As exciting as it can be to move house, it’s also a very stressful process. Searching for a new house is often the easy part, we all love a little Rightmove stalk, don’t we? It’s all the other aspects of the moving process that prove tricky. There are so many things to prepare before you can move out of one house and get settled in another even if you don’t own the house you’re moving from as we found last time we moved. The entire experience can prove emotionally and financially draining, but there are definitely ways to reduce the strain of the process. Let’s talk about how you could start protecting your sanity, money, and time when moving home.

Find your new home

You might already be looking at properties, and you probably have some ideas of what you want. Still, it’s important not to rush into a decision. You need to carefully weigh up your options. Peruse the market to ensure that you’re not missing the perfect property for the perfect price. It’s important that you not only weigh up the initial cost of buying the house in question but stamp duty and other unavoidable expenses like fees and solicitors etc. There are so many financial variables to consider when buying a property.

Most importantly, of course, you’ll want to get the location right. You already know what kind of property you want for you and your family, but have you given much consideration to the neighbourhood? You need to do your research to ensure that you pick the right location. You might want to check out this shophouse for sale if you’re looking for a well-situated property. You should be looking at houses that are in prime places, after all.

Sell your old home

You also need to sell your old home before you can move., but you know this. Don’t rush this part of the process. As we’ve discussed, moving is very expensive. You need all the money you can get, and a house sale is the perfect opportunity to make a profit. Before you rush to put your existing property on the market, you should try to increase its value. That way, you can get better offers from interested buyers, and that means you’ll be in a better financial position to move. Small renovation projects can make a big difference. You might want to do a bit of landscaping to improve your property’s curb appeal, for instance. You could plant some fresh flowers, repaint your front door, and jet-wash the driveway. Inside your house, you should do a little repainting too. A few cost-effective improvements could make your property so much more valuable.

Notify your service providers

You also need to plan ahead with regards to the services you’ll need to change or simply set up again when you move home. You don’t want to leave this until the last minute. You need to notify your doctor, your bank, the council, your employer, and so on –  don’t forget your car tax like I did! It’s important to do this as soon as possible. Make a list of every provider that has your address and start the process of letting them know that you’re moving. You might also want to set up a service with Royal Mail to redirect any letters or packages that are delivered to your old address over the next few months. This will give you the opportunity to change your address on any accounts that you might have missed.

In particular, make sure you set up a service with utility providers before moving. You want to make sure that you’ll be paying a fair amount for electricity and water usage when you move into a new property. Otherwise, you might end up paying for more resources than you’ve actually used. Try to sort your internet as one of the first things as this often takes a fair amount of time for most internet providers to send out a professional to install the service if this needs to happen. That way, you’ll have the essentials all set up when you move into your new home. It’ll save you a lot of time and a lot of stress. Hopefully!

Pack sensibly

This final suggestion will save you so much money and time, but it’ll definitely keep you sane. You need to pack sensibly when you move home. In fact, you might want to start by decluttering. The fewer things you have to bring with you, the less cluttered your new house will be (and the cheaper it’ll be to hire movers to help you transport your belongings). You should also pack a “moving day” bag. This should contain basic necessities and items of sentimental value. These are the things you don’t want to lose. And if the moving van is delayed, you’ll want to have certain things such as toiletries and food at hand.

Good luck!