When it comes to moving house, some things will always stay outside your direct control no matter how desperately you want to be in full charge of what’s happening during that very transitional period in life. Sure, you can still be the ultimate master and decision-making force behind your upcoming relocation, but one of the things you’ll find impossible to manage is the move distance itself.
It shouldn’t come as a big surprise that the distance between Point A (your current residence) and Point B (your new home) will play a major role in determining 1) how you prepare for the move, 2) how you pack up your belongings, and 3) what type of help you get – professional removals or friends. But mostly, the move distance will influence your short distance moving costs.
So, even if you happen not to be moving across the country, there are a number of essential things you should do to keep things running smoothly, including a few short distance moving tips you just won’t do without.
Consult the following short distance moving guide to really stay on top of your fast approaching household move. It feels so nice to be in control, doesn’t it?
The best way to do a short distance move is your way
There are no rules set in stone about how you plan, organize and execute your short distance move. In fact, you can take different approaches to how exactly you organize your time before the move and still enjoy a largely problem-free relocation. If you can think of unusual ways to go through your personal moving timeline more efficiently, that’s even better.
Still, there are expert short distance guidelines that have proven their worth – stick to their guiding advice and the successful end of your relocation story is (almost) guaranteed.
When moving only a short distance away, the relocation aspects you should definitely pay attention to are:
Creating a packing and moving calendar to better organize your time;
Deciding on the best way for you to execute the residential move: hiring short distance furniture removals or asking your circle of friends for help;
Completing the tasks you have in your moving schedule, one by one;
Initiating the job of packing up your entire home for moving out: where to start packing and how to pack up quickly;
Making sure you’re 100% ready for your move-out day.
Nobody knows your relocation needs better than you, so it’s important that you think through the whole situation and make the decisions that will bring the most benefit under the circumstances. In other words, don’t be quick to accept just any type of “great” advice but take your time in re-assessing what it is exactly that you need, and then make sure that you get it done.
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Keep things from turning upside down by following your own short distance moving checklist.
One thing to keep in mind throughout the moving preparations is that you should not underestimate the complexity of the house move only because the distance between the two homes is shorter than that of a cross country move. That shorter distance will, in fact, play nicely into your hands when it’s time to pay the relocation bill, but as far as the preparation period is concerned, any signs of underestimation could prove to be costly.
Whether you’re moving to a neighbouring city or a place located hundreds of miles away, the house utilities still need to be transferred, your delicate breakables still have to be protected well due to their extreme fragility, and your medical records (family physician + vet) and your children’s school records still need to be obtained. Yes, the move distance can be advantageous for you but the tasks that are waiting for you will hardly be fewer.
Do create a moving timeline checklist to help you use each and every hour of the time you have until move-out day. Even if you feel like that moving day is far away, you can’t afford to lose precious time. There are just 3 steps to creating your moving calendar and organizing your time like an expert:
Step 1: Get access to an unabridged moving checklist that contains the largest possible number of moving jobs. Such complete to-do lists are not easy to find but we’ve managed to come across one surprisingly detailedmoving checklist that seems ideal both for short distance moving and long distance moving.
Step 2: The second step is about borrowing the tasks that are relevant in your case and will serve your short distance moving needs perfectly. Similar to creating a shopping list, write down on a piece of paper or on your preferred word processor the jobs that you know or think you will need to take care of prior to moving day. This way, the short distance moving checklist will become your own.
Step 3: The last step to having a personal moving checklist that actually works is to prioritize your entries. Some of the things to do before moving short distance have a much higher priority than the rest, so they should be completed first. For example, it would be a disaster if you decided to start packing up your storage areas, especiallyyour garage, in the final days of your preparation period. Get the tougher jobs out of the way first!
How to pack for a short distance move
Packing your belongings into packing boxes so that they can be protected while on the move will be the toughest thing you will need to do when moving to another home – tough in terms of efforts and even tougher in terms of time. The thing is that when packing for a short distance move, you can’t just finish the most time-consuming job in your moving schedule in one gigantic attempt. In practice, that job is the only one that will stretch out from Day 1 all the way until the day you’re moving out.
