Home Improvement Inside » Moving House Tips

The First Few Days

Ed — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:51:37 +0000

The first few days in your new house will feel just as if you're still packing – just you'll be unpacking and making a mess. Its impractical to even try to consider being organized and unpacked within one day, unless you have very few belongings, so you should try to unpack in the order you packed, or as close to it as possible – placing boxes in or near the room you're planning to unpack may be impractical, depending on the size of the house, but makes things easier.

Its perfectly acceptable not to unpack everything in the first few days – if you've moved to a new area, you may want to (or need to) explore and familiarize yourself with any public transport, local facilities, or shops in the area. You'll need to go out and buy at least the basics – saving the 'big shop' until you've unpacked your kitchen. You'll probably unpack that and your living room, and if you're not taking long off work, your home office first.

Unpacking takes place over six to twelve weeks, depending on your family, and you may find that you have to permanently store items in a garage, basement or attic, because there just isn't the room for them.

Most of your utilities should be on and connected for moving – but you may find that your Internet and phone, cable or satellite take several weeks to be reconnected. In these cases, you should make the most of the change, and unpack as much as you can. After a month or two, your life will be back into its work/life/sleep pattern so consider any break from it, if you can, a holiday of sorts. Once your utilities are all reconnected, you may find you have less time to unpack, so its good to get as much of it out of the way as possible.

If you are returning to work, outside the home, after a move, ensure you know your new route to work, and allow some extra time for the journey….just in case.

Two Days To Go

Ed — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:06:47 +0000

The last few days before your move will be a blur of final packing, cleaning, touching up, organizing and sleeplessness. You'll probably want to take time off work, if you haven't done so already, and devote all of your time to finishing your preparations for the move. Everything should be in place for you by now – if not, you should follow up on any loose ends that will affect your first days in your new house as soon as possible.

At two days to go, if you haven't got a van with power points, you'll need to start defrosting your freezer. Easier said than done, but it saves you having to clean up water in the van, or worse, damaging your boxes and bags because your freezer has leaked. Any food you're using now should be as minimal prep as possible, so that you can pack any tins, cans, pots and pans you have left over.

Final checks with your utilities should also be made – hopefully, you'll have managed to either transfer or connect a new phone number at your new house, so you can start updating contact details. You should also phone your doctors surgery/local health care provider, or church group to let them know you're going to be at a new address.

Many people appreciate personalized notices that their friends and family have moved – so you should send out the last of those items now. You may also want to consider a 'house cooling' party – use paper plates and disposable cups and make an adventure of it – you could even talk your family and friends into some last minute packing/painting help.

You can also ensure that any schools, health practitioners or other regular visitors or places you regularly go to have your new contact details, if necessary. Some schools require an address of a new school to release children's records to, so its important, if you can, to give them.

Moving House

Ed — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 10:31:48 +0000

The average person moves house several times in their lifetime. Moving for a job, more space, or a change of scenery, its one of the most stressful, and rewarding times for the majority of people. From moving a few doors down, to across a continent, moving house is one of the most important things, and sometimes the hardest to organize.

From collecting supplies – buying boxes and tape, to packing your house up, cleaning and moving to your new home, its an adventure for all involved. Small and home offices are also usually quite interesting to move – a new area for local clients and a nightmare for people that run services online, so its important to plan accordingly and ensure that you've made plans to cover yourself during the move. Your small office may be the last thing you actually pack fully, but you can start by cleaning through your paperwork and ensuring everything you've got has storage – if you run a craft business or have a hobby that takes up space, its always good practice, as soon as you've heard you'll be moving, to start clearing and boxing up your non essential supplies.

It takes careful planning to move house, but you can do so via the web at http://movingplan.com or http://helpiammoving.com – two great sites that help you plan your move and give you an idea where to start. Most importantly, you need to start planning as soon as you know you're moving – so that you're as organized as possible.

Whether you're selling your house or moving due to a new baby, need for more, or less space, because you're renting and need to move on, or are going to let your own house and move into another one – moving can be stressful….but it can also be a lot of fun.

One Month To Go

Ed — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:06:48 +0000

At one month out, you should consider booking your van. This is important because the longer you leave your bookings, the harder it may be to get an affordable moving company. This also goes for moving, if you're allowing a firm to pack and move you.

