House moving, also referred to as relocation, usually happens when one leaves their residence and settles down somewhere else. It can involve moving to a house in the same building, or to a house in a different town or city, farther away. Whatever the case, moving houses can be a stressful period for both adults and children as it involves costs and getting used to unfamiliar territory. The tips below will help if you are planning a house move;
1. Create a checklist
Because moving houses is a major undertaking, you need to plan months in advance. This will help your relocation to be smooth all the way. When creating a checklist, you have to consider everything you need to do before and after relocating.
It can be something as simple as cleaning your new residence, or as important as finding a new school for your children. You have to keep in mind that even with a professional mover, there are things you have to do by yourself.
2. Draw up a budget estimate
Moving houses incurs costs some of which are unforeseen. For example, you’ll need to repair your old home, pay a deposit for the new house, hire cleaners, to mention a few things. What’s more, you’ll have to purchase packing supplies, and pay movers.
If that’s not enough, you might be forced to pay for long term or short term storage. All these amounts to a substantial amount of money. It basically means that you have to start planning house moving months in advance and save accordingly.
3. Pay a mover
The temptation to save costs by doing everything yourself becomes stronger when you are preparing to move out. Granted, relocation is a stressful undertaking which requires that you delegate some tasks.
One such task is actually packing the household goods in vehicles, supervising the offloading and even arranging of furniture in the new home. To avoid all these, you can pay a moving company and spare yourself the pain and stress that comes with relocation.
4. Label the packaging supplies
There is nothing as confusing as arriving in your new home not knowing where certain important household goods are. To be on the safe side, you need to buy packaging supplies and label them accordingly.
These supplies include large boxes for storing curtains, pillows, and even blankets. For items such as electronics and framed photographs, bubble wraps with perforations will suffice. Other small but essential supplies include sticky notes for labelling, tapes, marker pens, and even scissors.
5. Enlist your friends help
Your friends might be sad to see you leave, especially if you are moving to a different town or city. However, if you involve them months before moving out, it will certainly be possible for them to give you a hand.
That said, consider asking them to help you with packing household goods after-work hours. It will cut costs instead of hiring movers to do everything. If you are moving just within the same town, your friend can help you with most things, including unpacking things at your new address.
To show gratitude, you can prepare them a meal, give them a small token of appreciation, or just host a small farewell party.
6. Prepare your new residence
This can be done just a few days before moving in. If you are relocating several kilometers away, it might be a good idea to hire a cleaning company. They’ll likely do a thorough job and save you the cost of travelling to do it yourself.
Also, confirm that there’s electricity and water, and that the internet service provider has connected the house to the internet to avoid inconveniences. What’s more, be sure that the house has been renovated if there was a tenant occupying it before moving in.
7. Get rid of your unused stuff
When moving to a new residence, it becomes clear that you have a lot of unused stuff. It may be wise to donate them to an orphanage if not an educational institution near you. However, you can also give away the unused stuff to family or friends.
Granted, you can also think of moving them to a storage facility. This will allow you time to settle down before asking the warehouse facility to move them to your new address.
8. Rent a storage facility
When house hunting, you may have realized that your new home is way smaller than your current one. Or, the agent in your home might have asked for some time to finish renovating a room or two. The two scenarios basically force you to find a place to store your household goods.
One way you can do so is to engage the services of a storage facility company. The company stores your furniture in their warehouse for either a short time, or for as long as you require the services.
9. Prepare a meal
The task of packing and unpacking household goods and furniture uses a lot of energy that leaves you exhausted and dehydrated. In addition to that, the bumpy ride to your new home will leave you hungry and without energy if the distance is long. To minimize the risks of collapsing or even adding to your stress level, be sure to prepare a meal.
Meals can be packed in picnic containers to be eaten en route, or as soon as you arrive at your new residence. Whatever the case, make sure that you have eaten enough and that you have taken plenty of water.
10. Mind your family’s welfare
Because you’ll be moving together with your family, it’s prudent that you include them in the relocation plan. This is especially the case for children who are usually easily distracted and get bored. If they are big enough, ask them to chip in to lighten the load.
After all, children love to be useful and they might be looking forward to arriving at their new home. But if you’ve hired a mover, you can take turns with your spouse playing with them until you’re ready to leave.
Coclusion
With the above house moving tips, your relocation will be seamless. What’s more, you will look forward to the activity, rather than be filled with unexplained fear.
