Three store-to-door pods were delivered to the house
after we had been packing boxes for just ever. The
small basement room was chest deep in them and the big
room was full as well. Their pods are 8X5X7 and a
better price per pod per month than pods.com. Turns out
there is a 2000 lb limit to each pod and it requires
that you weigh each box before loading. It is a lot of
lifting which the two of you will need help with. We
filled two to the limit and one at about 1500 lbs.
Books, books and more books. Fabric, photos,
pictures,...  All heavy and stuff I packed myself. The
good china, crystal and silver I sold. The knickknacks
I want I have bubbled wrapped each item first wrapping
in plain newspaper [not printed stuff]. [It can be
bought at UHaul store or Staples.] After they were tape
sealed, I wrote on each tape on each piece with a red
sharpie -- cow pitcher, blue vase, Pidgeon Forge green
bowl, ...   It means I will be able to unpack what I
want without having to open everything. All that
breakable but bubbled wrapped stuff, I will let the
movers put in their own box for the move. Want them to
be responsible for the breakable stuff.
As usual I have over answered your simple question. We
kept the pods here for a week and then they picked them
up again. The movers will go to their site and load the
boxes directly into the moving van. There is no extra
charge for store-to-door to put the pods into their
parking lot for the movers.
I bought lots and lots of the same size boxes. Staples
in the Woburn store carries them and the bubble wrap
and newspaper to wrap. The same size box really helped
with the packing. They are letter size but don't get
the ones that say they will hold 30% more. They are too
big and filled with books -- too heavy to lift.  I also
bought other boxes that were bigger for smaller things.
I bought lots of plastic containers at Target to hold
sewing, smocking, threads, crossstitch, needlepoint,
quilting, yarn and other crap I still want. My
organizer had me buy the heavy duty solid color
containers from Home Depot/ Lowe's to hold all pictures
and photos. Said they were less likely to get wet that
way. All my boxes I lined with left over dry cleaning
bags just in case so the books have a better chance of
making in one piece. Every plastic bin was securely
taped shut just before we put them into the pod. Used
clear packing tape with a tape gun.
Okay, I will quit yammering. It was a lot of work and
Helene my organizer was my life line. I would have
drown in this mess without her. She was from there and
I bet wouldn't mind going down to help a bit if you
want her name. She fits into the priceless category.
Duckie

The house looks great.

I loved sitting in your four season porch.

Elizabeth

House looks great.

Enjoyed sitting in your three season porch last year.

Elizabeth

Oh yeah I forgot to mention the very best part of the house.  The 2
red canoes in the back yard!  ROFL!  -- MZ

Visit my website:
http://www.mzuschlag.com

The are sort of built in. They were built off site and
then put into place. I have told the agent that if the
person that plans to buy the house is tearing them out
- we will take them with us. They are too perfect to
trash. I climbed a ladder and crawled in through an
upper window to take measurements so I could design
those cabinets myself when we put on that third floor.
Duckie

i just toured your house again. wow, i want that porch!!!!!!!!!

diane

dee tee, sounds like the market's as nuts on your side of the beltway
as it is on ours. i plan to put my house on the market june 23rd when i
leave for california for a week and i fully expect it to be sold by the
time i return. have you found a house in ohio yet? duckie, have you
found one in SF? anyone else getting ready for a big move?

diane

You're moving out of Maryland?  How did I miss that news?

Judith
Hyattsville

Beautiful House Duckie, I bet you are going to miss it when you get out
here. Thanks for sharing that with us.

That is the way CA house move. They go on the market
but are not shown at all until the first open house and
then there is always a note that says offers will be
accepted on such and such a date. That means you get
10+ offers on the table at the same time and can pick
the one you want from the group. Several of the houses
I have liked, have sold in the month and three for 100K
over asking. Scary.
We should be in SF area by August. Not sure when this
house will sell but we are not going to be here next
winter. Told John we can just leave it on the market
and rent out there until it sells if we have to.
Tuesday an agent brought a woman buy. She is bringing
her husband with her tomorrow for the next open house.
Then the agent called and asked if they could come
earlier. Think she was anxious to get here with her
husband before the crowd. Works for me. My agents says
the women loves the place. cross your fingers.
Duckie

We bought the original [no third floor, no three
seasons porch, one bathroom and old kitchen] in 1975.
We paid 42,500. And at the closing, turned out it was a
take over mortgage so we had to come up with a lot of
cash to cover it or get another higher rate mortgage.
Sold all my stocks and bonds to come up with some of
the extra money 10K and borrowed another 10K from his
parents. Third floor and three seasons porch cost
another 40K 25+ years ago. The kitchen 10 years ago was
around 20K and the new bathroom was two years ago? at
25K. All of the regular non altered splits are selling
in the 450K range. The colonial's in town are going for
650K. They couldn't figure out what to do with ours as
it is so different.
We drove around this Sunday to other open houses and if
anything we have ours priced too low. Some of these
places were just dumps. Decks that were in need of
replacement and very visible at drive up. Moss growing
on roof. I didn't go inside any as I was not going to
climb stairs to look at a house I wasn't even
interested in but John did make the tours. Ours has a
new roof [2 years old]; outside painted 3 years ago;
inside just painted several months ago; furnace is less
than 5 years old,...  You get the idea. Another house
is listed at the same price -- has one less room, needs
roof, kitchen, two new bathrooms and a new furnace. It
screams tear me down and start over but not at 589,900.
Ours - you could move in and make changes as you go.
Very livable with no extra money spent up front. Not
sure if people actually understand that.
Duckie