Moving house is one of life’s most stressful events according to a poll of 2000 adults who even ranked it as the most stressful event, higher than the stress of getting a divorce which seems insane to me.
But then again, I concur that it is a totally stressful experience, especially when buying a house and being a part of a chain. I moved house several times when renting and this was pretty stressful, but more just the logistics of moving my belongings and rustling up a new deposit for each property. Buying a house was a whole new ball game.
The stress of moving house when in a chain
We were part of a chain when I bought my first home with Ben as he already owned a property and we were selling that to move into our new home together. We had to rely on the person buying Ben’s property and the people whose property we were buying. If one of them pulled out or if their other property fell through then game over.
Not only was that stressful, but trying to sync all the paperwork, deadlines and solicitors as well as a moving day for everyone and as you can imagine – nightmare! There were always delays or someone missing a piece of paperwork. The fear of someone pulling out or something falling through was always high. I can now see why using chain-free cash property buyers is appealing!
Finally we moved house and that event in itself is pretty pressured to say the least! The mortgage money was all being transferred and sorted by the online conveyancing solicitors on the morning we had to move and we eagerly awaited a call to say everything was fine and to go ahead and move out. We waited with a packed van for the call…
Once we had the call we were able to go and collect the keys to the new property as it was now legally ours and the previous owners had to vacate. Buying a home within a chain was not as simple as when I rented and I knew from the moment of putting down a holding fee the property was mine to move in to. At any moment something could have gone wrong and the whole chain collapse.
Whilst none of these mentioned stresses can be eliminated, unless you buy a new build or are lucky to not have a chain, there are lots of steps you can take to prepare for your house move to ensure the move itself runs smoothly. Below I’m going to share some of these ways.
Hire professionals
If the thought of packing and moving brings you into a panic, then it might be wise to consider hiring professional house movers. It sounds like the ultimate moving home stress buster as these guys can pack your items, disassemble and reassemble your furniture, clean your old home, store items if needed and of course they’ll move them all to the new property. This sounds like a house movers dream and if we ever move again I’m going to seriously consider hiring a removals service.
Sell or donate unwanted items
One thing I’m glad we did well in advance was to start selling items we no longer wanted. There were some large pieces of furniture that wouldn’t fit in the new house so rather than lug it to the new property we instead made sure we sold it well in advance of moving. This meant we had less stuff to move unnecessarily.
Redirect post in advance
There may be a slight crossover period when you change your postal address with companies due to some post already having been sent or scheduled to send with your current address on. It’s possible to arrange a mail redirect in advance as you can state the date you are planning to move home. This will ensure no post is sent to your old address once you’ve moved. Though you may think you’ve changed every address, chances are there’s at least one you have forgotten to change. Setting up a redirect will ensure you don’t miss any important and private post.
Measure the new property
One great piece of advice is to pop to the new property before moving in to measure up. This is particularly important if you are moving white goods or need to buy kitchen items. We had to buy an oven so needed to measure the gap for the oven to ensure we ordered the right size. Not everyone has the same size units so there’s a chance your current fridge-freezer, for example, won’t fit the gap at your new home. Measure up a few weeks in advance to avoid any surprises when you move in and to also allow yourself time to order new items if needed. Some large household items have a several week wait once ordered depending on stock availability.
Order new furniture
This is a tricky one as it’s sometimes impossible to know exact moving dates, but do bear in mind that if you’re ordering new furniture such as sofas, delivery times can be several weeks, especially if handmade to order. Large furniture stores are usually pretty good in the instance of moving house and will be able to delay a delivery date if your move is delayed for any reason. Just don’t expect to order your perfect sofa the week before your move and have it delivered in time.
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