Removals company vs doing it yourself

[Boyandgirlanddone]

We're hoping to complete at the beginning of January. Moving from our 3 bed terrace to a 3 bed semi 20 minutes away. We're considering not stumping up for a removals company and doing it ourselves, which is what we've always done in the past (somehow with only a Fiat Punto!) Are we crazy? I'm planning to rent a Luton van or two which will be about £300 and buy the boxes. Here's the kicker: if we complete any time in January, my husband will be away with work, so it'll be me, two small children, family and any willing friends. Am I crazy? I just don't feel like we can justify the (£1500+) cost of the movers. Any stories of people who have succesfully DIY moved? Good or bad.

I am all for doing things yourself and saving money. However, for a three bedroom house full of stuff you would be - I can't think of better words - utterly insane.

You don't have long after completion to get out. Movers are incredibly skilled and fill the van like a complex 3D jigsaw so can get an amazing amount of stuff in one load really quickly. They now how to stack things and are very strong so can lift heavy stuff to the top of a big stack easily. You need far more boxes than you ever think possible.

You'll potentially end up with your buyers outside with their movers. They could end up paying extra for overtime to those movers. You may end up with all your stuff out on the kerb - because once those buyers get the keys it is their house not yours.

You might get willing friends to load up but are they still going to be as enthusiastic at the other end for the unloading? It could end up with you and your kids having to unload a van with a deadline to get it back. Movers will put everything in the right rooms for you.

I have heard a lot of horror stories about people's moving days. They invariably involve the person moving out thinking they can do their own removal.

Leave this one to the professionals. I promise you, when you see what happens on the day you'll be very grateful you did.

Never underestimate the skill and sheer strength of professional movers. And never overestimate the skill, sheer strength, stamina and ability to work as a team of your family/friends.
Of course it's always possible to move yourself, but it will always be far, far slower, more chaotic and painful.

Importantly, remember you need to be fully out of the house you are selling by the time completion happens - you can't just leave the buyers waiting outside the house they now own because you are making multiple journeys in a Luton and you underestimated how long it would take. If they are waiting with their professional removers and can't get in the house, you'll end up having to pay the additional costs you are causing them, which rather ruins the savings you'll make!

We paid for packing, removals, and unpacking the last two moves. Would never do it any other way now. So easy.

I moved 6 months ago and paid for removals and packing service it was so so worth it.

Impossible. Also a massive ask you can’t ask other adults to do this for you for free I would think quite badly of anyone that asked this of us tbh.

Is the one van big enough ?

Can you actually do multiple trips and still have your house empty at the required time ?

What happens if your friends are busy, distracted, break soemthing ?

For some reason I couldn't quote the relevant post. However, whilst I wouldn't be happy about a dinged wardrobe and having to touch up a staircase it is STILL better than the pain of trying to move yourself.

If you decide to get movers, OP, try and get personal recommendations or at the least a mover with good reviews online. Large firms are rarely a good choice (for anything really) as they are likely to subcontract. It's like every time you see a post from someone who used Wren Kitchens and has a problem.....

Having done it myself with DH and 2 small kids, I would never do it again. It actually broke me. It took us a few weeks (thankfully we didn't have to move out in 1 day, this just wouldn't physically have been possible). Never ever again will I let DH talk me into doing this ever again, I wish I had stuck to my guns and insisted on getting in removers

You have to list out all the different steps involved for literally everything and work out if doable. For example, get hold of enough packing boxes/ packing material/ dismantle every bed, wardrobe, pack all items every room, take down pictures and curtains, empty loft / shed / garage/ drop children at relatives day before?! / finish packing ALL boxes / / pick up van / load van with ALL boxes / clean house, take final meter readings / collapse in an emotional heap whilst constantly being on phone to solicitors to wait for completion and realise you haven’t eaten for 2 days - all by midday on completion then go get keys, go to new house, unload ALL boxes and go sort children out / sort beds (although easiest to stay somewhere else). Seriously logistically it is a lot. Friends or family might also have to book a day or two off work to help you pack / move / look after children with short notice depending on exchange

(see poster above for backup on my comment here!!)

Removals. 100000000% worth their weight in gold. Pack yourself to reduce the cost (or if you’re a control freak like me!) but get movers to do the lifting and relocating. You’ll thank yourself!!

Honestly, moving is exhausting enough, why would you make it even harder? I saved money by shopping around and also doing all the packing up myself - took 2 weeks off work for the move, one before to pack and one after to unpack! We had 4 strong movers who carried everything for us and positioned it safely in the van so no breakages. One even dismantled our beds for us in seconds and rebuilt them again in the new house with no instructions - something my husband and I couldn't have managed!

We also saved by only having one luton van but we did have to make two trips. We only had time to do this because the people in the house we were buying had left early and said we could leave garden furniture etc. on the driveway in the morning before the estate agent had released the keys. We were moving less than 5 mins away though.

Book movers and keep the favours from friends and family in hand for a future occasion, or use them for childcare on the day while you're doing the first tranche of unpacking and finding the first problems in the new house that you don't know about yet.

