New Year's Resolution for 2014: Move House

Last year, moving house was one of the top ten popular New Year resolutions (according to The Independent), so here are our top tips to making your move easier:

De-clutter.
If you are selling a home prior to buying a new house, you need to de-clutter to show your house to it's full potential and make it sell quicker. The best way to de-clutter is to get 4 different bags or boxes and then do the following:

1. In the first, place all the items you know you would like to keep but the house would look tidier if they were out the way
2. In the next, pack all the items you are ensure about. If using a box, tape up securely and label and then place in to storage - if you do not need any of these items after a year, you never needed them.
3. In the third, put all the items you no longer need but could give to charity (or sell online). Bishop's Move collects these items for Cancer Research UK - just ask your local branch for more information.
4. The last bag or box is for everything that you are happy to throw away (but please try and see if these could be recycled or re-used first).

Register with Estate Agents
The first few months of the new year is usually quite a quiet period for estate agents, whilst they might have less property on their books they will have more time to act on your behalf. So register with lots of estate agents in the locality that you are searching in, and talk to them often not every new property makes it to the Internet.

Decide on a Moving Date
Once you have a house to move to, decide on a realistic moving date and stick to it. You can then co-ordinate your whole move around this date - it will help keep the legal side of things on track too.

Choose a Professional Removals Company.
To make sure that your house move is carried out to the highest of standards, choose a removals company that is affiliated with the British Association of Removers (the BAR). Their BAR Code of Practice will ensure the quality of service you receive and you also have the piece of mind of a free conciliation service to turn to in the unlikely event something goes wrong.

We recommend that you contact your chosen removals companies at least 4 weeks before your Moving Date, as you may need to arrange a home survey. You should also get at least 3 companies to quote for your move (free of charge) so that you can compare services.

Moving Overseas
If your fresh start involves an exciting move overseas, then you will need international shipping services. Choosing a company that is part of FIDI or IMMI will again ensure the excellence of your removals service, both in the UK and in the international destination of your choice.

To get a quick, yet accurate quote as to how much it will cost you to move abroad, try our door-to-door shipping calculator.

And that's it - Happy New Year.