HOW TO THROW A MEMORABLE HOUSE WARMING PARTY:

You finally shifted into your dream house, unpacked all the boxes, cleaned up all the clutter and mess. You are done with all the boring moving paperwork and now it’s time to show off your new home! Throw a house-warming party to show off your new and improved place to your close friends.

PLAN AND SEND OUT CLASSY INVITES

Give yourself lots of time to plan your party beforehand so that you’re prepared. This means choosing whether your party is an elaborate dinner party or an evening get together. You can even go a little overboard and decide a theme for your party for example, ‘The Great Gatsby’ where people can dress up accordingly. Additionally, prepare invites according to the type of party you’re hosting and send them at least one week in advance. Another aspect is to make sure there is a ‘return by’ date on the invites so that you are aware of how many people are going to show up.

PREP THE BATHROOMS AND SEATING

During any party, your bathroom will have more people than usual, and because of that, it’s essential to stock up on supplies such as extra towels, toilet paper and soap, etc. Make sure your home is clean and well organized, especially after an exhausting move! Moreover, you also need to make sure that there are ample seating spaces so that people don’t crowd around awkwardly. You can easily put a fancy blanket on the floor and throw some cushions to create a more comfortable seating arrangement. Chairs and benches from the dining room can also be brought to the main entrance for more places to perch.

PUT AWAY DELICATE THINGS

An old going says, ‘it’s better to be safe than sorry.’ You have to make sure those old antiques and other valuable possessions are kept away from the main entrance. As more people come, it gets harder to manage the crowd, and because of this, you need to ensure that all the delicate things are stored somewhere safe. Sometimes people can bump into valuables and damage them, so you want to make sure the important things are out of the way.

STRATEGICALLY PLACE FOOD AND DRINKS

You want to show off your home’s best assets, so the key is to place sips and nibbles in front of them. For example, if you have an amazing view, place the drink station right in front of it. Or if you have a beautiful antique table, set the snacks on it so that people can see it clearly. This is a great way to make people focus on the good aspects of your home.

MAKE THE PLACE SMELL GOOD AND ORGANIZE A PLAYLIST

An inviting scent like vanilla or cinnamon can make your guests feel more comfortable and relaxed. You can even light scented candles according to the season, for example, pumpkin spice scent in the autumn. Moreover, music is the key to anyone’s heart so organize a killer playlist to get guests in the mood to party. Music will instantly lighten everyone’s mood!

SET TIMES FOR GROUP TOURS

The whole point of throwing a house-warming party is to show off your house to your close friends. It’s a hassle to give every single person a tour of your house which is why you should set a specific time to take everyone around for a look. After dinner and before dessert would be a suitable time.

DOCUMENT THE EVENT

Don’t forget to document your party! You want to hold on to these memories just like any other. You can take pictures from Polaroid cameras for instant printed pictures or simply take them from your phone to post on social media with a custom hashtag. You can even make separate albums for everyone to post their pictures from the event.

Conclusion

After all the hassle that you went through by paying additional costs, unpacking and organizing your house to make it look somewhat decent, you deserve to throw a party and enjoy yourself. By following these simple rules, you can make sure that you and everyone else will have a memorable day. So don’t hesitate to give yourself a break!

Getting Around Cleveland

Cleveland is a compact city that’s relatively easy to navigate. The most popular modes of transportation for getting around Cleveland are on foot and via rail, trolley, and BRT. Whether you’re moving to Cleveland or just visiting, you can use this Cleveland transportation guide to learn how to navigate the city.

Getting Around Cleveland On Foot

You can easily reach Downtown Cleveland attractions like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Progressive Field on foot. Many Cleveland hotels will provide a walking map, or you can rely on Google Maps. There are some advantages to walking in Cleveland over driving, like avoiding traffic congestion and not having to worry about parking. However, if you want to get to Cleveland suburbs like Akron, Parma, or Canton, you’ll need to rely on a car or the bus system.

Cleveland Public Transit

The Regional Transit Authority (RTA) provides public transportation via rail, trolley, BRT, and bus. While all four only cost $2.25 per one-way ticket, they all have unique purposes and advantages. If you’ll be traveling a lot, consider buying a one-day pass for $5, a two-day pass for $10, or a four-day pass for $20 for unlimited rides on every mode of Cleveland public transit.

