Leaving Long Island for Vermont (New York, Maine: sale, apartment, appliances)

[VermontBound]

Hi all, I am a newbie here and I bought my house in Suffolk County in 1995 and wow, things have changed! I live alone and work from home.

I simply can not afford to live on Long Island anymore with the high taxes, etc. My best friend of 34 years lives in Bennington, VT (she was originally from L.I.) and I have been to Bennington several times, very nice there.

Now I need to get my house ready to make it saleable. It needs total interior painting (will hire someone), new kitchen floor, will use vinyl, basically cosmetic work. I have cluttered my house so much and that's what is bugging me. Every week I am filling contractor bags so little by little the things I don't need are going....

What to do with my collectibles that are cluttering up my house that I want to keep? I am really nervous about this entire situation but logically I know this move will be the best thing for me, I need peace of mind. I am tired of my house running me and controlling my life.

Any advice?
VB

[KellyFG]

Order a POD, one of those storage containers that they drop off on your driveway, pack all of your stuff up & put it in there. When the Pod is full call them & they'll bring it LOCKED to their storage facility where they'll keep it till you're ready to go to VT.
You've got to get rid of all the clutter & extra furniture. Make sure every room has a purpose, no combo rooms, make your closets look bigger by getting rid of stuff. Make sure your kitchen counters are free of appliances & canisters & stuff, streamline everything to make it seem bigger. Same in the bathroom, get rid of products you don't use everyday & don't leave anything out on the counters. HGTV has great shows like "designed to sell" that highlight what a home should like like in order to sell quickly & get the best price. Make sure you've got good curb appeal!
Good Luck!

[ClarkStreetKid]

We've been through the process a couple of times. Kelly is spot on about PODS and getting your collectibles and clutter in storage. The other trick is properly staging each room so the buyer can get an idea of how big or small they are, to downplay any negatives and also to capture their eye.

[VermontBound]

Thanks, I just looked at PODS and received some estimates, great solution! I have mostly clothes that I want to keep, not that much furniture, I do have a King Size Bedroom Set that I keep stored upstairs, paid lots of money for it when I was married to first husband, I want to sell it as it's solid white oak and very beautiful... It's cluttering my upstairs so getting rid of that would be my first step.

My house is about 100 years old and hardly has any closets but a couple of years ago I had an extension added to make make an accessory apartment legal and the person who buys my house could built closets in that room (it's still unfinished) and the biggest room in my house.

I'm 51 years old and I can work anywhere. I don't know why I feel so nervous about doing this. I guess because it's a major change... Sorry for the rambling....

I will watch HGTV (I used to watch that show) and get more serious about getting rid of things I don't want or need.

Thanks for the responses, they are very much appreciated!
VB

[KellyFG]

Try taking some new pics of the furniture you want to sell & put it on Craigslist. You could also plan a yard sale since spring is on its way. You may want to get a free estimate from a local contractor for the completion of the unfinished area, so home buyers will have an idea of what they'll need to spend on that if they aren't capable of doing it themselves.
I can imagine you'd be nervous, but it sounds like you're making a good choice! Keep us posted on your progress!

[GCGuy]

Good advice on the PODS. I would also say, think long and hard about the stuff you have and what you actually need/want/use. We moved about 1 yr ago, only about 15 miles, and we trashed or gave away a lot of stuff. We must have given away 10 bags of close to the poor, perfect condition, just sitting there. What a waste, but at least you can give it to people that could use them.

Best of luck. Vermont and Maine are really great states. Enjoy it.

[Kbinspections]

Vermont Bound,

Consider getting a pre sale home inspection. That way you know of any major issues that may pop up after the accepted offer. Buyers are now using reports to neg. further down from the accepted price. You can help take that ammo away if you already know the issues and repaired some of them. Money might be better spent on getting a termite treatment than a kitchen floor that the buyer might just rip up anyway. we don't do alot of these inspections but they are more popular as of late. Good Luck!

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by VermontBound

Hi all, I am a newbie here and I bought my house in Suffolk County in 1995 and wow, things have changed! I live alone and work from home.

I simply can not afford to live on Long Island anymore with the high taxes, etc. My best friend of 34 years lives in Bennington, VT (she was originally from L.I.) and I have been to Bennington several times, very nice there.

Now I need to get my house ready to make it saleable. It needs total interior painting (will hire someone), new kitchen floor, will use vinyl, basically cosmetic work. I have cluttered my house so much and that's what is bugging me. Every week I am filling contractor bags so little by little the things I don't need are going....

What to do with my collectibles that are cluttering up my house that I want to keep? I am really nervous about this entire situation but logically I know this move will be the best thing for me, I need peace of mind. I am tired of my house running me and controlling my life.

Any advice?
VB

Be certain that this is what you want to do. Vermont is getting increasingly more expensive, taxes are going up (look into the different state educational funding acts) and you've got to get used to doing a little more driving for things.

Have you spent much time up there in winter? This winter has been particularly bad. The hill up to my vacation home iced over and it took us 2.5 hours to get home -- a total of 10 miles from where we started.

Check out the VT forum on this site and really dig around.

Best of luck!

[RoastBeefJackson]

Is moving to Vermont or NH even possible for a real New Yorker ?
I was in Bellows Falls 2 days and let me tell ya, I'd go crazy up there. The high point of the weekend was a trip to the hardware store.
Is that what the mean by "Live Free or Die" ?

You freeze your butt off 8 months a year, cant grow Tomatos and need a jacket by mid August at night.
Most people have to to drive 5-20+ miles to work

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by RoastBeefJackson

Is moving to Vermont or NH even possible for a real New Yorker ?
I was in Bellows Falls 2 days and let me tell ya, I'd go crazy up there. The high point of the weekend was a trip to the hardware store.
Is that what the mean by "Live Free or Die" ?

You freeze your butt off 8 months a year, cant grow Tomatos and need a jacket by mid August at night.
Most people have to to drive 5-20+ miles to work

Bellows Falls is quaint, the movie theatre is inexpensive ($4 and another $3.50 gets you soda, popcorn & candy!) It certainly does not have any real nightlife to speak of, so for anyone who likes to trip the light fantastic, this would NOT be the place for them.

You have to realize that there are 6 seasons in VT: Summer, Fall, Winter, Mud, Spring & Black Fly. I've learned the hard way that I am allergic to black fly bites. Damn, it's fun getting mud on the tires and kicking it up all over the place.

Last week I was checking temps up where I stay and it was -14 at 8am. The temperature took a meteoric rise to 13. But it's a dry cold, unlike the damp, cold air here on LI. (Yes, that's me being a wiseacre and pulling the AZ dry heat silliness.) Hot is hot, cold is cold.

I've reached the point in my life where I am nightclubbed out and prefer being home, hosting friends. Heading to VT is the ultimate kicking back for me.