What is THE Most Stressful Thing About Moving House?
Moving home can be a stressful experience. We get it - it's what we do. So what is it exactly that causes all the hair-pulling and head-scratching? We break down the 7 most stressful parts of moving house here.
The thought of moving house - shudder - is enough to send chills down the spines of most ordinary folk. There's just no way around it: moving home comes with a hefty set of headaches, heartaches, sleepless nights, hair-pulling, head-scratching, nail-biting, cost-counting and all-around old-fashioned worrying.
In an ideal world, things would be so different. All the logistics would be taken care of and tied with a neat red bow, way before moving day, all parties and the schedule would slot together like a game of Tetris, all your belongings and family would be whisked gracefully into trucks and cars, Mary Poppins-style, and away you'd go, to a beautiful new home, without a single beat missed.
Well, that's a... a beautiful fantasy. We wish it did happen like that. And for some people - usually a second cousin of a friend's friend - it does, and the whole home-moving malarky unfolds like a well-oiled machine.
The reality of moving
But for the vast majority of people, those of us who live in the real world, a home move is just stress. If you've ever moved house, or you're preparing to set up a new pad at the moment, you'll know just how much strain the whole thing puts on your life and your family.
Of all stressful life events, moving is rated right up there in the upper echelons of the list. Some put it in position one, as the most stressful event of a person's entire life; more stressful than divorce or having kids, so they say.
Some socio-psychologists think it's even comparable to bereavement, bankruptcy and abduction by aliens. (Don't quote us on that last one).
In a poll of 2,000 young British homeowners, 65% said they'd endured long, sleepless nights because of worrying about a home move. 40% said it had actually made them ill. 60% even said they'd given up altogether and thrown in the towel, all because of stress.
Here at Just Move In, we've helped countless first-time buyers, couples and families alike, find ways to bear up and deal with the stresses a home-move has thrown at them. Our whole mission is built around finding ways to make moving manageable.
In this blog post, we've put together a list of the seven top stress points involved in a home move, to give you a friendly heads-up about the worries and concerns to be on the lookout for.
The 7 most stressful events in a home move
A home move is a most stressful event; no arguments there. But a home move, really, is more than just a home move. It's not a single event. Like Russian dolls, it's made up of countless smaller pieces, which you have to orchestrate and weld together in order to make the whole thing happen smoothly.
So within your upcoming home move, potentially one of your life's most stressful events, what are the individual elements that make the whole thing such a hassle?
7. Kids... and pets
The presenters on Blue Peter knew it well: never work with kids or animals. They make things complicated, and they're unpredictable. If you've got a young family, or some furry friends (or even a goldfish) to deal with, you probably know it too; and unfortunately, the moving process is only going to exacerbate that fact.
You wouldn't trade them for the world - of course you wouldn't. But there is a lengthy list of extra stuff to think about if you're bringing your tribe in tow.
With kids, it'll involve stuff like a new school, and the uniforms to go with it; proximity to parks and places for activities; traffic on the new street; checking in with their fledgling social lives to make sure they're coping alright; finding space for them in the new spot, and taking the steps to ensure they feel at home there.
Pets might involve a little less legwork, but a similar amount of stress. Where are you planning to walk old Rex when you land in the new neighbourhood? Are there any pesky neighbourhood animal overlords to think about? How's the access to pet care? What about a garden: is it fenced-in appropriately?
And don't forget, animals feel stress just like us. They're sensitive to the vibe in your household and if you're feeling a touch overwhelmed, the chances are they are, too.
6. Pressure to make it perfect
A lot of people look at a home move as something of a performance, a kind of show they're putting on for friends and family. And in a sense, that's right - your whole life is open for people to see, and if you're not good at dealing with the change, people are going to notice.
No adult wants to be judged as 'unorganised' or 'unprepared', especially by people they love and respect.
Added to this is the weight of assumptions, expectations and preconceived notions we pile onto the upheaval we're going through. 'The new house has to look just right’. 'I have to get a good deal with the moving company’. 'The neighbours have to like us’. 'Mum and dad shouldn't help too much’. 'My new job has to be better than my old job.' 'All this stuff needs to get from point A to point B in perfect condition’.
