It has been said that the three most stressful things in life are death, divorce and moving house.
Whether you’ve purchased your new forever home, decided to upsize/downsize, just feel like a change or have been given the dreaded notice from the real estate…moving is not fun under any circumstance.
As someone who has moved more times than I’d care to remember, I 100% concur with this sentiment. As of the last move two years ago, my ‘body count’ is 35. Yes, 35. Actually let’s make it 34, because the 3 godforsaken weeks I spent sharing space with 4 smelly boys in their converted garage shouldn’t really count and is something I’ve long repressed (shudder). Meaning a new place for every 1.47 years of my life (you do the math).
Thank you real estate parents who always believed the grass was greener. Some lessons really stick.
You might say I’m a pro of the whole moving house thing, completely dialled in. Not saying I’m exempt from the occasional moving meltdown (but that’s perfectly normal, right? Right?). My father says I have rose-coloured glasses and just expect things will work out, realistic timeframe or no. He may not be far off there…
However I do feel I have a little bit of authority in helping others minimise the absolute, total complete nightmare stress that is moving house.
- Plan!
I can’t overstate this enough – see my above comment, it’s my biggest failing when moving. Figure out your logistics and be realistic in your timeframes. Even if you’re moving just five minutes away, it doesn’t mean that the move will be any simpler or quicker. In fact, sometimes the opposite is true.
Fun fact – last time I moved was literally 2 blocks away. Thinking it would be a piece of cake, I didn’t factor in enough time or a large enough truck and ended up in a continuous-loop nightmare of shopping trolley excursions in the dead of night through the Brisbane Valley. And then sitting on a plastic chair, laptop on knees in an empty house hotspotting from my phone because I was confident I didn’t need to take the day off and could work from home. And that the internet would actually work. Fun times.
Here’s a couple of tips you should be doing in the planning phase:
- Allow time to declutter. OK, I don’t do this. I know I should and have the best of intentions, however I get about an hour into it and just give in. Throw everything in boxes and swear I’ll do it at the other end. And then two years later those boxes are still sitting in the garage, mostly untouched. But do as I say, not as I do, you’ll thank me later.
- Allow time to pack. Knowing and compensating for your laziness factor in here is crucial. If you’re the ‘it will happen when it happens’ type, know that you’re just setting yourself up for a meltdown later. Start packing non-essentials – a box or two per night can save you a ton of stress later.
- Mark your boxes. I’m not great at this one and it can feel like a twisted game of whack-a-mole trying to find the damn toaster.
- Take your essentials in your car or make sure they’re marked clearly – some plates/cutlery, bedding, toothpaste, food items etc. Enough to get you sorted for 24 hours.
- Buy, rent, borrow or steal proper moving boxes. And wrapping paper. The boxes are sturdier, fit more in and are so much easier to stack and for movers to carry. I know they’re expensive however trying to get by on a couple of crates and boxes from the fruit shop is just asking for damage and trouble. Check out Facebook Marketplace or local area groups – often people are just giving them away. Please, please, please also wrap all your breakables separately. Otherwise they will absolutely 100% break.
- Allow time (and budget) for movers to be twice as slow as you imagined. Three times if your imagination is way, way off. And if you’re hiring a truck and getting your mates to assist, double that again.
- Give yourself a decent overlap. While paying for two properties is not an ideal situation for anyone, it isn’t realistic to think you can be out of one property and into another in a day, or even three.
- Get your electricity and internet sorted as soon as you can – internet can often take time to set up and there’s nothing worse than having to hotspot from your mobile to wfh (see above) for days or weeks because there’s a fault on the line. Sort this out as soon as you have notification of your moving day.
- Book your movers, cleaners, repair people
These guys are often busy and booked up so you need to plan ahead.
- Be diligent in selecting your movers – the cheapest quote is not always the best. See above for my last move – these guys were the cheapest based on an hourly rate but honestly took 3-4 times longer than any other move I’ve ever made. Too-small truck, more breakages, not skilled or experienced movers and left a ton of stuff behind. Ended up being way more expensive than I could have anticipated and certainly more than the fixed price quotes I’d received. Lesson learned.
- Make sure they have insurance! Something will break, that’s life.
- Use a cleaner. They’re expensive but so worth it for your mental health alone. You’re welcome.
- If you’re renting, even if the cleaners recommended by your agency are more expensive, consider using them. They’re trusted by your property managers and can really help make things easier with regards to your bond.
- Again, if renting, also really pay attention to your Exit Condition Report as doing this properly can really help with getting your bond back.
- You have moved!
Take an exhausted moment to enjoy your new surroundings. If you actually followed my advice and marked your essentials, you can get through a day or two studiously ignoring the towering wall of boxes awaiting your attention. In fact, I’m so good at this I literally still have at least four unpacked boxes 2 years on! (yeah don’t be me).
Just get your bed made, fridge on and coffee machine at the ready and you’re good to go.
Pro tip: when my son was small I would send him off to daycare/school, supervise the move and then get his room ready before I picked him up. Moving can be full of anxiety and confusion for little ones, and having their bed made, furniture arranged and a few beloved toys at the ready can really help them settle in quickly.
Realestate.com.au also has some great tips for moving that may be better than mine…but I’m sure nowhere near as entertaining! They have a checklist and everything!
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