Getting a new place is much like graduating from college. You begin to imagine the grand possibilities of your new dwelling. Though this endeavour may place your mind in the clouds, the considerations involved are indeed not altogether a piece of cake to ponder and accomplish.
Be it a little or great deal of preparation time you allotted, you must construct a checklist of things you wouldn’t want to forget when moving home. Here are some helpful pointers and steps you might want to mull over to avoid unnecessary hassles from moving home.
BEFORE MOVING
1. Set your moving date
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The search and work for your dream home are finally over and you’re all geared up for moving. But one big question is when would be the best time to relocate? Some factors that may contribute to your decision are weather conditions, availability of resources like medium of transportation, family or social traditions, and religious and superstitious beliefs.
2. Select a reliable moving company
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If you do not have personal vehicles that can be used for your moving, you must check out a number of moving companies that offer excellent service and choose the one that best suits your preference. You can also try to seek referrals from your family and friends. It is important to get professional movers to move your belongings, as the less experienced ones may damage your furniture by accident. In fact, many a new home owner looking to save cost has bemoaned their belongings being damaged by an inexperienced mover during the move.
3. Consider building protocols
If you are residing in a planned unit development type of residence or if you’re moving into one, you should check imposed rules such as appropriate schedule and curtailment of trucks for transiting your chattels. Some managements limit the entry leeway of large vehicles within working hours only, and many of them only allow the moving of furniture on either weekdays or weekends only. Also, many condominiums only allow the movers to use the service lift to move the items, to avoid damage to the passenger lifts. In order to use the service lifts, the management of the condominium will need to authorise it.
4. Buy necessary supplies for moving
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You need to secure storages for your things such as boxes and containers upon moving. To ensure the safety of your delicate and fragile items, you can also make use of packaging tapes and bubble wraps. Bags and suitcases are best for beddings and clothes. Another option is also to hire professional packers along with the movers. They will know how to pack your items and label the boxes in an organised manner.
5. Downsize your things
This is perhaps one of the most difficult phases you’ll have to go through before moving, because it’s time to say goodbye to most of your belongings that are categorically surplus. This will moderate the mass of things you’ll need to pack while moving.
You can donate excess items to charitable institutions or resell them at reasonable prices. If doing this is going to take up too much of your time though, another alternative is to simply leave them behind and hire a contractor who will clean up after you.
6. Segregate items
Now that you have less stuff on hand, you can start categorising them depending on their functions. You may begin with the following compartmentalisation ideas:
Non-daily items
These include things you occasionally use like figurines, ornaments, books, magazines, chinaware, etc.
Daily necessities
Clothes, shower essentials, shoes, and IDs are some examples that fall under this category.
Important documents
Titles, wills, securities, VoDs (Verification of Deposits), birth certificates and other documents that bear your financial assets and identity should all be well-compiled and segregated.
Household items
Cutleries, cleaning materials, cooking ingredients, perishable goods, sheets and other necessities for household activities should be piled together according to their use. You may create your own categories depending on your lifestyle and preferences. Last but definitely not the least, after compartmentalising your belongings, make sure that you apply labels so it won’t be difficult to find and place them in the designated spaces of your new home.
7. Prepare an inventory
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You will want to ensure that you have packed all the items that you deemed necessary to come with you to your new home. Therefore, maintaining a complete list of your assets will help you track and identify any missing equipment, boxes and furniture be it in bulk or per piece.
8. Change your mailing address
This step will drive you to quite a bit of distraction because you will have to inform the different utility and financial companies that you are subscribed to that you are transferring to a new location. This phase is critical and important to ensure that you are no longer billed and held accountable for the bills for your old home.
If needed, this stage also involves you updating your IDs with the new home address so they will reflect your real-time residential identification. For the latter bills and deliverables, you may entrust temporary stewardship to your former neighbours.
9. Get in touch with utility and service providers
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There could be a possibility that your current internet provider’s service is not available in the location of your new home. If that’s the case, you need to proceed and contact companies that cater to your new location and cut ties with your existing service providers.
If your present utility companies provide services to the said location, you will then have to inform them of your transfer for installations and reconnections. Otherwise, you will need to seek out a service provider that actually services the area your new home is located in.
10. Polish your new home
Prepping up and finalizing your home for occupancy can be performed through the following:
Consult building inspectors
Making room for overall examination of facilities in your new home gives way for structure safety and usability of water and electric supply.
Hire an electrician
If you wish to carry along the lighting fixtures and air appliances from your previous home, you will need a professional who can dismantle and install them around your new house.
Hire cleaners
Sweeping and rubbing off construction residues or previous tenancy are, without a doubt, toilsome. If you heed small and big details of cleanliness, you should hire professional cleaners along with waste removal contractors.
DURING THE MOVE
11. Look after the movers
Oversee the loading and unloading of your things to and from the truck. A person or two must be positioned to guide and direct where the items should be placed.
12. Perform a final check
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This is the best time to make use of the inventory you prepared during the earlier stage of preparation to make sure that no item was left behind.
AFTER MOVING
13. Set up your furniture and fixtures
Typically, moving companies also offer setup services so you may want to maximise it by letting them mount and place your furniture in their assigned spaces.
14. Unbox your necessities
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You will now reap what you sowed from itemising and labelling your belongings, because they will now be very easy to find. Unpack perishable goods that may need immediate refrigeration. Easy access and organisation of toiletries and beddings are also some advantages in this process.
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(Written by G. Zizan, 12th March 2020)
