How does moving day actually work?

[olafisking]

This may sound a daft question, and I'm losing hope we will EVER actually move - we received our offer at the end of Feb and offered on our property in mid March and the chain still isn't complete - but I might as well start thinking about it!

When we moved into our current home we were first time buyers and had a week overlap between moving in and the end of our tenancy. We were able to move our stuff ourselves with a van and had loads of time to complete the clean up.

However my understanding is that you book your removal company for the provisional moving date, get a call on the day, the removal people pack up and you have to give in keys by 2pm or whatever time. How does this work with cleaning? Obviously we can clean around our furniture but I presume you have to clean where furniture has been and make good any mess your removals have caused... but then do you have much time in which to do this? And when do you remove your hoover? And what stuff is in your 'on the day' moving box eg teabags, kettle etc?

It sounds daft as I said, but I'm struggling with the logistics of how it works so if people can say what happened on their last moving day, especially how they managed the clean up, it would be helpful so I can start getting my head around it!

Option 1: don't. MN will freak out over this but in reality it's what most people seem to do.

Option 2: movers get everything into vans by about 11am, you do a last hoover and wipe and get into the car with your moving-day stuff (bedding, kettle, loo roll, light bulb, bit of crockery, phone charger) and your cleaning materials and hoover. Bit tricky if your car is already full of a fish tank and a Labrador.

Option 3: get a cleaner, and as soon as hoovering is done, set off with hoover as above, leave cleaner to finish and leave all materials there.

Usually the movers have lunch in a caff en route so you can then get to the agent and collect the keys to let them in, or get them off the sellers if they are still there. You aren't supposed to get the keys until the solicitors confirm completion has happened - so when we first bought, at the bottom of a long chain, it got to 5pm on the Friday, we had had a few cups of tea with Mr and Mrs Seller, when they decided just to leave us there in the house, on the grounds they were only going down the road and they knew where we lived!

When we sold and bought, the movers set off but our plan of following with the cleaner in our car was scuppered as they really wanted to get into our new house as soon as they had lunch, and the house was filthy behind appliances etc, so we left cleaner behind with money for a Travelcard and lunch.

Not a daft question at all:
moving day is hell BUT you'll get through it.

After exchange you have a financially guaranteed moving day (ie if it is missed there are financial penalties)so you can confirm booking with the removal company plan your exit and book a cleaner if you wish. Time between exchange and completion can be any thing from a couple of days to a few months but is usually about 2 weeks.

If you are packing yourself then this is when you will be doing it. If you don;t have DCs and have time you can clean gradually leaving only the tricky bits for the day itself. However i advise packing by the removal men...they are quicker and their insurance is good, compared to the moving costs it is cheap.

On moving day you movers will come early (or they may come the day before depending on how much stuff you have) all financial exchanges have to be complete in the chain by 4pm....your solicitor will aim for mid day but depending on length of chain and how good the other solicitors are this is a movable feast. Once your stuff is opacked and you have cleaned you may be sitting around or you may be fully occupied right up to the last second.

If you are moving far you lock up give estate agent or solicitor the keys and leave hoping against hope all goes smoothly and to time. If local you'll have more time and won;t have to pass them over before completion.

Whilst you have to give up your keys by the time stated in contract you don't have to move into your new place that day...you can pay for storage overnight in van and get in to property the following day if you want and can stay somewhere else.

If you are lucky the home you m ove into will be clean and empty...or it won't. If it is full of stuff you can apply for a financial penalty but the inconvenience is huge. You may cry! I certainly have.

My hoover goes with me in the car and is packed last and out very first thing.
I have 2 boxes in the car and overnight bags for everyone (including animals) which have all precious toys and sleep aids.

Box 1 cleaning cloths, sprays, bucket, bleach,loo cleaner, washing up liquid, bowl, washing up sponges dustpan, brush. Several loo rolls, one kitchen roll. Black bags.
Box 2 emergency rations, many many biscuits to keep removal men going, tea bags, milk in screw top, kettle, large bottle of water, meal for the evening in a casserole/pasta bake usuually frozen to bung in oven , sandwiches for the day, random food items that might be useful, mugs (enough for all) plates or cardboard plates, kitchen roll (yes again). Paracetamol and bruffen. I don;t drink but I think wine would also be a good thing!

