Month: <span>June 2016</span>

When potential buyers walk into a home for sale in Toronto, ON or elsewhere in Canada – they do what we were all told not to do when we were growing up: judge a book by its cover. You should treat your home like an open book and encourage the buyer to make the offer that you expect.

Here are some tips for self-staging your Toronto home for a quick sale:

• Curb Appeal – Clean, sweep and powerwash the front entrance. Landscape the garden, remove weeds, cut grass and trim edges to give your home a clean look. A fresh mat outside and a pot of bright flowers will freshen up the entryway too.
• Declutter – This tip will probably be the most time consuming. Clear and pack personal belongings, such as: family pictures, collectible items, trinkets and all dust collectors. Minimize your furniture – believe it or not, fewer items in a room actually make the room look bigger. Don’t forget the closets too!
• Store and Sell – Don’t know what to do with all your stuff? Rent a storage space in Toronto for the boxes and large items. Many Toronto storage providers will rent on a month-to-month basis and are a secure way to keep everything together. Organize a garage sale for all the unwanted items.
• Paint and Touch Up – Patch-up cracks or holes in the walls. Refresh a room with a quick coat of paint. Rooms painted in light colours are calming on the eyes. Think beige, taupe, white or pale blue.
• Brighten Up – Hanging mirrors gives the perception of a longer or wider room. Open curtains. Keep the temperature of your house at a comfortable level. Open windows to air out any stuffiness. Clean your windows to offer a clear view and a subtle hint of cleanliness.
• Fresh scents – Don’t be cooking a fry-up or a spiced meal before a showing! Fresh flowers on the dining room table or a single flower in a vase for the bathroom. Flowers give an elegant touch to any room. If you like to bake, feel free to indulge now. Everyone loves the smell of fresh baking. If baking’s not your thing, try this pro tip: Boiling cinnamon in a pot gives a homemade cookie smell!
• Clean, clean, and clean – Once rooms are decluttered it will be easy to keep up with the cleaning. Make a daily routine to dust, vacuum, and mop floors. Clear plates and cups, wipe down sinks, the fridge and cabinet doors. Entryways should be clutter free. Hang jackets, put bags and shoes away.

Remember that a first impression is important and memorable, and might be the only chance you get to show off to a buyer.

About Viktoria Van Lines Toronto

Viktoria Van Lines Toronto is a professional Toronto moving and storage company, providing high quality local and long distance moving services throughout the GTA, Southern Ontario and across Canada. Thanks to our country-wide network we are also able to service our clients’ long distance moving needs throughout Canada.

Call Viktoria Van Lines Toronto (647) 344-1554 or Toll Free: 1 ( 877) 399-1315 for a FREE Consultation in regards to your residential or commercial / office moving needs to and from Toronto, the GTA and across Canada.

If you have a move coming up, to or from Toronto, ON or elsewhere in Canada, and would like to save some time and headaches, you are welcome to use this handy moving checklist our team prepared for you.

1 to 2 months before moving:

• Call Viktoria Van Lines Toronto for a free in-home moving estimate: (647) 344-1554 or Toll Free: 1 ( 877) 399-1315
• Get packing supplies if packing yourself
• Have a garage sale
• Obtain medical and dental records
• Ask your doctor and dentist for referrals and transfer prescriptions
• Make any necessary travel arrangements
• Transfer your memberships
• Fill out change of address forms
• Record serial numbers of electronic equipment, if possible take pictures or video tape of your belongings
• Start a moving expenses log, as some of your expenses may be tax deductible

2 to 4 weeks before moving:

• Reserve the service elevator if moving from an apartment
• Transfer your newspaper and magazine subscriptions to your new address or discontinue delivery
• Switch utility services to your new address – inform telephone, cable, hydro companies of your move
• Confirm travel reservations if necessary
• Check the contents of your safe-deposit box. Pack and carry all valuables such as jewelry, insurance policies, legal documents and important collections with you
• Prepare your children for the move by encouraging them to prepare their own special box with toys, games and snacks for the trip
• Start packing (if packing yourself)
• Number all of your boxes, label each box according to its contents, specially mark fragile contents and keep an inventory list
• Clean or arrange for a cleaning service to clean your home

A few days before moving:

• Collect house keys and arrange to leave them with the new owners, your real estate agent or landlord
• Double check all closets, shelves, your garage, etc. to be sure they are empty
• Finish packing

On the moving day:

• Ensure your Toronto movers have all your destination details, exchange phone numbers and have your cell phone with you in case you need to contact your movers, etc.
• Walk through your home with the crew to survey the work to be done and make sure your instructions/wishes are clearly understood
• Make sure you shut off all appliances
• Assist your Toronto movers by ensuring that items are delivered to the correct room
• Carry important documents, currency and jewelry yourself
• Complete a last minute check of all rooms and closets

About Viktoria Van Lines Toronto

Viktoria Van Lines Toronto is a professional Toronto moving and storage company, providing high quality local and long distance moving services throughout the GTA, Southern Ontario and across Canada. Thanks to our country-wide network we are also able to service our clients’ long distance moving needs throughout Canada.

Call Viktoria Van Lines Toronto (647) 344-1554 or Toll Free: 1 ( 877) 399-1315 for a FREE Consultation in regards to your residential or commercial / office moving needs to and from Toronto, the GTA and across Canada.

Apart from being an environmentally friendly alternative to cardboard products, plastic moving bins bring the benefits of convenience, protection, efficiency and reduced cost when moving to or from Toronto, ON or elsewhere in Canada.