To help you pack up your house or flat more quickly, here are the top 10 packing tips when moving short distance:
Rule Number 1 is to start boxing up your possessions as early as you possibly can to make sure you have enough time for the job.
Decide whether you can manage the packing task on your own, or whether you should definitely hire professional packers for your special items.
Get hold of the necessary packing materials first to avoid unpleasant interruptions to the packing process later. Where to get free moving boxes? Find out here.
Regardless of the move distance, your fragile items still need to be well protected.
Sort out your household items and get rid of the stuff you will no longer need. This, mind you, is the best way to save money and time simultaneously.
Do not waste your time packing up items that are forbidden to be moved. Go through the list of non-allowables to increase the overall packing efficiency.
However you choose to approach your packing project, consult regularly the packing calendar you have created in the very beginning to avoid costly packing mistakes.
Remember that the best way to pack for a short distance move is to obtain a good level of safety rather than to try to break any speed records. Being speedier doesn’t always mean you’re faster.
Designate one single room as your packing hub and organize your packing process in stages. Remove excess packing supplies as you progress.
Keep your packing morale high – the strategy of filling up one cardboard box at a time followed by a short rewarding break works well in most cases.
Everyone’s looking for the cheapest way to move house, and that’s perfectly understandable. Money doesn’t just grow on trees, but even if it did, what would the odds be of you having exactly those types of trees in your own backyard?
Moving to a new home that is not too far from your current one can be a great opportunity for you to try to organize a self-move in order to save money by not paying for professional short distance moving services. However, it’s good to keep in mind that not using a short distance removal company can be a decent low cost option only if you are 100% certain that you will get the desperately needed support and assistance from your friends.
Finding the cheapest way to move short distance will require a bit of comparative analysis on your part. Assuming that self-moving is always the cheaper of the two relocation options is a clear mistake that could seriously harm your budget. Here are some pointers to help you decide which moving method will be better suited for you:
It’s important to do the math right: self-moves hide a score of hidden charges that most self-movers fail to see in the beginning. Some of these hidden costs when moving by yourself include: 1) renting a moving vehicle, 2) purchasing additional insurance, 3) paying for the fuel, 4) purchasing packing materials, 5) renting moving equipment, 6) paying for road tolls and parking fees, 7) securing food, beverages and possible gifts for your helping friends, and 8) covering potential property damage, damage to your items or personal injuries due to inexperience.
Moving house on your own could be trickier than you think. The only good way to know if you’re choosing the cheaper option to move locally is to be able to compare the prices, more or less. Get short distance moving quotes from a few top-rated removals to get a general idea of how much the forthcoming house move will cost you. For better results, request in-house surveys from your future partners so that the experts can assess potential difficulties and even dangers on Moving day. Also, this way you will be quoted a much more accurate price for the short distance services you intend to use.
Unless you have good friends you can rely on, memorize these magic words: short distance furniture movers
If you own too many heavy and large household items to move (furniture pieces, electric appliances, or random bulky things) or if you have special items that are too valuable to be handled by non-professionals (a piano, a billiard table, a snooker table, a Jacuzzi, etc.), then it’s obvious that not hiring one of the best short distance moving companies is a risk you may not be willing to take.
Interestingly, moving short distance may mean different things under different moving scenarios: moving to another home down or across the street (moving across town), moving to a neighbouring city or moving house within a radius of approximately 50 miles are all considering local or short distance moves. Yes, the way you choose to approach your relocation may differ substantially.
The best way to move short distance is to hire professionals whose profession is to help people move their belongings from one place to another. And just because those removal men do what they do every single workday, they become really do at it and in the end, they are the most qualified persons to handle all the details around your own relocation scenario.
All in all, it’s pretty straightforward: if you know you can afford to pay for the services of local removal firms (the received moving estimates, remember), then you can rest assured that your prized possessions will be in good hands. Follow our detailed checklist on where and how to find top-rated short distance removal companies to choose from: where are the best removal companies in the UK?
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When it comes to moving house, some things will always stay outside your direct control no matter how desperately you want to be in full charge of what’s happening during that very transitional period in life. Sure, you can still be the ultimate master and decision-making force behind your upcoming relocation, but one of the things you’ll find impossible to manage is the move distance itself.
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