I would start by either renting a storage unit or having a staging place to start storing boxes and preparing to move. Not sure how far you’re moving but you could possible start with a Pod if that makes more sense. Then start with thinning out your stuff and boxing what you want to move. This will most likely involve many trip to donation sites as well. Maybe have the kids start in there own rooms if they are old enough. Once you get started with that you can work or hire out the obvious repairs. This might be a good project if you have a relative willing to help. I wouldn’t fuss too much with the house, things sell like crazy now. Just clean up and thin out.

Interview at least three real estate agents, and don't sign up with anyone, even tho you may feel pressure.

Throw away, toss, discard. When we moved last, I think I got rid of a third of all we owned.

When you get down to having areas accessible, find a good general contractor/inspector to look it over and address items that need repair. Not cosmetic things like new kitchen cabinets, but real honest repairs that you'll be responsible for.

Good luck. at least the real estate market is still strong, even with rising interest rates.

Your first step is to buy a couple of boxes of Hefty bags. Use them as you declutter, then clean.

Then declutter again, and clean again.

If you're keeping something, but it is not essential for everyday life, go ahead and pack it.

Interview your agents. Take care of any repairs, but do not renovate. I would not recommend painting the inside. Maybe one or two rooms if they are over the top (as in you let the kids pick the paint color for their rooms). Any kid that complains that you are painting their room gets packed in the pod. (Maybe not, but it was fun to think about the other kids watching that happen!)

And start looking on line for a place in the new city. If you can find something to rent, that might be better than buying right away.

"A good realtor can make a world of difference" -- yes, 100%. I'd google realty offices in both towns, one to help you sell and one to help you buy. Check how long they've been in business. Ask specifically how many houses the agent you will work with has sold. (The agent who sold us our current house was a sweet woman but inexperienced and didn't do well by the seller.) You've no time to work with a new person, insist on someone with a good track record.

Oh, and when you buy trash bags, make them black so the kids can't see through them and complain about what's being thrown out.

Promise yourself a big reward when this is all done ... maybe a special weekend trip at the end of summer. Good luck!

Hope for the best and plan for the worst!

What if your house doesn't sell?

Can you afford to carry two homes?

How is the RE market at the new location? Any rentals?

Do you want to get the kids into new schools for the new school year? Or will you just stay put if you can't sell and you husband will rent a small temporary apartment at new location?

Can you buy a new house immediately at the new location, move and then stage the old house with minimal furniture or maybe plan to rent out the old house?

Lots of ways that this relocation can play out ...

You asked "Does anyone have a good method for getting things done quickly while still being able to live in the house?" That depends on what kind of time you have available.

Here are two guides to getting your house ready to sell in 30 days.

https://www.homelight.com/blog/how-to-sell-a-house-in-30-days/

https://wisemoveaz.com/getting-house-ready-to-sell-checklist-list-in-30-days-or-less/

Skip optional tasks like updating light fixtures, replacing cabinet hardware and planting shrubs - these things aren't necessary in today's hot markets. If you have kids underfoot, decluttering one room a day, not the whole house in a day, is a lot more reasonable.

Add some clear trash bags for things you want to keep. If blue or another color trash bags are available, use those for donations, and the black ones for trash.

Use your Crockpot for meals so you'll have a good hot dinner at the end of the day when you are tired. Use up the things in the freezer and pantry.

BTW, military wives often have to pack up in a hurry for transfers. Google "military wives guide to moving house" to search for useful advice.

@Stax , I agree. I do know people who stored things when stationed overseas, but mostly they shipped things back to their parents' house. Many of the houses near military bases that I have seen (online) are empty, clean, and shown "as is". No new neutral paint, no new anything, no staging, no professional photos. Just clean and empty.