HTH

Packers came the day before and packed everything bar cleaning materials, kettle and tea-making equipment. We (me, DH, toddler, baby) stopped in a nearby hotel.

Day of completion, we met the removals guys at our house. Loaded the van, cleaned, brewed up, ate biscuits, waited for funds to go through and up the chain.

But....the money transfers didn't happen in time. At 4pm the cash hadn't hit everyone's account and we were told we'd be completing on the Monday instead (this was a Friday).

Complete fucking chaos ensued. I am never ever moving house again.

On our last moving day we kept the removal guys topped up with tea, coffee, biscuits and got them bacon sandwiches from the local shop. The removal company provided a cleaner who was amazing and cleaned everything as they emptied the rooms. We were at a loose end to be honest but I will do the same again when we move.

Moving day is easy if you use a professional company. When we moved we provisionally booked the removal company for the expected completion day and confirmed it two days before when we were certain of the date. The removal men turned up at 8.30am and we're all packed up by 11am. They dismantled the cabin beds and dining table for us. They then drove to the new house (an hour away) with my husband following whilst I stayed behind to do a quick Hoover (we had cleaned around furniture in the days prior). When we got to the new house the old owners were still moving out so we had to wait half an hour before we could start unloading. They started unloading at 12.30 am and by 3.30pm they had finished unloading, had rebuilt all the beds and dining table and positioned all the furniture where we wanted it. The removal Men left at 3.30 and I sent my husband to pick up the kids from after school club and buy pizza

Cleaning your old place is fairly easy - do a big clean the day before (bathroom kitchen etc) then after the van is mostly packed, do a last whip round with dustpan and brush and sponge to pick up any mess from move day. Then bung those in a carrier bag and off you go.

The trickier bit is cleaning your new place. You will may find the previous owners have left it disgusting. Make sure you have cleaning products easily accessible and get as much cleaning done as possible before the movers start bringing your stuff in. Focus on the cleaning you can't do after the unpacking - so first hoover where furniture will go, then clean insides of kitchen cupboards and any built in wardrobes. Kitchen floor bathroom etc can wait.

Totally totally agree with using professional packers. Best money ever spent.

We packed ourselves due to having enough time between exchange and completion (and lots of free boxes from a friend that has just moved themselves).

clean as each room is cleared, put the Hoover and cleaning products in your car, and have an "emergency box" of tea, sugar, spoons etc. Also we put valuables (laptop, jewellery and watches) in a suitcase in the car with us.

Our moving day looked like this-

730am - toddler to nursery

8am - removers arrive and load van.

930am- sausage rolls and tea for removers (get a stack of paper cups from star bucks/Costa so you're not worrying about washing them up).

12:30pm -Packers finish, head off for lunch. Stay and do final check of house, last Hoover and say goodbye to neighbours.

1pm- drop off keys with EA, pick up new ones. Grab lunch and travel to new house.

130pm - arrive at new house with removers. Whizz round with Hoover before they unload. It helps to have boxes labelled with where you want them to go. Removers wanted no help from us, just to be told where to put things.

4pm - finish unpacking. Tip removers in crates of corona beer.

5pm - collect toddler

6pm - fish and chips and prosecco dinner.

Put toddler to bed, make up our bed and find toiletries.

It was exhausting, but all perfectly manageable.

We moved recently.

DH and I did as much cleaning as we could before anything happened.

The packers arrived on the Thursday afternoon and packed and loaded lots of our stuff. They left us with beds and things. They came back of Friday morning and finished off.

I then finished cleaning and packed the cleaning stuff into the car. I was done by 12 so I went to pick up DH (who'd gone to work for the morning) and have some lunch while we waited to hear about completion. When we did we dropped out keys off at the EA.

Our (very annoying) vendors weren't ready to go so our moving guys sat outside while they finished loading their vans. They handed over the keys to us and the movers started moving us in. They were done before tea time.

