Overview: Life can throw anything at you, and when it does, you sometimes have to move in a hurry. We’ll show you how.

Sometimes it is simply unavoidable: a new job beckons, the perfect place is now yours and the school year is just about to begin. These are just a few of the many circumstances that can lead you to move before you have sold your current home. Leaving a spouse or partner behind to tend to the selling would be ideal, but it is not always feasible. A recent Realty Times article discusses how to increase your home’s appeal, and how to keep it safe while you are many miles away.

Ideally, you would want to leave some furnishings in your house. This always makes the house seem more appealing to potential buyers. If this is not feasible, you could always contact a local special staging company in order to rent some items to help fill out the rooms. If that seems like too much to deal with on top of moving, then there are alternatives. Consider leaving some large prints (such as 8x11 inches) of your furnished house in an album that people can look through to get an idea of how the house looks fully furnished.

If you leave your house empty, then make sure the walls and the floors are in the best shape possible. After all, this is where buyers’ focus will be. Consider re-painting the walls a neutral color. This helps tone down excessive individuality, as well as covering up marks left behind that would normally have been covered up by the couch, or that were created when shifting all your furniture out of the house. Get your carpets professionally cleaned; the difference between a well-tracked area and carpet that used to be hidden by the sofa will become extremely apparent.

Continue to give your house curb appeal. Hire someone to keep the lawn mown, the leaves raked and the snow cleared. Consider smartening up the landscaping with some new shrubs or some colorful annuals.

Do not let your empty house become a temptation to would-be burglars. Consider installing some exterior sensor lights that come on at sunset and turn off at sunrise. You could also invest in some timers that will turn some lamps on and off. If you have a security alarm, make sure you use it, but remember to leave your entrance code with your real estate agent. If you have a newspaper subscription, make sure you have cancelled it in plenty of time. Also, get a friend to periodically check for packages or other things left outside your home that could be clues that you are not home.

Hopefully these guidelines will provide you with a less stressful move when you have to leave and still have your house to sell.