How long do you get to move?

[2GinOrNot2Gin]

When you sell & purchase a house how long do you get to move the contents from A-B?

We're moving soon but my husband and I have very different ideas of how it will work. Our current home was our first and we both lived with parents so we had all the time in the world to decorate and move in.

I've tried to explain that it's completely different and that were likely to have to move everything in a few hours. He's adamant we can have a couple of days and it's physically impossible to move our whole life in a few hours. (I argued this is why people use removal companies but he's adamant we're doing a self hire)

So from being handed the keys to your new house, how long until you had to hand over the keys to your old house?

I have always had either midday or 1pm in the contract as when to be out and when you get the keys depends on how long the chain is. All your worldly goods will be in a van/lorry for at least one hour, but one move we had to be out by midday, but the completion didn't occur till 4.45pm. In very rare occasions with long chains with slow moving money you can potentially be homeless over night.

Are you selling your current house? Why does he think you will have access to it after completion?

We were moving from rented and our vendors also assumed this, that they would get money for the house then could move out at leisure over several days. Had to get the solicitors and estate agents to spell out to them that's not how it works.

It cost us about 1200 for a full packing and unpacking service 4 years ago. Worth every penny! That was a 3 bed house including loft and garage. With the kids to consider too there was no way we could do it ourselves, and it ended up being two pretty large lorries full of our stuff. We were leaving most white goods behind and it meant I could focus on the kids while dh and my mum cleaned and checked rooms once they were told they were clear, worth checking as we did find a box left in a fitted cupboard. We were out by 11am and picked up keys at about 2pm. So packed lunch was a good plan also. The unloading men put things where we directed them to and were astonishingly quick. Getting a super king mattress up our narrow stairs was a fun moment but they did it with no damage. We then had some energy to start tackling it all when they left as if we’d had to move ourselves there’s no way we could have done that too. Do not underestimate how hard it will be!

I've done it without removal companies but in that case we had a bridging loan so did have two properties at once. That's in the scottish system. Not sure if that works the same way in the English system.

So with the bridging loan we basically gave ourselves a week to do the last two moves we did. One of those we did ourselves and the other we used a removal firm. Obviously that's not cheap, we didn't do it to save money. The move we did ourselves we hired a friend for the day to help.

Prior to that, I've done multiple moves, usually the funds exchange about lunchtime. Most people try to be out by 12 noon so they can hand in the keys and the new purchasers can pick them up about 1pm. It's not foolproof and sometimes the funds haven't moved so you can't get the keys until later or you are moving a long way away and it's a race to get to the office to collect by 5pm.

You pick your new keys up on the way to the new house.

Removal company is the way forward, so much less stressful and they are really quick.

Normally you have to be out of your old house by midday, and then straight into next house

Yeah you need a removal company ideally. You can't buy your new house until your buyers have paid you for your current house. At which point you will no longer own your current house, so you and all you possessions need to be out of it. Everything you have needs to be packed up and out by the time you complete. It's a lot to do in a very short space of time!

We packed ourselves in advance then had a removal company pack the boxes in to their van on the morning of the move and take them to the new place.

My husband picked the keys up from the estate agent and the removal men put the boxes in all the right rooms for us to unpack later.

Like pps have said, you pack up (and de clutter!) in the weeks before you move. We’ve moved a lot and always done it ourselves, but I would love to use removers!

Don't forget a good removal company has liability insurance - your friends and family could wreck things and you wouldn't be able to complain because they were "helping" you!

You pack in the days leading up to the sale (or get movers to pack). I recommend that you each pack a suitcase full of clothes and medicines and toiletries to get you through the first couple days, also one box with kettle, some cutlery and dinnerware. If you have kids their school books and uniform etc, and move these yourself.
It can be a really stressful day and you want essentials to hand rather than rummaging through several boxes.
Also movers will pack EVERYTHING- they will even pack your rubbish so be sure to declutter and get rid of any crap.

Oh and do leave your house clean - last thing after guys have left do a vacuum and wipe down. Leave it as you would like to find your new home (I also leave a bottle of wine or flowers and a note telling new owners what day rubbish collection is etc).

Current Covid regulations forbid friends/family from helping you move I think (although worth checking). Removal companies are ok.

Why would your dh think you get to hang around in a house you no longer own?

Definitely use a removal company for sure (most will do it cheaper for cash 🤫) Use their boxes, you can return them to them after. Pack in the week between exchange and completion. Write Kitchen. Bed1, Bed2 etc on outside of boxes and draw a plan of the new house on some paper to stick to the new door for the removal guys. Move all the boxes into one room in the old house, so that the removal guys can take from that one room which speeds the process up no end.

Send your DH off to follow the removers and get new keys etc while you stay back and clean the old house top to bottom then drop the keys at estate agent for new owners. Then follow DH after. (Obvs only if you have a car each).

I once sat outside a house we bought with 2 small hungry children waiting for the twats inside to finish loading their own van with their heavy furniture which they just couldn't manage. They were a shambles and when we eventually got in the place was filthy too as no time to clean it. Don't ever be like them.

