The Art of Negotiation: How to Negotiate for a House

You’re ready to take the plunge on buying a house. You have the perfect place chosen and you’re about to take the next, and arguably the most important step, negotiations to actually buy the house. Here’s the question... how the hell do you 1. Negotiate or 2. Negotiate something as big, expensive, and important as a house?

First, know the conditions under which you are buying the house. If at all possible get to know the seller. If you can’t get to know the seller themselves ask the listing agent, get as much information as you can. Why are they selling the house? When do they want to be out of the house? Does the seller already have a new place? It’s super important to figure out the level of urgency involved for the seller. You’re not here to make friends your here to put together strategy. The more you know the more you can tailor your offer.

Next, develop your game plan. What is your game plan?  If you paid attention to the first step you’ve already started your research. Make sure you ask your realtor if the asking price is fair and what wiggle room there might be in the price. I’m assuming you’ve seen the house, you know what you’re working with. You know what the property has that you want and the things that you’re missing and thus, what you’re budget will accommodate. You need to be realistic about what you’re going to pay for the house. Be prepared to sell yourself. In business deals, you need to prepare to do a little bit of acting. You also need to be prepared to read people. How does the seller feel about selling the house? You need to be able to read that attitude and show the right amount of enthusiasm. Not so much that the seller thinks you’re overeager and try to drive up the price but not so stoically business like that an emotional seller will think that you don’t appreciate their home enough and be reluctant to sell it to you.

Finally, the best thing you can do for yourself is to stay flexible and prepare to compromise.  Compromise is an intrinsic part of the negotiation and if you think your going to go in and bulldoze and bully everyone else in the room into giving you everything exactly the way you want it for the price you want it at with zero concessions from you, then you’re unreasonable and insane and your walking away with hurt feelings, a bruised ego, and broken dreams. Be prepared to be creative. The seller might be really attached to the price that they want to sell the house for so you might want to just... work around that. There are other ways to get your money's worth without getting the seller to lower the price. In short, if they don’t want to change the price, change what you get for the price. As the buyer, you can kind of negotiate for anything. I mean don’t get crazy but you can legit ask them to leave you furniture because you like it, ask for certain repairs, some specific landscaping alterations. You can ask for a lot of things within reason.

With these tips in mind and a good realtor, you are well on your way into your new house. Now you just need to tackle the steps that come after. Like signing the contract, inspections, getting various kinds of insurance, doing paperwork you didn’t even know existed, etc. You can check out some of our other articles on home buying for more advise and tricks for home buying and the home buying process. 

Home Buyer Time Table

The home buying process can be a mystery to the uninitiated. If you’ve never bought a house before or if you’ve never have been around while someone else has gone through the process it’s likely that you don’t know what’s going on, what to do, the order to do it in, nor how long it’s going to take you. Well I’m going to demystify the home buying process for you in one simple chart.