Renting moving bins means eliminating the need to put together or break down boxes, which results in huge time savings before and after your move. In fact, our moving bins come with a free delivery and pick-up, which can typically be arranged at a time most convenient for you.

Also, stacking cardboard boxes safely while maximizing the use of space takes thought, care, and a little planning. For this reason our Toronto movers love working with plastic moving bins and are typically able to reduce overall move times significantly.

Since our moving bins are made of high grade plastic, they are built to withstand any damage while keeping your belongings intact. Plastic moving bins also stack very well as they were designed specifically for this purpose, meaning the potential for disaster is eliminated.

Let’s not also forget about the environmental impact and sustainability that these eco-friendly bins provide. By helping to reduce the production and consumption of paper products, not only are you making a smart choice for your moving day, but you are also helping out our environment.

About Viktoria Van Lines Toronto

Viktoria Van Lines Toronto is a professional Toronto moving and storage company, providing high quality local and long distance moving services throughout the GTA, Southern Ontario and across Canada. Thanks to our country-wide network we are also able to service our clients’ long distance moving needs throughout Canada.

Call Viktoria Van Lines Toronto (647) 344-1554 or Toll Free: 1 ( 877) 399-1315 for a FREE Consultation in regards to your residential or commercial / office moving needs to and from Toronto, the GTA and across Canada.

We come across a number of clients daily who have had bad experiences moving with friends. Their expectation is a successful move on a small budget, but the reality can turn out to be quite a different story.

The contrast between asking your friends to help you move vs. hiring professional Toronto movers is like night and day. The success of a move is usually defined as getting all of your belongings from your previous Toronto residence into your new home in a one day time-frame, without damage to your belongings or either property.

Knowing how to pack a moving truck efficiently, how to quickly estimate load and unload times for planning, and being able to organize a workforce in the most efficient way possible takes years of training and is not nearly as easy as it seems.

If damaging your furniture or your home is a concern, you should never move yourself. Professional Toronto movers are trained experts in techniques specific to every piece of furniture they encounter (and every environment), and that level of expertise comes only after several years in the industry.

As far as budget is concerned, remember that moving yourself is far from cost-prohibitive. Your major expense will be renting a moving truck and any equipment necessary to aid in the move. While having your friends and family there to help is a great idea, they are also far from a “free” labour force. Aside from the implied obligation to provide food and refreshments during the process, most people will also feel compelled to entertain the people who helped out during the process and provide dinner (and possibly drinks) afterward.

Combine all of these factors with the financial cost related to repairing damages, and your labour force is not as cheap as you previously imagined.

The bottom line is that the last thing you want on a day that is already full of stress is an additional headache to deal with. Your time, money, and energy are all very valuable, and hiring professional Toronto movers often saves you all three.

About Viktoria Van Lines Toronto

Viktoria Van Lines Toronto is a professional Toronto moving and storage company, providing high quality local and long distance moving services throughout the GTA, Southern Ontario and across Canada. Thanks to our country-wide network we are also able to service our clients’ long distance moving needs throughout Canada.

Call Viktoria Van Lines Toronto (647) 344-1554 or Toll Free: 1 ( 877) 399-1315 for a FREE Consultation in regards to your residential or commercial / office moving needs to and from Toronto, the GTA and across Canada.

While renting out Toronto storage space in someone’s building may seem like a straightforward proposal, it’s important to understand that there is a lot more to making the decision than choosing a storage facility in Toronto with a convenient location and finding the lowest price.

Not only is it important to research Toronto storage facility/company you will be storing your items with, but you must also consider your specific storage needs when choosing the size/type of locker you will be renting (and if you need a locker at all) as well as the services offered by the storage facility in Toronto.

Security and safety should be your number one concern; nothing will cause you more stress or headache than dealing with stolen or damaged items. When it comes to security, simply placing a lock on your storage locker is not a guarantee that the contents are safe. While using a good quality padlock is a prudent choice, the probability of having your locker broken into will be influenced much more by the overall security precautions taken by the facility.

Not only should there be an adequate security system that includes a combination of security cameras and alarms, but the surveillance cameras should be recording all input into a DVR that is indexed by time/date.

In light of the fact that most theft is targeted/pre-planned, a locker located indoors in an area with minimal pedestrian traffic and exposure to the outer world is much safer than an outdoor locker. If people can’t see what is being loaded into a locker, they are less likely to risk breaking into it.

The second concern most consumers have is climate/temperature control, as there are certain items which must be stored within a specific temperature range in order to avoid damage.

A large number of facilities are not climate controlled, and the ones advertising “climate controlled” storage often make a claim that is slightly misleading.

The final consideration is whether or not you will be hiring a moving company in Toronto to transfer your items into storage or handling this task on your own. If you’ve decided to work with professional Toronto movers, remember that you will be paying them by the hour for their services.

About Viktoria Van Lines Toronto

Viktoria Van Lines Toronto is a professional Toronto moving and storage company, providing high quality local and long distance moving services throughout the GTA, Southern Ontario and across Canada. Thanks to our country-wide network we are also able to service our clients’ long distance moving needs throughout Canada.

Call Viktoria Van Lines Toronto (647) 344-1554 or Toll Free: 1 ( 877) 399-1315 for a FREE Consultation in regards to your residential or commercial / office moving needs to and from Toronto, the GTA and across Canada.