Selling/Buying/Moving House

[Succubi]

Need advice on moving house. Anyone have know the approximate cost of removals. Any advice on how best to organise the move would be greatly appreciated. I have two children under 3 and lots of junk to shift. Thanks.

The price vairies nationally and by the amount of stuff/size of house so I think you are best to do a bit of shopping around for an idea of the cost.

First off I would be as ruthless as you can and sell/donate/tip anything you can.

Then I would start by clearing the garage or loft out so you have an empty storage space. Box up the things you don't need first - like the contents of the garage and loft. Label all boxes on all sides and number and name them. e.g garage box 1, then write and inventory of the boxes. So box 1 might have tools and paint brushes.

Dismantle anything like garden swings and bbq and store ready for transport.

Then start in the house, pack up books and ornaments, pictures, curtains and cushions, anything that you don't need to use.

Make a start with the DC's toys most can be packed early.

Then go through each room one at a time.

Don't forget to leave kettle, cups, tea etc in the last box and keep it to hand. You will need cleaning materials to hand too so you can give your house a quick clean before you leave and the new house when you get there.

If you can dispatch your DC to someone on moving day that will be a big help.

Get the DC to pack their own moving box with the things they will need on the first night, so pjs and clean clothes for the morning, toiletries, book for bed, dvd and a few toys. That will get them involved and they can look forward to upacking their own special box when they get there. Hopefully it will stop them wanting XYZ that is deeply burried!!

The main thing is to be organised with the boxes and knowing which room each box needs to go in, and roughly what is in each box.

I find copious amounts of gin to help too.....but you are probably best off leaving it untill you arrive

Oreo you are a legend. The thought of packing fills me with dread because I have so much stuff.

I have started packing slowly stuff we don't use probably averaging a box a day at the moment, and chucking stuff we don't need use at the same time. Exactly as Oreo suggests and feeling more relaxed doing it this way at the moment.

For movers might I suggest getting a few firms to come and quote and ask them how many cubic meters they think you have then also check on here and get a quote which is where we found our movers.

Be ruthless about getting rid of stuff. I have a couple of boxes of stuff from two house moves ago that I haven't unpacked yet, I'm contemplating throwing them away unopened as I clearly don't need whatever is inside.

Ask the removers for a quote for doing packing for you. It cost us £200 (the packing part). The day before the move, I tidied up. On the day, 6 removal men arrived at 8am, and had my entire house packed and loaded onto the van by 2pm. Dh took the kids out and I sat in the garden and MN'd.

Do check your house insurance to see if you are covered for damages by removers. If so, you don't need to pay the insurance that the removers will quote you for.

Thank you all. Will get quotes and like the insurance idea. Keep having panic attacks at the enormity of it all. X

Do shop around for removals & try to get a personal recommendation; we were quoted ridiculous sums for our (smallish) terrace but got a smaller, private firm's number from a friend and they were less than half the price!! :)

Don't use any company that is willing to take on the job without seeing the amount of stuff you have, especially if they are going to do any of your packing (most firms will insist that they must at least pack your breakables, or they will take no responsibility for getting them to the other end safely). That way lies not getting your stuff into your house till 11pm.

You can pay anything from £300 to £2000 for a modest-sized house (London probably more) but you get what you pay for in terms of how many people arrive to do the work, whether they use proper equipment for the job, how well trained they are and how much professional indemnity cover there is if they do something really stupid (your own insurance won't cover things that could be prevented by them taking reasonably care).

If you are in the middle of a chain where everyone is buying and selling and moving on the same day, it's worth paying a bit more to be sure they are going to have a properly professional attitude. Your buyers solicitor will probably have written into the contract that if your old house isn't cleared of your effects and ready to be handed over by 1pm, then you are liable to pay the overtime of their removals team and any other expenses incurred by the delay - and if you go for a cheap man&van option this is a very real possibility.

Can I just ask about things like cabin beds-do you have to take them apart yourself before the blokes turn up? And then reassemble them yourself at the other end? I am imagining we will be too exhausted to do this until weeks after we've moved!

I think dismantling and reassembling furniture varies from firm to firm. Ask when you get quotes - I picked one who said they'd do it - as you say, last thing you want to do when you've just moved in!

Sounds like something worth paying for!