When you move home, you don’t do so in the span of 2 weeks. Well, most people don’t! It usually takes upwards of 6 months to go from A to B, and even with all that time on your hands, you still feel stressed and rushed throughout.
And that’s why moving home should start at least a year in advance. From the moment you get the idea to find somewhere else to live, try to give yourself 12 months to get everything in place. Here’s why we recommend it.
So You Can Do Your Research
12 months is nothing in the face of a coordinated, well-planned move. But seeing as having a whole year to get your plans together does sound like a lot, we’ll have to draw the line somewhere!
12 months should give you plenty of time to get research done and dusted. And by research, we mean all the admin tasks that’ll be required when you’re going from one house to another.
Usually, that means going through a checklist like this:
- Telling your job that you’re moving, or even finding a new job.
- Arrange a packing schedule that everyone can keep to.
- Getting movers booked and paid for.
- Cancel utilities/getting them set up in your new home.
- Letting friends/family know, with time for frequent reminders too.
This doesn’t even touch on the fact that you need to find a new home to begin with! 12 months should help you to settle on a place that works for you and your family, even if a property you like gets snapped up and you have to find another one.
So You Can Put Together a Budget
Whether you’re selling your house or ending a tenancy and taking up another one, it’s expensive to move home. You can feel like every last penny you have is just going down the drain of packing materials, agency fees, and takeout dinners for the family.
You can feel on such unstable ground, and that’s before you’ve even considered how the cost of living might change between the location of your current home and your new one. But when you give yourself 12 months to get things together, you can find your feet with your budget.
At the very least, you actually give yourself some time to put one together – and still have plenty of time left over to get all the other admin ticked off as well.
So You Can Take Your Time
Really, that’s what this is all about. Moving house isn’t easy! It’s a lot of hassle, it’s a lot of money, and it’s just not the kind of thing you’d choose to do for fun.
So when your life is taken over by it, you’re never going to feel like you’ve got a moment to even just breathe! But with 12 months ahead of you, there’s less need to rush.
If you want to move home, give yourself a year to get it done!