Clearing a house when you live out of town

The hard part of clearing a house from another state isn't the stuff. It's that every decision costs a trip, and every trip costs a week. The fix is to do the deciding before you get on the plane and keep the number of trips down to two.

Get eyes on every room before you book anything

Ask a neighbor, a cousin or whoever has the spare key to walk through with a phone and open every closet, cabinet and garage door on video. Don't let them summarize. You want to see the shelf above the washer and the corner of the basement where things get put.

If nobody local can do it, pay someone for an hour of walkthrough. That's cheaper than a flight to find out the house is emptier, or fuller, than you thought.

Decide what only you can do

Some things shouldn't be handed to a hired crew: the paperwork, the jewelry, the photographs, the wallet and the keys, anything with a name or a date on it. Pull those yourself, on the first trip, before anyone else touches the house.

Everything else is logistics. Furniture, tools, kitchenware, the garage. Those can go to a hauler or a sale without you standing there.

Line up local help before you arrive

• A hauler or donation pickup, booked for a day you'll actually be there
• A dumpster, if the driveway has room and the city allows it
• A locksmith, if the keys are missing or the locks are old
• Mail forwarding, and a stop at the post office
• The utility companies, for whatever date the buyer or landlord gives you
• Somebody with a truck and a strong back for the last day

Take the first trip for the small things

Spend the first trip on what fits in a suitcase and can't be replaced: documents, photos, jewelry, a few keepsakes, the contents of the top dresser drawer. Photograph each box as you seal it and keep the list on your phone.

Ship boxes home instead of filling the car. Insure them, and carry the things you can't replace on the plane. The car breaks down, the mail goes missing, and a ring in a checked bag is a bad idea.

Don't hand over the keys and hope

If you hire someone to run a sale or clear the house, get the terms in writing: what they take as a cut, when they get paid, what happens to what doesn't sell, and who pays to haul the leftovers. Ask for two references from houses like yours.

Be careful with the offer that goes 'we'll clear it for free if we can keep what we find.' That's a fine deal for a house full of junk and a bad one for a house with tools and jewelry in it. Get a second opinion before you say yes.

Plan the last day, not just the first

The last day is the walkthrough: closets open, garage swept, keys on the counter, water shut off if the buyer asked. Write the date and time down and work backward from it. That's the day you lose access, and everything that needs a body in the house has to happen before it.

The thing people get wrong is renting a truck, filling it with undecided boxes, and driving it across three states. You pay to move things you'll throw away at the other end, and then they sit in your own garage for a year waiting for a decision you already dodged once.