When to move into your new house?

Poppyka

Hi all,
hope you’re keeping well. So I completely understand that the above is based on personal circumstances/situations. But how soon after completing on the property would you move in and start living there? Especially if the house is unfurnished and needs a good deep clean. Is there any recommendations on this following Covid guidelines in terms of what you should do as soon as you’ve moved in etc? Or am I just being extra cautious?
the house we’re hoping to complete on needs new sofas / beds and wardrobes etc. we went above our asking price so won’t be in a position to give the vendors anymore money for their furniture etc….
This is our first big move (there’s just the 2 of us) and wondered what everyone else who has more experience of moving has done. We do have the option of staying with family if we need to but I’d just be worried about leaving the new house empty. 

Thanks in advance 

user1977

Poppyka said:

 Especially if the house needs a good deep clean. Is there any recommendations on this following Covid guidelines in terms of what you should do as soon as you’ve moved in etc?

Depends exactly what you mean by this - are you just concerned about Covid (no particular reason to be as far as I'm aware, as long as you clean the things you'd normally be cleaning anyway) or is it in a significantly bad state?

Poppyka

user1977 said:

Poppyka said:

 Especially if the house needs a good deep clean. Is there any recommendations on this following Covid guidelines in terms of what you should do as soon as you’ve moved in etc?

Depends exactly what you mean by this - are you just concerned about Covid (no particular reason to be as far as I'm aware, as long as you clean the things you'd normally be cleaning anyway) or is it in a significantly bad state?

I guess it’s just wondering how much cleaner you need to make everything I think I’m just being overly cautious. The house was always in a good condition the two times we viewed. 

UnderOffer

Where are you living at the moment, ie rental or family? Will you be able to complete then move in after a few days so you can clean and arrange furniture deliveries, before fully moving in? 

Most people have no choice and have to move in on day of completion as they have vacated a previous home on the same day. If you discover the place needs a deep clean, I’d just keep all belongings in one or two rooms and as you make your way around house, room by room cleaning, then move stuff in to each room as it’s ready. 

You will need the house insured from exchange and most policies expect you to occupy. 

Redwino222

Surely it is quite rare to buy the vendors furniture?

You seem to be overthinking this.  Unless there is a case of covid in the family who are moving out you will fine as long as as you open all the windows and wipe down surfaces (which you would do anyway).

Most people have no choice but to sleep in the house immediately - I will be doing that.  Covid isn’t a factor.  I will wipe down door handles etc just to be extra safe.

move in when you want - I didn’t have beds etc when I bought my first home - slept in a mattress on the floor for weeks. 

Keswick1uk

If you are selling as well, I'd think you'd move straight away as you have to be out of your old place.

If renting then I'd buy myself a couple of weeks personally,  to get the new place cleaned and move things over. I doubt you can buy all your furniture in that time though. A lot of suites take months to deliver and I can't see COVID having helped that situation.  

Moving in with family is OK but you have to move your stuff in and won't you want to be there? It's exciting. 

But don't buy stuff from vendors you don't want on impulse. Move in and buy over time as you have to live with it for years. You will have a roof over your head!

Forget the TV shows that have everything perfect. You can live on mattresses and out of boxes! Just take a few days off work if you can to start getting things straight. 

getmore4less

The default with a house move is you are packed ready with a van load of stuff outside that you start moving in as soon as you get the keys on the day of completion.

Also normally you but just the house and move your stuff in.

If you don't have any stuff then that makes the move  a lot easier  most people have a bed and a sofa whats happening to yours.

Much easier to clean and decorate etc with an empty house so if you can have an overlap then good if not and need to move in blitz one room and live in that while doing the others. 

Ramouth

You can move in whenever you like.  But I would question the point of buying a house if you are not keen to move into it! If you don’t have furniture at the moment you can furnish a house much more cheaply and quickly by buying things from charity shops / eBay / Facebook marketplace  - it won’t give you the instant show home look but can be quite fun.

elsien

I exchanged then went on holiday for a week. Wasn’t planned like that but it was how things stacked up. I was also lucky that the vendors had left the place very clean. 

The only furniture I had was a bed, a deckchair and a TV so I got on with decorating while acquiring the basics from car boots etc before buying anything else. You don’t need to wait for new furniture to be able to move in. Do what best suits your circumstances. 

AdrianC

Keswick1uk said:

I doubt you can buy all your furniture in that time though. A lot of suites take months to deliver and I can't see COVID having helped that situation. 

Swedish Embassy's open. Everything's in stock. Rentavan.

Poppyka

Thanks for sharing some ideas. 

We are current in a flat that was fully furnished when we moved in and everything has pretty much seen better days so we won’t be taking anything with us and the other things are all fitted. We’re planning to just take our clothes and kitchenware etc which will hopefully make the move easier. Than taking things back and forth if we moved in with family. 

I’m quite excited to just move in as soon as we complete and just make everything our own and buy as and when we need stuff. 

We’ve got deckchairs to keep us going until we get sofas etc. 
we will probably just take along a mattress and get everything else after.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.