Moving out and moving in on the same day is this mad?

[hairycaterpillar]

...or should we bridge for a couple of days between getting keys for new house and moving out of old house?

I can't work out how doing it all on one day works as surely it takes most of the day for the removal men to do their job?

We had a week's gap because our buyers got really arsey (it had taken a long time). Luckily our sellers were lovely and let me put all my stuff into their front room for a week. It was more complicated for the movers as they had to fit the contents of a large flat into one room, but otherwise we would have had to pay twice for the move and the storage costs too.

Do it the same day and get all the major stress over and done with. If you've not arranged to have the place cleaned by exiting owners, try and arrange to get there before your belongings and if nothing else wipe out the kitchen cupboards before you reload them.

I did it all in one day and got unpacked in 2 days. So if I can do it on my own go for it. It is so much better than looking at boxes day in and day out.

Stephen- once they had the keys you could have a job getting them out if the money didn't go through. Tis normal practice to wait till the money has cleared before handing keys over

And in fact you don't even have to hand the keys over the minute the money clears either - house move but one ago, they refused to hand them over as they were still packing up at 12, and the money had cleared. Estate agents said there was nothing they could do - our landlords had already turned up with their stuff, so ours was all sitting at the end of the garden (we bought a house 50m from the back gate of our rented house). The lads had to go and stand outside the new house and 'negotiate' with them as it had started raining.

The main thing in doing the move is to pay to be packed. They'll do it the day before, and then you have the evening and morning to clean the old house fully. This move I did most of the house whilst they were still packing

i did it all in one day eight and a half months pregnant. and i did the bloody cleaning of our old flat. not sure, looking back, exactly what dh did.
it was worth it not to spread the pain over two days. unless your new house is v far from old would do it like this and then unpack at your leisure (a year on, we have stuff still in boxes...maybe not at THAT much leisuree...)

its normal as i rather move out and move in in one day to get it over and done with, unless there are other reasons why not.

My only advice is get recommended trusted movers and listen to what they suggest. We went with Six Keys in Acton who were wonderful - gave us quotes, dropped off piles of boxes, held our move date even after our exchange date slipped by 2 months, and checked up on us twice during the week before the move to ensure we were getting on with the packing (we were, but extra small boxes were needed).

Then 5 guys turned up at 7.30am to load the van (emptying a 2-bed 1st/2nd floor maisonette), they and we left at 1pm, when the cleaners had just about done, 30 min drive to new house and then 4 guys worked until 7 pm to unload. The two cleaners came over too but we sent them home at 6 as there was just too much dirt (I spent 8 hours the next day on the kitchen alone...)

So one long day, but at the end of it we could collapse in a local restaurant knowing it was all done. If there had been a longer drive, though, probably not feasible.

we do it same day. this time we will be going into rented until new house is built, but will have packers for stuff for them to store. although going to sell most of the furniture in my house - so shouldnt have a great deal to move!

Last tinme we moved, the young female half of our buyers came and harrangued our removal men while they were still getting stuff out of the house. Said they should be gone, it was her house now. Eventually they put down the boxes they were carrying and told her if she could do it faster, get on with it.

mind they had underestimated how much stuff we had (and this was pre ds), so when they got to the new house, they wanted to half unload, then come back the next day.
As they had packed beds/bedlinen first, so that was right at the back of the truck, I said "no way, pedro" and made them do it all before they left. Finally finished 9:30 pm.

It took us 4 days to find the cutlery box.

I'm doing a mutual exchange so we have to move on the same day! shes moving into mine and im moving into hers! we have vans booked at 9am to load, I'm not taking much with me so 2 men loading shouldn't take too long I hope! I just hope we don't turn up at hers and they no-where near finished as we're paying removal firm by the half hour.