From the time that you buy a house through the Mls until you pick up the keys, there are a lot of adjustments to make: Forwarding the mail; buying new furniture; packing up the goldfish (if flushing is not an option).
Interestingly though, the most important step on the path from Mls to possession is also the easiest to overlook.
Maybe that's because it often doesn't hit you until you're standing in your new living room amidst a mountain of boxes.
It's then that you may ask yourself "how do we make our new house feel like home?" Whether it's room dimensions, home style or property type, you'll find a lot of valuable information in the Mls.
One thing you won't find, however, is advice on dealing with the emotional toll of leaving familiar surroundings behind and trying to feel comfortable in a new environment.
To ease the transition for yourself and your family, it helps to map out a strategy before your journey through the Mls even begins.
Seek Some Shades With the flurry of activity that follows your purchase through the Mls, there are a million details to attend to.
But helping the kids set up their rooms and finding your spouse's favorite reading lamp can wait.
In the beginning, it should be all about hue.
The sooner you incorporate your favorite colors in the décor, the sooner you'll be at ease in your new environment.
Painting the walls of your new Mls house won't happen overnight; so in the meantime, arrange pillows, hang curtains or place artwork that incorporates the colors you love.
Filling the space with vibrant reds and cheery yellows is a great way to cure those new-home blues once and for all.
Collect Your Thoughts While the choices you make in perusing the Mls say a lot about you, nothing speaks to who you are and where you've come from like the items you've collected along the way.
It could be an elaborate array of antiques or a collection of vintage records.
Regardless, if it's important to you, displaying it prominently is bound to make the house you found through Mls feel homier.
And if the kids accuse you of living in the past, tell them you see a weekend of endless chores in their future.
Corner Time At some point after closing the deal on your Mls property, the lack of familiarity may start to overwhelm you.
When it does, nothing is more reassuring than curling up with a cup of tea and a good Kindle; or, if you're feeling retro, an actual book.
As you pack up your possessions at the old house, put your favorite reading chair and light in their own box and mark it with a red "x" or something else that stands out.
Then make them the first things you unpack at the new residence and lose yourself in a good story.
What better way to start a new chapter in life? Relish the Ritual By the time you've gone from the Mls to standing in an unfamiliar and unfurnished house, you may have lost track of the cherished rituals that defined your family in years past.
Now is the perfect chance to revive them.
Get the kernels popping on Movie Tuesday or fire up the barbeque for Steak Sunday.
They won't make it to the listing on the Mls, but they're as much a part of your new home as the spacious back yard and floor-to-ceiling windows.
Though the Mls is a great place to find your next house, only you can make it feel like home.
Even with all of these measures, there may be times when the newness gets to you and you wonder if you did the right thing.
It's true, you can never go back.
But with a wealth of special moments and family time ahead, why would you want to?