Removal company vs friends helping

[RealSwan]

We are moving in hopefully a months time (literally 3 minutes drive)
been quoted £2500 to move using companies with packing or £1900 to move without packing.
Around £180 to hire a Luton van for 48hrs the use of a family friends van also and lots of friends family volunteered to help.
DH parents gifted us some money to help with moving now angry we want to do it ourselves.
We have plenty other expenses this could help towards. AIBU? Seems like a waste of money to me…they wouldn’t offer to help us anyway. We do have two small children but one probably at nursery that day anyway and my parents around to help

Yes just make a list and get them to come round so you can show them which items.

We were lucky in that we got the new house in advance so by the day the removals came we had taken everything else up already. We moved everything in an estate car but it was only a couple of streets away!

Did you only get a quote from one company?

How big of a house to do you have? Are you happy to move all sofa and other heavy and awkard items? I imagine with 2 kids you will have a lot. If you’re selling then yoy will need to have emptied your house before you get the keys to the new house.

They didn’t specify it was for removals….just general costs associated with moving. E.g solicitors amongst other things.

Well, that's not what you said in your first post. You said they offered you the money 'to help you move.' Of course you should give it back if you're getting your mates to help you move. 🙄 If it was given to you to use for random shit associated with moving, (like legal costs and estate agent fees etc,) they wouldn't be pissed off would they?!

No WAY would I do that though. (Use mates to help me, and a rental van!) I would definitely get a removal firm in. £2500 is a rip off though. My neighbour who moved in to a 3 bed semi opposite (with 2 teenagers) only paid £900 late last year. 20 miles between properties too.

We helped my step daughter move recently (hired a van and had others to help) and we are planning to
move ourselves in around 4 weeks time, all being well. We’ve done it before ourselves. But we both do a manual job and are very fit and able and have a teenage son to help (rather than small children to get in the way!). We are also very minimalist so we probably have a lot less stuff than most 3 bedroom houses, we’ve arranged the garage stuff to be stored at a friends for a few weeks so will move that before the date and will put the dogs into kennels for a few days. It’s still a big undertaking though to do it yourselves.

Can you answer this @RealSwan ?

As it makes a huge difference.

Moving from a rented property you still have for a couple of days or more, is completely different from having to be completely out of the one you are leaving, before the money can be transferred so that you can get in to the new one.

We moved to our present house which is less than a mile from our old one. We used a removal company but did our own packing. On the morning of the move (a Friday) the removal company came and loaded their lorry, putting our container and pot plants on last along with the kettle tea and milk. Less than an hour later, we discovered that our buyer had ‘disappeared’ without paying his disbursements to his solicitor. We therefore couldn’t complete our purchase. Longish story short we ended up in a hotel for the weekend with our baby and toddler until we could sort everything out on the Monday.
The removal company stored our possessions, watered our plants and offloaded and plugged in our fridge and freezer for us. Their insurance paid for the hotel and the essentials we needed to purchase for the weekend (pyjamas, nappies, changes of clothes, toiletries etc).
This eventuality had never occurred to me but we were so relieved that we used a removal company and would never try to move house without one.
That said if you think the amount you have been quoted is excessive, shop around.

If you’re also selling somewhere it is extremely tricky to do it yourself without movers. The distance that your moving doesn’t really have much impact on the cost

We did this, not out of choice though, just to make the stamp duty deadline, there were no removals companies available.

We also only moved round the corner.

My husband and dad did most of it. I helped a bit when I could (have a young child I looked after).

But the big thing is that you can’t take your stuff to the new house until you’ve completed on your sale. You’ll need to fit everything in the van.

We got around this by storing stuff in a garage my parents have which was conveniently empty. So we moved 70% of stuff to their garage then maybe the remaining 30% stayed in the van and went straight to the new house.

We must’ve saved ourselves £2k plus £2.5k in stamp duty so I can’t complain but it was hard work.

The best money spent when we moved last autumn was a proper removal company. Packed everything (apart from husbands hifi kit which he packed and moved), loaded up, unloaded it all and fixed all the beds back together for us. The time saved by them was worth every penny.

Use the movers if you have the cash. We paid movers to pack and move everything. It's heavy, knackering work and echo others' comments re insurance etc.