• Getting Around Cleveland by Rail and Trolley

  The rail and trolley systems in Cleveland are the simplest modes of transportation for navigating the city’s center. The Cleveland rail system has four lines, including the Green Line, Blue Line, Red Line, and Waterfront Line. The Cleveland trolley’s four lines include the NineTwelve Trolley, the E-Line Trolley, the B-Line Trolley, and the C-Line Trolley.

• Getting Around Cleveland by Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

  The HealthLine is the first BRT system in Cleveland and one of the first of its kind in the country. It’s considered to be the best example of a BRT system in the U.S. The HealthLine extends between Westlake and East Cleveland and serves Lakewood, Downtown Cleveland, and University Circle. The BRT gets crowded, but it’s ideal for a daily commute and is much faster and more convenient than driving.

• Getting Around Cleveland by Bus

  If you wish to travel throughout the Cleveland metro area, or all the way to Akron, you’ll need to learn about the Cleveland bus system. It can be difficult for visitors to learn, with hundreds of stops throughout Cleveland and surrounding towns, but you can get the hang of it by planning your trip using the RTA’s website.

Driving in Cleveland

Cleveland was ranked by Wallet Hub as one of 2018’s worst cities to drive in for a reason. The high rate of car theft and expense of parking and vehicle maintenance make car ownership in Cleveland an unnecessary luxury for many residents. Unless you live in the suburbs, consider renting a car for a day or relying on Lyft and Uber instead.

Have questions about how to get around Cleveland? Just ask Weleski Transfer! We’ve experienced navigating Cleveland and the surrounding suburbs firsthand.

DIY Painting Tips for Getting your House Ready for Sale

So you’re getting ready to move to a new home, and you need to sell your old one. However, some of your rooms are of, shall we say, ‘interesting’ color schemes? You need to make sure that the house can be viewed through the eyes of the new owner, and bright colors that don’t fit can be a big turn off. As such, you’re probably going to need to repaint the walls in order to bring them to a more neutral state.

Painting your house might seem like a big task, but it’s not that hard with some guidance and practice. When you’re done, it’ll be in perfect condition to put on the market. You’ll need a handful of tools to get started, many of which you probably already own. These include:

• Paint Brushes: Angled brushes tend to work better for cutting in ceilings and corners than flat brushes do. 3.5 inch is usually a good size to get a solid amount of coverage per coat.
• Paint Roller: A good 9 inch roller, roller frame, and paint tray will take you far. Go with a shorter nap around the ¼ inch range to get a nice smooth finish.
• Painter’s Tape: Use tape to protect baseboards, window frames, door frames, and other non-painted surfaces during the cutting process. A properly done tape job will save you tons of time in cleanup and help prevent accidental drips or spills.
• Drop Cloths: Drop cloths or runners are vital for protecting your floor and furniture from spills and paint drips.
• Rags: Having old rags on hand is a good idea in case there’s a spill or you need to wipe off the woodwork.
• Ladders: A good 4’ or 6’ ladder will get you by in most normal sized rooms. For stairwells or vaulted ceilings, you’ll have to borrow or rent a larger ladder or a stair jack.
• Spackle & Caulk: Repair those holes and dents in your walls with a good layer of spackle. Seal those cracks with some caulking. Sand it down so it’s smooth, and you’re ready to paint.
• Your Favorite Tunes: Don’t paint in silence, it’s boring! Bust out the radio or your digital music player of choice and go to town.

Now that you have all your tools together and your neutral paint colors ready to go, you can start the preparation process. Why a neutral color, you ask? It’s easier for people to imagine their own possessions in the rooms if they are a white or light tan. This can easily swing a sale in your favor. Let’s get started.

