I HAVE MY KEYS! I’m finally moving out of my nightmare house. As excited as I am about that, the process of moving out has not been great. It’s really expensive, and I had only budgeted buying myself out of the house, not moving out of it. So here are some tips.
Expenses
Main
When you have found a new place, there are lots of expenses that come with it. I’m talking from a tenant’s perspective since I have never bought before. After you sign your contract, you will have a deposit AND the first month’s rent to pay. That’s never been a nice sum. Then there is the matter of ending your bills. There is no way you can time your move to not pay a bill twice in one paycheque, as you would pay your bill for the month prior (for utilities), and then the final bill when you officially leave the property. Also, if you leave a fixed term and your contract has a fee for leaving early, that will be an extra expense. I tried my best to sign up to zero fee contracts, but I missed the small print on my Wi-Fi, and got hit with £140 exit fee.
Additional
Other expenses can come from your contract. For me there was my early leaving fee (~£1800), and I had gardens which needed to be cut AND my contract said my windows needed to be left clean. Take pictures of everything when you leave the house. This will be your exit inventory and the lettings agent can only compare the condition of the house to those images, as that was the LAST time you occupied the house. I also had to paint my walls. I have complained that my landlord wouldn’t let me leave the curtain rails and Wi-Fi port in the house. So, I had to close those holes and paint them. B&Q was a life saver. Their sample pots were £3.50, and after using their swatch colours to match my wall, I was on my merry way with a £10.50 expense.
Moving furniture
This is expensive! There is no cheap way about it. Be prepared for a bill more than £150. I was moving less than 20 minutes down the road, but to hire a van with a driver was not what I expected. You can also just book the van itself with your own license, however you need to be at least 25 years old, with at least 2 years of driving experience. I was too young for my move to do the self-drive option, regardless of my 4.5 years driving experience. I did shop around, and managed to find someone with a trailer for £65, but for that price, they weren’t going to help me load their trailer.
Use your network
A good thing to do is have people in your life. The more hands there are, the lighter the load. Also, the fewer the car trips. Thankfully, I have a couple of close friends around, all of whom drive and offered to help me move. Book them in advanced though, people’s time is precious and the more adult you are, the more valuable your time is. I booked my friends a month in advanced, so we were all aware that one Saturday morning we were moving me from my nightmare house, to my hopefully good flat.
Prep your new place
I got my keys 1 week before I moved my furniture. In that time, I deep-cleaned that flat, because in my opinion they took the bare minimum of clean from the previous tenant. I disputed before agreeing to the inventory about the state the appliances were in. They lowkey threatened me for damaging their already damaged goods. As the newly appointed tenant, I told them that’s wrong and that they acknowledged the damaged goods, in the inventory. So, why should I be liable when you have written that it’s damaged, so I told them to get new ones. My new washing machine arrives in less than 24 hours 😉. Also take plenty of pictures and compare them to the inventory.
I also took advantage of how close my new flat is to my work. That week before I moved my furniture, I was moving small, easy, non-essential items to my flat when I went to work. My car would be parked, with goods during the day, and when I finished, I would pass by my flat and drop them off. It took advantage of the commute I was naturally doing that week, as well as reducing the amount of stuff that needed moving on the day.
Morals of my story:
- Prepare for your expenses– There are a lot of expenses that come with moving house. Along with budgeting your main expenses, hold an extra £500-£700 for unplanned expenses.
- One paycheque for multiple bills– You can’t plan your moving bills to span over two paycheques. So, don’t expect your cheque to cover them.
- Have people in your life– You can’t move your bulky furniture alone, have people in your life.
- Take pictures– Of both your empty old place and your empty new place. You will need these inventories.
- Dispute anything you are not comfortable with BEFORE signing anything– Once you sign something you accept the liability. If you haven’t signed anything, you are not obligated to continue if they don’t cooperate.
- Make your new place your own– It’s your next home. Make it yours (within the standards of your contract)
