Rants and Raves of a Bum: moving home

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Moving home is a stressful time for even the strongest of people because it completely changes up your lifestyle. You’re in a new property that’s unusual to you, and if you have a young family it can be hard to console children that are finding it difficult to deal with the whole process. Whether your reason for moving is a new addition to the family, or you simply didn’t like your old neighborhood, this article is going to give you some tips on how you can make moving easier with your young family, and also take some of the stress of your back too.

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Before Moving

The first thing you will need to do is find yourself the right company to help you with every step you need to take. These days, you can easily find discount realtors to make the process of moving much more simple. Whether this is your first purchase of a property or you’re climbing up the property ladder, it’s always best to get professionals in to help with all of your transactions.

The next thing you should think about is your packing process. It can be very distressing for a child seeing their first home being packed away. If your children are old enough to understand what’s going on, it might be a good idea to turn packing into a game for them. Let them choose the items that they are going to keep out, and challenge them to see who can pack the fastest, with a promise of a treat at the end. This will motivate them and take their minds off what is happening, and possibly even get them excited about their new home. An alternative is to hire a packing and moving company to come and do all of the work for you so that you can distract your children by taking them out for the day. Whichever you decide to go for, remember to be empathetic to your children’s feelings.

After Moving

The day that you officially move into your new home, let the children explore around before unpacking anything. If possible, give them the opportunity to choose which bedroom they would like, and allow them to have time to unpack their most favored belongings so that they can begin to feel like home as quickly as possible.

Another good idea is to give them a floor plan of their room so that they can choose where they want certain items to go. They could even begin to design how they would like their bedrooms decorated while you’re busy unpacking the rest of your new home.

Having a moving-in party for just your little family will also create a sense of fun and excitement with your new home, which would help everyone involved settle in nicely.

Follow these ideas when it comes to moving with your young family and you should find the process much easier than expected. Remember, moving is a big deal especially to children, so try and be as compassionate as possible. Enjoy your new home!

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It's a big achievement, moving into a new home. And if this is a first for you, you've no doubt gone through the wringer, had lots of sleepless nights and struggles to get to this point. But what happens before the big move? What do you need to have in place, and what you need to do before you start pushing your furniture through the front door?

What You Need To Do It Right Away…

The very first thing you need to do, once you have the keys, is to change the locks, because you have no idea who has had access to your home in the past, and who has passed on keys to people who have made copies of those keys. If it is practical, install deadbolts into your door, but make sure that you have the know-how, if not, make sure you hire a locksmith. In addition to this, the basic tasks like changing your utility bills and packing should be well underway.

Preparing Your New Home…

Before you have moved any single item in there you need to take advantage of the fact that your home is a blank canvas right now so you can prepare it as you want because it will be much harder once you've moved everything in. It's at this point you may wish to consider a home inspection company to undertake a thorough examination of your home in case there are any health and safety issues. There are plenty of home inspection companies you can find depending on your local area and a company like Solex Group professional home inspection act as an independent home inspector, meaning they won't show any bias and will tell you exactly what your home needs to be up to code. Once this is done, it's worth considering painting the walls, sanding down surfaces, installing electrics and wiring, if necessary, but also undertaking a deep clean of the property.

Getting Acquainted With Your New Home...

After taking the measurements and deciding how best to lay the furniture out, you will want to get acquainted with your local neighborhood (and not just for the important things like takeaways). But also you will need to find out if there are any town ordinances that you need to abide by, or if there are any specific issues in your local area that you need to know about. You could always contact your local authority for information such as when the garbage gets picked up or you could very easily knock on the door of a neighbor and get this information yourself while also getting to know your (hopefully) friendly neighbors.

Once these important tasks have been completed, not forgetting the more pressing tasks like installing the smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers, replacing the windows and cleaning the gutters. In addition to making these home improvements, you can finally sit back and relax in your new home, in your new neighborhood, and indulge in this massive and worthy achievement.

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Moving home is a stressful occasion, let's not kid ourselves about that. The excitement of buying the house has probably been replaced by the stress of having to move the contents of one house into another, which is no easy feat. If you’re like me, you have probably accumulated enough stuff to last someone a lifetime. It is easy, however, to overlook some of the essential things you need to do before you have actually moved in.

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People who choose to buy new homes often do so just to avoid the added stress of having to fix up a property once they’ve moved in. You might have gone for a new development to reduce the amount of work you have to do, but before the day arrives, there are several things important things that you need to do.

1- Donate or Throw Away

You will be wasting time and money moving things that you no longer need into your new house. There’s no point holding onto anything if you can’t justify it for practical or at the very least sentimental reasons. This is why you absolutely need to get rid of anything that you don’t need when you move home! This includes furniture, clothes, and any bits and pieces that have been kicking around the shed for years without being used. Be ruthless with this! Have a yard sale or go to a carboot sale and sell your items cheaply to get rid of them, while earning a bit of cash in hand. You probably won’t sell everything so take all the remaining items and donate them to a charity shop. Don’t hold on to anything you couldn’t see yourself paying to transport.

2- Write Up An Itinerary Of Your Moving Day

Being organised on your moving day, and having a plan of what you need to do will make this process much more smooth! Things you need to plan for include what time the movers arrive when they will be at your house and who will meet and coordinate with them. If you manage to plan your day well, you won’t have as much stress when you’re dashing around trying to remember where to go and who is taking what.

3- Ask Previous Home Owners Any Last Minute Questions

Before you move in make sure you have a list of questions you need to ask the previous homeowners. These might be small things that probably won’t be on the top of your list of priorities; however, you’ll be thankful you did a few weeks later when it is too late. Things you might need to include in your checklist include basic questions such as when the bins are collected and where the electricity meter is. Knowing where all the plugs and electricity and water mains are in the house will save you the bother of having to search all over the place if you’re ever in a sensitive situation such as a power cut or flood!

4- Meet Your Neighbours

As you will be living in this new home for quite a few years, if not your lifetime, it makes sense to see who your neighbors are and introduce yourself before you purchase the house and move in. If you have children, it is good to know if the neighborhood is child-friendly, and if you want a quiet or lively area, it is important that you look around at the place you will be living in as well. Making the first move might not seem like the most natural thing to do. However, it will be appreciated by your neighbors who see that you are making an effort to meet people and integrate into the neighborhood. The chances are, if you start off on a good foot, you will continue to build a good relationship with your neighbors which is crucial to feeling comfortable in your home and around your neighborhood.