Moving House Made Easier

Whether you plan to move locally or interstate the most important thing to do first is "Plan" every detail. If you plan well everything will fall into place. Firstly you need to get rid of everything you don't need; if you pare down you can save precious dollars in your actual removal process. This is probably the hardest and most time consuming part of the process that you will have to deal with. Give it time. Take the time to look at your old photos, the ancient newspaper cuttings, your great grandmother's recipes, your ex-husband's old baseball bat, and so it goes on. You may well find treasures in your throw outs that you can turn into something profitable at a later stage so don't be too enthusiastic in your throw out. So the basic rules here are to discard, give away and throw away what you no longer want. Then what is left goes with you to your new home. You also need to be well slept, as moving house is an emotional and stressful time well documented as being in the "top ten" stress inducers!

By now you have gone through your goods carefully - and cleared out all your unwanted items. Your next step is to hold a Garage Sale with your discards to make some money from the items that you have decided that you no longer require and then you can put this money towards your relocation. Anything goes Books, Baby Clothes, Baby Equipment ,Children's clothing, CD's & Cassettes, Craft Items, Electronic Equipment, Kitchenware, Magazines, Musical Instruments, Photographic Equipment, Sporting Equipment, Toys, Miscellaneous goods, particularly Vintage goods. If you decide that, because for example you live on the top floor in a sixteen floor building with a lift which has dodgy habits, a garage sale is not for you then maybe you could opt for selling your unwanted items on eBay. Books have been written which actually specify what sells well on eBay and you never know - just maybe you have some of those items sitting in your loft or at the back of a cupboard that are of worth, and these can contribute greatly towards your relocation expenses. Worth a go anyway. Register with E-bay to get your own website but just make sure that you give it a name that reflects what you are selling; i.e. Jane's moving-house- sale at E-bay.

You have made your decision now what! You need to choose how you are going to move house. If you decide to go the Moving Company way then you need to think about the steps to take. Your choice of company could simply be based on a friends' recommendation. Next prepare a specification that reflects your exact needs or simply hire a do-it-yourself truck and ask friends to help you on the big day. If you go down the path of hiring a removals company; you will now need to supply them with a particular specification of exactly what your requirements are; your current and new addresses; telephone nos; the number of packed boxes you are taking; the amount of furniture you have, whether there are steps, stairs or a weight bearing lift at either end (this has a direct bearing on the weight of your fridge or your piano and the number of men required to move these items, plus the type of trolley and harnesses needed to haul the item up or down)., etc before moving. After assessing your quotation, making your decision then setting the relocation date then one last question needs to be asked; Will the Moving Company need you to have someone at both ends? Probably. However, if you are unable to be onsite at either one of your locations, or to have a trusted family member/friend to represent you then maybe you will have to supply your security codes/keys to the company representative for their access to your new home. You can always change the codes later if you wish!

Packing. Finally the day arrives and you are all packed up and ready to go. But how did you pack? There is a system. Photograph everything. Place all furniture in one obvious place so that the movers can load it on to the truck first. Pack your boxes for shipping with labels applied to each and every box, Inventory each item for the box, and then stack carefully. Write your room name onto the specific label first (so the movers know where to put it at the new place), then a number (i.e.: kitchen-1, bedroom 2, etc.). Beneath the Room Name write a brief description of the contents (pots and pans, recipe books, blankets, linen). So how many boxes do you have to go? Maybe you have a total of 45 boxes. Where are these boxes going? As per discussion in the previous sentence identify each room with its individual number on the outside of the box. Then mark the number of boxes packed up for each room. OK to explain; you possibly have 8 packed up boxes in the kitchen. So armed and dangerous you take your eye catching coloured Texta pen and head to your kitchen to number the boxes. For example mark the kitchen as room no. 1, then mark the appropriate kitchen boxes for the number of boxes to be relocated to the new kitchen 1 of 8, 2 of 8 etc. Do this for every room. Make sure that the total of all the individual boxes adds up correctly with the sum of the total number of boxes for the entire house. This will help you to identify (if anything should go missing) which room the box was marked to and what number it carried. You can then cross reference your inventory for the boxed items missing. Have a plan for the house you are moving to and mark the rooms off as 1 through the number (i.e. 8) of rooms you have in the new house. Again for example: no.1 for the kitchen in the new house to match up with your kitchen in your old house. Now you have a clear idea of where everything is going and how many boxes will be going into the same room at the new house. This will obviously help both you and the moving company. Place "FRAGILE" stickers onto the boxes packed with the breakable items; wrap as appropriate all furniture, china, glassware etc in plastic, old rugs, bubble wrap, cardboard, and newspaper. Re. the boxes to be opened first, use identifiable label colors for instant recognition i.e. the bedding and the kettle. Your photos and inventory list can go to your insurance agent. Although if you decide to tap into the marine insurance carried by your removal company, this could mean that your home insurance policy may not be in force at this time. This is an area of concern that you need to be quite clear about and should seek advice from both the moving company and your home insurance provider; in fact all/any parties concerned in the provision of your insurance. Remember you will be very tired by this stage. So one last thing to do when you pack up your last minute items which are travelling with you; ensure that the traveling needs of your children & your pets are catered for. Also, plan the space in your car to take your food as it is quite normal for the moving company to refuse to carry the contents of your fridge and pantry. Moving companies do not normally take your pot plants either. Before you leave ensure you have locked up, turned off the electricity and the taps, and advised those who need to know that you no longer reside at this address. Hand over your keys to the appropriate people. Be sure to include your post office (where you can have for a small price your mail re- directed), your phone company, your energy suppliers and your department store accounts etc. on your list. Plan well and you will be surprised how easy it will all be. Happy moving. Please ensure that you do your due diligence as to your legal requirements, and standard of work you require. This article has been written to help smooth your path during a stressful time.

author: a.a.hardy