Home Buyer Time Table
1 to 2 weeks	Research: This step is important for expectation management. This is when you figure out what you want, what you need, and whether you can actually afford those things? This may be when you realize that you’re not ready to buy a house yet.
1 week	Get a Realtor:  As a homebuyer there is no reason not to have a Realtor (check out our other article about finding the right realtor). This person will be your advocate throughout the homebuying process so don’t feel rushed if it takes you longer.
2 week ( 1 and a half weeks business days)	Get Pre-approved for Loan: This shows that you’re a serious buyer and sellers might pass you over for a different buyer if you don’t have this in hand when you make an offer.
Completely variable (I don’t know, you don’t know, it depends on what you’re looking for)	Shop: This was what the research was preparing you for. Now it’s time to go out into the world, talk to your realtor, search the internet, and visit open houses, etc. The difficulty of finding your new home is actually a pretty simple equation: (what you need: what available and matches those needs) – what you can’t afford= choices or simplicity of process.
1 week	Make first Offer, Negotiate, & Sign: Come into this prepared. Talk to your realtor and get a plan together. Your realtor should be able to Shepard you through this part of the process.
Up to 3 weeks	Final Mortgage Approval: Now it’s time to see if your pre-approval was worth more than a foot in the door during the buying process. This is the point where you’re going to need to start working on several of these steps all at once. Now that you have a contract getting the loan is going to be contingent on several things, such as inspection and approval. While you’re getting those done, you’re going to want to look into starting the process of getting insurance..
Up to a week	Inspection: This is an important step, don’t try to skip this step, nobody is going to let you and if they do there’s a bigger problem! The inspection itself will be over in several hours and the report could get back to you on the same day. Inspections happen fast, getting an inspector out to the property could take around a week. Go ahead and already have an inspector chosen before you sign the contract so you can call to make an appointment as soon as humanly possible. Your realtor may be able to recommend someone. The inspector may find problems. Depending on the problem this may take several days to several weeks to resolve. However, it’s best on your end that these problems are found now before they go from something you need to negotiate with the seller to your problem.
Up to a week	Appraisal: You need this to get your mortgage. This is one of the steps that your lender will order. It should be done right after your inspection is completed. The report for this step goes directly to the lender instead of you and may take longer due to the work involved. This step may lead you to having to renegotiate your contract.
2 Weeks	Get Insurance: This step includes both Title and Homeowners insurance. Your title company will need to make sure that the property doesn’t have any lingering policies attached to the property while you need to check your state's insurance department published comparison of premiums for homeowners insurance. The insurance company may send someone out to assess the property for potential risks, which can take several days. And your mortgage lender may require other types of coverage depending on the area or region your moving to.
1 day (enough time to run errands)	Closing Payment: You need to prepare your payment to go through. Ask your realtor if you need a cashiers, a certified check, or you need to transfer the funds digitally. Be aware of scammers if you get any calls or emails about payment from an unfamiliar source, always check in with your realtor and your closing attorney. Speak to to your realtor face to face or call using a number previously known to you so you can hear your personal realtors voice.
An hour or so	Final Walkthrough: This step is simply to make sure that everything is as it should be the day before closing. While some people do this the day or night before, it’s highly recommended to do this on the way to the closing office.
30-45 days	Closing: The closing process is technically everything that’s happened after signing the contract to receiving your keys. On average with with the Cotton Home Team, this takes 30 days, depending on your loan type and down payment assistance programs used, if any. Prior to the closing day, your closing Attorney’s office will let you know what forms of ID you should bring. Once all of the paperwork is completed and your loan is funded with your mortgage company, you’ll walk away with keys and copies of your paperwork.

Optimizing on Open Houses

Open houses are a great home buying resource. Other than presenting a chance for you to fully explore the layout of a perspective house physically it allows you to assess the property in person without strategically framed and angled pictures telling you what the seller wants you to see. Also, it’s super fun to walk through a home, mentally repurposing and redecorating to your own preferences, that’s what I do. So, here is a few ways to optimize each open house experience:

• Get there early: Don’t be obnoxious, I’m talking about ten to fifteen minutes at the absolute most. Just so that you beat any rush of people wanting to look at the house as well. This will give you extra time to scope out the house, go to the bathroom and check that the toilet flushes and all the taps work. It’ll feel weird to turn on someone else’s shower but these are things you need to know. This will also leaves you some solid time to engage with the host. Introduce yourself, get a solo tour, hear the spiel, garner some extra attention that could serve you well later. If you think you like the property take a walk around the neighborhood. Don’t be afraid to talk to the neighbors and try to get a feel for the area. Then, when you come back after your walk re-engage with the host, this will garner even more attention, and by that I mean prioritization.

• Know what you want: The important part of this is to stay open minded. If or when a house doesn’t have EVERYTHING you want don’t immediately wright, it off as a miss. It’s important to note everything a property does have that you want first and then begin to think creatively. Is it possible to get the other features that you want another way? Are you willing to remodel or do any add-ons? Consider what you’re willing to do and can afford to change beforehand so that when you’re in the house you can mentally redecorate in peace with that in mind. Also, it’s good to consider what you’re willing to live without if you find the right house but it doesn’t come with 100% of the features that you were looking for before you get there so that those things don’t become hang-ups while you’re roaming the house.

• Ask Questions: This is super important. Have some prepared. Bring a little notebook and write down more during your first walkthrough of the house. Whatever you feel the need to know without crossing over the line of TMI. Have they received any offers yet (this will tell you how quickly you may need to move to make your own)? How quickly is the seller trying to move out (being in a hurry may mean they’ll want to take less time to negotiate and may take a lower offer), Is the sellers’ price flexible (there will be a battle of wits and talking around the subject with the agent but it’s a battle you might win)? How long has the house been on the market (get a sense of the level of desperation, there are details here that you can’t get on the online listing, collect as much context for a long selling period as possible)? Are there any issues with the house (there are disclosure requirements but the agent is going to do their best to sell you the property so do your best to read between the lines here)? What are the average utility costs (this tells you the real cost of the house honestly)?

