The Caledonia Property Moving Checklist
As soon as you have a moving date, it’s time start thinking about the reality of moving and put a moving checklist together. There are many things to consider, and the sooner you’re prepared, the better especially as you are likely to need the help of external companies which can get booked up.
Here’s our essential moving checklist to help you prepare for moving home:
The first steps
The most important part of moving is getting all of your possessions from one property to another! If you require the services of a professional moving company, get some removal company recommendations and find out their prices and availability. It’s a good idea to get three or four quotes and to decide if you want to invest in a packing service, which can take a lot of time and stress out of the process. Whichever firm you choose, ask for evidence of the appropriate insurance policies so you know you’re covered should anything happen.
Make sure that you keep in touch with your estate agent and solicitor to ensure they are prepared and working on the completion date to avoid any last-minute delays and to ensure a smooth transaction.
Start to think about who you need to inform about your change of address and inform them as soon as you have a moving date as it can take up to a month for your files to be updated, i.e. insurances, banks, friends and family, schools, employers, DVLA, TV License, doctors and dentist…it’s amazing how many organisations will have your address, so make sure you cover off everyone that needs to be informed of a change. Get some information from the Post Office about the mail redirection service they provide and get the forms ready to submit to avoid missing any important correspondence.
Organise your possessions so that you don’t end up taking things with you that you no longer wish to keep. Go through everything from room-to-room and think about what you want to take with you, what you want to give away and what you could sell. This includes large items of furniture as well as clothes, soft furnishings, gadgets, children’s toys and games, and any items that you have put in your garage or loft and don’t ever use. This is particularly important if you are downsizing.
If you haven’t asked for your removal company to provide a packing service, then you could start to pack up items that you won’t need or use in the foreseeable future, but that you want to take with you. The sooner you do this, the less stressful the weeks leading up to the move will be.
The week before moving
Confirm the dates and times of moving day with all parties, including the removals company. Make sure your new utilities, broadband and other services such as satellite TV are in place for your arrival at the property.
Put together a separate ‘essentials’ box of items that you will need, otherwise you will spend the first day going through boxes finding what you need. This should include clothes, nightwear, bedding, toothbrush, toilet roll, phone charger, kettle etc! This should include everything you will need for your first few days while you unpack all of your items.
Prepare an information pack for the new owners of your current property – this should include instructions on how to work the heating, how to find the gas and electricity meters, how to turn off the water, boiler instructions, house alarm codes, and instructions and guarantees for any appliances included in the sale.
Moving day
Make sure you take meter readings before you leave the property, and take a photograph to document it so that you can inform the suppliers of the numbers so that you can repay the final balance and close the account. When you arrive at the new property, take meter readings and give these to your new suppliers.
Make sure you have home contents insurance in place – it’s easy to forget, but it’s essential given that things can easily break and become damaged whilst you unpack. Also make sure your car insurance address has been changed, as this could cause problems should you need to make a claim and you haven’t declared your change of address.
Finally, make sure you unpack your bedding so that this is ready for when you’ve had enough of unpacking!
With the help of this moving checklist, we hope that your home move is as stress-free as possible.