Packing firms may also need plenty of warning to be booked, so ensure you investigate this fully before committing to booking them with a month of time. You may need to book them sooner., or may have a little leeway. Booking at one month in advance (or more) also means its easier to collect and decide, impartially on the quotes you collected in the previous weeks. These quotes may have seemed a long way off, but at 30 or so days until you move, it may seem like a long way off, but depending on the size of your house it may be no time at all.

If you're moving house and booking a firm to help you, you may also want to consider booking a cleaning company to come in and clean behind you. They can clean your house, after your belongings are packed and have professional methods for removing stains, marks and other tricky marks on walls, doors and carpets. Even if you're moving yourself, you may need to hire a professional cleaning firm to fulfill your contract with your landlord.

At one month to go you should also start investigating utilities and other things that will transfer with you – moving is a good time to take advantage of any offers that you might get with your phone, electricity, Internet or gas. Taking advantage of this now may not make sense, but in the long run it means you can investigate your options and make an educated decision on your utilities and other billables.

Preparing Your House

Ed — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 08:57:48 +0000

If you're selling your house, you have to do several things to ensure its ready for a smooth and easy sale. You can hire an estate agent, interior stager or complete sales teams to sell your house – or you can do it yourself.

Houses are considered to be easiest to sell when they are clean, tidy, free of clutter, and the walls are neutrally toned – some sites and experts suggest painting your walls white, others suggest that you should paint them with pale, neutral, matching colors. If this isn't possible, it is important to make sure your walls are clean – removing clutter and cleaning woodwork and painted walls, can give your room a much needed lift.

If you're de-cluttering, you can also begin packing whilst doing so, but considering some houses sell up to three months before you're planning on moving OR up to a year after you've moved, its also important not to plan to sell straight away, unless your house is in a highly sought after area, and you've got a good, competitive price. If not, you might be in for quite a wait on selling your house – and you also have to find a new place to move to yourself.

Estate agents, and Realtors do a great job of selling houses, but in an ever increasingly competitive market, you have to do very unique things to sell your house – it has been reported that some people are offering new cars, or paying the tax on your house for the first year of your stay in the new house. The housing market is always expanding, but you can't sell just anything – dilapidated houses can't simply be considered 'fixer uppers' and all houses for sale have to meet ever increasing stringent codes – or have new owners that will fix these to meet those codes.

One Week To Go

Ed — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 15:59:48 +0000

Your final week will be filled with packing, rushing, and trying to arrange the last of your address changes. Your bank, credit card, mobile phone and utilities should all know that you're moving and on which date you're transferring to that address – so all that remains now is to make sure that you have new utilities in your new house and that they have a definite date for beginning.

The last week of packing is everything you have left – with an eye to ensuring that you'll be able to live out of as few boxes as possible and seal the rest. By now, you'll probably find that you've got a lot of boxes stacked in several rooms and will be sick of the whole moving process. But in just over a week you'll be in your new home, unpacking.

Your appliances should be checked and cleaned with seven days to go – you should possibly consider not buying frozen goods at all over the next week, unless you're sure that they won't defrost during the move. Wastage is easily avoided and you can use up all of the items in your freezer without needing to buy more. You may also want to start making a list of any items you'll need when you move to your new house – anything you've ran out of or will use before the move, so that you can buy more once you're in your new house.

You should also consider, if possible, cleaning any rooms you're not going to use much. Give them a through scrubbing – it will save you having to do it (or hire someone to do it) on the last few days before your move.

You should also order any items notifying people of your new address now – giving them plenty of time to reach you – or plenty of time to be printed and collected.

Arranging Storage

Ed — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 11:40:48 +0000

Sometimes, there isn't enough room for all of your belongings – and arranging storage, on top of moving can be a blessing in disguise – or a nightmare. So you need another, convenient, cheap option for your furniture.

Storage companies are basically large warehouses or lockups that you can rent – and range in size from a box room to an area large enough to store a complete house.

Storage is great if you're needing to move out of one house before your other hoese is ready – or when you've sold your old house but haven't finished arranging the new one. It saves the you having to work out what to do with your things.

It's also a good idea when you have too much furniture for your new house, and no where to store it yourself – and while garages and basements are great for short term storage, they aren't protected, in some cases against the elements, nor, possibly insured against accidents, such as fires or flood. Garages and basements also, while accessible, may also need to be used for other things.

