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Moving House; what to expect - Claire Hose, MoveMinder

Moving House; what to expect

Do you want the good news or the bad news? Moving house is expensive, time consuming and stressful: I lied about the good news. Once you get to your new house and get on with the process of turning it into a home, though, things will get better – provided you have planned and organised not only your socks off, but also the socks off your immediate family and practically everyone else you know. What you can expect, then, is entirely dependent on how you prepare yourself for the move. With so much to do, the only way to cope is to face your fears; break the tasks into easily digestible bites like I’m about to suggest and the whole affair will be more manageable (but probably still a bit of a nightmare… sorry).

Plan
• Sit down calmly with pen and paper and work out all the things you can think of that need to be done e.g. who needs to be told you are moving, who will be responsible for giving the readings to the service companies and so on.

• Use your notes to create lists that you can add to as you remember more things to do, create a file, put reminders in your calendar – just knowing what you need to do and when can take a whole load of the stress away.

• Plan what will go where in your new home to save “umming “and “ahhing” on moving day. You’re allowed to change your mind but it’s once less thing to worry about and quicker and easier for movers.

• Check that your furniture can a) easily be taken out of your current house and b) will fit into your new one. Flatpack furniture is the worst offender for getting stuck in your old home. Knowing if you need to disassemble something will save time and stress on the big day.

• Start to think about what needs to be done when you are in your new home e.g. Internet connections, handymen deliveries and such like.

Action
• Declutter – why take loads of things you never use, need or want with you to your new home? Getting rid of them now will save packing time, moving time, unpacking time and might help raise funds to cover the cost of the move.

• Packing –aka the most dreaded part of moving. Unless your movers are taking care of this for you (by far the easiest option) you will need to break this down into small chunks to a) stop yourself from going insane and b) tackle it effectively. The kitchen will take the longest, bathrooms the quickest.

• Admin – you can leave some of your address changes until afterwards, but don’t forget to do the important things like insurance on the day. Mop up the things you forgot with the Royal Mail’s redirection service.

Move
• Moving day always takes longer than you expect, so keep stocked up with snacks and refreshments to keep energy levels up. Heavy lifting is hard work, so if your movers are having their n’th tea break of the day bear in mind they’re probably not as excited about your move as you are, and they quite like to have a break from lifting stuff and playing lorry packing tetris with your boxes.

• The whole day goes along in fits and starts. There are 101 little jobs to remember to do on moving day; checking utility meters, labelling keys, checking cupboards are empty and so on. But there are also frustrating periods of time when you will be bored, waiting for the next burst of manic activity.

Settle
• The exciting part happens when things start to unload into your new home. Use this burst of energy to make your bed. You’ll appreciate it at the end of such a long, hard day.

• Essentials box – you’ll also appreciate a cup of tea and maybe a sit down in front of the TV – with the remote. Think about what you’ll need on your first night and set all of it aside in one ‘essentials box’ so you don’t have to delve into unopened boxes and freshly filled drawers.

• It’s tempting to give yourself a well deserved break after you are in. Go ahead. But don’t leave it too long before you get onto your snagging list. The sooner you have everything as it should be, the sooner it will feel like home.

Claire Hose

‘Expert mover’ Claire Hose is Managing Director of MoveMinder Limited (www.moveminder.co.uk). MoveMinder Limited is a move management company which specialises in assisting individuals with all the additional tasks associated with moving house.

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