10 Ways to Keep Your Home in Check

Moving house never goes as smoothly as you would hope that it would, there will always be something that goes wrong, or that you can't control, that will pop up and ruin the perfect execution of your plans. Moving can fall into a nice step-by-step pattern, but each move is different and so those steps will move about and can change.  If you're renting rather than buying, all those appointments with a solicitor and the bank aren't going to be necessary.

But here are some tips on how to get ahead of some of those annoying pitfalls.

1| If you can't go and see the house yourself make sure you send someone you trust with a detailed list of things to ask - including; are the curtains included? Will the couch fit through the front door? Is there allocated parking? And any other thing you can think off that you would automatically look out for if you were there.

2| Label everything! And I don't just mean 'kitchen' and 'bathroom', I mean list what's in there - rank them by importance - note which boxes are the last packed, because they are the ones you are more likely to need first. It might look obsessive and time-consuming, but when it comes to unloading and unpacking, you'll know exactly which rooms things need to go to, and which boxes are vital to be unpacked first. - Also numbering the boxes helps you to figure out if anything has been left behind.

3| Be ruthless; do you really need that parrot costume you wore to a party seven years ago? You need to go through your belongings with a fine tooth comb - if you think you have things that you will want for an occasion then keep hold of it, but put it in a time restraint box; if you haven't used it in six months, then it's gone.

4| Check the forecast - if you're moving down the street, it doesn't matter too much, but if you're moving across the country, then look at the forecast for moving week. This will help you figure out what clothes to not pack. Just because it's sunny where you are now, doesn't mean that it's not going to pour it down at the other end.

5| Double check the inventory - this only really applies to rented properties. The inventory the Landlord gives you is usually pretty thorough. However, you will tend to find those extra few nicks or bumps that haven't been recorded. Take pictures and add them to the inventory ASAP.

6| Don't hang anything on the walls until you've been in for a couple of weeks. You will end up moving the furniture around, and that messes with the placement of pictures. Wait until you've settled in and know where things are going to stay. Added tip - get your hands on some stick-on hangers, they're much easier to move around and don't leave holes to be filled when you move out.

7| Use a removal team if you can.  Moving house can be a lot more physical than you think it might be, and you can make a stress free moving day by paying professionals to do it for you.

8| If you have to travel on a Saturday - don't. Three hours becomes six sitting on a hot motorway after a day of driving and lifting. It would be awful.

9| The kettle, some mugs, tea/coffee, sugar, spoons and milk are the last things you should pack and the first thing to unpack. Even if it isn't a priority for you, it will be for the people helping you move.

10| Take your time. You will spend multiple days packing and unpacking and driving and assembling flat-pack furniture, and will be worn to the bone. So take some more time off before you have to go back to work where you can catch up on sleep, put the last bits away, explore your new town and spend time relaxing before heading back into the world of crazy adulthood. So, if you can, take time off to move, allocate days for the big stuff, then give yourself a couple of days for the little stuff.