Moving House Checklist - What You Need to Know & DoMoving house is one of the most stressful events in your life, especially if you have been in the same home for a long time.  Our moving house checklist will help you plan your move and help make your move run like clockwork.

Your moving house checklist

Moving house is expensive, but if you’re able to, investing in professional removalists, handymen and other tradespeople will ensure the move goes smoothly and reduces the stress on yourself and your family. We’ve put together a comprehensive moving house checklist to help you out.

6-8 weeks before moving –

  • Work out which bits of furniture are the largest and whether they’ll fit through doorways.  If you’re unable to get your furniture into your new home, start selling! Now’s a good time to sell anything that might be hard to shift
  • Hire a removalist, it’s the fastest way to reduce stress.  A removalist will have insurance, are experts in moving furniture carefully and are paid to lift heavy objects
  • Redirect your mail
  • Change your address online with New Zealand businesses
  • De-clutter. Have a garage sale and get rid of stuff that you don’t need or want in your new home.  You can also give quality items away to charities, sell it on Trade Me or give it away free. If you have lots of stuff that you just want gone, hire a mini skip for rubbish removal. Make use of it after you’ve moved to get rid of all the last-minute bits of rubbish you don’t want to take with you
  • Let your groceries and foodstuffs in the freezer run down to the bare minimum

2 weeks before moving –

  • Organise switching of your utility bills.  It’s a good time to revisit your service provider plans to see if you’re still getting the best value for money with them
  • Advise newspaper and magazine subscriptions of your new address, ensure any regular tradespeople like gardeners and cleaners know when you’re moving and if their services will be required at your new home
  • Post a job on Builderscrack to hire a cleaner for a complete interior/exterior clean, or a carpet cleaner to bring the carpets up to scratch
  • Confirm moving dates and hire removalists

Moving day –

  • Start as early as you can, and if possible avoid hot or wet days
  • If you need to exchange keys with landlords or real estate agents, get this organised for early in the day
  • Pack a small bag to get you through the first few days in your new home
  • Make sure the electricity and water are off when you leave
  • Unpack the beds and make the beds as soon as you move into your new home!

If you’re moving house or have done so recently, tell us what other things you’d add to our moving house checklist in the comments below.