Booking house moving services can be a challenge. After you plan to sell and move it’s easy to think that the only tasks you need to complete are finding a great real estate agent and a reliable furniture removal company, right?
But in reality, moving house involves completing a large number of tasks of varying difficulty, many requiring significant time and energy. And all this needs to happen within a condensed and fixed time frame.
The house moving services you’ll need to make it all come together for move day, will depend on how organised you are, how much time you have and your physical ability and skills.
What house moving services are available and what are the benefits?
These days you can find a professional to help you with almost all aspects of the house moving process from pre-sale styling & staging to unpacking & new home organisation.
Home Decluttering – This is normally done pre-sale to help create space and enhance the look and feel of the home. If not done pre-sale, it should definitely be done before you move.
Decluttering will not only save you money in terms of moving costs, but it will also ensure you only take items to your new home that will enhance your way of living.
Decluttering on your own can be an energy sapping task, so if this is a priority for you then getting decluttering house moving services booked will be important.
There are a number of businesses and individuals who specialise in decluttering, including Move by Design.
Home styling – This service can be used to enhance the look and feel of your home before you sell, or when you move into your new home. Styling usually involves a professional using your items, or a small budget to purchase soft furnishings, plants and small ornamental pieces, and arranging them in a way that will bring a space together and make your home more visually appealing.
Home staging – Staging usually involves clearing the house of all personal items, including furniture, and recreating spaces using staging furniture and styling pieces. Staging orchestrates the look and feel of the house to present a space that potential owners will aspire to live in.
Home maintenance – Before you put a house on the market, or as a condition for settlement, you may need to address maintenance issues such as lighting, electrics and plumbing, as well as minor building works. Addressing these pre-sale could improve the appeal of a property to a potential buyer. It’s good to get input from a trusted agent as to what things may or may not improve the saleability, and then work out what the priorities are.
Gardening and Landscaping – Making the garden and front of a property look its best pre-sale can help improve the initial appeal of a property. The new owner may also have some requests and expectations as to the condition of the garden pre-settlement, such as rubbish or permanent fixtures being removed. You may also want to ensure weeds are removed and the lawn is mowed to ensure the new owner has that feel-good factor when they move in.
Professional packing – Ensuring everything is professionally packed will provide immeasurable peace of mind when you are moving home. It helps to ensure your household items arrive at your new home safely and means you won’t have to go into lengthy negotiations with the removal people if anything isn’t as expected when the boxes are opened.
Exit cleaning – Ensuring your house is deep cleaned ready for the new owners is probably the least favourite task on the house moving task list, but will be an expectation from the new owner as well as the selling agent. Making sure it’s done well will leave you feeling like a rock star, creating positive vibes for the new owner and projecting them forward for you in your new home too.
Junk removal – Removing any unwanted items and materials from the garden, under the house, in the garage etc. can help create a tidy impression for open homes and may also be a condition for settlement. There are a number of junk removal services available ranging from skip hire to complete junk removal management and recycling.
Furniture removal – One of the non-negotiable house moving services for most people is hiring a furniture removals company. You’ll need to get your items from your old home to your new place, so unless you plan on moving the items yourself, you’re going to need this service. Doing your research to ensure you book a reliable company will be key. Alternatively, using a move management company like Move By Design will ensure you get the best removals provider.
Pet moving – Letting someone take care of you pooch or feline so you can focus on the big day can help reduce stress for you and your furry friend. If you’re moving out of the area, some moving companies will transport your pet to their new home. For local moves you may want to consider your regular dog sitter or doggy day care, or let Move by Design take care of them.
Move day management – Letting someone take on the stress of move day management can free you up to focus on what’s important and to enjoy the experience of moving. You can go for lunch with your partner or friends, shop for your new home, or just carry on with your usual daily routine – work, go to the gym etc. Move by Design is unique in offering end-to-end house moving services, which include move day management. We can take care of everything on move day from managing the movers & the loading of your items on the removals truck, to last minute packing & wrapping, as well as overseeing the arrival of the items at a storage unit or your new home.
Storage – You may find that you need to put your items into storage for a period of time if you’re not moving into your new house immediately, or if you need to store items while your house is on the market. There’s lots of storage facilities available especially in the main centres, which one you choose will depend on your needs. I’ve written a comprehensive article about storage called ‘Storage Company options‘ which details what you need to consider when choosing a storage facility.
