It’s a daunting task isn’t it? But with the economy (hopefully) beginning to pick up, we can expect more and more people to move home in coming months and years. Furthermore, in London, property sales have remained high as have property prices. So we do indeed know that people are still moving to new homes, despite economic doom and gloom.
In addition, it has been reported that in the first ten days of 2012 there were over 44 million property related internet searches, which is an encouraging 30% more than the same time last year. So it does indeed seem that more people are thinking about a new home.
Packing
The most daunting thing about moving house is, for me, the packing! I hate packing, as I’m sure a number of people reading this very blog do too. It’s just so tedious isn’t it? Now, when I say I hate packing, the only packing I’ve ever really done is when going on holiday, or moving into and out of fully furnished rented accommodation, and yes that is difficult and tedious enough! So I cannot even imagine how stressful packing up an entire house can be. Nevertheless, it’s just one of those things that we all need to get on with at some point!
However, moving can be a time to have a good clear out. Get rid of anything you know you will never need again – you may find that you can donate a large number of items to local charity shops, so before throwing things away maybe run them down to local charities to see if they are interested.
Removals
Furthermore, my advice is to get yourself a good, professional removal company in order to help you transport everything. This can only be done once everything is packed, but it could be easier to pack in stages, and thus transport your belongings in stages. It would be a wise idea to hire a removal company around two weeks before you are due to move as this will allow you enough to time to find one that is free on the date you need them! In order to try to save some money it will be worth hunting around for a good deal, or for any sort of discount they may be offering.
It will also be good to inform the removal company of the amount of large items you need to move, such as furniture for example.
Admin and Legalities
In addition, it will be important to make sure you carry out all the paper work and admin that needs to be done when moving house. You will need to arrange landlord insurance at your new home; you may find that you can simply transfer your existing policy to your new house without much of a change in the price. You will also need to inform just about everyone you know of your new address, along with banks and utilities companies. Basically any company you have any connection with needs to know your new address, just in case they send you anything important. It will also be worth leaving a forwarding addressing for the new occupants of your previous house, just in case anyone still sends post to the old address.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of things that need to be done when moving house, but as long as you are organised then everything should run smoothly!