TODOs: Cleaning up ...

Selling items:

As I mentioned before, selling off early is the key - by starting early, you can gauge how much price you can get and start at a higher price and wait a bit. If it doesn't sell, you always have the time to re-list and sell at a lower price. It was surprising to see that we were able to get a price which we thought the item wouldn't sell for. You will be surprised to hear we did sell the 27'' Sony Trinitron TV for $50 !! Forget about getting some $ for it, we thought it would be a hassle to dispose off this heavy and bulky item. Again, starting early helped..

Some of the items we sold early on...
        - Car seats (left with just one car seat until the move), booster seat
        - Unused shoes, snow booths
        - Mixer
        - The additional recliner/sofa
        - Dining table
        - Glass showcase (too fragile to transport)
        - Unused text books (donated)
        - Old computer (donated)
        - Cloths cabinets (moved all the cloths in them to suitcases or existing selves)
        - Sorted cloths - donated the ones which we can't use)
        - Treadmill
        - Carpets
        - HD TV receivers, antenna
        - Outdoor swing
        - Ladder
        - Iron box (can't be used in India due to voltage diff and this is s high wattage item)
        - Old TV (big, trinitron type)
       
Which we could have sold but didn't:
- TV (flat screen): This was a 42'' plasma TV for which we paid $2500 when it came on market few years ago. Didn't make sense to sell it now for $250 (How do I know it would gotten $250 - listed on Craigslist to test the market and got offers in that range). Thought this could be a good second TV for kids(all those videos and as a Wii console) if it doesn't work well with PAL in India.
- Lamps

One of our friends said you can get converts for hooking the Indian type bulbs - mind you, it is not just the voltage with these things, US type bulbs are screwed where as Indian types have 2 hooks. However, as you might already know, compared to US apartment and homes, there is a good amount of pre-fixed light fixtures on the walls and you don't need lots of additional lighting. Might be better off buying new lamps once you are here.

Appreciate your feedback and comments, please leave a comment if you found this post useful (or not!) ...   

TODOs: Getting the cars ready for sell: services (tyre change etc) ...

Remember these are big ticket items - I think we worried more about getting those car seats, tables, lamps etc sold which sold for few hundred dollars. However, with cars, you are better off with a car in good shape. However, the tricky part is - you can't sell them off early. How do you live without a car in US?! But, if you start off early, you always have time to list and re-list, based on the demand. There is no rule saying you have to sell once you list in Craiglist! If you have 2 cars, may be sell one of them. Look for a buyer for the second one and have an arrangement that you will hand over the car during the last few days before you leave - worked for us! Don't forget to collect some advance from the buyer - if he/she drops out at the last minute, you are in a big mess and will need to look for a dealer who would buy the same car for 2/3rds of the price you would get from a third party.
       
Hence, good idea to get the cars ready 2-3 months in-advance. Cars need smog check before you sell, have services completed (BTW, I kept all of the service receipts in a file for each car and showed the file to the potential buyer - makes a good impression that you have taken care of the car and done all services and are meticulous about it). Normally, the small things give you a better price - you can get new tires installed for $400 to $500 but with bad tires, you might loose $1000 and don't have that selling point of 'new tires' in your ad for sale on Craigslist! (guess you got the idea - sell those babies on carigslist, free and you do get buyers)
       
Rented a van for last 3 days - that was convenient since we had 6 suitcases - rented the van from airport, loaded the suitcases, drove off to Airport, dropped the van and went directly to fly out. 

Appreciate your feedback and comments, please leave a comment if you found this post useful (or not!) ...