Five ways to make moving house easier

Moving house.  When it comes to stressful life events, it’s pretty close to the top of the list.   

Given that it usually involves lots of admin, dealing with various experts, uncertainty around prices, competition for property, the hassle of selling a home, and completely uprooting your life and all your possessions, it’s no wonder we find it tough!

Add kids into the mix, and the whole process becomes even more challenging.  As well as dealing with all the logistical elements of moving house, you’ve got to gently guide them through the experience too, helping them deal with their emotions and manage their transition to a new living environment.

Moving house is never a breeze, but with the right approach you can minimise the stress and emerge on the other side relatively calm and organised.  Here are some tips for making moving home as hassle-free as possible.

Make a plan

Don’t even think about starting a house move without making a plan.  It can be as simple or as detailed as you want, the aim is simply to keep track of everything that needs to be done.

Make a list of all the jobs you need to tackle, then work out the order in which things need to happen.  The downloadable checklist here is a good place to start.

Getting it down on a list means you don’t have to remember everything, and it’s much easier to keep track of your progress – particularly if there’s more than one person dealing with the move.

Have a pre-move clear-out

Moving house is the perfect time to get ruthless with your possessions.  There’s no point packing and moving things that you don’t use; doing so will probably cost you more in removal fees, not to mention the headache of finding a home for everything in your new house.  Have a clear-out room by room, getting rid of anything that’s broken, has been grown out of, or just doesn’t get used.  A good old declutter will make packing up your belongings that bit easier too.

Find the right removal company for the job

It’s well worth having a good think about your moving requirements before you start contacting removal companies.  Consider things like the distance between your old home and the new one, any furniture that needs to be taken apart and reassembled, whether you have any awkward items to move, whether you need items to be put into short-term storage, and the packing services required.  Having all this information available will mean you can get much more accurate quotes, and help you choose a company that’s a good fit for the job.

Once you’ve worked out your moving requirements, it’s time to start getting quotes.  An internet search is a great place to start; for example, here you can see the moving services in Barnsley.

It’s also a good idea to compare quotes from a few different removal companies, to make sure you get the best value for money.  An easy way to do this is to use a comparison site; this allows you to compare the prices of moving companies in your area by completing a simple quote request.

Outsource the packing

If your budget can stretch to it, paying your removals company to pack up your home is a brilliant way to take the stress out of moving.  I think it’s a particularly good option for large houses and young families.  All you’ll have to do is pack anything that you want to hang onto on moving day, then let the professionals pack the rest.  You can go one step further and have everything unpacked in your new home too.

Setup a mail forwarding service

If you had to make a list of all the companies you receive mail from, I suspect it would be pretty long.  Moving house means you’ll need to change your address with all of these companies, and that’s a time-consuming job which you could do without while you’re sorting out all the other logistics.  To take the pressure off, you can setup mail redirection via Royal Mail until you’ve got time to deal with it.  Having your mail redirected is also a good way to avoid your personal details being accessed by fraudsters.

Hopefully these ideas will help make your house move as easy as possible.  Have you got any tips to add for taking the stress out of moving house?

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