The Expectations vs Reality of Moving Home

In an ideal world, your upcoming home move will be super easy.

Your expectation for moving day is that the sun will shine, you will not forget to do anything, there will be no breakages, the kids and pets will be perfectly well-behaved, everything will fit perfectly in your new home, and you will be unpacked and enjoying your new home within a couple of days of moving in.

Oh, and it will come in on budget.

The reality of your home move is that it is going to need more organising, will take longer, and will cost you more than you planned. And it may well rain.

10 Home Moving Expectations vs the Reality

Now that little piece of realism is out of the way, there is one thing that you really can do that will make moving home less stressful, and that is to manage your expectations.

So let’s look at ways to manage your expectations of your home move, and reduce the potential for any home moving stress.

Expectation #1 I love planning so a home move should be simple

The reality is something will get missed or forgotten

If you know you have an upcoming home move, the more attention you pay to the planning stage, the less chance there will be of you forgetting to do something.

If you can do the planning stage before your mind gets filled with all the emotions associated with moving home, the less chance there is that something will get missed.

Checklists are a great way to help you remember what to do and when.

We have created some checklists for you below, so before you get into the nitty-gritty of moving home, take time to go through each of those checklists and tailor them to your particular home move.

Important checklists for moving home:

• Week-by-Week Home Moving Checklist. Here we list all the important home moving tasks in chronological order to make organising your home move easier
• Change of Address Checklist. This is a comprehensive list of all the companies and organisations that you may have to give your new address to.
• How to Create a Home Moving Binder. A home moving binder keeps all your important information about your home in one place.
• How Not To Get Overwhelmed With a Home Moving Checklist. Once you view those checklists you may become overwhelmed with the sheer number of things to be done. But in this guide, we show you how to tailor those checklists to your circumstances and make them more manageable.

Expectation #2 You will declutter 90% of your possessions

The reality is you will find it difficult to part with 20% of your things

Decluttering is the one thing you can do that will have a significant impact on the cost of moving home.

Getting rid of those things you no longer want or need will reduce your packing costs, and loading and unloading time, and may even mean being able to hire a smaller removal van.

But the likelihood is that you will struggle with the emotional attachment of many items you own, and there is always that nagging voice that says you might just need that item one day.

You may also like to read: The Epic Guide to Decluttering For a Home Move In our epic guide to decluttering you will find lots of useful advice not only about the physical process of decluttering but how to let go of things that you are emotionally attached to.

Expectation #3 Moving home yourself is cheaper than hiring a removal company

The reality is hiring a removal company to move you can work out cheaper than doing it yourself

The majority of home moves will require the skills of a good removal company, but even so, some people still choose to move home themselves, usually to save money.

However, you should consider whether moving home yourself really is cost-effective.

Packing materials can be particularly expensive and knowing how to pack efficiently will not only save you time but money.

However, most people would agree that hiring a professional packing service is usually money well spent.

You should also note that many insurance policies will not cover you if you have packed the items yourself, so check your insurance policy carefully.

Then take into consideration the skills required to manoeuvre large and heavy pieces of furniture up and down stairs and through awkward spaces. Not only could you cause damage to the item, but the property and yourself.

Don’t forget that if you and your friends cause damage to the building whilst trying to get that huge sofa through that narrow doorway, it will be you who foots the bill to get it repaired.

And how long can you afford to be off work with a bad back or other injury sustained whilst moving all those heavy boxes yourself?

You may also like to read: Moving Home Yourself vs Hiring a Removal Company. In this guide, we look at the pros and cons of trying to move home yourself and hiring a removal company to help you decide which is the best option for your home move.

Expectation #4 All removal companies are the same

The reality is that they are not all the same

Some removal companies will be better at moving specialist items than others, some will have better customer service (this is vitally important), and some will use agency staff whilst others will only use fully trained full-time staff, some will use eco-friendly packing materials and others won’t.

It is important that you spend time searching for a removal company that will offer the skills and services that you require for your particular home move.

Take time to read reviews and research all you can about any removal company you are considering hiring.

You may also like to read: How to Pick a Good Removal Company. Choosing a good removal company is so important that we have created a step-by-step guide to picking the right company for your particular needs. It is essential reading for any home mover.

Expectation #5 You will keep to your meticulously planned moving budget

The reality is that you will blow your home moving budget

It makes sense to prepare a home moving expenses budget.

This is especially important if you are thinking of moving home yourself.

What if your friends fail to turn up on moving day and you have to hire some labour help? What happens if you back the hire van into another car?

There are many ways to blow your home moving budget.

Of course, if you choose to hire a reputable removal company, and you have asked the right questions, specify exactly what you are moving, and have taken their advice into consideration, you will have a far better idea of what the exact final cost will be.

However there are still things that can go wrong that are beyond anyone’s control, so always have a contingency fund for unexpected costs.

For example, what if the release of the keys is delayed or the people moving out are not ready to go when you get there? Maybe you will incur the cost of storage or overnight accommodation, or maybe just a couple of pizzas for the removal team who end up working late into the night.

You may also like to read: How to Avoid the 5 Things That Will Blow Your Moving Day Budget In this guide, we look at things that could incur extra charges on moving day and how you can avoid those extra costs.

