Moving into a new home can be an exciting time in your life. But if you aren’t careful with how and what to pack, this can be a stressful undertaking. It’s more than just about your tangible belongings per SE. Remember that you’re packing up your whole life to bring it to a fresh new start.

You wouldn’t want to start off in your new place clueless and literally empty. Whatever you can and need to bring from your current location, you’ve got to ensure these are all with you. Then, there’s also the question of ‘how much to bring.’ After all, you can’t just bring every single thing you have, especially when some of these are better off sold or given. Doing so will allow you to earn some extra money that you can use to purchase new things in your current home. 

To have a seamless relocation process, here’s a list of the best packing and moving tips:

Hire A Moving Company

 There’s no better way to ensure having a seamless relocation than hiring moving companies.. Even if you may be able to do the packing by yourself, how about the bigger items? Or the ones that need special care? Hence, you’ll need to have the assistance of a truck to haul your things to your new location.

However, here comes the caveat. While there may be so many moving companies in your location, it doesn’t necessarily follow that all of these are of good quality and reputation. When it comes to your belongings, surely you wouldn’t want to settle for anything less than the best.

In that regard, here are some tips to keep in mind when you hire professional movers:

Ask for recommendations.

Do you have family and friends who’ve also previously hired a moving company? Give them a call, and ask for recommendations. Since these are people you can take their word for, they surely won’t recommend any moving company that they aren’t pleased with.

Communicate your needs and expectations.

As you meet potential movers, it’s important to communicate your needs and expectations; lay your cards on the table as soon as possible. By doing so, you can iron out and prevent any potential gray areas.

Most importantly, you need to ensure that you and the moving company are on the same page when it comes to the fees and other expenses.

Ask for a written contract. Whatever you do, never pay for any moving service without a written contract. This serves as the all-important document that holds your rights and responsibilities. Just in case the moving company fails to do what’s expected of them, then you’ve got the written contract to support your claims.

Take An Inventory Of Your Belongings

Whether the packing is on you or you’ve also included this in the list of services you’re going to pay for the movers to do, always have an inventory of your belongings. Take a day to go through every room in your home and go through all the things you have, and don’t rush this process.

The point of making this inventory is for you to have a reference on what to bring, sell, and donate. When you already know what to pack in every room, the entire packing process will become easier. Also, you won’t commit the mistake of packing things you don’t necessarily need to bring.

Also, by taking an inventory of your belongings, you get to sell as many things as you can before the moving date. You won’t have to be pressed by the time when you start selling too close to your final move.

Start Decluttering The Things You Won’t Be Bringing

Since you already have an inventory of all the things in your home, this means you can now start decluttering. 

This doesn’t just refer to the selling per se. If there are things you wish to donate to charity, then you can also start doing that. There might also be some items you intend to leave or sell to family members and some friends. 

The earlier you get this step done, the better. By doing so, you’re clearing up more space in your home and setting the move in motion. It’ll no longer feel as cramped and cluttered when you and the movers start to come in with big boxes to start packing.

Uninstall And Set Up The Utilities

As you get busy with all of the packing, there might be one area you may accidentally forget: your utilities.

Don’t forget to uninstall and unsubscribe to the utilities in your current home. This applies to your water, phone, electricity, television cable, and even your Internet connection. Set your last billing date during your last day. That way, you’ll no longer be charged for any utilities under your name when you’re no longer in your old house.

Furthermore, be sure to set up the utilities in your new home. You can schedule the installation and activation of the most important utilities on the day you arrive in your new home or at least on the very first full day that you’re going to sleep in and use the house. Surely, you wouldn’t want to be ready to unpack and then find out you’ve made the mistake of not informing the electrical company of your arrival.

Most importantly, do call for a waste management collection on the day you leave your old home. They can sort and take care of all the trash you’ll leave in front of your home so these are all clear as you leave.

 Schedule A Deep Clean For Your New Home

When it comes to your relocation, it can also be easy to forget about your new location; your attention might be on the move that you forget about the arrival in your new home. As to the unpacking, this shouldn’t be much of a problem since you can take it one step at a time. But there’s one area you shouldn’t neglect: cleaning your new home.

So, before you settle in for the night in your new home, be sure it has already gone through deep cleaning. This may be too much for you to do, considering you’ve just arrived. So, pre-schedule professional cleaners to go to your new home so they can give it a deep clean. That way, when you unpack your things, you no longer have to worry about cleaning your new home.

Clean And Dust Your Things Before Packing

Don’t just pack your belongings immediately into the boxes without cleaning and dusting them. You don’t want to bring dirt and dust on the way to your new home! You’ll want your things to be very clean once you wrap them with newspaper, bubble wrap, or place them in the boxes.

By cleaning and dusting your things before packing, it’s also easier for you to unpack. This is because you no longer have to dust your things once your reach your new home, speeding up the entire process.

Schedule Repairs

Depending on the condition of the home you’re moving into, there might be some minimal repairs you’ll need to get done. Of course, this doesn’t include any major renovations you may have to do further down the road. The focus here is on the little repairs to make your new home more move-in-worthy. 

You can’t do all these repairs at once and right away. But once you’re done unpacking and you’ve settled in, it helps to go around each room and make another inventory of the repairs you’ll need to do. Then, arrange these repairs in order of priority so you can slowly get them done.

Set A Schedule To Pack For An Hour Every Day

One of the most stressful parts of moving is finding the time and the schedule to pack. It’s not all the time you’re going to have all that extra time to pack. Plus, you also wouldn’t want to squeeze it all on whatever ‘free time’ you may think you have, on top of your other daily obligations. Otherwise, you may only get overwhelmed when moving day comes closer and you haven’t even done a single packing at all.

To keep the process lighter, set a schedule to pack for an hour every day, even on weekdays after work. This strategy can help lighten the load of packing. It also puts you on a good start as you can gradually see your progress. Breaking down your packing into steps also ensures you stay on track with packing, enabling you to get everything done on time.

Conclusion

As you can see, there’s a lot of things that come into play when you’re preparing to relocate. To ensure your move goes smoothly, it takes a whole lot of preparation, hard work, patience, and packing. Luckily enough, you don’t have to go through all these on your own. 

In closing, your best bet is to take in the services of a professional mover. There’s no substitute for the expertise they have. Use these tips as your checklist. Soon enough, you’ll be making your way to your new home with very few bumps along the way.