Getting ready to move into a new home can be quite intimidating. You have to move just about everything you own, all on a hard deadline!
Lucky for you, we’ve compiled some of the best advice for moving our experts could find. By taking our advice to heart, you should be able to greatly ease this big transition in your life.
Without further delay, let’s review some of the best moving tips you should be implementing into your move!
Tip 1: Start Early
Once you know you’ll be moving, start your efforts right away. You should begin trying to book the appropriate services and packing up as soon as you can.
You can still be smart; don’t pack up essentials or schedule a moving company too early. The goal is to start preparing right away for whenever it actually is you have to move.
Pack up what you don’t really need and lock down a date with a moving company. This will greatly reduce the stress you have to deal with as the move date approaches.
Moving is a situation where delay can cause a lot of serious issues. If there is a deadline for when you have to leave your current home for your new one, you could be in big trouble if some unexpected delay stops you from leaving.
Tip 2: Don’t Waste Space
One of the simplest and most important tips out there, don’t waste space when moving. Packing is a complicated enough beast. More boxes is a nightmare in more ways than one.
Not only do more boxes just take up more real estate in cars and moving trucks, they also just take up more time. More time to physically pick up and put down, then to open, and then to unpack.
As best you can, don’t leave any empty space when packing up for a move. Pack boxes tightly and fit as many as you can (safely) into whatever vehicles you’ll be using.
Tip 3: Roll Clothes to Keep Things Compact
It turns out rolling clothes is usually agreed upon as taking up less space than folding them. While the advice is often brought up regarding air travel, it applies just as well to moving!
A common thread throughout many of these tips is doing whatever you need to save space. Clothes can make up a surprisingly big portion of moving boxes so anything to compact them helps.
Even better, rolling clothes can actually help them avoid developing deep fold creases. Altogether, it’s a very simple, easy tip that most people just don’t think of when it’s time to start packing.
Tip 4: Prepare Your Friends (and For Your Friends)
While it’s less an issue if you intend to hire help, most people enlist friends and family to help their move. This is a big ask so don’t just blindside people with it!
If you intend to ask people for their help, be sure to ask early. This will help both parties involved. They can better schedule out the time you’ll need and you will also know who can and cannot actually help.
Along similar lines, you also should also prepare to properly thank them for their help. At the very least, some snacks and drinks can go a long way to making everyone feel like their time is appreciated.
Remember that your friends are putting in a lot of work they don’t have to in order to make your move easier. Openly acknowledging that can really help to show you understand the value of your friendships.
Tip 5: Understand Your Moving Window
This one is pretty simple but it’s important when you move to lock down what exactly you’re going to need to do. There are two important questions you should know the answer to:
- When do I have to move out of my old home?
- When can I move into my new home?
This basically forms your moving window. If there are people living where you intend to move, you also would benefit from checking in close to the move date just to make sure they’re squared off on their end. (If they’re not, you may need to have a serious talk or even get lawyers involved)
Your moving window won’t always be especially tight but it could be. A wider window is ideal but it also might mean you’re paying for two homes rather than one for a longer period of time. That can be a big expense so you don’t want to delay unnecessarily.
Tip 6: Get Your Paperwork in Order
Pretty much nobody likes paperwork. It can be as complicated as it is boring. But when moving into a new home, it is extremely important!
Whether you’re taking out a big loan to buy a house or just signing a lease on an apartment, make sure it’s all figured out before your move. The last thing you want is a sketchy property owner (or genuine mistake) messing up this already complicated time in your life.
Paperwork related to rent or homeownership is some of the most important stuff you’ll ever have to deal with. It locks you down for thousands of dollars and helps make sure you legally have a place to call your own. You may even want to consider hiring a lawyer to make sure it is all done correctly.
Your paperwork will become even more important if there is any kind of conflict. If someone tries to renege on the deal you’ve made, it will be your saving grace. (Verbal agreements rarely have much weight in court)
Tip 7: Consult a Moving Checklist
When planning a move, there are actually checklists you can consult online to help make sure you don’t miss any important details.
Some, like this one, even have easy timetables to help you figure out exactly when different steps should be taken. Alternatively, you can just make your own checklist to suit your needs.
