very important, don't look back.
That said, I do have a camera on the back of the TUG and DEN so I can see where I have been
Nelly said
01:41 PM Oct 4, 2015
Hello there Allirah - welcome to a great site - I am not in your situation as I am a solo traveller (hubby won't travel) so I will always have a base but just wanted to offer a little suggestion on the back of Bruce's comments about insurance - you could take photos of what you intend to store and then if the worst should happen, you will at least have some proof of condition etc. of the items. Anyway hope you enjoy this great country - Nelly
NeilandRaine said
02:29 PM Oct 4, 2015
Bloody hard decision, its like how long is a piece of string. First time we hit the road gave everything away, cept a few boxes of personal stuff we left at daughters. After two years
we were begged to come back and manage a caravan park. Went out and bought every thing again, well the necessities. 18 months later on the road again but put stuff in storage. After two years paying 180 a month you wonder what is the best.
the rocket said
03:34 PM Oct 4, 2015
We did this last year. We got rid of the lot. Most everything we had was over 7years old. If you say travel for 2 years n pay storage for that time it would be thousands of dollars. I figure the money we saved on storage will pay for our things if we ever want to tie ourselves down to a house again. We went one room at a time , then one cupboard in that room at a time. There is on facebook a Site called garage sales and put in your suburb , join and sell stuff for free. You would b amazed what people buy. I was over material possessions. Much, much happier. All we own is caravan n car. Aahhh. What a feeling. Good luck. Rocket n strop
-- Edited by the rocket on Sunday 4th of October 2015 03:39:58 PM
jbell6660 said
03:43 PM Oct 4, 2015
banjo wrote:
Simple, get rid of the lot ! apart from personal bits and pieces, by the time you have been on the road a fair while most of the stuff will be either junk or out of date, the storage costs astronomical, and her indoors will want new stuff anyway.
Another thing is you will maybe want to downsize then so most current furniture will be too big for a smaller place, and after renting you may not have a house left worth living in left ! (I used to do real estate rental repairs in a previous life, and have seen first hand what some renters can do to nice houses).
We have been on the road 4 years now and maybe getting ready for a base again (not me, my good lady) no way would we want to move back into our old house now, thank god we sold it. And no maintenance and on going worries while away.
Ah yes but Brian depending on where one resides look what has happened to house prices in the last 4 years so that may not of been such a smart move!
Dhutime said
03:49 PM Oct 4, 2015
Hi we have just recently downgraded from a 5 bedroom large home into a lifestyle village and had to off load heaps of accumulated stuff .Took a lot to the Salvos and sold lots on the local Facebook buy and sell ,took some doing though ad you need to be home most of the time for this ,we put 7 thousand dollars in the bank thank you very much ! As far as storing you may need to work out how long for ? Maybe cheaper to buy new later on ,having said that you may have certain bits and pieces that you will need to store and keep and that's understandable .can you sweet talk a family member into the use of a small place in the shed?
Allirah said
03:58 PM Oct 4, 2015
Yep - I think that's where I'm at.
Chuck it out and worry about it all again when the one day comes where I eventually settle down again.
Good call!
Allirah said
04:06 PM Oct 4, 2015
Thanks for all of your replies!
We think we want to be on the road for a couple of years at least. Having said that, I guess we might hate it ... but I kind of doubt it!
We have a garage that we can use (generous single car size, lockable) and also a couple of lawn lockers .... free. So tools and mowers etc will be locked up and some of the more 'key' furniture items. I don't really care either way but my partner would rather have them accessible at short notice when we eventually settle down again.
Tennants and the risks - I hear you! Last lot I had here burnt the bloody house down - we live in the rebuild. It's taken a lot of time to work up the courage to consider renting it out again!
I've packed up a half dozen plastic tubs of my photo albums and most precious memories ... all the little mementoes from the kids etc. I'll seal those up and store them and hope for the best and yes - I think for the rest of it, I'll mostly follow all of your wonderful advice above
and
GET RID OF AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!
D and D said
04:26 PM Oct 4, 2015
When I checked my photos before hitting the road and many of them had faded and gone a sort of sepia colour, others had lines and other signs of deterioration and they took up a fair bit of space. I found a place that would scan them and correct the deterioration and put them on a DVD (I have since transferred them to a USB with a copy on an external hard drive). Not cheap but much easier to manage and they won't fade or deteriorate.