DIY Fixes for Pesky Household Problems

Are you bothered by the tiny little things that need fixing up in your house? Me to; here are a few quick DIY fixes for those little problems that bug us all.

Torn window screen – annoying eyesore that’s just asking for bugs to come inside and pay you a visit. To patch the little inconvenience simply apply clear nail polish to both sides of the tear in order to patch the tear. 

Squeaky Floor Board – Objectively annoying and a general nuisance. Squeaky floorboards are caused by something being loose. There are two things you can try. You can either tightening the hole the nail holes that may be too big by stuffing it with a toothpick or something else small enough to fit into the space. You could also work talcum or graphite powder into the cracks between floorboards.

Dry Wall Hole – Random holes in your drywall are both annoying and embarrassing. Try filling them in by taking a cheap makeup sponges and cutting a piece slightly larger than the hole and fit it in. Then spackle over the spot, sand it smooth and cover the whole thing with paint. Now you can pretend it was never there.

Wall Cracks – A similarly annoying problem that can be solved in a similar way. Get baking soda and some crazy glue, mix a little bit of them together, fill in the crack in with the mixture. Then sand it down and paint over the spot and once again the problem is gone. 
Scuffed Spots on Floor – Annoyingly easy to cause, thankfully it has a simple solution. Use a tennis ball and rub it against the mark. Buff for a little while and it’s gone! You could also try using the bottom of a clean sneaker, the sole is likely to remove the mark.

There you go, with one article you’ve solved a handful of your little annoying problems and the solutions were relatively easy and they were all cheap! What more could you want?! Now you just have to build up the energy to actually fix them… I can’t help you with that part, good luck.

Home Good Sale Shopping Calendar

Shopping can be hard. Especially when your shopping for expensive things. Few things are more complicated to shop for than home goods. It’s easy to go to cheap and end up having make a return or start again. This can quickly gets complicated if you're buying something large or if it's a faulty appliance. Plus you may not get a refund on the money you’ve shelled out;  meaning you’d have to start over but without the money you already spent. Alternatively, you could overspend on something and end up eating sandwiches for a month on a stove that isn’t all that great, and you won’t even be able to enjoy until you can afford groceries again. There is no need to despair over your shopping woes for there are glorious things called sales that exist; but how are you supposed to know which ones are worth your time and your money when the market is oversaturated with advertisements and fake sales where the prices have been jacked up so they can be brought back down to the same price? Well, you’re in luck, here’s a month by month list of when you can find the best sales for whatever household good you’re looking for.

January: After Christmas sales trump the Christmas sales almost every time.

Storage Stuff (good for organizing all the stuff you accumulated over the holidays), Bedding and Linens (the white sale strikes again! (If the store is out of what you want in stores you can probably ask for it and get what you actually want at the discounted price)),  Major Appliances (Stores are trying to get in new inventory, which means there are good sales to be had on last year’s model of whatever your looking for), Flooring and other Renovations (Most people don’t do any major work on their house during or just after the holiday season so those jobs are going to be cheaper during this season), Paint (again nobody likes to do stuff during holiday season, they’re just happy you’re buying something), Roof (Who gets their roof done in winter? You now), Furniture (New furniture is coming in February so it goes on sale January).

February: Good for buying more than just leftover pink and red stuff from Valentines day

Mattresses (Presidents day has arrived and brought sales with them. You get major sales on mattresses around this time!), Roof (You heard me).

March: The Spring sales are starting!

Winter Stuff (You know when winter stuff is on sale? When you don’t need it anymore. Snowblowers for everybody!), HVAC Equipment (When you don’t need a heating system installed? The spring, so I guess it’s time to buy one),

April: Spring sales in full swing!

Winter Stuff (You know), Vacuum Cleaners (New models come out in June so the old ones go on sale to make room). HVAC Equipment (Same).

May: End of the Spring Sales

Mattresses (Memorial Day, second verse same as the first. Major mattress sales!), Vacuum Cleaners (I already told you why), Paint (I don’t know, it has something to do with mercury), Roof (Materials are at their cheapest at this time).

June: Here comes summer.

Power tools (Apparently dads like tools so they go on sale for father’s day).

July:

Grills (no, not in time for the 4th,  right after it. You missed the holiday and now grills are on sale in time for you to enjoy the second half of the summer), Furniture (New furniture is coming in August so it goes on sale July).

August:

Grills (Just when you have one month left to enjoy it), Storage Stuff (good for storing all the summer stuff you’ll need to put away over the next season).