1. Wipe down the walls, corners, trim boards, and ceiling with a duster. This gets rid of particles and dust that can create an adhesion problem or create unevenness in application.
2. Tape off your woodwork. This includes your floor trim boards, window frames, door frames, any shelving units that won’t be removed from the wall, and everything else. Run a straight edge over it to really seal it down against the wall. This prevents paint from getting under the lip of the tape and getting on your woodwork.
3. Fill all nail holes, dents, dings, and cracks with spackle or drywall mud. Let it dry fully (usually about 15 to 20 minutes) and then go back over it with some sand paper to smooth it down. This way when you apply your paint, your walls will look blemish free. Be sure brush any dust off the tape at the trim boards so you don’t drag your brush through it.
4. Lay down your tarps and drops in the area you’re working on. Make sure they’re snug up against the wall so if you dribble any paint or accidently drop some, it’ll stay on the drop cloth and won’t get onto your carpet.
5. Remove all electrical covers and other such things from your walls. It’s easier to just take them down than it is to paint around them.
6. Stir your paint with the stir sticks the company should have provided you. Then pour out a small amount into a container you are comfortable using for your brush. Start cutting in the edges of the wall. It’s best to start low and work high so you can keep the wet edge when you roll the wall.
7. Pour a decent amount of paint into the roller tray, and get your roller thoroughly saturated. Then start rolling the wall with even pressure in uniform lengths. Don’t let your roller get too dry, and re-wet it as needed.
8. Once the paint is dry. Remove the tape from the walls carefully so you don’t peel the fresh paint off of your wall. Take a rag and clean up any places where paint got under the tape.
9. Pull up all your drops, put your covers back up, and voila! You’ve got your rooms in perfect shape for showing off to your potential buyers.

Now that you know how to paint your home to get it ready for sale, you can apply your new found proficiency to your new home as well. After all, there’s no better time to paint a room then when it’s completely empty. If you find yourself worn out after all the painting and house staging and you’d like some help moving all your stuff, then have us provide you with quotes from qualified movers near you. We’ll provide you with multiple options so you’re sure to get the best deal possible. Simply fill out our form and get started today.

The Ultimate Moving Day Checklist

It’s finally here: moving day! You’ve planned, organized, found the perfect moving company, packed everything up, donated what you don’t need, and are ready to get out of your old place and into your new home or apartment! Awesome, right!? Well, we hate to break it to you, but there’s still a few things left to do before you can say goodbye to your old digs and start new. To help you out, we’ve complied a moving day checklist with a list of everything you need to get out in the quickest and most efficient way possible. Read on for more tips on how to have a successful moving day.

#1 Wake up early

No matter what time your move is, you’ll need to wake up early on moving day. Even if you packed everything and did all of the organizing, there’s always some last-minute thing to do. To avoid unnecessary stress, you want to make sure that you give yourself enough time before the movers get to your home.

#2 Pack any last-minute items

Even if you pack everything up before your actual move, there will still be a few items left. After your shower, pack up all of your bathroom items and then pack up your kitchen perishables. Consider throwing anything out that will melt or go bad during the duration of your move.

#3 Do a final sweep of your home

Before the movers arrive, go through your home one more time. Make sure that you visit every room, checking the cabinets, closets and storage spaces. If you have a large home, you want to make sure that you check the basement, attic, driveway or your guest house.

#4 Greet your movers

Once your movers arrive give them a walkthrough of your house or apartment, highlighting any fragile boxes or the furniture pieces that you need to have disassembled. Ideally, your boxes would be clearly labeled but it’s always a good idea to discuss what you want and not assume your movers will know how you want everything loaded. Make sure to also have water on-hand for them and show them where your bathroom is, which they might need during the moving process.

#5 Moderate the move

Plan to stay around as your movers load up the boxes. They might have questions about the move and it could give you a peace of mind to watch how everything is placed on the moving truck.

#6 Final sweep

Once everything is loaded up onto the moving van, look around your home one more time. You might have some garbage to take out, or in some instances you might have to clean your place before you leave. Consider hiring a cleaning company to do this part or if you have to clean it, enlist some friends to help you. Once everything is done, lock your door and head to your new home.

#7 Go to your new place

It’s time to head to your new place! Be in touch with your movers during this process. They might have traffic issues, took a different route or simply needed to stop for lunch. Being in touch during the process is crucial so that you have an estimated time frame for when they are heading to your new home.

#8 Guide the movers

Wait for the movers at your new home, then give them a walkthrough to your new home. Let them know what room each boxes should go in. During this process, you’ll also want to make sure that you have food and water for your movers.

#9 Tip your movers

After all of the boxes are in your house and your furniture is reassembled, it’s time to tip your movers. While this is optional, it is a nice thing to do after a long day of lugging, lifting and putting together your furniture. The movers also work as a team where the driver would divide the tip amongst the group. Consider this as you factor in how you felt that they did during the entire moving process.

