Move your selfs or Professional removals Company

CathA

If you have friends to help, do it yourself, though obviously it depends how far you are moving. I've moved 5 times in the same town, mostly from one side of town to the other! Never used a removals firm, just got a lot of boxes, packed them myself, loaded them up into cars of accommodating friends and family and off we went.

To be fair I don't work full time, although when I was working 5 days per week (though not full time hours) I managed to pack a couple of boxes a day. The secret is lists, lists, lists and writing on every box what's in it. However, we've moved 18 months ago, still not unpacked all the boxes in the garage, and still can't find a particular scarf!! I did find it once but it was summertime, thought 'I'll put that in a safe place for winter,' never been seen since!

If we moved again, we'd do it ourselves, as long as it was local. Good luck.

marksoton

Davesnave wrote: »

If I ever move from here in anything other than a box, I shall have to pile up half of our stuff in the field and set fire to it. That will be much the cheapest option. Come to think of it, that's pretty much what the last people here did.

I'd say leaving in a burning box in the field would be the cheapest combination of both!

Davesnave

marksoton wrote: »

I'd say leaving in a burning box in the field would be the cheapest combination of both!

Your idea might seem to have merit from a MSE/DIY perspective, but it could make resale a bit tricky.

You see, I well remember a property in West Wales, where the EA was obliged to write in the particulars, "Please note, a previous owner is interred on the property."

It took a long time to sell.

westv

Several 100,000s buying a property
Several 1,000s paying an EA and conveyancer.
Why worry about a few 100s to give you a more stress free and simpler move? It's a no brainer.

jolester

I've been wondering the same the last few days as our house sale fell through late last week so we'll be moving out without someone immediately moving in. We were going to use a removals company but now there is no urgency not sure if it's still the best use of money (seeing as we have to pay two mortgages for some time!) we're only moving about 10 miles so doing a few trips isn't going to break the bank in fuel

Kinski

We moved from a 6 bed hooooge house to a 3 bed semi 7 weeks ago and did it ourselves, we were very luck as my eldest son used to be in removals and he packed the van for us. I was amazed at how much he got into the van and how every single bit of space in it was taken up by our stuff, if it hadn't been for him then we would have struggled and the move would have been a nightmare.

LJS2014

We moved around about the same time as my parents moved house - they opted for the professionals, we did it ourselves. We were only moving a few miles away and thought we would save quite a bit of money doing it ourselves. At the time my parents said they thought we would regret our decision and they were right. We moved out of a 3rd floor flat and running relays to get everything down to the van then playing Tetris to fit everything in.....not fun! In hindsight I wish we had paid to get the movers in because it would have taken a lot of stress off our shoulders for not that much more money.

casper_g

marksoton wrote: »

I'd say it depends on a number of factors

Distance
Quantity of goods
Number of people to assist
Cost of each method
Ease of access/egress

These are all important considerations, to which I would add:
Number of children getting in the way and/or needing to be safely entertained out of the way
Time available for packing and moving

The time available is important. My wife and I happily moved ourselves between rented properties in a hired van, including all furniture. As we had an overlap of a fortnight, this could be done in stages and wasn't too bad. Our last move was done as part of a chain of house sales though. Our moving date wasn't known until 2 days earlier, and wasn't properly confirmed until about 20 hours before we had to be out! This would not have been possible without professionals on the case.

Finally, a secondary consideration as part of the cost:
Whether your employer will pay relocation expenses!

pinkteapot

If you DIY it, just be realistic, for the sake of your buyers.

House before last, we completed at 11am. We couldn't get they keys or get in until 5pm because the vendors thought they could self-move out of a 4-bed house using a transit and it took them all day. :mad:

Our last two moves, I've also used the professionals and paid for them to pack. Bliss! Our last move was a big one - out of a fair-sized house and with a lot of stuff. We'd have spent weeks packing all weekend, every weekend. The removers came in the day before completion and packed EVERYTHING in about 6 hours. Packing service is worth its weight in gold.

charliewocka

I've been on both ends of the stick. I did an international move and then back to the UK and my company paid for professional removals. They were brilliant, everything packed and labelled and placed in corresponding rooms on the opposite side.


We've just moved from my rented house into our purchased house and to save money my OH insisted we do it ourselves. It's been a nightmare. Both working fulltime, including some international travel, two dogs and a cat, consolidating two houses into one. We've done so many trips in our estate cars, hired a Luton van with taillift and been so stressed with it all. Doesn't help my OH is currently disabled due to an injury and surgery. My sanity has gone and I've had tears about it all.


If you can afford removals company, do it. Definitely worth it. For me, the best bit was the removals company when I moved back to the UK used their common sense and put together an 'arrivals' box for me - my kettle, toaster, some mugs, glasses, plates and cutlery so I could eat and have a cup of tea when I arrived. It was pride of place in my kitchen when I arrived!