Guest Blogger on Packing Tips

Helpful packing tips for your next move
Let’s be honest, no one likes moving. It always ends up being a nightmare of confusion and way too much work. Plus, there is that added displeasure of realizing that you are leaving the place you have come to call your home. However, there are things that can be done to smooth the hassle and ensure an efficient and lower stress process. The following moving tips should help reduce this discomfort and make you look at your next move in a whole new light.
The first step and one of the best and most important moving tips is to make a packing checklist. This list should include an inventory list, packing supplies, truck rental, and arrangements for utilities to be turned off and mail forwarded. This will keep you organized and aware of what you have, where it is located and what else must be accomplished so nothing is forgotten or left to the last minute.
Strongly consider renting a self-storage unit during the duration of your move. Storage facilities provide a secure place for your belongings, namely those belongings that you don’t know exactly where to put yet in your new home. Add storage reservations to your checklist to remind yourself to confirm those reservations.
Once you’ve done the legwork of locating a secure storage area for your belongings, it’s time to consider a few other important packing tips:

• Investigate the storage size. Sometimes people misjudge just how big or small an area is by just reading the measurements off the website. Picture your belongings not as they are in your home right now, but as they will be once they are disassembled and stacked in boxes.
• Buy top-of-the-line packing supplies designed specifically for moving. Check and see if your storage facility sells packing supplies, or purchase them through general retailers.
• Put labels on everything you plan on storing in your unit. Storage labels help you find the boxes you will need quickly. This type of storage organization will also help with your packing checklist creation.
• Be sure to place the items you think will be accessed more regularly in the front so that you don’t have to go digging through all your other belongings just to get to one thing. Also, make sure everything is clean and in good condition before placing it in storage.
• Cotton or wool blankets might provide the extra insulation needed in colder climates because sometimes even “climate-controlled” units may not provide the temperature control you need.

From there, moving tips should also include a moving-in checklist. This list will allow you to check all the items from your inventory list that have arrived. It will also make it easier to keep track of which items you plan to keep and which items you want to place in self-storage while you redecorate the new house.

This article was written by Matt Schexnayder. Matt is on the SpareFoot marketing team and writes for the SpareFoot blog. SpareFoot is the largest online marketplace for self-storage with more than 5,000 self-storage facilities listed nationwide. SpareFoot offers consumers the most complete comparison shopping experience in the storage industry and has been a big part of the national moving and storage industry for over 3 years.

Commerical real estate in Savannah Ga

Commercial real estate in Savannah Ga has been affected by national trends and the economy. At one time we all said real estate is local, but that's not true right now. Below is a video regarding some of the trends and problems in commercial real estate nationwide. Tight financing is still a problem for new developement, and, because of increased demand for rental properties, apartment complexes are positive investments. As always, the trick is timing. If money flows into apartment investments, at some point the home-buying market will turn around, and those investors who pay the highest prices can get caught as more people start buying again. But, from the information given in the video below that transition will not likely take place in 2012.

What's true in Boston is true in Savannah real estate

http://bostonglobe.com/magazine/2011/12/04/things-consider-before-buying-multifamily-home/YBAlehh8PSm8fSz7dlofNJ/story.html

This Boston Globe article recommends buying a multi family home in this market if you are concerned about losing your job. The specifics of the Boston real estate are different from the Savannah Ga real estate market, but the principle is the same. If you don't mind living a little outside the very center of downtown Savannah, where the prices are high, you can find a duplex or triplex in midtown Savannah at a low enough price that renting the other unit or units will pay your mortgage or most of your mortgage. Read the article -- it gives some good advice.

Savannah home sales statistics 2011 and 2010

According to information gathered from the Savannah Ga real estate database used by realtors, prices fell in Savannah by 5% during the last twelve months from the previous twelve months. Looking at single family homes, the average sales price for the last twelve months is 212,725, and for the twelve months before that it was 222,761. The number of days the average home was on the market before selling remained basically the same between the two twelve month periods -- around 145 days. 5% is not a significant drop, and foreclosures surely played a major role in the decrease, but it's good news for Savannah home buyers.

The photo has nothing to do with Savannah homes for sale, but I like to post pictures of Savannah in general -- it's a beautiful city. 

Savannah Ga -- foreclosure news

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/one-in-nine-mortgages-at-risk-of-foreclosure-2011-05-20?link=MW_home_latest_news

According to Marketwatch, there is good and bad news regarding foreclosures in the US -- the bad news is that 1 in 9 mortgages are at risk -- this compares to 1 in 32 mortgages in 2003. The good news is that the percentage of foreclosures for the first quarter has declined.

There are still many foreclosures on the market in Savannah -- this is good for buyers but bad for sellers. At the rate foreclosures are selling in Savannah, and with foreclosures going down, the Savannah real estate market should be on the road to recovery. The next quarter should tell us if the decrease in foreclosures is a trend.