#10 Unpack only the essentials

Once your movers leave, unpack some of the essentials that you will need that evening of the next day. This will likely include your bathroom essentials like your toothbrush, toothpaste, fast wash and soap, kitchen items, PJs and an outfit for the next day.

#11 Put your curtains up

You likely won’t be doing that much unpacking on the first day, especially if your move took all day. Consider unpacking and hanging up your curtains to help you to avoid the morning light. You’ll have a lot to do in the upcoming days where you’ll need as much sleep as possible to keep you energized and rested.

#12 Finally relax

It’s been a long and exciting day. Take the time to finally chill and relax. Consider getting takeout and relaxing with a book, or get some fresh air by grabbing a bite in your new area.

Moving can be a really stressful experience. One way to ensure that everything runs smoothly is to create a moving day checklist. This can allow you to streamline your moving day as you focus, making sure that you complete the remaining things left to do. It is also a huge help so that you don’t forget anything before you head to your new place.

How to Avoid Stress When You’re Moving

One night last month, while I was in the midst of moving out of the house where I had lived for nearly a decade, I found myself trying to make dinner with two pans, one fork and one knife — the only things I had not yet packed that were useful.

To distract myself from this sorry state, I turned on an episode of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and saw a father and son suddenly thrown into moving mode. A house flipper had knocked on their door and offered them cash to get out ASAP. But they were shown calmly putting random items into boxes that didn’t look as if they had been salvaged from a grocery or liquor store — as were most of my boxes — after which they stopped to have a leisurely heart-to-heart talk.

“That’s not how this works,” I yelled at my iPad, which was on top of the TV tray where I would eat while sitting on a paint-splattered folding chair, since I had just sold my dining-room set on Craigslist.

The move was one of the most stressful experiences of my life, in part because of all the moving parts involved — I had sold my house much more quickly than expected and needed to find a rental and storage on short notice — but also because moving isn’t something most of us do very often.

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Richard S. Citrin, an organizational psychologist and a writer of “The Resilience Advantage,” said: “We build routines to make things as efficient as we can. When we move, we do something very foreign to us.”

We don’t have a routine for hiring a mover. We don’t have a routine for how to pack the dishes or bed linens. We just don’t have a routine for upending our lives.

It all “takes a lot of mental and physical energy, and that expenditure of energy is very exhausting,” Mr. Citrin said.

While you probably can’t stop the stress that comes from the process, you can make your move easier — and also do your best not to get ripped off by moving companies.

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Time, Energy and Delays

Whether you’re paying friends with pizza and a six-pack, or hiring a company to handle packing and moving, the process still takes time — and typically much more time than you anticipate.

If you’re hiring a mover, Scott Michael, president and chief executive of the American Moving and Storage Association, an industry trade group that offers advice on its website, Moving.org, suggests calling at least three companies two months ahead. This gives you enough time to evaluate their estimates, research them through the Better Business Bureau and look them up on consumer review websites like Angie’s List and Yelp.

Mr. Michael advised looking for a physical address and, if it is a local moving company, drive by the business. (The Haggler, The New York Times’ business column, has delved into hellish moving-related experiences some have had with companies that exist only on the internet.) You can also search for complaints against moving companies on the Department of Transportation website.

When Amanda Goldman-Petri and her family moved from Conroe, Tex., to Bradenton, Fla., in 2015, they went through three movers.

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John Shabe and his wife, Tracey Randinelli, with a print by the cartoonist Walt Kelly, which they found — along with leftover debris — when they did the final walk-through of the home they were buying in South Orange, N.J.CreditDavid Handschuh for The New York Times

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John Shabe and his wife, Tracey Randinelli, with a print by the cartoonist Walt Kelly, which they found — along with leftover debris — when they did the final walk-through of the home they were buying in South Orange, N.J. CreditDavid Handschuh for The New York Times

The first company gave them a quote and, on moving day, showed up late and doubled the charge. She fired them. The second left half the family’s stuff behind and sent an invoice for more than the quoted price. “We, of course, refused,” Mrs. Goldman-Petri said. “They then held our items hostage in a warehouse.”

Mrs. Goldman-Petri then hired a third moving company to pick up their items from the warehouse. She said they overmeasured (and overcharged), and broke some items.

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She said that if she ever hired movers again, she would check the company on the Transportation Department website.