Regards
Dave
blissonwheels said
05:54 PM Oct 4, 2015
Gooday,
Have moved many times including living full time in caravan for 1½ years.
1 The best piece of information I can give you is use Boxes that are not too big, Books are heavy, get empty wine bottle cartons from a bottle shop, plenty of them available.
2. Go to a Woolworths or Coles and collect, or as I did ask them to hold any fruit cartons, used to go once a day to collect them or they got compacted, the ones that have a LID that slips over the top, usually from Citrus, Tomatoes, or Bananas. A local Fruit shop may also hold them for you.
3 Get an exercise book, or similar, and write down Numbers from 1 upwards, 2-3 numbers per page, but only write the numbers on the pages as you need them, leaving several lines between each number. Some times you only need 1 0r 2 numbers to a page.
4 NUMBER EACH BOX on all 5 surfaces, top, both ends and sides with a black felt pen, decent size numbers. when you store them you are able to identify the box you are looking for.
5 Now, as you begin to fill each box, write the contents going into each box under the relevant box number you are packing, on your inventory, it does not take all that much extra time, but is essential. EG Cutlery Drawer, Kitchen Utensils, Laundry Cupboard, Linen Cupboard, 3rd Shelf and so on. You will be mixing things as you go depending on article, size and fragility, shape etc .That is why you need at least 2-3 boxes on the go at once, as you place items in that box write its content, or a note of what cupboard or place it came from.
Only use Removal boxes for bulky or light fragile things, such as Lamps etc, these boxes are too heavy to move any time, and too heavy to stack, they will also collapse if stacked, as wlll other boxes over time, but not much of a problem with the size of boxes I have suggested.
6 Use your linen and clothes as packing material for crockery, glassware and other fragile Items as you go, also to fill a void where you have a larger item that needs to be protected,such as a a big bowl or vase, speaker or electronics etc.
This may sound arduous but it takes only a little extra time and is so important when you go to get something out which WILL HAPPEN. Numbering boxes on all surfaces except the bottom, means you do not have to be careful to have the 1 side numbered facing out, this does not happen when you have someone helping which is likely to occur.
Also so much time is saved by not having to tape the lids down and so easy to just look at your inventory for, say, box NO 26, and then when you find it just lift the top off.
7 Wherever you store them, place them on 3"x2" or such, pieces of timber, (offcuts are fine), so they are not sitting flat on the floor if water does seep in to the storage place.
Good idea to copy the pages of your inventory and leave in a safe place, I helped moved my Sister a few years ago, had 196 Boxes in rows in the one half of the double garage of the house she moved to. She went looking for something in a box a few weeks later, put the inventory on the boot of the car, got the thing out, put the box back all good.
Later that day went to the shop. Inventory obviously was still on the boot lid and never to be seen again despite hours of searching.
As others have said, be fairly Brutal and have a decent Garage Sale, I have done many of them and can give you some good information to make that a success if you are interested. I would NOT store Fridge, Washing Machine, etc as they will deteriorate if not in use, faster than being used.
Also place plenty of Rat-Sak or similar around and have it checked regularly by somebody reliable. Also get some baits for ants etc, best got from an Asian Food store if you can.
Can guarantee this works, have moved some 17 times in 40 odd years the last time just under 3 years ago and have used this system for ourselves and other friends many times with great success, and saves many tears unless you lose the inventory.
Cheers,
Bliss on Wheels
Felicia said
06:22 PM Oct 4, 2015
If you want to stay in the housing market, have you considered selling your house and buying an investment property or maybe 2 cheaper ones you don't care about. Had to rent our house for 2 years as we had moved to another town for work and it was not sold until then. It was heartbreaking to go back and see what the tenants had done.
Lynda
banjo said
07:32 PM Oct 4, 2015
jbell6660 wrote:
banjo wrote:
Simple, get rid of the lot ! apart from personal bits and pieces, by the time you have been on the road a fair while most of the stuff will be either junk or out of date, the storage costs astronomical, and her indoors will want new stuff anyway.
Another thing is you will maybe want to downsize then so most current furniture will be too big for a smaller place, and after renting you may not have a house left worth living in left ! (I used to do real estate rental repairs in a previous life, and have seen first hand what some renters can do to nice houses).