September:

Plants (People don’t usually garden as the season are turning colder but that doesn’t mean you can’t. Research what plants will thrive if you buy them in September. You’ll get them between 30% and 50% off )

October:

Major Appliances (Stores are trying to get in new inventory, which means there are good sales to be had on last seasons models of whatever your looking for), HVAC Equipment (Moderate temperatures mean not a lot of work for HVAC people… so it’s a good time to buy one).

November:

HVAC Equipment (Moderate temperatures mean not a lot of work for HVAC people… so it’s a good time to buy one).

December:

Powertools (Apparently dads like tools so they go on sale for the holidays), Flooring and other Renovations (Most people don’t do any major work on their house during or just after the holiday season so those jobs are going to be cheaper during this season).

Flipping Houses: Instant Equity

So, you’re taking on flipping a house. Good for you, taking on a project that others weren’t willing to and seeing the potential that nobody else was willing to see in a property. Beyond replacing backsplashes and appliances what do you do? You’ve found yourself the right property. Good location, right price, but you bought a fixer-upper and it’s time to get to work. Where do you start?

You need to start with some instant equity projects. These projects always add good resale value to the property (and cost money and require professional help) and are totally worth the price.

Start on the outside and work your way in. Curb appeal always bumps the value of the property. First important instant equity project is:

A New roof - This improves the house on the inside and the outside, nobody wants to buy a house that has a roof that’s already leaky when they get there. An old worn down roof is also a visible eyesore, pealing, curling shingles, not cute and not comforting. This project will cost you around 7,500$ and the return should be approximately 109% or around 8,150$.

Replace the Siding - Here me out, vinyl sidings. They are more durable than they used to be and it’ll never have to be painted again. A new, fresh looking siding on a house instantly bumps the curb appeal adding instant value. This will cost around 13,000$ and will get you back around 10,000$. This is about a 75% return.

Hardwood Flooring -  There is nothing more coveted, more classic, as easy to clean as hardwood floors.  If you pull up the old crusty carpet and find a hardwood floor you’ve struck gold. It’s worth installing even if it wasn’t already there. Hardwood floors add instant value and are a highly sought-after feature. The return is pretty good too. Around 100% return rate to refinish and around 90% to install. 

If you get a good deal on the property and are able to make updates with good returns and stay inside your budget, you should get a good profit from this project. If you’ve done your research on the neighborhood, know what houses in the neighborhood are going for, the features on those homes compared to the one you’re updating. Determine your budget based on the market value of homes in the neighborhood. Spend under that number and sell as close to it as you can, a little higher if at all possible. That’s the art of flipping. Find a deal on the property, renovate under expect to sell for, put the house back out there, make a profit.

How to Start Flipping Properties

So, you’re taking on flipping a house. Good for you, taking on a project that others weren’t willing. Property flipping, however, is more than replacing backsplashes and kitchen appliances. What do you do? Where do you start? With the property.

First, you start with the price. Don’t pay full price for a property that isn’t fully put together. Do the research, what are other houses in the neighborhood going for? What are the features of those homes compared to the one you’re looking at? Determine your budget based on the market value of homes in the neighborhood. That’s what it’s going to sell for. Don’t count on getting any more money than the highest price in the neighborhood. So don’t put more in than you’re going to get back out of the property. Also, remember that the price of the home is not going to be your only cost, it is only part of the project.

Next, consider what needs to be done to the house and on the property. There needs to be several opportunities for instant equity, things that would get you a return on your investment if you had to sell the house right after you did the repair or upgrade. Stuff like a fresh coat of paint, some curb appeal projects, upgrading kitchen appliances. Then you need to evaluate what popular features will enhance and compliment the natural beauty of the house as well as adding fiscal value to the home. Things like fireplaces and hardwood floors are very popular and worth the money to install.

One last important thing to consider, time. Time, and honestly your patience. Do you have the time and patience to invest into the property? If not, then don’t waste your time or money starting the project at all. Renovations take time. Each and every project you take on will take you time and money whether or not you hire someone or take on the renovation yourself. So, it’s time to do some soul searching. If you don’t have the time, money, and patience to throw into in-depth landscaping then don’t bother doing any of this at all.

Well… happy hunting, hope this goes well for you and all that. Enjoy the process or don’t do it, those are your two best options. Good luck.

Adding a Fireplace

Ready or not it’s winter! The solstice has come and gone. The days may be getting longer but it’s still gonna be cold out for the next two months. What better way to wait out cold winter days than in front of a fireplace? So what if your house doesn’t actually come with a fireplace. You can always get install one. Yes, I just told you to install a fireplace in your already fully built house.