We moved ourselves.

We spent several weeks taking stuff to tip and packing.

Three days before we moved we hired a van and started loading everything on to it. We could have done it in less time but we would not have coped with loading it all up on the day of the move. For this reason we agreed a completion day of a Monday so we had the weekend to do it.

On the day we only had to load the bed, bedding, remaining small bits in the bathroom and kitchen and cleaning stuff.

Moving is dirty work, especially if people are traipsing in with outdoor shoes on, so you need to factor in time to clean up before you leave.

We locked up and put our keys through the letterbox. The estate agent had the keys so buyer picked up from there, as did we on our next property.

The contract says what time you complete and that is the time you must be out by and that is usually around lunchtime, but what gets agreed does vary.

Unpacking at the other end was much quicker. We had two friends who helped unload the lorry we had hired.

One of my friends moved recently. They actually moved out the day before completion. The removal company kept their stuff in the van overnight & they stayed in a hotel & just relaxed til their keys were ready for the new house.

As a very experienced house mover she said it was the most stress free move ever

If you have only a small amount of stuff e.g. a single person or couple of with no children, you might manage hiring a van and getting friends and family to help. I moved 20 years ago with teenagers and they helped, as well as their friends. It is still much easier to pay for a removal company.

Another really important thing is to start decluttering now. Go through every drawer, cupboard, room, shed and loft and go to the charity shop or tip or use local selling sites with everything you no longer need. If you have a big family house that you have been in a long time this can take months. There is no point in paying to move things you no longer need.

When it was easier to get bridging it was best to buy on a Friday and sell on a Monday giving you the weekend
But bridging is so difficult/expensive now

We're a family of 7.. been here 8 years so quite a lot of stuff.. I don't hoard though.. I'm brutal and declutter monthly so apart from kids toys and old baby stuff I don't have much unused crap.. but maybe I'll be surprised when I start.. the more I read the more I'm leaning towards removals!

I'm shocked at the advice to make sure my house is clean.. I wouldn't even dream of leaving the house any less than perfect.. do people really do that?
I'm planning on touching up the paint etc where furniture has marked the walls.. paint over the kids finger prints.. do people actually leave you with a dirty house?!

Our house was a renovation Project so it was beyond vile, but expected. Am I really naive in thinking everyone would leave their house clean.. oh god I hope our sellers clean their house.

My friend did not get into their new house until 10pm as the family moving out had hired one small van - they were only moving round the corner but had to make multiple trips and complete underestimated the time it took. Beds had to be dismantled to fit in the van etc

Last year we moved out of our 5 bed house that we'd been in for 13 years (family of 4). We're definitely not hoarders, pretty streamlined, but my God, there was so much STUFF. We had packers booked, they started the day before completion, but they still weren't done by 6pm the next day (day of completion). Our buyers complained to solicitors, and it was all VERY stressful. At one point I thought we'd have to stay in a hotel, as they didn't get the first lorry to us until gone 8pm and 2 of the packers went home.

Don't underestimate how much there is to do, and start doing some packing yourself ahead of time (in hindsight, we should have been less reliant on the packers, and done things like the loft and garage ahead of time). But I'd never try to do it myself.

I've done lots of moves (7) over the years as a result of buying houses to do up and sell.

When it was just me and DH (and smaller properties) we "moved" ourselves.

This meant in the two weeks leading up to the move we ordered loads of boxes, packing tape, bubble wrap (you WILL need far more than you think - double you're estimate) and started packing up each room ready to go (starting with the least used).

By the night before we would have the bare minimum left (think kettle a couple of mugs, our bed and clothes for the moving day) and everything else was packed up in a single room nearest the door for access.

We'd hire a large van and that would arrive the night before.

Once we had the keys we'd start transferring boxes/furniture. It took pretty much all day and was exhausting.

The last 2 moves with children we've admitted defeat. We're in much bigger houses now with vastly more furniture and all the kids things.

Tbh I wish I'd given in sooner....

Professional movers are a godsend. They came in like a pack of locusts with all the right packing equipment (including specialist items like clothes rails and sofa covers that were like large Jiffy bags, similar for mirrors and paintings etc) and had us all packed within 5 hours.

On the other side we had to do the "unpacking" though they put the furniture in the right rooms (we could have paid for them to do this but actually wanted to unpack ourselves) and a week later they collected all their packing equipment.

If you're a family of 7 I'd say it's a no brainier to use a packing company.

There's no way (without an army of family and friends plus paying for vans, packaging) you're going to be able to do this in the time you'll have.

It's not cheap but it's far less stressful.

All I had to do was waft around "looking" busy until they cleared a room and then I cleaned it ready for the new buyers.

Honestly - book movers....

What time would you want the removal company to arrive? Is 8am too early?

We packed the books ourselves, just to save time, but the removers packed everything else.

I had the packing service and it was amazing. I think I would have had a nervous breakdown if I had tried to do it myself.

They came at 8am and left about 4pm.