you should be told by EA what time to be out of your house and they should tell you when you can pick up keys for your new ones - nothing worse than turning up to new house only to find your contracts are not final/no keys and your sat on yr new doorstep until its sorted top tip - label all your boxes on the outside - also make a list of of contents inside box(did as i was packing)just incase one of the boxes goes missing in transit - also you know excatly whats in the box marked bedroom1 etc - you know exactly whats in it - you can put boxes in right room (or get removers to label each box so they can put in exact room - save u moving it!). have a seperate box for kettle milk/tea etc - take with you in car - so at least you'll have a cuppa when you get there - if nothing else!! - maybe cleaning cloths/solutions in another so you can clean the kitchen cupboards as you put your stuff in them As for cleaning - when i moved in it wasn't even hooevered - there luckily i had a box of cleaning gear in my car so could clean cupboards/floors as i unpacked - the flat i moved out of i cleaned/hoovered as didn't like the thought of leaving it in a mess - it's up to you if you want to clean or not Good Luck with it
I think it depends how far up the chain, if you are in one, but the few people I have helped to move (faily and friends) all have had thier keys in the afternoon, and the times we have gutted the old house, then gone to the new house, and they have just given it a cats lick and a promise.
Look after your removal boys, have tea and coffee for them, as they will work a lot harder, and be amenable with a cup of tea from you, and if you throw in a few bikkies, they are your best friends.
Originally posted by susiecam: My Top Tip for moving in day, in addition to those items mentioned already, is a loo roll! Amazingly people really do take these with them.
I spoke with a builder earlier who said the owners of the current house he's extending / refurbishing hides all the loo rolls in the house so they (the builders) have to bring their own (slightly OT o know so apologies for that!)
Originally posted by jonmn: I spoke with a builder earlier who said the owners of the current house he's extending / refurbishing hides all the loo rolls in the house so they (the builders) have to bring their own (slightly OT o know so apologies for that!)
Very generous of them to allow the builders to use the porcelain and not insist they bring their own bucket!
In a way I can see his point, as if its only one or two, then its not too bad, as you can afford to give them tea and toilet rolls, but I have worked on extentions, and if they come mob-handed lol, then it does work out a princly sum, some builders supply thier own porta-loos though.
Originally posted by KJB2412: Also what time do you normally have to be out of the house your selling and what time can you normally get into the new house?
Legally speaking, the second your solicitor receives funds from your buyer's solicitor the house is no longer yours and you need to be out of there immediately. In reality, a two to three hour window is seen as being the norm. Every solicitor I've ever worked for aims to get all completions done before lunch on a the day of completion and you should therefore try to be out of the property by around 2 p.m.
I was re-decorating an extention, and also the rest of the house, and I had started approx a week before boys had finished, and admittidly there were only a couple left, even after they had finished, they would come back in dribs and drabs, snagging etc, somethimes she would have the plumber and his mate, alec the electriction, chippie, all on the same day including me, and she was going thru t/p and tea like no tomorrow.
I even brought in sugar,tea and milk all the time I was there, and I was there for nearly 2 months as it was a big job, and didnt think it fair that she had to pay out on refreshments all the time, she was made up that I contributed, as it must have been costing her a small fortune.
As well as the loo roll, take a couple of light bulbs with you. Although these are supposed to be left (1 for each room, I think) the ones left in our current house were all 'dead'. Can you imagine the bother they must have gone to, saving up old light bulbs and then climbing up and putting them in the night before they moved?!
Also, label all your boxes on top and on one side. That way, if they're all stacked on top each of other at least you can see the labels on the sides!
When I moved in, the owners had left me notes of relevant matters. Locations of switches/stopcocks, how to activate locks, local information - that sort of thing. I still refer to it years later.
This was very helpful and so I did the same when I sold me flat later.
It's also worth leaving your new phone number, or mobile number for the new owners. We had a phone call about seven years after we'd moved here from an old friend of the previous owner. He was very pleased that we were able to pass on their new number.
It's definitely a nice thing to leave instructions for any appliances that are staying, details of the bin collection days, location of stop-cocks, meters, etc. Our vendors left us a folder full of those items and they came in incredibly useful. They also left us a really nice "new home" card which was a lovely touch.
Joolz the only thing I'd say about 'passing on' the previous owner's new number is that there may be a very good reason why they didn't tell that caller where they were going!!! What I have tended to do when I've had calls for the previous owners is taken the name & number of the caller and said that I'll pass it on. It's then up to the other party to take it forward or not. The exception to this rule is, of course, the caller on the front step flashing a CID badge....
Originally posted by susiecam: Joolz the only thing I'd say about 'passing on' the previous owner's new number is that there may be a very good reason why they didn't tell that caller where they were going!!!
That is a very good point that didn't even occur to me when I passed on the number to their old friend!
