Q:  Do I have to be present while Cross It Off Your List is organizing or moving my home or office?

A:  Our organizing consultants will help facilitate your making the right choices, but they need to understand your priorities and preferences.  Therefore, you need to be present or available until our organizers are clear on your project’s purpose and desired goals, including what you want done, and what you wish to keep, move, ship, store, inventory, throw-away or donate to charity. Once these essential questions are answered and understood, you can continue to work directly with the consultant or you’re free to do your business — go to work, walk the dog, pick up your child or leave the country — and we’ll contact you if we have other decisions that only you can make.

Q:  Are your services expensive?

A:   The word “expensive” is relative, based upon what’s given and received.  10 cents for a worthless piece of glass is “expensive,” while $10,000 for a priceless gem is “cheap.”  Many of our clients are high-net worth individuals and families who have full, busy and demanding jobs and lives.  Spending days packing and unpacking is often not the best, or the most profitable, use of their time.  Similarly, the owners and employees of offices and small businesses often can’t afford to take time away from their jobs and customers to organize a storeroom or update their file system.

Q:  How do you charge?

A:  It’s impossible to know beforehand exactly how much time a project is going to take.  We might open one box and find one item, while another may hold dozens of unrelated pieces, all of which need to be sorted, recorded, shelved, stored, moved or given away.  In addition, we honor our client’s decision-making process.  Some of us are quick deciders; others require a bit more time.  For this reason, our organizers are billed by the hour.

With relocations, we often coordinate our work with that of a number of independent vendors, from moving companies to interior designers to superintendents and property management personnel. Charges for move management vary depending on the size and scope of the project.

Q:  Isn’t moving a task my house manager or personal assistant can handle?

A:  Yes and no.  Most house managers have their hands full already overseeing a household’s day to day chores, its staff and operations and often at more than one location.  A smooth, successful move requires focus and uninterrupted blocks of time plus a great deal of  time-consuming logistical coordination.

Cross It Off Your List has the staff, tools, experience and know-how to perform such a job.  Why reinvent the wheel?  We already have the numbers to call, the people to see and the permissions and paperwork that may be required.  If you’d like the benefit of our industry connections, we can recommend vendors, ones we know and trust.  Or you can choose your own.  That decision is yours.  Plus, our new proprietary inventory software program lets you go online and find a picture, description and the whereabouts of any items that you’ve stored.

Q:  Are you a moving company?  Do you pack and perform the move yourself?

A:  No. We act on behalf of our clients to supervise the movers and manage the process.  We record every item’s origin, current location and destination, and track it from start to finish.  If storage is needed, we handle that as well, photographing and describing each item and its storage location for our proprietary online inventory system.  When the movers reach your new home or office, we supervise where they unload and place the furniture, and we unpack all the boxes and put things away in logical or pre-determined places.  We can even chill the wine and set out fresh flowers.  When you walk into your new space, you can start living or working there without a hitch.