Moving home is enough of a task without creating unnecessary problems for yourself. Many times we encounter situations where homeowners could have prevented added stress and spent energy. With the goal of saving your wits and helping you to have the most comfortable moving experience, we have compiled a list of our Top 10 Common Mistakes most people make when moving house.

1. Procrastinating

Unless it’s a genuine emergency, you will know quite a bit of time in advance of when you are moving so don’t leave everything until the last minute to start preparing. If I had a penny for every time I saw a family running around their house on moving day like headless chickens, well, I’d be a very wealthy man.

2. Getting Injured 

You wouldn’t believe the number of moving related injuries that happen every year. Back injuries are by far the most common and are caused mostly from improper lifting techniques. Many people bend at the hips and lift heavy boxes, which places enormous strain on their already strained backs. The correct way to do it is to bend at the knees and keep your back as straight as possible, then lift the box. This way you’re using the power of your legs and reducing impact on your back.

3. Poor Packaging

Weak cardboard boxes or putting heavy items into small cardboard boxes is a recipe for disaster. Avoid this completely by simply buying proper boxes and packing them smartly. This means, keeping the boxes to a sensible weight and not over-packing boxes which will result of them splitting and damaging your personal belongings.

4. Doing it all yourself

As people, we accumulate a LOT of things. When moving, you will be surprised at how much you actually own. Moving a large amount of belongings is stressful on the body, so don’t be proud and reach out for help! Ask friends or family to help out with the packing and a great option is to hire the professionals to move your stuff to the new house.

5. Improper planning

If you don’t make a plan, you’ll just waste extra time and energy. Make sure you’re on top of things and write out a schedule. For example, what day the cleaner is coming, the day the utilities are shut off or need to be settled, the day Joe is coming over to help pack etc.

6. Poor timing

Believe it or not, there is actually certain times of the year that are better to move than others. One example is the end of summer when kids are out of school, the weather is generally nicer and things are just better. Moving house one week into September is not a good idea. It will just disrupt kid’s lives, school or the new job. Remember, you need time to settle into your new home too!

7. Forgetting things

By far the most common mistake is leaving something important in your old place. Keys, pictures, precious items, you name it. Do a final spot check before leaving and even ask someone else to do one as well so that when you shut the door for the last time, you know for sure that you have everything with you.

8. Not packing fragile items carefully

It seems obvious but we’ve seen beautiful vases and family photo frames smashed to pieces because of shoddy packaging. A good rule of thumb is there’s never too much padding or bubble wrap when it comes to fragile items. For the cost of bubble wrap, which is super cheap, it is worth using as much as you want in order to protect your possessions.

9. Neglecting plants

You’ve got everything in boxes, you’ve cleaned the place nicely, you’re out the door and you’ve forgotten about the plants. The next occupant will be greeted with some poor dead plants, not a great start to their live there! Decide early on if you’re taking your plants with you and if so, make a plan to transport them safely across. If you’re not taking them, try to find a new home for them – neighbours appreciate small gestures like this.

10. Forgetting to turn off utilities before moving out

This is a rare one but still seen nonetheless. When moving home, make sure to organise with all of your utility companies the date on which you move so that they can turn them off. You don’t want any lingering issues with bills following you to your new life.