Page 2 | Moving at Christmas??!!

ditzzy · 2023-11-24T07:25:50+00:00

After about a year on the market I’ve finally found myself in a nice short chain (my buyer has a first time buyer, my seller has already left to retire abroad) so the legal work has gone much faster than I expected! One of the agents called me yesterday to ask whether I wanted to complete before or after Christmas (exchange is apparently expected mid-December now). When the offers were flying around I didn’t ever think Christmas would be possible!! I’ve moved plenty of times before but this is the first time with children (Dd1 is 8, Dd2 is 4). Moving at Christmas will be a nightmare won’t it? They’re already nagging to get the tree out here…. But Christmas in the new house would be a lovely way to start a new era…… Any stories to help me decide?

yesyesitsaparkingone · 24/11/2023 08:47

We moved back in on Christmas Eve or maybe the day before after a reno when we had small kids and hosted a couple of people! It’s quite good as you will never work as hard in your life to clean up and be ready and so you’ll get further along than you otherwise would have. Then you can collapse in a heap on Christmas Day!

Think about things like services (can you book wifi, do you know if they have connections etc?), the bin day, where the local tip is to get rid of boxes.

Then buy a lot of M&S style Christmas semi prepared food and enjoy!!

VisiblyNot25 · 24/11/2023 08:51

We moved just before Christmas- at the time, my DC were 7 and 5 and I was pregnancy with DC. It was stressful but definitely worth it to be in our new home for Xmas.

LindaDawn · 24/11/2023 08:57

Do it ASAP, ie before Xmas. The odds of loosing buyers in such a short time will hopefully be less. More properties will come on the market after Xmas and you don’t want people chasing lower priced properties etc.

LindaDawn · 24/11/2023 09:01

Sorry should have said, move before Xmas, as other poster said you don’t want to be worrying over Xmas about the move.

housethatbuiltme · 24/11/2023 09:39

No way on earth would I choose to move before Xmas.

We are buying a house (taking ages) and I know it won't be done before xmas but if they magically said it was and they wanted us we had to move in in the next few weeks I would tell them 'fuck that'.

I suppose that couldn't happen to us though as first time buyers doing a renovation we will be staying in rented for a while after exchange anyway but no I wouldn't move at the busiest most stressful month of the year.

January is basically a dead month, nothing happens then so perfect time to move.

housethatbuiltme · 24/11/2023 09:49

I will also add I moved (rented not bought) into our first home a month before Xmas (about this time of year). Much easier than it would be now as we had next to no large furniture stuff to move (since it was our first house) and no kids (yet) so just the 2 of us.

It was miserable, trying to get painting done as the walls where in terrible state, there was tonnes of cleaning to be done, there was no carpets so we had to go buy those... the house was not 'tidy' it was empty and impossible to find things we did needed.

It was so stressful I went into labor and had my DS premature.

That was a MONTH before xmas never mind days before, not to be rude but PP on this thread must all be a little bit mad.

Just look at all the threads that pop up of people moving in and finding the boiler doesn't work or the water line in the shower has gone and the roof collapsed or the previous owners have took EVERYTHING even the doors etc...

BelfastSmile · 24/11/2023 11:09

We moved house about 3 days before Christmas, the day before SIL's wedding, in the middle of lockdown - it was fine! We had the tree up in the old house, then put it into a Christmas tree bag and DH walked it to the new house (it wasn't far away)!

Just held off on putting up other decorations until we moved.

BelfastSmile · 24/11/2023 11:12

Just to say @housethatbuiltme is right about utilities etc - do make sure they're in decent working order before you move. If the previous owners are living there then you're probably ok, but if it's been empty then maybe get someone to check, or at least have number of people who would do an emergency call out.

Original poster

ditzzy · 24/11/2023 11:27

housethatbuiltme · 24/11/2023 09:49

I will also add I moved (rented not bought) into our first home a month before Xmas (about this time of year). Much easier than it would be now as we had next to no large furniture stuff to move (since it was our first house) and no kids (yet) so just the 2 of us.

It was miserable, trying to get painting done as the walls where in terrible state, there was tonnes of cleaning to be done, there was no carpets so we had to go buy those... the house was not 'tidy' it was empty and impossible to find things we did needed.

It was so stressful I went into labor and had my DS premature.

That was a MONTH before xmas never mind days before, not to be rude but PP on this thread must all be a little bit mad.

Just look at all the threads that pop up of people moving in and finding the boiler doesn't work or the water line in the shower has gone and the roof collapsed or the previous owners have took EVERYTHING even the doors etc...

Edited

That’s a good point!

The house is empty at the moment - but I was thinking of rushing things through to minimise the time it’s empty. I’m also paranoid about the boiler in our current house breaking down, so the issue is the same on either house.

Apart from the current status of being empty the new house is in a much better decorative state than my current one.

I’ll need to check out just how long before the “before” option is…

OP posts:

Original poster

ditzzy · 24/11/2023 11:28

LindaDawn · 24/11/2023 08:57

Do it ASAP, ie before Xmas. The odds of loosing buyers in such a short time will hopefully be less. More properties will come on the market after Xmas and you don’t want people chasing lower priced properties etc.

We’ll exchange contracts before regardless so nobody can wriggle out of it, but yes, less things to worry about over Christmas is definitely an attraction.

