Countdown to Moving Day: A checklist

Moving your home or office should be one of the most joyous occasions of your life but it is often bogged down with stress. Many things need to get done in a short amount of time. That means a lot of opportunity for forgetting things or random accidents.

Hire a Relocation and Moving Services company to lighten your load- both figuratively and literally. For all the tasks they cannot handle, here is a moving house checklist to help you through the entire process.

Download PDF Checklist

8 weeks

• As early as possible, arrange to have your electric, gas, water, and internet supply turned on. Some of these processes like internet setup can take two months to set up. To avoid a gap in your services give the companies as much notice as you can.
• Keep your important documents close at hand so they are safe and easily accessible if necessary. Whether they are personal papers, work related, or relevant to the move, they should be properly labelled and stored. Take extra care with your medical records, so that you have them in case of emergency.
• Get a quote from a removalist. Make sure you pick a company that is a member of the Australian Furniture Removers Association: price is important but quality is even more so.
• Have your heirlooms and other major possessions valued so that you know what needs to be insured for the transfer. You can also use this study to make note of things that will need to be moved with extra care.
• Get insurance for your home, car, and the contents of both. Most Removal companies carry insurance but it will not cover everything.
• Start the house de-clutter process well in advance. You can donate extra items to friends, family, or local thrift shops.
• If you are moving house and have school age children, you may need to register them with a different school. Find out what school district you are moving to and plan accordingly.

6 weeks

• If you are renting your current space, give notice to your landlord that you will be leaving.
• Order furniture for your new home. Decide which appliances you will be taking with you and replace the ones you will be leaving behind.
• Book your moving days off of work so that you will be able to dedicate that entire day to your relocation.
• Make an inventory list of your possession. Determine what will be packed first, and how. You can put things into categories based on rooms they belong in for easier sorting.
• Go through your storage spaces for things to pack or get rid of. Be sure to check crawl spaces, sheds, and the attic.

4 weeks

• Confirm the date of your move. Once you are 100% confident of the relocation date, you can confirm it with the other companies involved (ie gas and water utility companies).
• Settle any outstanding bills that you may have with utility companies, physicians, libraries, etc.
• Begin notifying the people in your life of your change of address. The easiest way to do this, for everyone involved, is to write your new address down on a series of index cards. You can hand them out to friends, family, business associates, and even your doctor, bank, and other official people. This method makes the information easy to convey.
• Research the area around your new location. Find out where the hospitals, fire stations, and police are located. Also check around for shops and restaurants.
• Run your fridge and freezer out of food. The less perishable food you have to pack, the better. If you are careful about what groceries you buy, you can narrow your kitchen down to dry stock that will not go bad in transit to the new location.
• Disassemble fixtures, such as curtain rods, that you will be taking with you on moving day.
• Disassemble the bigger items that you will be relocating. This includes desks, beds, and bookshelves. If you are moving to a new home you may also have outdoor items like swings or playsets.
• Empty the fuel out of your lawn mower, grill, and any other hazardous fluid you have.
• Cancel household or office services, like pool and lawn maintenance. You should also have your newspaper delivery address updated.

2 weeks

• Start packing a couple weeks before the move. Mark each box with the room it needs to go to in the new location. You should also make a list of its contents on the side, so that you do not have to sift through several boxes when looking for one item.
• Back up the hard drive on your computer so that vital information is not lost in transit.
• Arrange to have childcare and pet care, if applicable, the day of the move.
• If the new location will be your registered business address, be sure to update that information with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. You should also be changing the address on all marketing materials, like business cards and websites. Your customers, both current and future, will need to know your new location.
• Organize your insurance. By now you should already have gotten quotes and even paid for it, but it is a good idea to double check your coverage. You can also run through your household or office inventory and make
  sure you have covered every item that needs insurance.
• If you are having a service come to clean the house or office before you leave, have them come now. Set up a date for them to clean your new home or office too.
• Investigate the security of your new home or office. Find out if there are any theft problems in the neighbourhood. Update all locks and alarms. If necessary, you can get a registered secure PO box through the Post Office.

1 week

• Call all of your service companies to double check that your gas, electric, water, and internet are ready to be turned on the following week.
• Return all rented DVDs and books.
• Arrange parking for the removal truck. Warn your neighbours, be they residents or nearby offices, that you will be moving and on what day. This way they will not get caught in the traffic and you will have extra space.

the DAY before

• If you are leaving behind appliances for the next occupant, make sure you collect the instruction booklets for each item.
• If you are moving house, pack an overnight bag for your first night in the new house. Include toiletries, clothes, and personal electronics like phone chargers and gaming devices. You can also add bed linens for easy bedroom assembly. Every person in your household should have his or her own bag.
• Consult your moving out of home checklist. Make sure you have all the details worked out so you can dedicate tomorrow to your physical relocation.
• Pack a box of kitchen supplies necessary for a few days in the new location. If you are moving an office, you may only need a coffee maker or a snack stand. For a home you can prepare dry dinners and add them to your box. You will need dishes, utensils, snacks, and whatever else you can think of.
• Stock a third box with cleaning supplies. You will need it on hand to spruce up the old location before you go, and to put the finishing cleanliness touches on the new home or office.

the DAY of the move

• After everything has been removed from your old location, do one last walk through to be sure nothing was missed. Check cupboards, closets, and any other niche you can find. Use your checklist for moving house as a reminder of places and items to check on.
• Lock all doors and windows before leaving the house. Leave the keys on the counter, or with your closing agent.