Mrs. Goldman-Petri said her family had moved a few times before, but this was their first move across state lines. “We weren’t educated on the difference between local versus national movers, so didn’t expect it to be an issue,” she said.

The next time they moved (from their rental into a home they bought last year), they did it themselves.

Buying, Selling and Setbacks

I thought negotiating a sale price for my house with buyers would be the toughest part of the process. Not so. My broker and the buyer’s broker were in constant contact about everything, from what repairs I would make to whether or not the buyer wanted to buy any of the furniture in the house.

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The author, who sold her house more quickly than she had anticipated, at her rental in Cape May. N.J. She plans to live there for two months while figuring out her next move.CreditMarc Steiner for The New York Times

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The author, who sold her house more quickly than she had anticipated, at her rental in Cape May. N.J. She plans to live there for two months while figuring out her next move.CreditMarc Steiner for The New York Times

My broker ended up being a shoulder to lean on, and sometimes to cry on.

“Sometimes Realtors have to be psychologists in order to evaluate and understand their clients’ situation and react accordingly,” said Bill Brown, president of the National Association of Realtors.

So when I sobbed about my buyer’s change in financing, my broker knew that I wasn’t upset just about that, but also about this being yet another unexpected bump on the road to selling the home, one that already included the death of my Jack Russell terrier, Emily. I had bought the home, in part, so she would have a yard.

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(The financing hiccup involved the buyer’s deciding to switch from a conventional mortgage to one through the Federal Housing Administration, which meant another appraisal. This could have moved back the closing date. But I had already signed a lease for my next place that started on the scheduled closing day, which could have meant that I’d have to pay both a mortgage and a lease at the same time. Fortunately, none of the feared upheaval came to pass.)

‘‘Anytime you have been living in a place, memories are there,” Mr. Brown said, adding that you should be able to rely on your broker for almost anything during the process (mine also helped me find a plumber to fix two faucets and a contractor to replace broken window panes). The only thing a broker should not give, Mr. Brown said, is legal and accounting advice.

In some places, like where I lived in southern New Jersey, buyers and sellers don’t bring lawyers into the process. In New York City, though, a lawyer will almost always be involved.

As for the part a lawyer plays in the transaction, Douglas P. Heller, a real estate lawyer at Herrick, Feinstein in Manhattan, said: “For the buyer, the role is to get what you paid for. For the seller, the role is to make sure nobody can come after you at the end of the day because you screwed up.”

For co-ops, being approved by the board can be another hurdle, Mr. Heller said. Buyers should seek co-op approval as soon as possible, especially if they want to close their deal in June, for example, and the board meets only twice a year.

Deals can still be scuttled on the last day — or wind up costing someone more money. When John Shabe and his wife, Tracey Randinelli, did the final walk-through of the home they were buying in South Orange, N.J., in 2001, the place was broom swept, “but you definitely saw little piles of dirt on the kitchen floor where they didn’t use a dust pan to pick it up,” Mr. Shabe said. That was just the start: they also found food in the refrigerator, rolls of paintings and canvases in the basement, and oil drums loaded with junk in the garage.

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The couple didn’t feel as if they could back out of the deal because their things were already loaded onto the moving truck. “We weren’t going to not move because of this,” Mr. Shabe said, so they asked for a credit at the closing to pay for junk removal, which in the end cost double what they expected.

One bright spot: In sorting through what the previous owners left behind, they found a print by Walt Kelly, the cartoonist of the comic strip “Pogo,” rolled up and left behind. They had it appraised and framed, and it still hangs in their home. (The 2004 appraisal was $300.)

In the End ...

Because my house went into contract just a week after I listed it and the deal closed in two months, and I was still paralyzed with grief over losing my dog, I moved most of my stuff into a storage unit, and myself into a furnished, short-term rental in Cape May, N.J.

After signing what seemed like 10,002 papers to release a home I had loved to someone else, I got into my old Jeep Wrangler and drove, white-knuckled, through snow and howling wind to the condo. I dumped my duffel bag and backpack in the living room and promptly realized that the sheets I brought didn’t fit the supplied bed.

I still haven’t completely unwound, and I haven’t 100 percent unpacked either — I’m writing this at a kitchen counter with my laptop on top of an old dynamite crate that used to hold my paper recycling.

At the end of my two-month lease, I’ll have to figure out what’s next. At least I won’t have to worry about a buyer changing his financing this time.