Moving house experience?

Hello Everyone

Have just started the process of buying a bungalow, after living in a terraced house for 20 years. I am de-cluttering
as we have much less space in the new place.

The conveyancing side of things has changed a lot since my last move, anybody got any tips and ideas for packing and moving? Also taking my cat 'Mika' with us, but will most likely be putting her in the cattery for a few days whilst we move.

Would love to hear your story and advice.

Re: Moving house experience?

You need to chat to Swimfeeders, Bluemoon, he is going through the same process at the moment!

Re: Moving house experience?

Yes I put my cats in a cattery it makes life easier and is less stressful for them.

My advice is if you haven't used it or worn it for a year....bin it or send to a charity shop. There is no point lugging stuff around you don't use.....and it's therapeutic

Re: Moving house experience?

Hi Bluemoon.

You will love living in a bungalow, a change from the sound of neighbours flushing toilets and sharing cooking smells. We did it the other way round. I love the house but I do miss my space.

As you say, conveyancing is very different now plus there are a few ridiculous rules, things like you have to insure your windows in case they fall out and hit the new owners on the head. Honest!

As for tips, I started packing long before we moved and just stacked everything in the garage with coloured labels on and stating which room they were headed for. It really helped.

Re: Moving house experience?

Sometimes I think about moving to a new place and maybe into a retirement flat or over 50s block , Glastonbury is where I'd move to , but the more I think about it I just cant handle the stress and hastle , I'm on my own and I know I'd have to do it myself so it's gone on the back burner again .

Good luck Blue moon

Re: Moving house experience?

Yes when we move we will be putting Coco in the Cattery for 2 days then pick her up when the car is empty and put her on my lap and let her look out of the window.

Re: Moving house experience?

Hi

De Cluttering is good for the soul, but painful.

Conveyancing is a nightmare now as had been said.. it is a real pain.

What was quite straightforward is no longer so.

I am having issues with my conservatory, even though it is exempt from Building Regs and Planning Permission.

The other thing is drains alongside or under buildings.

Best of luck with your move.

Re: Moving house experience?

you should have a "check" list of what is being left and what is being taken in purchase. You should also have one to fill out as well. Make sure the place you are buying is fully certificated, ie electricity - windows (F.E.N.C.A cert) now surprisingly the chimney clean certificate showing when and who did it last. That is on top of any reported neighbour disputes in the past.

Most important is to get a full survey including drains-roof -structural etc.

That is apart from the survey your solicitor will carry out for any legal barriers like land register property ownership etc etc

If getting a mortgage the survey they do is only to cover the amount of money lent, so don't rely on that

As for packing and moving get several quotes, one we got and turned down said pack one day-store next day and deliver third day, best get a small local firm well known in your area The removers usually do all the packing and best left to them
Having moved 5 times each time is a completely stressful time not only the move but informing everyone, ie friends relatives and businesses such as banks- building societies- utility companies
Getting house insurance on new property also needs doing.

Most important is to get the post office to send on any mail to your new address for the next six months, they charge for it obviously but well worth having.

Re: Moving house experience?

I packed up and moved 500 miles from London to NI, doing the packing mostly myself

The removal company bought along hanging wardrobes for our clothes

I begged as many boxes as I could from supermarkets and bought large ones, tape and bubble wrap from Ebay I think

I started one room at a time. Wrapped and boxed, sealed and labeled it as I went. Each box was labeled with a room name and a number. On a list I kept with me I wrote what was in the box eg Kitchen - box 1 - plates

Giving the boxes room names meant it was easy for the removal men to get unloaded and easier for me in the days to come

My furniture went ahead of us by a week so we camped out at home on an inflatable mattress for a few days before we headed to Scotland to spend the rest of the week with friends before completion

Keep a box for the car. You need crockery and utensils for tea making plus the tea coffee milk etc. A kettle. First aid kit, small tool kit. Wash bag, towel, tea towel ,washing up bits - bowl, cloth, liquid and even perhaps a bottle of bleach

Also an over night bag with clothes for a day or two and bedding

The clothes and bedding is so that you have them to hand ready to go without having to unpack piles of stuff finding what you want when at the other end. Took me about a week to unpack and put away things completely and I was ruthless with clearing out stuff, I got rid of loads of stuff , some to charity shops, some I gave away to people who would have a use and a lot of stuff I just left out on the foot path with FREE and it all went

Its amazing how much we accumulate and don't actually use. Knowing I was going to have to pay for it to be packed up and moved made me really concentrate on what I really could live without and get rid

Re: Moving house experience?

We have moved home many times since we married in 1969, we de-cluttered before moving, no point in taking junk with us. We have always got a remover to do the packing for us as we didn't want the hassle of doing it ourselves.