Here’s the thing, we’re deep into the late 2010s. You don’t need to take out part of a wall and build a chimney to get a fireplace if you truly desire one. It’ll definitely cost money, a lot of money… it’s an investment. Think of a fireplace as a slightly risky investment, an investment you can enjoy and could, maybe payoff.   

So, fireplaces are a desirable feature. Almost 40% of homebuyers said they would pay extra for a house with a fireplace. The best way to maximize the payoff of a fireplace is to ensure that the price of the fireplace is proportionate to the overall value of the house. A fireplace isn’t calculated separately in a professional home appraisal a $10,000 fireplace holds its value in a $1 million house because buyers expect this feature in an upscale home but a $10,000 fireplace won’t be such a crucial component of a $100,000 house. The fireplace is not going to be the main draw of a lower scale home… so maybe focus on other stuff, like curb appeal.

Also, put it somewhere it’ll actually be used, like a den, family room, great room, etc. Equip your fireplace with energy-efficient glass doors and an exterior venting system that prevents heated air from being pulled out of rooms. If you want fireplaces for smaller rooms, if you are so inclined, to think about a small gas fireplace that’s easy to maintain.

Firepit Types

Do you love spending time outside? I can’t relate. However, if I must be outside, I must
be comfortable, and nothing quite says outside comfort like a firepit. Especially, if you
must be outside in the winter, when it’s cold outside there’s nothing quite like sitting in
front of a firepit. So, if your thinking about building a firepit here’s a couple of styles you
could get.

Naturalistic Firepits

Rock Firepit: It’s traditional and pretty simple to DIY. You know what I’m talking about.
It’s the circle of rocks that you place the wood in middle and voila, fire pit. If you live
somewhere where you can get decent sized rocks it would be easy to forage them for
yourself and you can, in fact, buy rocks and Home Depot or something like that.

Pond Firepit: Did your property come with a nice, quant little water feature that you’re
completely unwilling to upkeep? Fish are a lot of work for living decoration. Turn that
pre-existing, rock-lined, hole in the ground to a firepit.

Salvaged pit: This kind of pit uses things you find in your own yard. Rocks, stepping
stones from a path you didn’t really want, leftover bricks and stuff from a build or the
construction of the house if you’ve just built. You can use salvaged wood to build
benches or other features.

Constructed Firepits

Tree Ring Firepit: Simple DIY build. If you don’t know, cause I didn’t, there are these
curved brick like fence… thingies that go around trees. They’re super good and
convenient material for building a quick firepit in about an hour. Make two circles, one
inside the other, Use the scalloped ones so they’re easy to stack, bottom facing up,
top facing down. You can use a small grill in the middle if you're super lazy.

Outside space: If you’re really going for it than go for it. Select a good amount of space in your yard, and section it off. At this point, if you’re really going for it, look at google images and Pinterest and get inspiration. Really build out the entire area. Stone floor, brick pit, built-in seating, etc. REALLY GO FOR IT.

See, mostly simple and can kind of be done on a whim. If you’re going to be outside, be warm and comfortable outside. Gathering around a firepit can also be great for parties with friends. If you get no other pleasure from a fire pit at least think about the s’more possibilities, you’ll gain. There’s nothing like a good excuse to make s’mores. Your taste buds and probably your friends will thank you.

Fireplace makeover

Baby it’s cold outside! So what’s better than a fireplace!? I apologize for the bad
pun but seriously, fireplaces are amazing in the winter time. It’s just an objectively
great feature to have in your home… unless it’s ugly. Unfortunately, it is very
possible that your fireplace might be ugly or maybe it just doesn’t go with your
aesthetic. Let’s face it, fireplaces often show the decade the house was built more
than any other piece of architecture, and sometimes… those decades sense
of interior style are garbage.

Decals! You can legitimately use decals. You’re going to have to put in a lot of
thought to make sure that the design your going for, goes on right but if done
right decals on tile could look amazing. Besides the mental energy it’s a pretty
simple project. It’s also a super cheap way of doing a high impact upgrade to
your fireplace.

Another DIY upgrade you can make to your fireplace that should be simple and
relatively cheap is painting it! You can paint just about any surface, not sure that
you should (don’t paint marble or granite, I’ll disown you), but you can! Tile, just
takes a little bit of forethought, a little bit of primer, and some acrylic paint and
you’ll have a brand new look. You can paint brick. You can do a wash over the
brick in any color you please to give the room a modern trendy look.
Continuing the color onto the walls, up to the ceiling can also add height to the
room! So that’s a really cool treatment that could enhance your entire space.
Uneven or stacked stone would probably look wired but you can knock yourself
out trying.