I would always always use movers - if I wanted to save money I'd use them only for the moving and not the packing, but now I've got a house not a flat, and kids, I'd always use them.

I got movers for my recent move. There's no way on earth I could have done it myself, so it was a necessary expense that I'd factored in from the beginning. Over £1000 to move 3 miles, but the 3 guys who did it were outstanding, and the firm came highly recommended.

We did it ourselves. We couldnt have fitted it all in one van though. Instead we hired self storage for a month and put stuff in there over the course of a couple of weeks.

That meant we only had half the stuff to shift on the day and we could move the rest the next day.

Storage plus hire for three days was considerably cheaper and less stressful than other options.

Movers are worth every bloody penny in my opinion. They dismantled cots, beds, wardrobes and by the time time I got to the new house it had all been put back together. Every plate was wrapped in paper, they provided boxes and then picked them up a few weeks later. I wouldn’t consider doing it ourselves. It wasn’t £1700 though. More like £800

With small children and your husband away, relying on people being helpful and where they need to be when you need them… you’d be fucking bonkers 😂 I’ve only ever DIY’d moves BUT I have always had my manual worker type husband, two rugby player brothers and two similarly built brothers-in-law plus loads of extra help from my mum/MIL/SILs etc for packing and moving smaller boxes and for childcare when it’s needed. And we’re farmers, so we have cattle and horse boxes plus trucks as our day to day vehicles. Without alllllll of that, I’d be paying a moving company 1000000%

£1500 sounds reasonable. My last house move cost £8k but wow they were brilliant and got huge items of furniture through tiny hallways. I could have kissed all of them.

I would always use professionals. They know how to pack so nothing gets broken and they’re insured. Plus they can do it in a quarter of the time you can.

Also, separate to the moving issues, make sure you know how you’re going to transfer the deposit for exchange, and whether it will take a few days depending on your online transfer limit, and if you need your husband to do any of it if it’s in his name before he goes away!

I think that's a big ask for family and friends who may injure themselves lifting heavy items.

We moved from a 3 bed with removals and packing service. The removals firm came and packed 99% of the house up the day before and loaded it into a van. We were left with two beds (ours and DC), the couch, a box of toys and stuff for the car (cleaning stuff, coats, medicines and chargers). We deep cleaned throughout that day and evening and had shut off some rooms that were completely empty.

On moving day, we had nursery from 8am and one of us took DC and did a tip run with the last of the rubbish at 8am. Removals turned up at 9am and loaded the beds, couch, box of toys into the van and left. We then cleaned the remaining bits - quick refresh of the toilet and sink that had been cleaned the day before, running the hoover round in the remaining rooms (two bedrooms, kitchen, living room, bathroom and stairs). Putting the last stuff in the car. We got the call that our house sale was complete at 11.10 (we were third in the chain). We were still 10 minutes away from completing the cleaning when the sale completed and we had to vacate the house. We drove to the estate agents at 11.20 and handed the keys over at 11.40.

We didn’t get the keys to our new place at 1.30 ish and we were in about 2pm. We needed to run the hoover around the new place and the removal firm got there about 3. They finished unloading the first van about 5pm and rebuilt the furniture from that load. Had to go get some stuff from storage and were back about 7pm with the final bits of furniture and left about 8pm.

That was 2 adults, a removal firm, one DC (with childcare from 8-6 providing all their meals for the day). It was still a 12 hour day to get to the point of having beds built but nothing put away. We were putting DC to bed with the removal firm still trying to build wardrobes. We did not finish emptying the house and cleaning, even with the house being 99% empty and clean before our sale completed and we weren’t first in the chain.

I think it’s highly unlikely you will be able to do it. If you can do it, I think it’s going to be insanely stressful and you’re going to make yourself feel really shit with stress and exhaustion. The removal firm do this day in, day out. They’re much quicker than you will be and it was still full days for a team of 3 (2x days for two guys and 1 day for the third).

Madness! And having helped two people self move in the past it’s not something I would be willing to help anyone with again tbh.

I have just had a quote for moving from a 3 bed house, £715. If I want the full, they pack it and unpack it, package it's £1400. I was thinking of D-I-Ying it but after those prices I am not sure it's worth the stress for the savings I would make (mine would also be a solo move with a small child involved). At least get some quotes then weigh it up?

I think you're bonkers to even contemplate this.

Who will look after the DC? That's one friendly helper out of the equation. If they're in nursery, you'll be click-watching all day to make sure you can collect in time.

What if there's a delay in getting the keys?

What if it's pissing down 24/7. Snow on the ground. Ice.

What time will you need to return the van? What if you can't return it in time - an extra day hire?

Moving is knackering. Moving with kids is worse. Moving with kids and without your DH will be grim. Don't make things harder for yourself.

Madness to consider it. You mention completion so I am assuming you are buying / selling - in which case you won't be able to put stuff in the new house to empty / refill the van, so need to be sure you can get everything in in one go.

I think your quote seems a bit excessive. Have a look at Anyvan - you put in what you need moving, how far and it gives you quotes - it cost us £300 to move a 4 bed to a 4 bed a couple of years ago but will no doubt have gone up a bit.