It’s well documented that moving house is one of the most stressful things a person will experience, but by being prepared you can make the whole thing far less stressful. With more and more people moving over the past year or two post-covid and post-stamp duty holiday, here at Bromley Property Company we thought we’d produce this essential property buying checklist, so you can stay organised throughout the process, and make it run as smoothly as possible!

Pick a moving date (if you can)

This will of course be dependent on the progress of your sale or purchase (or both), but it’s advisable to avoid peak times if you can, such as Bank Holidays, Fridays or the end of a school term- removal companies are much busier, as are roads etc, plus if children are elsewhere on the big day if can make life much easier for you!

1 month before the move

Organise your removals

Get quotes from three removals companies and compare this against the cost and effort of hiring a van and doing it yourself. In the Bromley area, Wunder Removals is a popular and reliable company with great experience of moving people.
Find out what is included in the fee and look at what extras are on offer, such as packing materials and insurance. It’s often worth using a packing service, especially for the kitchen, for an extra couple of hundred pounds and will save you so much time.
Check the remover’s contract and your home insurance so you know what to do if your furniture gets damaged on removal day.
Make a list of everything included in the move and provide your removals company with a copy.
Purchase packaging if your removals company isn’t supplying it (although most seem to these days).
Work out if you’ll need to put any items in storage for the foreseeable.

Start packing

Separate everything into ‘keep’, ‘charity shop’ and ‘tip’. Our Decluttering tips might be useful for you.
Pack items that you will not need to use before the move first.
Make sure you label every box with its contents (a must otherwise you’ll have a nightmare the other end!)

Utilities & Mail

Make a list of all the utilities companies you will need to inform.
You can have your mail redirected by contacting the Post Office for a fee, but it is often worth doing this for about 6 months whilst you get yourself together post-move.

1 week before the move

Cancel or redirect deliveries such as milk, newspapers, and magazines.
Request final bills for telephone and broadband.
Notify everyone of your change of address.
Plan where your furniture will live in your new house so you can direct the removal team on the big day.
Make sure pets will be looked after.

On the big day

Turn off all appliances.
Take final meter readings.
Clean the property as much as possible – your buyers will love you for this and your halo will be polished!
Take a final look around the property and check you haven’t forgotten anything- look in kitchen cupboards and drawers, on top of any built-in furniture – you’ll be amazed the number of people who forget things in the most bizarre places!
Pack a survival box including:
kettle
tea bags/coffee
milk
mugs & teaspoons
toilet roll
washing up liquid
plates
cutlery
bottled water
important documents
bread
cleaning products
bed linen

Once you’re in your new home

Unpack your survival box and any other essential items.
Make sure utilities, telephone and broadband are connected.
Clean and arrange professional carpet cleaning if you need to.
Put up curtains and blinds.
Call the nearest take-away!