Unfortunately the vendors were filthy and hadn't bothered to clean. It took us 3 days to get the kitchen clean. We got a guy in to clean the oven who said he doubted they'd ever cleaned it. After scrubbing the floor 4 times, it turned out to be a completely different colour. Then we had to start cleaning the bathrooms...

Even when you're expecting it to happen, it's really infuriating to be left a filthy house to move into. Especially when you left your old one shiny and clean for its new owners.

Oh no running. Did you end up moving that day or did you have to wait?

What happens if it's gets to the end of the day and the money hasn't landed?

I will never ever complete on a Friday. Far too many horror stories about it overrunning and being put back till Monday. OP, I would strongly advise you to pick any other day than this. BH weekends will be even worse as every other bugger will have had the same great idea.

(My last move completed on a Tuesday and I had the keys by about 10.30am!)

We packed everything into the van and as rooms were cleared, one of my helpers swept/mopped/hoovered as appropriate. Then we shut the door.

Before we left, we each did final sweeps of the whole place, looking in cupboards and suchlike, just to make sure. I left instructions for the boiler, bin days and other useful info on the kitchen side.

My only other top tip is to makes up somewhere to sleep as soon as you arrive. If you don't, you will want to cry when you realise you still have that to do after a full on exhausting day of moving and unpacking.

Clean as much as you can the day before. There isn't any point cleaning after your removal men because their removal men will just come in and make exactly the same sort of mess. The horror stories are from when people leave things minging - it doesn't have to be spotless.

Thank you all for the helpful advice, it's really useful to hear what other people have done. I guess I just need to try and clean into the crevices of the house as much as possible and carry on with my decluttering project in the meantime so said crevices can be accessed!

ShotsFired thank you for that tip about boilers/bin days, I think I will steal a card wallet from work to pop bits and pieces like that in as and when I find them. The bed is also a great idea and will go top of my list!

Running that sounds awful - what happened? Do removal men have contingency plans for this kind of thing? I will definitely try to avoid Fridays! (and possibly pack 3 days worth of clothes in the car just in case)

Add scissors screw drivers and sharpe knives - plus notebook pens for meter readings - paperwork and phone numbers

Leave a list - bin men - take away leaflets for new owners - plus meter readings and keys

Professional packers are the way to go.

Buy some paper plates, plastic cups and cutlery and use those for the day - that way you can just throw it all away and don't have to gather up stray knives and cups and teaspoons on your way out the door.

If you have small DC who are e.g. At nursery keep them there. Far easier to have them out the way while you're packing up. We moved when DS was two, I took him to toddler group in the morning while my h and dad packed up the house. Then we went to my sister's for lunch, and went to the new house once they'd got the keys and we're moving in.

I had tried to avoid a Friday, but with four others in the chain who wanted that Friday, I had no choice.

Tiny and OP - we ended up moving on the Monday instead. Like I said, complete nightmare. Storage costs, costs of another day of removals, finding somewhere to stop at short notice with no stuff... (and a bottle fed baby running low on sterilised bottles, with no access to a microwave or steriliser....I was in bits.)

And it was all the fault of the fuckwit FTB at the start of the chain, and her even more fuckwitted solicitor.

We thought it'd be so straightforward as we had gone for the best and most reputable removal firm around to do both the packing and the move. Good job we did, as they took the chaos in their stride. We tipped them as well as we could afford to!

We were only moving about 250 metres but still got a professional company and complete packing service. It cost under £1000 all in (I think £600, we are in East Mids and got a discoint for moving in January and on a Tuesday, though!) Best money ever spent.

Our day went:

Monday before move - packing service. Everything packed bar essentials for the next day. Furniture etc left in situ. Stayed at parents but could have happily stayed in house.

Tuesday:

8.45 Greet removal men. Offer tea - declined.

9.00 feeling like spare parts, McDonald's breakfast

10.30 return to house, fully packed now. Clean like hell.

12.30 bought fish and chips for removal men

1.30 phone call confirming

2.00 meet at new house, unload everything, boxes into rooms as marked, beds etc rebuilt

3.30 pay removal men

The only thing I wasn't braced for was having to do the mega clean again in the new house as it was FILTHY.

And you joined MN just to recommend them?

Oh dear raaraaroxy this hasn't really gone as planned has it?!