We have been on the road 4 years now and maybe getting ready for a base again (not me, my good lady) no way would we want to move back into our old house now, thank god we sold it. And no maintenance and on going worries while away.
Ah yes but Brian depending on where one resides look what has happened to house prices in the last 4 years so that may not of been such a smart move!
Actually the house we sold is now worth $40k less than we got for it ! but that's immaterial as we would never want to live there again or have a 5 bed house now after living full time in a 30' 5th wheeler for 4 years we could live in a one bed shack.
Hi there,
We've bought ourselves a motorhome and our targetted launch date is early December.
We want to move out of the house completely and rent it out. That means, packing up EVERYTHING and putting it into storage.
Anybody got any hot tips?
I've got the first half dozen boxes packed down and ready to seal and have taken a few loads to Vinnie's and given away a fair bit to friends but there's MILES to go.
I'd love to hear how others have dealt with this.
thanks in advance.
Allirah
Enjoy the adventure!
Another thing is you will maybe want to downsize then so most current furniture will be too big for a smaller place, and after renting you may not have a house left worth living in left ! (I used to do real estate rental repairs in a previous life, and have seen first hand what some renters can do to nice houses).
We have been on the road 4 years now and maybe getting ready for a base again (not me, my good lady) no way would we want to move back into our old house now, thank god we sold it. And no maintenance and on going worries while away.
Get yourself decent tenants, with references you can check.
Arrange post office to hold mail, or a trusted person to collect and re-address.
As another advised, de-clutter as much as possible. Have a massive garage sale before you sent stuff to charity, the money is better in your pocket.
Sell on ebay, gumtree, or find an auctioneer who could sell it (they charge a commission).
Have an awesome holiday.
Put epsom salts in with clothing and will keep bug out.
Can buy in 20kg bags at farm merchandise stores fot he same price as 2 packets at grocery store.
Neil
If its a one off and youre only going for, say 6 months or so, then use this as the time to get rid of all the things you no longer use (like spare beds. large furniture and kitchenware and all the garbage that's collected in the garden shed/garage. Keep what you will actually need and use when you get back and put into storage. Plus the sentimental things that you want to keep but cant take on your travels. VERY IMPORTANTLY, check the insurance cover on the storage facility (if youre paying for one). Friends of ours have their household goods stored in a national storage outfit. About 6 weeks ago, a Tradie using an angle grinder else where set fire to someone elses goods. It set off the fire sprinklers and the contents of the whole row of storage units got water and smoke damaged. Although the storage company had insurance, our friends had major problems with the insurance assessor and had to fight for everything - justifying the cost of each item (difficult if you don't have a tax invoice for every item).
It is often better to get your own Insurer to cover the goods for an agreed (one you set) amount. If you confirm the Storage company does also provide similar insurance, what you pay as a premium to your own Insurer will be low and you wont have the same punch-up our friends had
Welcome to the gang Allirah, enjoy here and out in the playground.
Cull, Cull and more Cull.
I whent through all this this time last year. As already mentioned, be ruthless. You have to be.
I was a little different though as I was selling base camp and heading out here to be a full time GN. I didn't want and don't have the added expense of a storage place. I still kept certain things but soon found a little more culling was needed. Then a little more.
I am now happy with what I have and never looked back. I also think that is very important, don't look back.
That said, I do have a camera on the back of the TUG and DEN so I can see where I have been
we were begged to come back and manage a caravan park. Went out and bought every thing again, well the necessities. 18 months later on the road again but put stuff in storage. After two years paying 180 a month you wonder what is the best.
We did this last year. We got rid of the lot. Most everything we had was over 7years old. If you say travel for 2 years n pay storage for that time it would be thousands of dollars. I figure the money we saved on storage will pay for our things if we ever want to tie ourselves down to a house again. We went one room at a time , then one cupboard in that room at a time. There is on facebook a Site called garage sales and put in your suburb , join and sell stuff for free. You would b amazed what people buy. I was over material possessions. Much, much happier. All we own is caravan n car. Aahhh. What a feeling. Good luck. Rocket n strop
-- Edited by the rocket on Sunday 4th of October 2015 03:39:58 PM
Ah yes but Brian depending on where one resides look what has happened to house prices in the last 4 years so that may not of been such a smart move!
Yep - I think that's where I'm at.
Chuck it out and worry about it all again when the one day comes where I eventually settle down again.