It is possible for your belongings to be damaged in storage, but highly unlikely – you'll be given a list of belongings that you're checking in – and you should check at that time that everything is secure, sealed and stacked or placed well.

If you're moving long distance, its always good to research, throughly, by phone and if possible, in person, how much access you'll have to your furniture, and belongings, and what sort of notice you need to give – you'll also need to work out what is going into storage and how much space you'll need for it all.

If you're unsure of storage companies, and you're using a removal company – ask them – they may have a group of storage companies they deal with, and offer you a better premium than you may otherwise get. It also means that you've got less research to deal with.

Three Weeks To Go

Ed — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 12:29:48 +0000

At three weeks to go, you'll hopefully have finished packing your cupboards – you'll be able to start packing any non essential belongings and put them away too. If you're painting any rooms, its a good idea to try to do so in the next few days, so its all ready, and order any packing supplies you want or need. Ordering as far in advance is important because you'll have the supplies on hand.

You can start investigating schools in your new area and list any questions you may want to ask. While considering which the best school in the area is, you also have to consider how accessible it is, whether there's a school or public bus route to take your children there and whether you need to pay for this.

Your quotations should be coming in now too, from those that you've requested them from, and they should be making appointments to evaluate your belongings, to decide what size of van you'll need and how many men you'll need to help you move – or just the size of van you'll need. You should have chosen your new utility provider by now, and have any forms you need to fill out for your bank, so that there's no delays in changing your details to your new home. If you're letting, you should also have a lease by now, with details of what you are going to have to take care of on moving in.

Your Internet is also something you should start closing down, and let them know when you're moving – if they have to come pick up (or move) your equipment, now is a good time to arrange this. Internet service providers have a minimum notice clause, so its good to make sure that you meet this, or you may be over billed, or fined.

Two Weeks To Go

Ed — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:03:48 +0000

At 14 days out you've got less than 12 days to pack, cause your last two days are going to be taken up by cleaning and packing bits you missed. With two weeks to go you'll probably want to consider telling your mobile phone provider that you're moving, and consider letting your regular clients know that you'll have a new address.

Most businesses have items shipped to them – if your suppliers deliver to you regularly, you will need to contact them to let them know that your address is changing. You may also want to contact your mail provider – and if necessary, arrange a mailing redirect.

Mailing redirects are a great way to make sure you don't lose your mail without having to remember or track your mailings – you should always confirm with the post office depot in question what this redirection service covers and whether its available to you. They will be able to advise you on how best to take care of this, and probably advise you of anything that can't be redirected, such as parcel deliveries from third party delivery companies.

You should never redirect your major bills, such as your bank statements, credit card statements, notices of payments from people – or anything that can be used as ID – with the increase of identity theft on the rise, its important to consider what you're going to be leaving behind when moving. You can't guarantee that the people moving in to your old home will forward your billing information or other sensitive documents, so its important to ensure you know what you've got to transfer and keep a list so that you can mark off what you're transferring bills.

By now you should also consider paying any deposit if you haven't done so or made arrangements to do so already. From here on in, your move is most probably assured and things should seem a bit more secure.

Booking Your Van

Ed — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 06:50:48 +0000

Unless you're moving a very short distance and can do many hops in your own transport – or if you're moving with a group of people (such as in the Military), or your family has access to a suitable van, its important to book your van as far in advance as possible, to allow you to ensure that you get your van.

You can collect quotes online based on your move date and expected destination – and the phone and confirm and discuss these quotes if necessary. During this phone call, you can also ask about anything you've got concerns about, if anything.

You'll need to decide whether you're moving yourself and just hiring a van, or hiring a van and moving team. Or even hiring a company to take care of it all, from packing to moving you to your new home and arranging your belongings so that you can unpack.

You may also need some basic information on the amount of items you want to move, the sizes of your bulky items, and whether you'll be moving into a house that's up stairs or an elevator – and what access you have, as some companies charge premiums for this if you're using their team to move. Access includes whether its a long way to your front door, or if parking is readily available, or conversely, difficult.

Booking your own van can be pretty straight forward – once you work out how large a van you need. An average four bedroom house requires around a ten tonne van, but some families have less belongings, and some have more, so its important to judge carefully and ask around rental firms for their opinion. You'll may also have to pay a deposit on your van so you should take that, and your petrol requirements into account – so that you can budget accordingly. These may or may not be included in your final price for rental, so you may need to look closely at each quote before deciding which one works for you.