Maddy Sims

While none of the shows are totally accurate, some are more lifelike than others

There are many reasons to love old homes—the unique charm, the historical touches, the amazing architecture. But taking on an elderly home comes with its own set of challenges, too.

If you’re a frequent Zillow user, you’ve probably heard of the Zestimate: the free online estimate of your home’s value generated by the real estate company. Sounds convenient, right? You can get your house appraised online without even leaving your chair. You may be tempted to just skip the hassle of hiring an appraiser to get an accurate estimate for your home and use the Zestimate instead. But Emily Heffter, a spokeswoman for Zillow, says that might not be the best strategy.

If you’re selling a house, one of the first things you may want to do is hold an open house. While opening up your doors to potential buyers might seem like an effective way to sell your humble abode, it might not be worth the hassle. Joe Cleary, owner of The Cleary Group in Florida, says that open houses are slowly becoming a thing of the past, largely due to advances in virtual listings and home tours.

You’ve chosen your moving company and booked the movers, but there’s one thing that still needs to be done before the big day: packing up your belongings. Before you get too excited and begin stuffing your boxes with all your stuff, make sure that you’re setting yourself up for a smooth and efficient move.

Moving soon? You’re going to need packing tape—and a lot of it. But before you head to your local hardware supply store to pick up a few rolls, first think, “Is this going to cause more trouble than it’s worth?” From quickly losing adhesive to not being as durable as you’d like, bad tape can make moving a whole lot harder than it needs to be. And who knows how to avoid these sticky (pardon the pun) moving situations? The pros, of course.

With a few nifty helpers, moving day magically transforms into a much less daunting task.

Thankfully, there are relators who have gone through the process dozens of times before and can see a bad decision from a mile away.

So you just bought your first home—congrats! Now comes the fun part: settling into your new digs by filling it with necessary items. But after you spent all that money on securing your new home, you might not want to spend any more on the boring organization and maintenance tools homeownership requires. Save your dough for nesting, and get moving-in done with these essential 12 finds from Home Depot, all under $30.