Been there, done that! Very stressful. I feel for you. I don’t want to depress you but this takes time. Don’t rush it. It is hard and emotional. When you have lived in a home for 15 years, you accumulate a lot of “stuff”. So…now comes the hard part. Getting rid of “stuff”. 3-4 piles. Have we used this in last year or two? If no, if reusable, goes in “donate” pile. If not, “throw it out” pile. This process requires a lot of time. Involving your children helps a lot. Clothing is big issue. Be brutal. It’s hard. Kitchen’s hold so much stuff. Go thru as much as you can. Give pantry items to local food banks. Main home sale objective: clean clean clean. Empty closets or at least organized. Storage is usually an issue with older homes. (Had home built in 1900 so personal experience!) you need at least 6 weeks to accomplish getting ready for listing, getting good agent, getting movers lined up (busiest time of year), etc. Etc. Just the reality of the situation. I hope the company is paying for move? Find out precisely what they will pay. Keep invoices and receipts for EVERYTHING. Even meals at restaurants. Two weeks is completely unrealistic. Let us know how you are doing. Buy a lot of kitchen size garbage bags. You will need them.

Thank you to everyone for the tips. Adding a bit more info-

We currently live in a very hot real estate market, so I'm not worried about selling quickly. Average time on market is under 7 days. Our house is in better repair (but still needs some)/ more updated than many that have sold recently. And they're selling for way more than I would have expected.

The area we're moving to has basically nothing available to rent. It's a popular vacation spot, so even though a short term rental would be ideal, I don't see it happening. That's another reason we're trying to move fast- hotels are expensive. (I can't get husband to agree to renting an RV for the summer😁)

Houses are moving fast in the area we're moving to, but there are a decent amount of suitable homes in our price range, so I'm confident we can find something. We definitely don't want two mortgages, if it can be helped.

I know which Realtor we'll be using to sell, but haven't contacted him yet because my decluttering process has somehow made my previously not cluttered house nearly impassible. I don't understand- I've taken loads and loads of trash and donations out and it seems worse?!

My kids are 1 college age, moving in the opposite direction this fall, and 2 teens who are homeschooled, so they're able to help and I don't have to hide things.

So, am I overestimating what needs done before I call the Realtor? Are they used to looking past the current disaster and assessing value? Obviously, it isn't ready for pictures or listing.

Should I pause the decluttering and packing and try to clean up for the Realtor?

Thank you again to everyone!

A good realtor will understand your situation and yes, will be able to look past the current state of chaos. Don't worry, they've seen worse!

Kids and I will not be staying longer than absolutely necessary. I'm the one who never wanted to live here and only did for husband's about to end job. We haven't even met anyone in the area we're moving to, so staying with someone else definitely won't work.

I checked into short term rentals since they'd be less expensive than a hotel and it would relax the house shopping timeline.

First impressions impact agents too. I would try to get entry and rooms as you walk in organized and clean. Then you show what you intend and the other clutter becomes “to do list”. Most agents are human (little humor there) but they gage effort they have to encourage or put in in order to sell a property. So do that for best overall results. $$$$

You have been given lots of great advice. i have had to go through this process, though not as quickly as you, and it is a lot of work! The one item I purchased that was extremely helpful was a handtruck type dolly. i was by myself and no matter how you plan you will find you need to move those stacks of boxes.

Thanks for additional info. If your teens can drive, they could be the ones to make a daily late-afternoon dropoff of the day's decluttering at Goodwill or other charity. A daily dropoff can clear the halls and entry by removing the bags.

Teens aren't driving yet. I have considered a hand truck, but I'm not sure how useful it would be. We have three floors of living space, plus a basement and stairs at the front and back entries.

I also had a two week timeline to move and ended up giving away far too many things that I now find myself regretting or repurchasing. Best to just put it in a box if moving space isn’t an issue.

Update and asking for more advice(again!)

I followed the advice to do everything simultaneously. It's still a work in progress, but other than the garage roof repair (which is scheduled) and some painting, all of the repair/maintenance tasks are completed. Decluttering and packing continues and I have 2 U-box (pod type containers) scheduled for delivery at the end of the week. Husband left Saturday and started the new job this morning.