Whether you use an online list or make your own, get your list early. This not only makes sure you have the time you need to finish it but also makes adding on items easier.
What you don’t want to do is just get a list right near your deadline and rapidly go through the points, hoping you’ve hit them all. While that might be better than nothing, it kind of defeats the purpose of a preparatory list.
Tip 8: Figure Out What You Don’t Need
If something doesn’t need to come on the move, get rid of it! Anything you can get rid of saves time and effort.
The real trouble is figuring out the things you can do without. Broadly speaking, you can go with your gut. If you don’t care about something and you don’t need it, don’t bring it.
Another useful piece of expert advice is to not have more than twice the amount of something you might need. For example, you don’t need the dishes and silverware to serve 40 if you only ever have 12 at most over!
Before you move, go through your stuff and see what you can cull. (As a matter of fact, this can be a good idea even if you don’t intend to move)
Tip 9: Make Sure People Know You’re Moving
If you’re moving, be sure to inform people close to you. At the very least, you’ll want to make sure any mail they send is going to get to you!
This might have been a bigger deal before social media made contacting friends easy, but it still matters. It’s extra important if you have any friends who tended to come over unannounced!
You’ll also want to make sure any services you’re subscribed to have your new address too. The last thing you want to do is pay for something like a magazine subscription just for it to ship to strangers.
There is a government website addressing some of the basics of simplifying this process. Especially important are the sections on updating your address with other government agencies! The last thing you want is to miss mail from the IRS or USCIS.
Tip 10: Research Where You’re Going
If you haven’t already done so, research where it is you’ll be living. Transitioning to your new life will be easier if you know what’s around! You definitely want to know where some of the closest stores and gas stations are.
Additionally, find out the basics, like the local crime rates, what the weather is usually like, and any known local issues. You’ll be living here; knowing what to expect (good and bad) helps to make sure you aren’t blindsided.
It isn’t exactly fun to think about, but also check for “no-go” zones. These are places that are generally too dangerous to go unprepared, usually due to unusually high crime rates. While these sorts of places often have overblown reputations, you still don’t want to go unprepared, especially alone and on foot.
Not every part of your research will be so grim though. You can also look into local events and celebrations. Many towns and cities have unusual celebrations specific to their history, so don’t just check event calendars for holiday stuff!
Finally, you may also want to look into ways you’ll be able to meet people around town. Making local friends is often hard for adults. Check to see if there are any local activities that might connect you with people who have similar interests.
Tip 11: Keep Track of What You’re Bringing
It is very easy to lose stuff during a move. Everything gets packed away, stuffed in a vehicle, and then later put into what is often a large new space.
When packing your boxes, try to label the box based on its contents. The more thorough you label, the harder it will be to lose anything. You can go by category or even write a rough list of everything in a given box.
Color-coding can help too. You might have boxes for the kitchen colored red, while those for the bedroom marked blue. Whether you use colors or not, you also need to remember to clearly mark boxes with fragile content!
Even if that sounds like a lot, do yourself a favor and make sure you know at least know where important items are. If something is expensive or has sentimental value, consider putting a special mark on the box it is in. That way it will be harder to lose and people will know to take extra care with it.
A final mini-tip to tack onto this one: Keep tiny items in ziplock bags or jewelry boxes. It’s easy to lose a ring or lucky coin but much harder to lose a whole bag full of trinkets.
Tip 12: Finish Early
We began by suggesting you start early. It’s only poetic we end by saying you should finish early too.
Unless there is some kind of emergency, there is really no reason to wait until your deadline to move in. Like we’ve touched on, delaying your move is basically asking for something to go wrong.
The sooner you are able to move, the sooner you can get settled. You can start turning your new house (or apartment) into a true home.
Moving puts an immense load on everyone involved. The faster it is over and done with, the faster everything can normalize again.
Some More Advice for Moving
Want even more advice for moving? Discover all the advice you need at We Heart! They’ve compiled some of the best advice for moving around that will pair fantastically with what we’ve given you here.
Moving is stressful enough even when you have a solid plan. Don’t just jump into the process without preparation! Being ready for delays and issues can go a long way to saving time and money.