The only time I decided to move ourselves was because it was a 10 min drive, friends offered, kids at school.
What actually happened was that the move date changed by a week, friends not available.
Me and dh nearly killed ourselves and each other. We ended up just handing stuff over the fence into neighbours garden. Luckily the people that bought our house didn't plan on moving in that day.
Never again. Next time we spent £1700 and moved 120 miles. Best money we have ever spent.

If it wasn’t gifted specifically for removals then why would they be upset? Moving costs are huge even without actual the actual ‘moving fees’ of removal vans and people. We did it ourselves, with friends helping for the big stuff, with a large van. We hired a storage unit about a mile away which was under £100pm to do it in phases and just keep what was necessary until the last minute. No way would I be spending that amount on that. Especially when it’s so close too.

Thanks for a sensible answer. Definitely think I need to negotiate more on costs. I’m on mat leave and to be honest can probably pack up a lot of the stuff myself when baby naps. Already got quite a fair few boxes stashed away. Also have left a few bits at my mums and could definitely take some more to get costs down. Both have physical jobs and estate cars which I got furniture in the first place although it’s not so practical with children anymore. Think people just offered assistance as also astounded just how much it costs! Trying to also declutter as I pack as sure there’s lots I don’t even want to take

We considered that too.. it’s like £280 for 2 months to hire a massive unit we pass every day about 5 mins away… not sure if it was unrealistic. They seem upset because now they’re saying that’s what they feel it would help with the most…they won’t accept help with things like this and wouldn’t offer it either. DH also struggles to accept help and doesn’t like me asking for it but that’s another issue 🙄

Can you sell anything before the move. Some of your things may not fit in the new place anyway?

Sounds a nightmare. Our buyers are chain free and we are moving to a new build so hopefully this wouldn’t happen but guess never know…. Swaying slightly towards removals help in some way or another now

If youre in london or the south east, I can send you my movers details?

God that cost is insane!

Ordinarily I'd say to hire movers but definitely don't bother, just promise your mates a crate of beer each or something, unlimited pizza and a favour owed and crack on xx

Definitely! Working way through sorting now

We sold some of our furniture to the buyers of our house, things that fit perfectly in the old house, such as a tv unit in an alcove, and wouldn't fit in the new one.

use removers and get them to pack. It will be quicker and less stressful. They will disassemble furniture and put it back together far quicker and easier than you ever will. Unless you have no kids and infinite time to do it yourself, it is money well spent

The pros will be quicker, mire efficient and stronger than you'd ever believe, and they'll get it done. They will come in, work like demons and leave. They'll be able to store your stuff if there are delays. Id pay for the packing too. They are nit sentimentally attached you stuff, do they just get on with it. You've been gifted the money, use it!

Unless you are moving from rented doing it yourself can be tricky.

you need to be leaving the old property and arriving at the new one on the same day. Standard is that packers arrive the day before and pack up everything except what you need for overnight.

they then put everything in the van. You are then “homeless” over lunchtime until the solicitor confirms the money has gone through at which point you drive to the new one and unload.

multiple trips are generally not possible.

it can get quite stressful if you can’t get everything out in time - the usual is that you have to be out and keys with the agents by 12.

Honestly I would just get the removal company. When I moved to Bristol from Woking it was worth every penny. I even went out to the Pizza Express while they packed up (fortunately no Prince Andrew to be seen!)

I decided to do it all myself when moving just ten minutes down the road. My brother and a couple of mates offered to help but they'd had a big night out the previous night, so were, shall we say, a little worse for wear 🤣 seeing them trying to get our sofa and bed up two flights of stairs was a pretty stressful experience 🤣

Not suggesting that your friends will turn up like that! But I do think that getting the professionals in removed a lot of stress!

I think you’re mad. Having packers and movers is a total game changer and takes about 99% of the stress out of the move

@RealSwan Well if they’re going to get upset if you don’t, then you may as well either - do it that way and hire a removal company but shop around for better quotes - or, say thanks for the offer but we can’t bear to spend that much on it. See what they say to that. Parents, and in law, offers of money rarely seem to come without conditions ime and it’s easier to say no from the off 🤦🏻‍♀️ good luck with it all. Moving house is definitely not one of most favourite things to do 😆