In this article we look at the pros and cons of the two main ways of moving house in an attempt to find out when each method is most suitable. Carefully deciding on your method of moving can save you considerable time and expense, as well as stress in what is already a very stressful process.
DIY moves
Pros
• It's cheaper, especially if you've hardly any possessions or big furniture, you can call on a team of strong, willing friends and you're not moving far away. Your only cost is hiring a van, plus petrol, plus goods in transit insurance cover if you want.
Cons
• You almost certainly have a lot more stuff than you think. Have you looked in your attic recently? Or your loft? Or the garden shed? How many books have you got? What's in your kitchen cupboards? And when did you last weed out your wardrobe? A DIY move means packing all this and carrying it physically into a van, unloading it at the other end and putting it in the new property, with possibly a long drive in an unfamiliar van in between.
• Stairs, doorways and passageways are more awkwardly shaped than you would ever have believed possible.
• Supermarkets and shops have a limited supply of usefully shaped boxes for packing, however helpful the supermarket shelf stackers are about saving you empty boxes. Allow several weeks to collect up enough boxes to store the contents of even a modest home. At the end of it you'll know everyone in the local supermarket by their first names but so what if you're moving away? Alternatively, if you're prepared to pay for packaging, the Big Yellow Self-Storage chain of shops has branches in London and the south east open seven days a week. You can order goods online at the big yellow, including storage packs, boxes, bubble wrap and packing tape.
Professional removers
Pros
• They know (or should know) what they're doing when lifting heavy furniture, negotiating tricky doorways and dismantling items temporarily to get them into the house. Use a firm which is a member of the British Association of Removers, the removal men professional body. Members have to adhere to a code of professional practice, meet minimum standards and provide emergency service and finance guarantees. There's also a conciliation scheme if you not satisfied with the service.
• Removers can offer various levels of packing services. The most expensive option is for the removers to pack everything. The second most expensive is for them to pack the breakable and fiddly things like crockery and glass. The cheapest way to employ removers is to get them to provide chests and boxes in advance for you to pack your own possessions in the day before the move. If you really want deluxe treatment you can get them to unpack everything at the other end as well, although this means you have to be mega organized and know where you want everything to go in your new house.
Cons
• Professional" removers are more expensive than doing it yourself.
If you're going for the professional option:
• Get two or three estimates. You can find names of local firms through the British Association of Removers, through the Yellow Pages or through Thomson Local Directories ).
• There are also growing numbers of property websites which include quotes from removal firms (see Web Watch).
• You should expect estimators to go through your whole house and garden, including lofts, cellars and that cupboard into which you've chucked everything that you can't find a place for elsewhere .
• Check whether your possessions will be covered by your household contents insurance policy, and extend the cover if they aren't.
• Don't wait until you've exchanged contracts to organize removers, especially if there'll only be a week or two between exchange and completion. If no one can fit you in on your agreed moving day, you'll be stuck.
You can find out more about moving to Kingston Upon Thames, as well as finding out much more about working with estate and letting agents at estate-agents-kingston-upon-thames.co.uk
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Colin_Gibb
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