Good call!
We think we want to be on the road for a couple of years at least. Having said that, I guess we might hate it ... but I kind of doubt it!
We have a garage that we can use (generous single car size, lockable) and also a couple of lawn lockers .... free. So tools and mowers etc will be locked up and some of the more 'key' furniture items. I don't really care either way but my partner would rather have them accessible at short notice when we eventually settle down again.
Tennants and the risks - I hear you! Last lot I had here burnt the bloody house down - we live in the rebuild. It's taken a lot of time to work up the courage to consider renting it out again!
I've packed up a half dozen plastic tubs of my photo albums and most precious memories ... all the little mementoes from the kids etc. I'll seal those up and store them and hope for the best and yes - I think for the rest of it, I'll mostly follow all of your wonderful advice above
and
GET RID OF AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!
Regards
Dave
Have moved many times including living full time in caravan for 1½ years.
1 The best piece of information I can give you is use Boxes that are not too big, Books are heavy, get empty wine bottle cartons from a bottle shop, plenty of them available.
2. Go to a Woolworths or Coles and collect, or as I did ask them to hold any fruit cartons, used to go once a day to collect them or they got compacted, the ones that have a LID that slips over the top, usually from Citrus, Tomatoes, or Bananas. A local Fruit shop may also hold them for you.
3 Get an exercise book, or similar, and write down Numbers from 1 upwards, 2-3 numbers per page, but only write the numbers on the pages as you need them, leaving several lines between each number. Some times you only need 1 0r 2 numbers to a page.
4 NUMBER EACH BOX on all 5 surfaces, top, both ends and sides with a black felt pen, decent size numbers. when you store them you are able to identify the box you are looking for.
5 Now, as you begin to fill each box, write the contents going into each box under the relevant box number you are packing, on your inventory, it does not take all that much extra time, but is essential. EG Cutlery Drawer, Kitchen Utensils, Laundry Cupboard, Linen Cupboard, 3rd Shelf and so on. You will be mixing things as you go depending on article, size and fragility, shape etc .That is why you need at least 2-3 boxes on the go at once, as you place items in that box write its content, or a note of what cupboard or place it came from.
Only use Removal boxes for bulky or light fragile things, such as Lamps etc, these boxes are too heavy to move any time, and too heavy to stack, they will also collapse if stacked, as wlll other boxes over time, but not much of a problem with the size of boxes I have suggested.
6 Use your linen and clothes as packing material for crockery, glassware and other fragile Items as you go, also to fill a void where you have a larger item that needs to be protected,such as a a big bowl or vase, speaker or electronics etc.
This may sound arduous but it takes only a little extra time and is so important when you go to get something out which WILL HAPPEN. Numbering boxes on all surfaces except the bottom, means you do not have to be careful to have the 1 side numbered facing out, this does not happen when you have someone helping which is likely to occur.
Also so much time is saved by not having to tape the lids down and so easy to just look at your inventory for, say, box NO 26, and then when you find it just lift the top off.
7 Wherever you store them, place them on 3"x2" or such, pieces of timber, (offcuts are fine), so they are not sitting flat on the floor if water does seep in to the storage place.
Good idea to copy the pages of your inventory and leave in a safe place, I helped moved my Sister a few years ago, had 196 Boxes in rows in the one half of the double garage of the house she moved to. She went looking for something in a box a few weeks later, put the inventory on the boot of the car, got the thing out, put the box back all good.
Later that day went to the shop. Inventory obviously was still on the boot lid and never to be seen again despite hours of searching.
As others have said, be fairly Brutal and have a decent Garage Sale, I have done many of them and can give you some good information to make that a success if you are interested. I would NOT store Fridge, Washing Machine, etc as they will deteriorate if not in use, faster than being used.
Also place plenty of Rat-Sak or similar around and have it checked regularly by somebody reliable. Also get some baits for ants etc, best got from an Asian Food store if you can.
Can guarantee this works, have moved some 17 times in 40 odd years the last time just under 3 years ago and have used this system for ourselves and other friends many times with great success, and saves many tears unless you lose the inventory.
Cheers,
Bliss on Wheels
Lynda
Actually the house we sold is now worth $40k less than we got for it ! but that's immaterial as we would never want to live there again or have a 5 bed house now after living full time in a 30' 5th wheeler for 4 years we could live in a one bed shack.