Moving to a new home can be such an exciting experience, especially if you have managed to buy your dream house. As great as this might be, there is still a lot to go through before you can finally put your feet up and enjoy a hot cup of tea in your new home. The process of packing up your house can be a nightmare and take much longer than you think. To help make things easier for you, here are the four stages of packing up your belongings and moving house.
1. Clear Out
When you’re moving to a new home, there’s no point in taking things with you that you no longer want or need. Before you start putting things into boxes and storage containers, take the time to go through the items in your home and decided whether or not they will be coming with you to the new house.
Items that are still in good condition can be given to charity shops or you can offer them to friends or family who might be interested in them. It might take a few trips to the tip to get rid of broken or unwanted things, but it will mean there will be much more space in your new home and make packing much easier.
2. Organising and Packing
Once you have gotten rid of all the unnecessary things that have been sitting in your current home, you can begin to organise what’s left. Of course, in the weeks running up to your move, you will still need to use the majority of things in your home, especially kitchen utensils and your toothbrush, etc.
However, as the time to move draws near, you will need to start packing things up and rather than leaving it all until the last minute, you should start this process as soon as possible. Organise your belongings into categories and then determine which of these items are the most essential and what can be packed away at an earlier stage. For example, a desk lamp is not essential; therefore, it can be one of the first things to be packed up.
3. Cleaning
You should leave your current residence in good condition, which means leaving it clean and tidy. If you’re currently renting, your landlord will expect you to do this to make their official end of lease cleaning process easier. If you fail to do this, you may be charged additional fees by your landlord for this which will be deducted from your security deposit. Even if you are the homeowner, be respectful of the new owners and clean the house before you go. You can also hire a professional cleaning service to do this for you.
4. Transportation
You may have a lot of larger items such as wardrobes, tables, chairs and bed frames that will be difficult to move. If this is the case, you should hire a professional removal company to help you. They will be equipped with the right tools for the job and have been trained on how to handle larger pieces of furniture and other heavy objects safely. If you don’t have a lot of things to take with you, you might want to consider hiring a smaller van to move your things to the new property if you don’t have a car or your vehicle is too small to fit everything in. If you are moving with a larger vehicle or fleet, please consider any extra fees you may incur, such as port and terminal charges. You may be wondering What are Port & Terminal Handling Charges, but essentially, these fees are for moving items overseas. The fee often covers the shipping cost as well as any handling and processing fees. So, if you’re moving across the pond, you must consider these additional transportation costs. Other costs you may need to consider are toll roads or any overnight parking. Larger vehicles often have to pay more when crossing a toll road and if the move is a long-haul drive, parking may need to be paid for to ensure drivers get enough sleep.
Don’t let moving house be more stressful than it needs to be. Remember these four stages to help you plan efficiently for your move. If you want to read some positive news about the housing industry, look at the work the Marandi Foundation has helped complete.