OP posts:

DaisyDoor · 24/11/2023 11:37

I do think the cleanliness is worth thinking about. If the new place is likely to be very dirty then maybe get professionals in to spend a day before Christmas. Christmas in a new and slightly chaotic house could be lovely but in a dirty house wouldn’t be much fun.

Maybe ask yourself something like how you’d feel if everything was a bit higgledy piggledy and you ended up having to cook the Turkey chopped up in three different pans because you couldn’t find the big one, the lights go and you can’t find the fuse box and have to rely on candles and you improvise the crackers (still packed somewhere) by just pulling a piece of paper and shouting bang?-

a) this would be a disaster
b) this would be really funny and make it extra special plus would be a good anecdote

If you’re A then do it in January. If you’re B then do it before Christmas.

Twiglets1 · 24/11/2023 11:37

It can take a few days to sort out the internet when you move house - just saying!

marmaladeandpeanutbutter · 24/11/2023 12:15

I've done it, around 14th. I paid a couple of teenagers to help me unpack, and we did it in no time. I also paid to keep the curtains, so that didn't need urgently doing. The school took pity of us and sent me their tree at the end of term 😄

Stephisaur · 24/11/2023 12:22

We moved last year on the Monday before Christmas (19th maybe?) DS was 4.

I packed DH off to work, DS off to Nursery and then the movers did all the work. My Mom & I cleaned the house top to bottom once all the stuff was out. Then it was just a case of waiting on keys.

Didn't get the keys until around 3pm, but the movers had our stuff unpacked in no time. We had a lot of it just shoved in the garage to be honest 😂

I took the rest of the week off work so that we could go and buy our tree and throw some decorations up 😂we unpacked what was strictly necessary and left the rest for after the big day. We went to my Mom's for Christmas Dinner to save the hassle.

It was chaotic, but fine. I wouldn't necessarily choose to do it again, but I wouldn't be put off either if that makes sense?

Areyootakingthepish · 24/11/2023 14:16

Out of interest OP @ditzzy how long has it taken from offer to get to this stage? We are actually really hoping we can get in before Xmas (looking unlikely) as for a lot of the reasons people have mentioned already!

TheDogsMother · 24/11/2023 14:38

We finally got our keys on 20th December but couldn't get the removal until 23rd. The house had been empty ages so we went and got a tree, put the lights on and decorated it so people could see that someone was moving in.

Once we were in somehow we managed to cook a meal in the terrible kitchen, found plates, glasses etc and ate our Christmas dinner off packing cases. It was stressful but we have really fond memories of that time.

Issummernearlyover · 24/11/2023 14:52

I moved 23 Dec with an 8 and 5 year old. House was a renovation project. It was a bit like camping but I put up a small tree in the window and we were just so happy to have it over with. Cooker conked out on Boxing Day and we had takeaways for a few days, but it was still a fun time and our first Christmas without DV.

Go for it OP. It's much easier than moving with all the new toys unwrapped.

Original poster

ditzzy · 24/11/2023 15:03

DaisyDoor · 24/11/2023 11:37

I do think the cleanliness is worth thinking about. If the new place is likely to be very dirty then maybe get professionals in to spend a day before Christmas. Christmas in a new and slightly chaotic house could be lovely but in a dirty house wouldn’t be much fun.

Maybe ask yourself something like how you’d feel if everything was a bit higgledy piggledy and you ended up having to cook the Turkey chopped up in three different pans because you couldn’t find the big one, the lights go and you can’t find the fuse box and have to rely on candles and you improvise the crackers (still packed somewhere) by just pulling a piece of paper and shouting bang?-

a) this would be a disaster
b) this would be really funny and make it extra special plus would be a good anecdote

If you’re A then do it in January. If you’re B then do it before Christmas.

Good test!

Yes, I would think it was hilarious and just get on with making the best of it. DH doesn’t always share my sense of humour though.

OP posts:

Original poster

ditzzy · 24/11/2023 15:06

Areyootakingthepish · 24/11/2023 14:16

Out of interest OP @ditzzy how long has it taken from offer to get to this stage? We are actually really hoping we can get in before Xmas (looking unlikely) as for a lot of the reasons people have mentioned already!

We had the offers documented and chain confirmed on 24th October (having made our offer the previous week).

I was estimating 10 weeks so thought I had no chance, and I’m still sceptical, but it’s added a bit of excitement this week even thinking about it!

OP posts:

Daisies12 · 24/11/2023 15:25

I'd definitely avoid Friday 22nd, completion is usually Friday. If something goes wrong, that's it for most businesses until new Year. Fine if you can do the Friday before.

114E · 24/11/2023 21:13

.

ChocolateTea · 26/11/2023 11:41

I moved on 10th December with a 4 year old and 6 year old and it was great. We had time from the Christmas holidays to hunker down and love our new house. The tree went up the weekend we moved in. A friend wrote a letter from Santa saying I’ve been told you’ve moved. It was great and I was so please it went through before January

Pinky2023 · 26/11/2023 11:41

Wrap the moving boxes 😂

sixteenfurryfeet · 26/11/2023 11:43

Go for before Christmas, as the weather gets worse in the new year. You don't want to be moving house in the snow or a -8 wind.

PeachBlossom1234 · 26/11/2023 11:48

I moved into my current house on 14th December (many moons ago) and it was actually fine. We unpacked in a few days and had the tree up the next week - it was so nice to spend Christmas in our new home and we also had our break being able to do some jobs that needed doing. I’d say go for it!