Expectation #6 All your friends will help you move home

The reality is that most will fail to turn up to help you

This is a frequent problem, friends promise to help on moving day, then it rains, or the budgie gets sick, or a thousand other excuses are given.

Everyone hates moving home and whilst they probably offered their help in all good faith, once the reality sets in, then darning their socks becomes a priority.

And what do you do at 12:45 on moving day when you are half-loaded and the new occupiers are sitting outside waiting to unload?

The likelihood of being able to hire some labour help at such short notice is pretty slim.

We frequently get people calling us looking to book moving help after their friends have failed to turn up on moving day. So unless you can 100% rely on your friends to help you move, consider hiring a removal company.

You might like to read:

• Why You Should Never Ask Friends to Help You Move Home. This is a cautionary tale of a home move I helped with and shows just why relying on friends to help you move is never a good idea.
• 22 Really Useful Ways to Help a Friend Move Home. In this guide, we share 22 ways that friends can help you move home without them having to pack or move a single thing.

Expectation #7 You are a really organised person so all the packing will be done ready for moving day

The reality is that packing ALWAYS takes longer and is more expensive than you planned

So you have no time now for that hobby you have always wanted to do, or to go see a favourite aunt every day.

But suddenly there will be a few free hours every day of the week to do the packing?

Never underestimate the huge task that packing for a home move is. If you can plan a packing schedule many many weeks in advance of moving day then you may get it finished in time.

But the reality is, and we see this daily in the call centre, people run out of time and a day before they are due to move are frantically trying to book a packing service to be ready to move out on time.

You may also like to read: Is a Full Packing Service Worth the Cost? In this guide, we look at what packers do, how much on average they cost, and whether it makes sense to hire packers for your home move.

Expectation #8 The removal company will MAKE the furniture fit through the narrow hallway

The reality is that they are not magicians

Whilst there are tricks that the removal company can perform to get furniture through the most awkward of spaces, they cannot move walls or make things magically shrink.

It therefore makes sense to prepare a floor plan for your new home.

This will ensure that the furniture can be moved into the home but also that you have the space for all your furniture in your new home.

Do this when you are starting to declutter and before the removal company does an in-home survey.

That way you will have time to sell or donate your surplus furniture and the removal company will know exactly what to quote you for.

You may also like to read: How To Make a Floor Plan. In this guide, we show you how to measure your home and furniture and then how to create a simple floor plan.

Expectation #9 You will have unpacked and settled in within a couple of days

The reality is that 3 months later there will still be unpacked boxes

When your moving boxes are being packed be sure to label them clearly with the box contents and which room they will go into at the new home.

This will make the unpacking process so much easier, and if the removal team knows which room each box should go into, it will mean you not having to shift boxes between rooms.

Unpack room by room, starting with the rooms you will use the most, and that will provide a sanctuary away from the rest of the moving boxes.

If possible, plan on taking a few days off work to get the unpacking done.

It is also worth considering having your pets kept in kennels, and the kids looked after for an extra few days whilst you pet-proof and child-proof your new home.

Whilst you will want to take time out to relax, which is important, set a realistic unpacking schedule, and stick to it.

You may also like to read:

• How to Label Moving Boxes. An Easy and Foolproof Way. In this guide, we share an easy way to pack and label your moving boxes to make unloading and unpacking so much easier.
• How Not to Get Overwhelmed Unpacking After a Home Move. It is easy to look at the piles of things to be unpacked and become totally overwhelmed. In this guide, we look at simple ways to make the unpacking process easier and quicker.

Expectation #10 A home move will make your life perfect

The reality is that it is YOU who will make that happen. Not the home move.

Whilst a home move can certainly improve your life and give you a fantastic boost to do things that you have always wanted to do, the reality is that it is you who will make that happen.

Perhaps you were just stuck in a rut at your old home, or the opportunity to do that hobby was not available, or your home move will give you the incentive to reinvent yourself.

Whatever your reason for moving home, sometimes you cannot run away from the real issues that are stopping you from doing certain things now.

If you take certain mindsets with you, no matter how far you move, or how many times, unless you really want to change things, a change of location is unlikely to make things better.

You may also like to read: Will Moving Home Make You Happier? In this guide, we ask whether moving home is always the answer to your problems or if the answer is closer to your current home.

If you take the time to really look at the details of your home move, to over plan if you will, to expect the unexpected, to accept that the perfect home moving plan is perfect until it goes wrong, then your home move will be far easier and far less stressful.

We all have bad days. Things go wrong but we get through it.

Moving home usually takes just a day, and like all bad days, pass just as quickly as they start.

The problem is we have many emotions swirling around inside of us when we move home, and everything just seems so much worse.

You may also like to read: How to Cope With Emotional Overload When Moving Home. During your home move you will likely experience a whole range of emotions, both good and bad. In this guide, we suggest ways to help cope with all the different emotions that are associated with moving home.

Is the universe trying to tell you not to move home because the removal team is 4 minutes late? Or because it is raining? No, that is just life being normal.

To quote a favourite of mine “If you can do something about a situation why stress about. If you can’t do something about a situation, why stress about it?”

So, Keep Calm and Move Home……everything will be fine in the end.