With more stuff than you probably need or want, decluttering before a move can seem overwhelming, but you don’t want to pay movers to move or store items you don’t use, love or want. Here are some tips to make it quicker and easier:  

Start Small

Label moving boxes for selling, donating or throwing away. List items you want to sell online, or take them to a consignment store. When the donation box is full, take it to the Salvation Army or non-profit of your choice. Throw away broken items you’ll never repair and stained clothing you’ll never wear.

Pick a Schedule

How many days till you move? Devote an hour a day, a day to a room, or a weekend per floor – whatever your schedule permits. The goal is to make moving day faster and easier.

Pack as You Go

As you declutter, move items that you want to keep but don’t need right away like out-of-season clothes or holiday dishes into moving boxes. Tape them closed and label what’s inside and what room it should be moved to in your next home. Store the boxes out of the way, in the garage, basement, or a storage facility.

Let Go

You may be holding onto things you don’t want because you feel guilty. What you paid for the item or who gave it to you as a gift doesn’t matter. Let the feeling of obligation go.

Decluttering has its benefits. You’ll be better organized and feel far less stress.

One reason there’s a shortage of available homes to buy across the U.S. is that corporate investors are snapping up single-family homes to use as rentals or to flip back onto the market after making improvements. Institutional homebuyers (companies, corporations, LLCs) have always been around but a new report by the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) found their market share rose 84% in 2021. Based on deed records, institutional homebuyers accounted for 15% of residential purchases in 2021.

The record low interest rates of 2020 and 2021 and rising inflation – 8.5% in March 2022 – are ideal incentives for institutional homebuyers to turn to residential real estate for asset acquisition as a hedge against inflation. They buy properties to turn into rentals where rents can be raised annually. Investors look for dense populations with fast growth, fast rent growth and home appreciation, fast home sales volume, and low vacancy rates. NAR also found they look for areas with higher incomes and education, more young people and minorities, and a high density of renters.

In those areas where institutional investors are more than 30% of market share, the number of household formations grew 11%, average rents increased more than 30%, home prices rose 40% or more, and home sales rose 70%, all over the last decade.

The top five states with the largest market share of institutional homebuyers were:

• Texas (28%),
• Georgia (19%)
• Oklahoma(18%)
• Alabama (18%)
• Mississippi (17%)

Closely followed by:

• Florida (16%)
• Missouri (16%)
• North Carolina (16%)
• Ohio (16%)
• Utah (16%)

August is typically the hottest month of the year making it an ideal time to be outside for fresh air and sunshine, but mosquitoes and other flying biting stinging insects can take the fun out of it. You want to enjoy your outdoor spaces, so what can you do? Here are some fun facts and tips about these pests.

In studying how wind affects mosquitoes, researchers found that mosquitoes are attracted to carbon monoxide which humans and pets emit. When you turn on a fan to blow on you, it disperses the concentration of carbon monoxide, which is why fans are such a good deterrent for mosquitoes.

Male mosquitoes like nectar, not humans, but the females seek blood to nourish their eggs, using receptors and vision for cues such as body heat, perspiration and skin odor to find a potential host according to Off.com.

What doesn’t work to repel mosquitoes, says Science.org are citronella candles, bracelets containing herbal extracts and sonic mosquito repellant which claim to use high-frequency sound to drive them away. Instead, try spray repellents with DEET and products with lemon eucalyptus oil.

Wasps, like honeybees, are most aggressive in late summer and windy or cloudy days when they can’t forage for food and they can sting multiple times, warns Terminix.com. Yellow jackets can live in holes in the ground or in hanging nests made of leaves, stems, mud, and bark. They love sweets, so only serve drinks in open containers. Use repellents with mint or clove oil.

Virtual interior designer/home stager Stuccco.com compiled a wish list from numerous online sources that experts say homebuyers want in 2022. Many popular features aren’t what home sellers may think. Before you upgrade your home to sell, consider these top five homebuyer preferences:

• Laundry rooms 
• Exterior lighting 
• Ceiling fans 
• Patios  
• Walk-in pantries 

Laundry rooms. Homebuyers don’t want to go down to the basement to do laundry, so make room somewhere on the first floor. Include a built-in table for sorting, room for a steamer and drip-dry area.

Well-lit outdoor living spaces. Homebuyers want exterior lighting (87%), patio (82%) and a front porch (81%), a rear porch (75%) or a deck (75%). Landscape lighting adds a luxurious glow to outdoor spaces as well as an extra element of security.

Ceiling fans. With the sudden rise in energy prices, it’s not surprising that homebuyers want lighting fixtures to do double duty as an air conditioning aid, especially when cooling or heating a larger home.

Walk-in pantries. Homebuyers want to be able to stockpile food and paper goods. They want to open the door to the pantry and see at a glance what’s on hand.

Homebuyers also prefer two-sided kitchen sinks over farmhouse sinks (81%.) They want a full bath in the living area (80%) and kitchens open to the dining room for less formal dining (85%.)  

Homebuyer preferences are changing home design. The National Association of Home Builders reports that new home buyers want bigger homes which now average 2,524 square feet.