On Friday we met with a Realtor who we used as a buyer's agent (this is where I ask for advice). I'm not happy with his suggested listing price and I'm not sure I trust his advice in general. I know homeowners tend to overvalue their property, so I'm keeping that in mind. The comps he pulled aren't really comparable. They have lower sq. footage, some are missing things that we have like a garage and off street parking, they're in different parts of town, no updates, etc. He is suggesting a low listing price around the same amount that these properties sold for, or even $5000 less. Not even taking into account that we have replaced almost all major systems, appliances- which are at least mid-level, roofs, bath fixtures, flooring (except where we have original hardwood) and fencing- modern wood, not PVC, if I take the avg. sq. ft. price and multiply it by the size of our living area, it comes up with a price that's $50,000 higher. And the house directly behind us which he didn't include, sold for that. As did another one two blocks away- not through a real estate agent, so I can understand how he missed that one.

I wouldn't consider listing that high, but I think somewhere in the middle is probably more accurate. He also wants to list at a price ending in $900. I thought the advice was to not do this, so you show up in two bands of searches.

I realize that listing price is up to me, but should I worry that he won't put as much effort in, if I choose not to follow his advice? Am I missing something regarding his pricing strategy- he wants to go low to drum up interest and possibly start a bidding war, but if I'm unwilling to accept an offer of full asking price- it shouldn't actually be listed at that, right? I feel like he's just trying to get it done as quickly as possible to collect commission because it's in a lower price range that he usually sells in (or maybe he just isn't as familiar with this particular market because of that?)

Thanks again to everyone who's been advising!

Talk to at least two other agents with different offices. At this time you are comparing an apple to the same apple.

Trust your gut. You have great instincts. You are absolutely correct to be concerned. No way that agent should have missed a private or off MLS sale to include in comps. It was laziness to not check the Registry of Deeds as well as MLS stats.

Interview at three more agents. Ask specific questions regarding the state of the market. Scrutinize their market analysis for not only more accurate and current sale comps but also Day On Market to sale. What is their marketing plan? Don't agree to allow them to hold the listing off MLS or Realtor.com, etc. In may cases this violates MLS rules and the only one that stands to gain from this is the agent and their brokerage.

Good luck!

I just came to wish you luck, Sandra. I’ve been through what you’re doing a few times. It’s incredibly tough - no way around it. To help me keep my sanity my mantra was “I can only do what I can do.” I reminded myself it was not a life or death matter. I, too, was also the only one who packed/organized houses before sell/move buy. Be kind to yourself. Breathe. I’ll keep you in my thoughts and I know it’ll all work out. Hugs to you.

Thank you so much for your comment, CY! I keep reminding myself that it's a temporary situation and the payoff is huge. I'm fortunate that my husband trusts my decision making and reasoning.

I truly appreciate all of the commentors here offering support and advice.

I'm currently being kind to myself by having a cold beer in the yard (that is done after being freshly mulched today!) while my Instant pot cooks dinner🙂

Does your husband's new employer offer any assistance? Major companies sometimes buy out their new employees and even help them get relocated. How do the RE markets in the two locations (new and old) compare?

Unfortunately, the new company doesn't do anything on that scale. They did give a small sign-on/ relocation bonus, which isn't typical for them, because of moving up the start date. It's being paid with the first paycheck, so while it's nice and will be useful later, it isn't helpful now.

The RE markets in both locations are similar. There's more inventory where we're moving to, than where we're moving from, so we have a slight advantage.

Buyer is responsible for home inspection.

Get a realtor. One who has a successful career going (and hopefully be part of a team).

Have her give you a market appraisal and if you are happy with her listing price, sign that contract and get rolling. She will have lots of advice and lots of contacts to help you move.

Ask her to find you an agent in your new town. She will get a piece of the new realtor's commission if you buy through her. Ask new agent to find you a rental until she can find you a home to buy.

Meanwhile, get your boxes out and start packing things you know you will take, like china, glassware, other smalls. I have a printing company near by and I got pkgs of newsprint.

In a hot market, don't worry about neatly stacked boxes. They won't deter buyers from making offers.

Thanks for the update Sandra! Glad things worked out so well and you’re ok despite the hurricane. Best wishes in your new home 💕

Nice to hear a happy update :-)