Unpacking – Unpacking house moving services enable you to get everything sorted in your new home on day one. It ensures you’re not living around boxes for days or weeks on end, which can have a huge impact on your mental wellbeing. Move by Design provides an all-women team that carefully unpacks your items and ensures everything has a home.
New home setup – This service offers a turnkey solution for moving into your new home. On move-in day your media will be connected, your kitchen fully organised, even your beds made. It enables you to enjoy your new home from day one and just get on with life. There’s no down time, you just move in and press play.
Home organisation and wellbeing – Using your move as a fresh start, home organisation services help set you up for success in your new home. Services include pantry and wardrobe organisation, kitchen layout to facilitate functionality and healthy eating, setting up recycling and composting systems as well as laundry and entrance way systems. You can also introduce wellbeing appliances such as water and air filtration systems. For more information on home organisation services, contact us.
How do you work out which house moving services you need?
Step 1: Create a list of all the tasks you have to do.
You may want to start off by grouping the tasks so as not to overwhelm yourself e.g. ‘Sort the garden out’ and then drill down as you need to e.g. get rid of the firewood.
Step 2: Thinking about your list and which house moving services may be helpful, consider the following:
- What tasks drain your energy? What are your pain points?
- What tasks have to be done – are non-negotiable?
- What tasks are you physically unable to do or don’t have the skills to do?
- What tasks do you not have time to do yourself?
- What tasks would impact your wellbeing or peace of mind if they were not done, or not done properly?
- What tasks, if done, would enhance your personal wellbeing or peace of mind?
- What tasks, if done, could enhance your financial wellbeing?
Step 3: Put the tasks into a table and categorise them.
You can rank or comment in a way that makes sense to you, like in the example below:
| Drains my energy | Has to be done | I can’t do it myself | I don’t have time | I’d be unhappy if not done | I’d feel relief if someone did this | Could be financially beneficial if done | |
| Decluttering | Y | Y | Y+ | Y | |||
| Styling | Y | Y+ | Y | ||||
| Packing | Y | Y | Y | Y | |||
| Cleaning | Y | Y | Y | Y | |||
| Move day management | Y | Y | Y+ | Y – No need to take a day off work | |||
| Unpacking | Y | Y | Y | Y+ | |||
| New home set up | Y | Y+ |
Step 4: Reflect on what you’ve discovered.
It should be clear which house moving services are most important to you and what help you’ll need to make your move as stress-free as possible.
How do you choose great house moving services?
Here’s the process I use when searching for new services; it helps ensure you do your due diligence and minimises the risk of things not going to plan.
Check Google and other rating sites
Use Google, or your preferred browser, to run your house moving services search. Once you’ve found a service provider that interests you, check their customer service record by looking at their Google rating and customer reviews.
Make sure you look at the comments for the reviews. I generally focus on looking at the negative comments and pay attention to the date (are they recent?), the main issues the customer highlighted, their tone of voice and whether the company has responded to try to resolve the issue.
In general, I wouldn’t chose a company that had a Google review rating less than 4.5 out of 5.
Visit the websites for the house moving services
Visit the website of each service provider you’re interested in and consider if the site looks professional, if the business offers the service you need and if the testimonials align with the ratings and reviews you’ve looked at on Google.
Make an enquiry
Once you’ve created a shortlist of the providers for your required house moving services, get in touch. The business should get back to you within 48 hours. When making your final decision, consider if their communication was prompt, accurate, professional and clear. I place a lot of emphasis on good communication; if they can’t meet your expectations before they have secured your business, then they are unlikely to once you’re booked in.
Use social media to verify
Lastly, check your local community facebook or neighbourly.co.nz pages. Look through the posts and comments that have previously posted and see if anyone has recommended a provider. If you can’t find anything, ask for recommendations in a new post. Instagram can also be a good way to find service providers and you can usually see examples of their work too.
Ready to go
You should now be able to understand which house moving services you need for your next move and how to find them.
Move by Design offers bespoke move solutions and can help with the full spectrum of house moving services. If you’d like to know more, get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. We’d love to help make moving a joyful and easy experience for you.
Clare Gregory-Jones
Owner, Move by Design.
Follow me and stay up to date via my Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Clare, LinkedIn Move by Design and my Google Business Profile page.
