Moving House Tips

A moving house checklist can take the stress out of a home move. Moving home can be an overwhelming experience – trying to balance work and family life at the same time as relocating can cause high levels of stress. However, if planned out properly, there is no reason why it cannot be a relatively painless experience. There are all sorts of questions and problems to confront, whether you’re moving across the street or you’re relocating from London to Dorset. As a company that has carried out thousands of house removals over the years, we have created a list of things to remember when moving house. This simple guide provides ten useful tips that will help you plan out your relocation well in advance of your moving home.

Start early

Everything can be made so much simpler if you start sorting through possessions early, planning what you want to take when you leave your home, what’s going into storage, what you are getting rid of, what item is going in which room or in which property – if you’re moving to multiple addresses. The more time you give yourself during this period of the removal process the more relaxed the moving day will be.

Clear out your clutter

One of the most important house moving tips is to make sure you sort out your clutter before the removal men arrive. Give yourself five categories: Keep. Sell. Bin. Store. Give Away. Focus on one area at a time and try and do little and often rather than taking it on all at once during your home move.

Find out about your new home

One of the most important house moving tips is to be aware of the final destination. Where are facilities such as washing machines, TV sockets? How big are the rooms and the corridors? Will there be difficulty in getting large furniture in? If there are access problems then you can discuss it with the home removal company in advance rather than getting a shock when you arrive. * Any potential issues should be identified to the removal company during the quotation process and if necessary a site survey can take place if there are likely to be any particular challenges moving into your new home. Learn about your new location Do as much research as you can on the new town or city you’re moving to. If you have children it’s a good idea to start looking for and contacting potential schools in the area, as well as seeing what sort of afterschool and leisure activities are available, Ofstead Reports are readily available on all schools and easily found on the internet. It’s just as important to check your own interests against what your new location has to offer and start seeing what sort of entertainment, fine dining and cultural aspects are on offer. One aspect that people sometimes overlook when relocating to places they aren’t familiar with is to assume that it will be easier to find your footing when you get there but it’s well worth taking a few trips out to your new location to really get to the know the place and be accustomed to it before your arrival.   Download a moving App and start making an itinerary If you’re a smartphone user then it’s a great idea to check out what Apps are available to assist with your relocation. You can plan out your relocation with reminder notifications, you can download an App to help you take note of your possessions, there are even ones that will help you calculate your commute. Our advice is to download an App that will help you create an itinerary for your possessions. A good App will help you organise your itinerary in each room and it can also be used for insuring your possessions.   Insurance A good quality removal companies will be able to offer different levels of insurance cover depending on the level required and movers should discuss the details with their surveyor. In the case of Anthony ward Thomas, all items worth more than £5000 need to be disclosed. Your household insurance policy may provide the cover you need, but check the details on your policy beforehand or speak to your insurance broker to clarify the level of cover they can provide and notify the insurers that you are moving and the dates of the move. Household Policies normally insist their cover is only valid if the Mover is an approved British Association of Removers (BAR) accredited removal company. All companies in the Master removers Group are BAR accredited.   Book your removals with Anthony Ward-Thomas This is possibly the most important tip we can offer – book your removals company as early as possible. Removal companies tend to be very busy at the end of the week, end of the month and Spring and Summer is the busiest time of the year. Not only will this help to guarantee you are able to move on the specific day you require, it will also ensure that you are booking with the right company. Ward-Thomas was created with a vision of providing the highest standard of customer service because of the less than satisfactory removals experiences of our founder Anthony Ward-Thomas. We set the bar when it comes to removals and all related services and we will assist you with every aspect of your relocation.   Draft a timeline – you may need to consider storage for any gaps Moving home isn’t always a case of leaving one property and moving into your new home straight away. There’s often a gap between the two and it’s necessary to rent somewhere in between moves. Our storage packages are the perfect way to ensure that your possessions are safe and secure while you wait to move into your new property.

Pack from the top down

The most efficient way of packing for a household move is to start at the top of the house and work downwards. This way you won’t find yourself in a sea of boxes. And remember to label boxes so you know what’s in them and where they came from, or better yet, use your downloaded App to take inventory of your items. At Anthony ward Thomas we normally write the destination room at your new home on the tape and the general description of the contents. This ensures the boxes end up in the right room in your new home and allows the boxes to be used again, so we will be doing our bit for the environment. Boxes used should be at least two ply in thickness to ensure they don’t collapse during transportation. You can buy packing materials designed for moving house direct from out site.   Getting ready for the big day Closer to the time of your big move day it’s a good idea to have some basic items ready for your move. If you have children, make sure you have something to keep them busy during the move, so don’t pack their favourite toys or books. Include phones and IPads for the kids as this is one day when you want to relax usage rules of these items. You’ll also need to have some food and drinks ready for the journey. Lastly ensure bedding is readily available if your move in is happening over more than one day.