Families routinely block off a weekend for a job that takes three months. Setting an honest expectation is the single best predictor of whether the move stays calm.
A working estimate by room
For a home lived in twenty years or more, plan on these ranges with two people working steadily.
- Bedrooms: four to six hours each
- Kitchen: eight to twelve hours
- Garage, basement, or attic: sixteen to thirty hours each
- Paperwork and photographs: ten hours, spread over weeks
- Living and dining rooms: six to eight hours each
What doubles the timeline
Three things reliably stretch the schedule: unresolved grief attached to specific objects, adult siblings who disagree about heirlooms, and a parent who is present for every decision without a break.
Plan short sessions, two to three hours at most, and stop before exhaustion turns into conflict.
Where a coordinator saves the most time
Sorting is family work. Hauling, appraisal, donation logistics, and estate sale coordination are not, and outsourcing them usually recovers weeks.