Planning a move

AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

  • Give notice to your landlord, so you can end the rental agreement of your current home/garage. Alternatively, offer your house for sale.
  • Make arrangements for your mortgage.
  • Make arrangement for insurance.
  • Give notice to utility companies.
  • Take the necessary days off work for the move.
  • Make agreements with the tenants of your new home about whether or not you will take over floor coverings, curtains…
  • Get information about possible reimbursement of removal costs
  • Change or stop automatic bank transfers
  • Cancel arrangements with cleaner, window cleaner, chimney sweep…
  • Alert Royal Mail and arrange mail redirection if needed
  • Start by cleaning anything you don’t want to take with you
  • Think about a (new) energy supplier
  • Think about a (new) telecom supplier
  • Think about a (new) internet supplier
  • Think about what needs to be done in or around the new home.
  • If you do not want to move yourself, request quotations

EXTRA WHEN MOVING TO A DIFFERENT TOWN

  • Alert the local council of your intention to move.
  • Buy a city map or a regional map (some towns may provide this for free for new residents)
  • Explore your new neighborhood
  • Inquire about schools, shops, organisations, childcare, family care, social work, medical provisions, hospitals, public transport, bin collection, property tax, etc.
  • FOUR TO TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE MOVE
  •  Inform your GP’s office
  •  Inform your dentist
  •  Inform any specialists
  • Inform the council, if you haven’t yet.
  • Inform the school
  • Register children at new school
  • Inform the bank
  • Inform insurance companies
  • Electricity: check if anything needs to be requested for the new house
  • Sweep the chimney of the new house
  • Cancellation or adjustment of all current subscriptions. Most subscriptions have a notice period. Which magazines/newspapers do you read and which do you not read (anymore)?

LAST TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE MOVE

  • Arrange for care for small children or pets during the move.
  • Arrange returning of the key of your old home.
  • Arrange receipt of key for your new home.
  • If necessary, have new keys made.
  • Use any vouchers you may have for local shops.
  • Return borrowed items to the owner
  • Return library books
  • Start packing things that cannot be packed in moving boxes
  • Arrange post redirection if you haven’t yet.
  • Clean or dispose of everything that you won’t take with you.

LAST FEW DAYS BEFORE THE MOVE

  • Clean the new house.
  • Remove floor coverings.
  • Disassemble fixed lamps
  • Collect curtains (except in bedrooms)
  • Inform any suppliers
  • If necessary, have the antenna removed from the roof.
  • Pack everything that is not needed at the last moment
  • Check whether there is enough tea in the house.
  • Make sure you’re aware of the final bin collection date, so you can then throw away everything you no longer need.
  • Fix the drum of the washer in place.
  • Ensure you have sufficient cash on hand.

ON THE LAST DAY AND EVENING BEFORE THE MOVE

  • Take children and pets to whoever is caring for them during the move.
  • Empty the fridge, switch it off, dry it out and close it with tape.
  • Switch the freezer to the coldest position.
  • Dismantle removable furniture
  • Reserve a parking space for the moving van, for example by blocking the space off with a car
  • Say goodbye to your neighbours and friends
  • Pack the last things that don’t fit in a moving box

ON THE MOVING DAY ITSELF

  • Pack large furniture, etc
  • Pack last moving boxes
  • Collect the rest of the curtains
  • Make sure to keep the keys separate
  • Make sure to keep money separate
  • Make sure to keep medical paperwork separate
  • Check all rooms for forgotten items
  • Record meter readings
  • Shut off gas
  • Shut off electrical power
  • Drain water pipes in the winter (even if it isn’t freezing)
  • Close all windows and doors securely
  • Return the key to agency or landlord
  • Say goodbye to your neighbours and friends

UPON ARRIVAL IN NEW HOME

  • Check each room
  • Place everything in the right place as much as possible.
  • Hang up bedroom curtains
  • Allow refrigerator and freezer a moment of rest before connecting
  • Detach the washer drum

AFTER THE MOVE

  • Pick up children and pets
  • Place furniture
  • Attach name plate to the door
  • Verify there is no damage to the home
  • Register with the council and ensure your address is changed on important documents
  • Get to know new school, neighbors and the rest of the area
  • Check that mail is being redirected
  • Arrange new automatic bank transfers

Some extra tips

Unless you are in the military, moving home is not something you are likely to do very often. As a consequence, and especially if this is your first move, you could be in for quite a shock.

  • Invariably you will find you have accumulated much more than you have realised. It is surprising how much the attic and cupboards can hold!
  • Be prepared for the emotional aspect of saying ‘goodbye’ to your first home, or any home if you have been there a long time
  • Be prepared to miss your neighbours – they will have become a big part of your life too
  • Before you move, create a checklist of all you have to do apart from the physical move – that way things don’t get forgotten, like cancelling a paper or milk delivery.

Get Organised for your move

You can be assured of one thing, come the day of moving, there will be chaos. It is unavoidable. However being organised can go a very long way to reducing the chaos and limiting the stress. The best advice to give you is to plan well in advance and consider everything the move involves, right down to the goldfish!

  • Sort out all the necessary paperwork well before moving so that you can concentrate on the practical aspect nearer the time
  • Start packing what you won’t need to use well in advance
  • Throw out what you really don’t want to take – don’t leave it to the last minute or it will get packed anyway.
  • Moving home is a time when local charity shops benefit – what may not be of use to you could be of use to someone else, and help raise money for charity.

Moving house also means moving the garden too

So often the concentrated effort on moving house is for the inside, and all too often the garden gets forgotten. However you need to organise the garden move as carefully as the property move.

  • Plants and shrubs can go into shock if uprooted, moved and replanted all in one go. Read up on the best ways to deal with shrubs and plants when you are moving home
  • Do you have a pond with goldfish in it? If so, remember they need careful moving too!
  • Are you leaving or taking the shed? If the shed needs dismantling, then the contents need sorting too.
  • If you have a routine for feeding the birds or any other wildlife, be sure to let the new occupants know as birds become dependent on what you put out, especially in the winter.

For a really successful move, you would do well to ask the advice of your friends who have moved, as they will definitely have learned from first-hand experience what you need to think about.