Planning the move for early Jan

mm1985

Is anybody else expecting to move in the first or second week of Jan? We have expressed a preferred date of 14th Jan and before Christmas everything (as far as we know) was good to go. All parties had completed searches, had surveys done and received reports and enquiries had been responded to. 

Now assuming nobody had a change of circumstances or change of heart over the Christmas period we should be on target to move on the date suggested. But with our solicitors closed until the 4th our EA on annual leave we are unsure on how much to prepare. Should we be booking a moving company? We’ve had out quotes but cancelling or postponing within 7 days of the provisional date would mean we we pay up to 60% of the cost. 

We’ve started packing stuff up but are doing this slowly and will go full force once we can confirm the exchange date at the least. 

Has anybody else provisionally booked a moving company? 

greatcrested

Are Exchanging in advance or same day as Completion?

tink_1983

Most movers here wont take booking till exchange done. Our buyer dropped out on day of exchange so I'd wait till exchange to be safe

mm1985

greatcrested said:

Are Exchanging in advance or same day as Completion?

We’ll be exchanging one or two days before completion. 

dimbo61

Wait !
Please don't book leave or the removal firm till it's all confirmed 

mm1985

Thanks, so we’ll wait to book the removals company and in the mean time prepare to move by packing up the things we’re not currently using on a daily basis. 

badger09

Sorry, but I'm going to disagree with others. It depends on availability or removals, and whether you could possibly do it yourself. Definitely not an option for us.

We're actually completing 8th Jan but all the decent removal firms (packing, 2 day job local move) around here were fully booked several weeks ahead, and by 10th Dec our preferred firm was already booking into mid Jan. So, I paid 'non refundable' £250 deposit to secure the date. It was worth it for our peace of mind, though I realise £250 is a lot of money if you're on a tight budget.
Fortunately, against all odds, we exchanged 18th Dec so we won't lose either the deposit, or our dates.

Good luck OP

geoave1

Agree with Badger on booking early to secure a decent company and if you want packing service. We exchanged 18th Dec too and completing on 4th Jan 😬. I booked my movers on the 5th December and paid £200 deposit. We are no chain though and had agreed the moving date with our vendor. I started packing odd bits after we exchanged but got a packing service (so much less stressful!).

mm1985

Thanks @badger09 I totally get your point of view too. We tried to call removals company today and they are closed so I think the earliest we will be able to book is the 4th. As we’ve only got a day or two between completion and exchange I think we will have to take a bit of a risk with booking. Before we book anything though we’ll speak to EA just to reconfirm the date is still fine with our buyers and their buyers as we already know our seller is happy with the date suggested 

badger09

mm1985 said:

Thanks @badger09 I totally get your point of view too. We tried to call removals company today and they are closed so I think the earliest we will be able to book is the 4th. As we’ve only got a day or two between completion and exchange I think we will have to take a bit of a risk with booking. Before we book anything though we’ll speak to EA just to reconfirm the date is still fine with our buyers and their buyers as we already know our seller is happy with the date suggested 

Good plan

When I emailed our removals on 19th Dec, he had already closed until 4th Jan. That would have been far too late to book.

In the context of the amount you're spending overall, a couple of £00 is irrelevant.  

Suseka97

This is a tricky timing thing for sure.  We expected to exchange during the last week before Christmas close and complete the first week of Jan so we booked removals for 6th, but exchange didn't happen and all offices were then closed until 4th Jan.   The removal co. asked us today to confirm date by Thurs 31st at the latest and we simply cannot - so we will lose that slot (not that I was expecting that to work out now) and they've said they are now fully booked up until 25th Jan.

I don't recall things being so uncertain back in the day - but you'd be advised to sound out some removal firms as soon as you can, even if to get some sort of provisional booking in at a small cost (if needs be).