Taking the stress out of moving

Can it really be possible to take the stress out of moving home? Possibly not all of it, but with a little planning you can certainly reduce the hassles often involved in the actual move day. Like many things in life, events that run smoothly are often the result of good planning. The old saying 'fail to plan - plan to fail' is so often true. While many people spend ages looking for their new home, the process of physically moving all your belongings should not be left to a handful of removal people on day you get the key to your new place.

The best start point is to sort through your possessions several weeks before. Moving house is a great opportunity to decide what needs to go with you and what can be thrown out, donated to charity or sold on eBay etc. It's also a good idea to start making a few lists of the valuables you may have. Think about the rooms of you new house and decide in advance where items are destined for; especially the large ones. If you can get hold of a floor plan and room sizes of you new house, it'll give you opportunity to roughly gauge if your bigger items will fit. You will no doubt need to adjust things once you have moved in but getting a feel for where things will go means you can label up boxes and big items with the name of the room you feel they'll will suit best. Don't forget the loft, garage and shed. These are places you'll have put things you couldn't bring yourself the throw out years ago. If you've lived in the same house for a number of years the amount of unused things you'll have collected may be considerable. If you new house is larger than you old one don't make the mistake of taking everything with you. Go though the clean out process and take the opportunity to start afresh. Obviously if your new house is smaller you definitely need to reduce what you take.

Next it's time to get to know your local shop keeper. You'll need lots of boxes and shops are one of the best places to find them for free. Your removals company (if you use one) may well supply boxes and packing material to you; so it's worth checking. However you obtain them, get them early. If you use just a man with a van it's doubtful they'll provide much help here. Start filling them up with the kind of things you are not likely to need for a while. Think about the things you use every day and leave them until last. Can you image packing up the TV and doing without it for two weeks? If you are putting your belongings into storage it helps heaps to have things labelled. They'll nearly always be things you need to retrieve from the storage company especially if the time-span to getting you new place sorted drags on. Six months in and you need your summer clothes which you thought would be hanging in your new house by now. Fishing though tightly packed container units can be a real struggle.

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What to look for in a removals firm

When choosing a removals company what should you look for? While many may appear as though they offer much the same choice, is it really a simple case of haggling over price? Like many things in life its worth taking a moment to consider what you are actually getting for your money. All movers will approach the job differently and offer a range of extras beyond simply moving your possessions on a particular day.

You can begin to formulate your judgment based on the initial treatment you receive from the person answering the phone in the office. Any face to face contact will also be an influential factor. Although these people do not necessarily represent how good or bad the entire service will be, it's nevertheless surprising how often discourteous treatment will run throughout the whole of an organisation. A well run removals firm will have your best interests at heart and this is usually evident at all stages.

Assessing the bulk of what needs to be moved can be a tricky task. You want to employ a professional outfit who will be well versed in making these judgements. Definitely get their office to send someone out. If you get the feeling the sales person is foundering somewhat, you may be concerned they've not much experience of dealing with whole house moves. You want them to be fully prepared for how much stuff you have. Equally you don't want to pay for storage, people or vehicles you don't need. By the same token you don't want the removals company to turn up on the day of your move without adequate resource to shift all that you own. Get a firm quote for the move and get it in writing. If you've already got an agreed completion date for your move make sure this is relayed to the removals company in plenty of time. It would be a shame having to use your least favoured firm just because they're the only ones available.

If you are first putting your items into storage or moving overseas, this may well change your criteria a little. While you'll want a quality conscious firm not matter how complex the move, you may be better looking at some of the bigger organisations if your move is more involved. Does the firm cover the items they are moving? What happens if your 50" TV gets dropped or your antique dining table loses a leg? It's no use just assuming things are covered. Ask the question and get it in writing.

Finally quiz the movers as to how the move will run. If your move is small and you are using a man with a van make sure you can trust them to do the job. Check what time will they turn up and how long do they expect it to take. Again, a good firm will have experience of timescales for various sized moves. Ask about any packing materials, boxes, tape and bubble wrap they can supply in advance of the move. If there's little on offer then you will have to spend time begging boxes from your local supermarket. Most good removals firms will happily supply you with what you need well before move day. Packing up much of your small items yourself will give you opportunity to label everything up, as well as chance to clean out the items you no longer need. 

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Top tips to help you move house

Moving into a new house will often be the realization of dreams plus many months or even years of planning and saving. Although you may be looking forward to living in your new home the actual day of the move can feel a little pressured to say the least.

Like many things in life, a little planning can help reduce the stress. Prior to the actual move date it makes a lot of sense to review what's going with you and what can be thrown out. Moving house is a great opportunity to sort through everything you own and make decisions on some of those items you've been holding onto but never used for years. Don't forget some of your old things may be good for charity shops. Donating something to charity also makes the process a lot easier knowing you've put items to good use and not simply designated them as scrap. Cupboards, wardrobes, loft and garage are some of the best places you'll have stored these kind of possessions.

If you are using a moving firm they'll usually supply you with a certain amount of boxes and packing materials but it's always useful to collect what you can from supermarkets and the like. Newspapers are also well worth hanging onto in the run up to your move as they make excellent padding for fragile items. Some of your small ornaments and fragile objects can be packed up into small boxes well in advance and added to the larger boxes that the moving company will prefer to handle. Check to see if you've still got the original box your TV or computer came in as it'll be the best fit, especially if you've still got the made to measure polystyrene packing.

If you are planning on doing the whole job yourself, don't underestimate the task. Get your gear packed up early and get a feel for the size of van you'll need. Go bigger rather than smaller (so long as parking or actually driving it isn't a problem) as this will save you from making a number of trips. If the journey from you old house to you new one is a fair distance, a big enough van will cut the traveling time. Time which is better spent unpacking at the other end. Price up the cost of the van you need and find out if you can save a little by hiring it during the week instead of the weekend. Get plenty of help from friends and family if at all possible, as you've soon run out of steam on your own. Those big items such as washing machine, wardrobes, and double bed will nearly always need two people to lift, especially if stairs are involved. A good parcel trolley (sack truck) will also be a great help and save you a lot of muscle power. The compromise could be to use a man with a van, there are plenty to choose from who'll charge for their time by the hour.

All that said it may be just as well to get a professional moving company to do the job. This will almost certainly reduce the stress and leave you free to manage the process of 'what goes where' in your new house. This way you'll most likely have your possessions in some sort of order much more quickly. You can concentrate on tasks such as cleaning out the space where the fridge goes rather than worrying about manhandling the fridge from the van. Many moving firms will help you pack everything if you wish. But it's usually worth leaving just the biggest items until move day. Even with the best intentions things can still get damaged in the move so moving insurance is worth checking. Good removals firms will be members of the British Association of Removers so do check out their credentials. 

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