One other thing you can do to brick is dye it! This isn’t quite as easy as painting
but it looks more natural, like it was the bricks original color. You can go from a
classic brick red color to something softer like grey or vice versa.

Don’t have a fireplace? That’s to bad. You can check out our article on installing
your own fireplace. However, if you’re just looking for the aesthetic you can also
get a fireplace façade! Pick up a faux fireplace and make it interesting. Fill it to
the brim with logs or books or other interesting things. Go wild! It’s not a
permanent part of the house anyways.

Saving Money on Firepits

Do you like firepits? I do… I mean I don’t like being outside but if I’m already out there I might as well be
comfortable and sitting at a firepit. One thing about firepits though, they can be a great big time and
money hole. Seriously while you’re working on the firepit you might as well set your money on fire
while you’re at it. So, how can you get that beautiful firepit without it turning into a money pit?

First, if you’re trying to save money you should probably DIY the entire project. This isn’t the type of
project where at the end you’ll look at your bank account and find out you spent more money than
the quote you got to get it built out for you. Getting a firepit built will almost definitely cost more than
doing it yourself. You can even get firepit kits for around 200 dollars. Go ahead and build out a patio
while you're at it, it’s just an outside floor. I believe in you, watch a YouTube video, you can figure
\ it out.

Second tip, make a wood burning pit and not a gas burning pit. You’ll a thousand percent have to
hire several people to make a gas burning pit work safely (please, don’t burn down your
neighborhood). Also, a gas pit will add on to your utility bills… and why would you want that? If you
must have a gas burning pit make it close to your house. This will cut down on the plumbing bill
of running a gas line to your designated location. The further you get from the house, the more it
will cost.

Finally, keep the customizations down to a minimum. Built in seating will cost you and they cost a lot.
If you don’t mind using chairs then you’re solid. Besides, a lot of built-in seating is
uncomfortable. Also, unless you’re an artist and are making all of your own tiles (which is still
expensive) try to keep the unnecessary customizations down to a minimum. Getting super fancy
with a firepit could very quickly cost you upwards of thousands of dollars.

You’ve been sufficiently warned. Go build a firepit. Go outside (if you must). Have fun.

Packing up the Holidays

The holidays are here but all I can think about is having to put all my decorations away
afterwards, hopefully before valentines day this year. So how do we make a generally
fun experience (decorating), not terrible doing it in reverse (packing up), cause honestly,
packing anything sucks. Especially when you're trying to put away your holiday
memories and traditions without accidentally shattering them, while also being mindful
of the fact that you need to find these things next year. So… what can you do?

Looking at it all as one big task will be to overwhelming and your decorations will be
up until next December. If you think about it all as small tasks it’s going to be tedious
and you’re going to procrastinate until something forces you to do it, and I don’t know
you, maybe you don’t have someone who will judge you harshly enough to drive you
to finally do it.  My suggestion is you break it down into a few sweeping tasks. Take
down all ornaments, the ones decorating the tree, the ones in bowls decorating the
table, on wreaths, and in garland. Then move onto gathering all the wreathes and
packing them away, and then the garland, and then the tree. envision yourself removing
all of those items task by task, you’re pretty close to done, aren’t you? That was only
four tasks and your already almost done! You can do it like that or you can do it by
section, fireplace, table tops, wall hangings or you can do it room by room, living room, kitchen, lobby, den.

So, once you get everything away how do you keep them straight and easily findable
for the next holiday season? You can either sort out a clear labeling and storing system
for yourself, or you can get clear bins. I still suggest you store your stuff in a methodical
order, so you know what you’re going to pull out first and what you’re pulling out last.

The best way to keep yourself from accidentally destroying childhood memories is to
be prepared while packing everything away. Have your bins as close as possible to
minimize travelling distance between it’s where it’s been and where it is going. Also
have whatever you’re using for cushion on hand from the tree, to the old news paper,
straight into the bin. Don’t pause, don’t pass go, right into storage. That’s the safest
thing you can do. Don’t forget there's always a chance you drop your bins on the way to
wherever you store them. So, don’t overstuff your bins, pack them lightly and with lots
of cushion.

Finally, don’t forget that it’s okay to wait a little while. It would be super depressing if
you cleared everything up along with the wrappings from the presents. It’s the most
wonderful time of the year! Let it linger a little longer. Just try not to wait until
Valentine’s Day.