When it comes to big life events that always seem to be more trouble than they really should, moving home has to be near the top. It seems a bit ridiculous given that people move home every day, and the chances are that everyone reading this article will have moved several times already during their lifetime. Surely by this point, we ask ourselves, we should have found a way to make moving much less of an ordeal. However, the fact remains that no one ever moved without a few hairs turning grey before their time. Things get lost or broken, more money is spent than was budgeted for, and it takes several months to recover.
Of course, things get a lot more complicated if you are moving with your family. When you’re a single person trying to get moved quickly and comfortably, you at least know that it is only you, your belongings, and your nerves that you need to worry about. Uprooting your family and taking them to a new location is always going to be significantly more stressful and significantly more difficult. Maybe you’re one of the thousands of people leaving London, or maybe you’re just moving down the road, but it’s always tougher than it should be. And it is not just about the move itself. It is also about making sure that you get set up and get comfortable in your new home as quickly as possible.
If you are thinking of moving your family to a new home this spring, then we have a few pointers to help take some of the stress and anxiety out of the process.
Do As Much Research As You Can
This first point is particularly important if you have not started looking for properties yet. If you have been following the news over the last couple of years, you will have seen that the property market has been rocketing through an incredible rate of inflation. Things are starting to look like they might get back to normal again at some point in the near future, but you need to factor in that the market is pretty tough for anyone buying a new home right now. You might not be able to do anything about the market forces at work, but you can make sure that you are giving yourself the best options and the best knowledge possible by doing a lot of research.
Find out as much as you can about the area that you want to move to. Look for any reasons why the prices may be lower or higher than you would expect. Remember to factor in everything from transport links to whether there is a pub around the corner that could cause a disturbance. When it comes to your new home, try to visit as many times as you can before you sign on the dotted line. You should also think about visiting at different times of day to get an accurate idea of what life there is really like. You will need to pay to have someone survey the property to identify any problems that the sellers decided not to tell you about. And perhaps most importantly of all: don’t forget about the boiler.
How Can You Make It Your Own?
Anyone who has moved into a new property before knows that it takes a little time and a lot of hard work to transform it into your new home. However, when you have young children in tow, you do not have a lot of time, and your energy levels are almost certainly going to be running low by the time you get moved in. So, with that in mind, you should think about what steps you can take to make it feel more like yours before you move.
If you can, it is always worth visiting one more before you move all of your belongings (and your family members!) in to give yourself a better idea of what it looks like as a blank slate. Go through each room and ask yourself what you would do with it if you had no preconceptions. Then you can start thinking a little more specifically, such as what paint colours you want to have on the walls, and whether you are really happy with the carpeting or if you would like to replace it with hardwood flooring.
One of the best ways to get rid of the feeling of someone else’s home and replace it with something that was 100% your choice is by installing new blinds. This may sound a little too simple, but taking down tattered old dusty dull blinds and putting in some patterned vertical blinds that you have chosen yourself will absolutely make the room and the space feel like it’s yours. If you want to look at a selection of vertical blinds replacements, visit Lifestyle Blinds. They have an incredible range of different options available, and they offer free delivery on orders over £149.
Plan Everything About The Move
This is going to sound dramatic, but when it comes to the big move day itself, you need to think about it like a military operation. You need to know exactly when the moving van is getting to your house, you need to know exactly what is going in the van and what you are taking yourself, and you need to know where the kettle is so that you can make a cup of tea when you get to the new home. We all know that kids cannot always be relied upon to keep to a schedule, so you should think about explaining everything to them a few days before.
Make them a part of the experience and give them something to do, like make sure that their teddy bears are where they are supposed to be. It is always a good idea to make a checklist for situations such as this so that you know how much you have left to do. You will also get the satisfaction of being able to cross off everything that gets done as you go. Those little wins are very important with something as stressful as moving home.
Remember That The Costs Don’t Stop When The Move Is Over
In addition to being one of the most stressful things that we can do during our lifetime, moving home is also one of the most expensive. It goes without saying that buying a new property is not exactly cheap, especially right now, but there are always additional costs and fees that you need to factor in. Everyone from the moving company to the property surveyor is going to need to be paid, and there may be more costs than you expected waiting for you in your new home.
If you are sitting down to create a budget for your move, then you need to make sure that you have thought beyond the move date. Do you know what the energy bills for your new home are going to look like? With the rising energy costs, this is important to consider. Do you have additional home improvement plans that you need to start saving for as quickly as possible? Think about whether you can afford to replace the boiler if it turns out that it was not in as good condition as you thought it was.
