The ink is dry, and the deed is done. Congratulations, you’ve sold your home! There’s only one thing left to do – move house. Often stressful and time-consuming, the moving house process is a significant event after selling your home. To avoid making a nightmare out of transporting your furniture and belongings from one location to another, follow the expert advice from Sydney-based removalists Smoothmoves on the seven things to do when moving house.
The Ultimate Moving House Checklist
Smoothmoves have spent decades offering a high-quality house moving service, helping families settle into their dream homes after a successful sale. Understanding that “failing to plan is planning to fail,” the moving house process becomes so much easier thanks to their ultimate moving house checklist. With an abundance of handy moving house tips and expert guidance, you can ensure a smooth and hassle-free moving experience from beginning to end. Starting a few weeks out from the moving day, Smoothmoves has the ultimate moving house checklist on everything you need to know throughout the move.
4-6 Weeks Before Moving House
1. Who needs to know?
Before you even begin to move, you’ll need to make sure you let the right people know. For example, renters will need to contact their landlord to discuss breaking your lease (if necessary).
You should also make sure to update your personal information to reflect your change of address. Ensure to contact your bank, phone, internet provider, and utility company (electric and gas). You might want to schedule some time off work as well, so make sure to give your boss the heads up!
2. What help do you need?
Once everyone knows about the big move, it’s time to establish what help you need. Moving houses often require removalists, cleaners, tradesmen and handymen, storage lockers, moving insurance, additional moving transport, as well as babysitters for families and pet-sitters for any four-legged friends.
Instead of hiring each one individually, Smoothmoves makes it easy by combining several house moving services into one. Drawing from years of experience in home and furniture removal & house relocations across Sydney, their specialised team can have you packed up and settled into your new place in just hours.
2-3 Weeks Before Moving House
3. Time to Declutter
Moving house is an excellent opportunity to declutter your belongings. Check under the house, in the garage, in the shed, or in the garden for any items you can donate to charity, sell on gumtree, or throw away.
4. Gather Moving Supplies
Everyone knows that boxes for moving houses are an essential purchase come moving day. On top of that, you’ll also need:
- Packing tape
- Box labels + pens/ markers
- “Fragile” tape
- Packing Paper or Newspaper
- Bubble Wrap
On top of these required packing materials, Smoothmoves also offer a 50% refund on all boxes returned in good condition, without tape, and folded flat. Some of which are reused to minimise the environmental impact of moving house.
5. Packing Day
Label boxes according to their room or their contents. Make sure to prepare and pack your electrical appliances safely. You’ll need to ensure that your freezer is defrosted, the fridge is cleaned out, and your dishwasher is drained.
Any furniture that can be disassembled do it now. Fragile or expensive items should be wrapped in bubble wrap or with alternative protection. You should also take some time to reconfirm with removalists, babysitters, transport and any other services.
Moving Day
6. Strategise
Stick to your moving house checklist. Surprises do happen, so make sure to have a backup in case anything goes wrong. This includes backup transportation and a backup place to crash if the move takes longer than a day.
Sometimes the moving house process can run over time. If you’re between settlements or leases or need extra storage space, consider renting a private storage unit. Smoothmoves offers long term and short term storage to protect and pack your belongings for you.
7. Hire the Experts
Sometimes it’s okay to ask for professional help with gargantuan tasks like moving house. Delivering the highest-quality house moving service for decades, Smoothmoves know how to move house like nobody else. Just make sure ample parking is available for the moving party.
Once your removalists arrive, take them on a quick walkthrough of the property and your moving house checklist. Once everything is on the truck, take stock of everything with the removalist before heading off to your new home.
After Moving
8. Final Inspection
Arrange an inspection with the real estate agent and return the keys.
9. Unpack
Now it’s time to get everything into your new home. Assemble and place furniture according to your floor plan. Then, unpack on a room by room basis. Smoothmoves recommends starting with your most-used items first, i.e. the kitchen.
Ensure that all your electronics and appliances are working correctly, something Smoothmoves will do for you. They’ll even arrange furniture in your desired position. Finally, it’s time for a final inventory check to ensure nothing is missing.
10. Decorate
This last part is up to you! It’s your dream home, so find your inspiration and go about decorating with the whole family!