House move - hiring a van

skm1981

We have sold our house and complete on 8th January.  We are having to move in with my parents as it's very unlikely we'll complete on our purchase at the same time.  So we are now moving the vast majority of our stuff into a storage unit and then plan to hire a Luton van to do our move, but I'm just wondering, are we underestimating this.

I've had quotes for removals of around £1500 (although on reflection, I don't know if VAT needs to be added to this figure) as we are moving 2.5 hours away.  My husband drives a Luton as part of his job so is very experienced in long distance driving and also driving a van of that size.  So the plan is that my mum will look after our children as they're too young to be helpful in the move (7 and 8) while we try and do the move ourselves.  I was thinking my husband will drive the van and I can take the car with stuff, and the other end, I mean lockdown restrictions dependent, my brother in law will be able to help us as he doesn't live too far from where we're moving.  I don't feel there's anything in our house that is going to be too heavy for me to lift with my husband.

We are moving from a 3 bed semi to a 4 bed detached.  Furniture wise, we have got rid of a lot of stuff.  So the main bulky stuff will be our dining table, one 3 seater sofa and a large armchair, a washing machine and a fridge.  We don't have any cupboards or things like that to move.

So for anyone who has done a house move of this type before, any tips and am I insane to think we can do this ourselves?

tink_1983

Quotes for 1500 would indicate more than one Luton van was needed? You will need to do a few trips back and forth by the sounds of it.
But if you dont mind that and can do it yourselves itll save you alot of money. 

davidmcn

Sounds reasonable to me.

skm1981

I do currently live in London, so perhaps reflected in price as I just assumed it would be one trip.  The reason we're thinking we could do this ourselves is we could hire a van for a few days and as we aren't under any time pressure because we'll be at my parents, we don't have to get this all done in one day.

AdrianC

Yes, you can DIY it. We did it when we moved here - 3.5hrs away. It took six return trips across six days, because we were lucky enough to have both houses available simultaneously. But that was a house plus a big yellow storage unit plus three garages full of car parts and tools...

Do not underestimate it. Firstly, are you sure you can fit everything into one trip in a 3.5t Luton? Not just bulk, but payload. Washing machines are heavy - I hope the van has a tail lift... (but that'll eat into the payload). And are you sure you can pack and load it all in the time available before you have to hand the keys over for completion?

cymruchris

Yes I’ve done it before a long time ago - to a third floor flat with no lift - the stairs were a killer - but saved a shed load of money. If you can get an extra pair of hands to help - so there’s at least 3 of you - things will be quite a bit easier. 

tink_1983

skm1981 said:

I do currently live in London, so perhaps reflected in price as I just assumed it would be one trip.  The reason we're thinking we could do this ourselves is we could hire a van for a few days and as we aren't under any time pressure because we'll be at my parents, we don't have to get this all done in one day.

Check your quotes. Itll say how many Van's and men are included. We have 3 bed semi. And needed 3x Luton Van's. 

skm1981

AdrianC said:

Do not underestimate it. Firstly, are you sure you can fit everything into one trip in a 3.5t Luton? Not just bulk, but payload. Washing machines are heavy - I hope the van has a tail lift... (but that'll eat into the payload). And are you sure you can pack and load it all in the time available before you have to hand the keys over for completion?

I feel like it will be more than one trip

AdrianC

skm1981 said:

AdrianC said:

Do not underestimate it. Firstly, are you sure you can fit everything into one trip in a 3.5t Luton? Not just bulk, but payload. Washing machines are heavy - I hope the van has a tail lift... (but that'll eat into the payload). And are you sure you can pack and load it all in the time available before you have to hand the keys over for completion?

I feel like it will be more than one trip

Are the houses in a chain...?

Because, if so, don't forget that you can't complete on the purchase until you've completed on the sale... and you have to provide vacant possession on completion, while you don't get access until after.

So you MUST do everything in one trip, unless you've got somewhere else to store it temporarily, one end of the other.

sheramber

it will take you a lot longer to load the van than removal men take. They know exactly what they are doing and what to move when.

p00hsticks

If you are moving in with parents and just putting stuff into storage, if I were you I'd be doing it all a day or two prior to completion anyhow to be on the safe side... less  stressful that way.