When to move into your new house?

skm1981

When we moved into this house in January, our house sale had completed a week before our purchase.  So we stayed with my mum for a week.  We completed the following Friday on our purchase, but we moved 150 miles away.  All our stuff was in storage, so as son as we had a completion date, booked the removals people and we moved in the Tuesday after we completed.  Luckily the house was absolutely spotless.

When we moved into our first house, obviously I was still living with my mum then.  The house needed a full refurb.  Once we'd got the plastering done and a new bathroom fitted, we moved in, so I reckon it was a good month or two between completing and moving in.  We were sitting on dining chairs for a while.  That was all we had, our bed and a TV.  Then we started to get new stuff, like carpets, sofa, etc.

Angela_D_3

Ill be getting a professional deep clean and removing all the carpets and curtains.  Have done in every house weve moved to.
in your position id paint the bedrooms too andf then let it all dry and air for a few days 

Indigo_and_Violet

If you're in a rental and the dates line up it might be nice to have a few days overlap as it's much easier to clean an empty house than a full one. Depends on location as well - the above isn't really practical if it's a long journey to the new place. You'll have two sets of council tax/bills for any overlap, although a lot of councils will give a 100% discount for a short period if the house is unoccupied. If you can manage the collection then freegle and freecycle are good for temporary furniture - get it for free while you decide on what you really want, pass it on for free once your permanent solution arrives. 

[Deleted User]

If you're lucky enough to be in a position where you don't have to move out of your current home on the same day that you complete, then you can move in anytime you feel is necessary once you have done the jobs you need to do. 

We were in this position when we bought our house and we left it until the following weekend after we completed until we actually moved in. The house was disgusting, so gave us time to give everything a good clean, shampoo carpets, left the windows ajar slightly to let some airflow through the house. I also went appliance shopping for the main stuff we needed - cooker, fridge, and washing machine. Managed to get them all bought and delivered on or before the day of the move. All of our other furniture we already had and anything extra needed wasn't urgent (e.g. a spare bed for the 3rd bedroom). 

We took a few bits and bobs over gradually over the week and then all the big stuff was taken over in a van. We did the move ourselves with my parents. 

Of course if you need to vacate another property on the day of completion you won't have a choice but to move in straight away. 

RelievedSheff

We have moved in on completion day on both of our property purchases.

CLJ2986

I moved on completion day last time, but this time we're in rented so hopefully will get a small crossover window so it's not a mad rush as I found moving out of one place straight into another super stressful. I was totally unprepared last time, I was still packing boxes at the old place the day we moved! Lesson learnt for this time 🤣

moneysavinghero

If you have just spent a large amount of money on a house then you would surely want to move in as soon as possible. 

If you have somewhere to live currently then you could leave it a few weeks before you move in while you give it a good clean and some decorating. But aim to do this as quickly as possible so you can into and enjoy your new house. All you really need is a bed. Sure you could pick up a second hand one for not that much. What about the one you are sleeping on now, would you family not let you have that one?

The rest of the furniture you can just buy as and when you can afford it.

Falafels

We completed on our new house on 22nd April. We were living in a rental, haven't yet worked through the notice period, and haven't finished moving in yet. Not quite.

purplebutterfly

See if there is a local "Buy Nothing" group on FB where people give things away for free.

We're hoping to have a crossover period between our tenancy agreement ending and moving into the new house so we can do it in separate chunks - but we have health issues to factor in to the equation.  

laura_lau

When I bought my first house, we moved in on day of completion, as we had already been in an airbnb for 5 weeks by then as in the meantime our rental contract had expired and our landlords didn't want to extend it month my month. So the day we moved in we only had an inflatable mattress and a blanket, and a small suitcase, as I didn't even have our duvet as all our stuff was in storage. (it was the coldest end of May I have ever experienced in my life! We slept in our coats!). The day after we were able to move all our stuff in, so at least we had a duvet and a kettle to make us a tea! We had dinner sitting on the floor or on the stair steps for a week, then we bought a table and two chairs, then the sofa arrived and finally after 2 months, the bed and mattress we purchased arrived. The day I moved in I cleaned the bathroom, the day after I cleaned the kitchen, then slowly all the rest. We also had to redecorate (remove carpets, remove wallpaper, plastering, painting, new skirting) which we did in the few months later, no rush. It wasn't as easy as moving into a magazine-like house, but it wasn't as bad as it sounds! And in the meantime we really made the place our own, and were extremely proud of it!