Moving Guide
Need help with moving?
Below are some handy tips and tricks when it comes to organising things ready for your move to ensure that nothing gets missed.
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- Newspaper delivery
- Milk delivery
- Telephone
- Internet
- Cable
- Gas
- Electricity
- Water
- Obtain a supply of boxes from places like the supermarket
- Obtain packaging tape and heavy marker pens
- Arrange for a furniture removal van
- Arrange transit insurance
- Arrange for care of your children and/or pets on moving day
- Arrange contents and fire insurance for your new home. Talk to your Harcourts consultant regarding this.
- Organise shifting times with the purchaser of your old property and the previous owner of your new one. Your Harcourts consultant and your Conveyancer will help co-ordinate this.
Notify your change of address to
- Bank
- Credit card companies, i.e. visa, diners, fuel cards
- Post office for redirection of mail
- Electoral Roll (at Post Office)
- Registrar of motor vehicles & drivers license
- Tax department
- Insurance companies (house, contents, car, health etc)
- Hire purchase or finance company
- Investment companies
- Local council
- Shops where you may have charge cards
- Clubs and organisations
- Police (if you own and store firearms)
- Friends
- Relatives
- Publications you subscribe to
- Doctor
- Dentist
- Church
- Accountant
- Who else sends me mail?
Remember to
- Clean the stove
- Defrost the fridge/freezer
- Tidy the yard
- Ensure that any items that have been sold with the property haven't been accidentally packed
- Disconnect all appliances
- Disconnect the TV aerial
- Return any borrowed items
- Throw out items that you don’t intend taking with you (organise garage sales)
- List valuable items for special care when moving
- Advise removal company of dangerous goods being moved i.e. ammunition, petrol, spirits, chemicals
- Securely pack all jewellery, money, special documents and papers (i.e. legal, tax, insurance etc)
- Set aside items you will need on the day of the move so you can take them with you, e.g. food, drinks, cleaning products
- Pack each room leaving the boxes stacked and labelled with the room they are to be moved to i.e. kitchen. It is a good idea to write on each box a list of its general content
- Boxes containing breakables label ‘FRAGILE’ and identify these items to your removal people
- Pot and pack away plants and cuttings you are taking with you
- Explain your packing procedure to the removal people and be at your new home when they arrive
Don’t
- Put breakables or liquid filled containers in drawers
- Overload drawers and make furniture too heavy to shift (too much weight can damage furniture)
- Move netting, barbed wire, timber, wood, coal etc, without special arrangements being made
- Store perishable goods where they might be overlooked
Make arrangements
- See your Conveyancers or Solicitor to sign transfer documents/mortgage discharge documents
- Advise your children’s school that your children are leaving and the name of their new school so that files can be forwarded
- Enrol children in new school
Things to organise for new home
- Newspaper delivery
- Telephone
- Internet and cable connection
- Gas
- Electricity
- Water
The week before moving
- Remind and confirm dates/times/locations for furniture removal company
- Confirm moving in/moving out details and key exchange with your Harcourts consultant
- Let children say goodbye to friends and neighbours
- Say goodbye yourself
Have one last check
- Nothing left behind?
- No clothes at dry cleaners?
- No gear stored away from your property?
- Electricity and gas turned off?
- Telephone disconnected?
- Water turned off and no taps left running?
- Light switches off?
- Windows and doors latched?
- Keys with Solicitor or Conveyancer? (if appropriate)
After the move
- Have spare keys cut
- Familiarise children with how to get to and from school
- Enjoy your new home
- Keep in touch with your Harcourts consultant. We’d love to hear how you are going!