Moving house can be a really fun and exciting time. A fresh, new space to recreate as your own and make new memories in can be a great way to hit the refresh button; as they say, change is as good as a holiday. However, as fun as a new home can be, moving all those boxes and pieces of furniture can quickly turn from an exciting prospect to a chore you can't wait to be done with. To help make this process a little bit easier and quicker, there are a few things you can do along the way.
Be Picky but Realistic
When you start looking around for a new place to live, whether renting or buying, you have every right to be picky about the place you choose, but you also need to remember to be realistic. As you go through your mental list of the things you feel you need in a house, take a minute to figure out which features you really need and what features are more of a want. Particularly when it comes to a rental, finding a place that ticks every single box on your list perfectly is not necessarily impossible, but if you do have a limited time frame in which to find a place, it may prove to be challenging. So before you start looking, really narrow down what you need and what features will just be an added bonus to make house hunting that little bit easier.
Ask Any and All Questions
Whether it's before, during or after you look at a place, never be afraid to ask the agent any and all questions you have. Whether you think it might be silly or not, when it comes to spending your hard earned money on a place to live, you have every right to know the answer to whatever it is you might be wondering. It just might be your question that reveals something about the place that the agent hadn't mentioned before that either sells on you on it or lets you know that this isn't the place for you.
Make Lists
Make any and all lists! Make a list of the places you're looking at so you can remember what you've seen and which you have preferred so far. Make a list of anything you will need for the new house or anything that will need to go before you move. Make a list of all the odd jobs, like changing addresses, that you will need to do once moved. Lists are your saviour for making sure you don't forget anything crucial while you're trying to coordinate a million things at once and can make a big move that little bit easier.
Declutter as You Pack
One of the most annoying things about moving is realising how much stuff you have accumulated and how much stuff you now have to therefore move. While having to go through every single thing you own can be a massive pain, it is also the perfect opportunity to declutter your belongings or find some forgotten treasures you can start making use of again. If you're going through your wardrobe and you find items you haven't worn for the last few months, this could be the chance to sell them or take them to your local charity store. Going through all those random draws and cupboards will help you get rid of all that unnecessary random crap that tends to build up in these hidden places. As you pick each item up to pack it a way, just give yourself a moment to consider if you really need it before adding it to the pile. The more you can declutter the easier moving everything will be.
Pack with Your New Space in Mind
This tip can be useful for both decluttering as you pack and also packing things into relevant boxes to making unpacking in the new space much easier. Is there enough room for everything in your new wardrobe or do you need to downsize? Do you not have as much storage in your new place and therefore need to cut down on the random stuff that you have? Instead of trying to find space for things that just won't fit once you move, try and think about if there is really room for everything you own in your new place or if some stuff will need to go. Once you figured out what's staying and what's going, try and pack your boxes with items that will all go in the same space. This will mean less running around the new place finding what goes where, or trying to remember where you were thinking of putting something and will make the unpacking process much smoother and quicker, so you can be enjoying your new home sooner.
