Tips to moving home with kids

Upgrading your home – bad idea? today? An important factor many people overlook is the distance of the move. If you are relocating to a new home in-town or just a short distance away, you may feel comfortable estimating your truck needs on the low end. After all, you can always make two trips if you run out of truck space. On the other hand, if you are making a long distance move, it is not practical to make multiple trips. Estimating on the higher end may be beneficial. If you get in a bind, you can always rent a trailer to tow behind your car for additional space.The steps that you take to prepare for moving day can make or break your overall moving experience. Apply these tips to estimate better the truck size that is suitable for your needs. Before you reserve your moving truck, you need to explore truck size options available. For example, through U-Haul, you can rent a 10-foot truck, which the company states that it is suitable for a studio or one-bedroom apartment. The most substantial truck offered by U-Haul is a 26-foot truck, which may be ideal for a three to a four-bedroom house. There are multiple truck sizes in between these two extremes, and there are also trailer options available that may be suitable for towing behind your vehicle.

Does everything fit your new home? Furniture that is in your existing home may well not fit into your new home, and it’s best to know this up front so you can sell it / donate it before you move. Take some time to measure doorways etc. and work out whether the larger items of furniture (your sofa/dresser etc.) will fit into your new space. There would be nothing worse than leaving a sofa on the front garden on moving day! TIP – This is also a useful exercise for working out whether you have suitable space for all your furniture. If you are downsizing it’s worth working out what can and cannot fit into your new home, and sorting these out before moving day. The following list is a guide that most rental agencies will use to determine the size of truck you’ll need. Just remember that this is a guide only: 26′ will move 4+ bedrooms, 24′ will move 3-4 bedrooms, 17′ will move 2-3 bedrooms, 14′ will move 1-2 bedrooms, 10′ will move a studio or small 1-bedroom apartment.

Moving house costs. A lot. Why would you want to add to this cost by paying to move things you don’t use or need? We all have items in our house that have long been forgotten – usually ending up in the garage, loft or shed, but they could be lurking anywhere. Before you start your packing is the perfect time to go through everything and have a good sort out. Moving is a fresh start, so the last thing you want to take with you are things that you don’t need or use any longer. Decluttering before you sell means that you only move what you really need – and you will not only save money by doing so, but you will also save time in the new house by not having to unpack and deal with all that stuff in the future. I call that a win-win! If you own items that you want to get rid of but are too valuable to just give away, start selling on eBay, Etsy, or Craigslist at least six weeks before moving. It’s an easy way to make you feel like you aren’t procrastinating, and you might be able to make enough money back to pay for the entire move itself. But it takes time for things to sell on Etsy and eBay, so you’ll want to plan accordingly. Find additional details at house moving and removals advice. Moving house doesn’t have to be stressful. Here are some tips … If you’re moving locally this should be a no-brainer. Truck rentals used for local moves are billable at a per day and mileage rate, the daily price may vary by $10-$20 depending on the size. In other words, spend the extra few bucks and get the larger truck just to be sure. Larger rental trucks are best utilized for single family and townhomes. If you have any doubt about whether or not your household goods can fit into a medium truck size you should always defer to this range. Small rental trucks should be used primarily for local moves. Only consider renting a 10′-12′ truck if you have a studio or small one bedroom apartment with minimal furniture.

I always suggest going around your home and taking photos of your valuables and breakables before they get packed up. If for any reason things get broken, damaged or lost during the moving process, at least you have a record of them. (Just quick snaps on the camera on your mobile phone will be good enough). TIP – It’s worth doing this anyway for things in your house, as it can help with insurance claims if you get burgled or there’s a fire etc.. – I use the home inventory in my Home File for this. Decluttering is essential to do every now and then, but it’s even more important before moving house. Before even attempting to pack, you should decide what to sell, donate or throw out. You’ll be glad of it come moving day and believe us, the removal guys will be glad that they don’t need to shift your lava lamp, inflatable chair and broken down computers.