This is, clearly, a lot to think about, and a (frankly, ridiculously) high standard to try and hold yourself to. Moving home is stressful enough already, with such a massive amount of change occurring, and for many people, one of the most stressful things of all is the burden of perfection we tend to try and reach for.
5. Organising a professional mover
A home move is a logistical game of 3D chess. One of the key moves you're going to have to make is getting all your stuff out of one location, and transporting it to a new one.
Sounds simple enough, right? Well... not quite.
The fact is, we amass a tremendous amount of stuff over the course of our lives: neglected bass guitars, jam jars of seashells from Cornwall, barely-hanging-on houseplants, fishing gear, a veritable toolkit full of adaptors for the hoover... you get the picture.
And, unless you're blessed with a van or a lorry of your own, you're probably going to want to look into getting hold of a moving company to help you transport all your belongings.
For a lot of people, this can quickly spiral into one of the unexpected costs they're forced to cough up for. Safely preparing furnishings, for instance, or transporting oversized/fragile items are often paid extras for a moving service. Of course, there's also the worry about the hired movers secretly breaking your stuff, and that can become one of the biggest sources of stress related to a home move.
To help you avoid at least some of that worry, we've put together a handy guide about how to find the right moving company for your home move. Go on and take a look - it'll be worth your while.
4. Time pressures
They say time and tide wait for no one, and you can add a home move to that list. Once you've put pen to paper, there's basically no going back: this thing is happening, and you'd better be ready for it.
Despite this, few people get enough of a headstart on their home move to make sure they can handle everything in a timely fashion. Trust us, the last thing you want is to be running around like a headless chicken the day before moving, still trying to sort things out with the movers, or desperately stuffing things in boxes.
In general, time is in short supply during a home move, and it's difficult to make everything happen when it should. This is a leading cause of worry, and the reason why the average move is riddled with concerns over the ticking clock, and anxious glances at the calendar.
3. Money worries
Can't get by without it - cash, moolah, the holy dollar. Money, money, money.
In today's society, money - and, especially, a concerning absence of it - is something most of us have to deal with at some stage in our lives. During a home move, the war chest tends to get pillaged as you fork out funds for all the various things that need to get done... not to mention as you scramble to cover unexpected costs, or make that down payment.
People worry if they have enough money to sign the necessary papers; enough money to see them through to a new job, or about fuel costs after a job relocation; if there’s even enough money to keep the lights on, once they exhaustedly collapse onto the sofa in their new pad, after the movers have shipped out and they're left surrounded by stacked-up boxes.
Whatever the nature of your specific situation, concerns about the budget are likely to be one of the most stressful parts of your move, and you should be aware that it can cause a significant amount of stress during this time.
2. Endless. Mountains. of. Admin.
Orchestrating a home move is like heading up a military operation, just with fewer rifles (hopefully).
We'll give it to you straight. There’s a TON of various, administrative, confusing, possibly expensive, stress-causing service providers, organisations and companies you need to get in touch with during a home move. We mean, a true boatload. To name just a few, you're going to have to sort out:
Council tax and address registration
Home and contents insurance
Boiler and appliance cover
Gas and electricity tariffs
The broadband connection
Water and sewerage
TV and media packages
Organising storage facilities
Contacting the post office
Getting in touch with a moving company
Sorting out a loan if needed
...and so on and so forth.
But, breathe, you're not in it alone. Every single thing mentioned on that list, plus a whole lot more besides, is a speciality of ours and a service that we at Just Move In can help you with, taking all that stress out of the equation, saving you a fair old wedge of time and putting a few quid back in your pocket, too.
Get yourself a brew and get in touch now for a chinwag about how we can make your home move a whole lot less stressful.
1. Packing (and unpacking)
And there it is, ladies and gentlemen. The single most stressful event involved in a home move: packing. We're guessing you might have seen that one coming.
When most people think of moving house, they think about putting stuff in boxes - cue nightmares of broken pictures and lost heirlooms. In a survey by Airtasker, over 40% of respondents admitted that packing up their belongings before moving ranked as the single most stress-inducing experience of the entire hoo-har.
Part of the problem is that it's totally, utterly unavoidable: you know it's coming, and you know it's going to suck, and you just have to get on and do it anyway.
Getting a hold of all those packing materials is often the first job on a lot of people's list, but one of the last things to actually get done. It just seems like such a mountain to scale, and the good old British personality sure knows how to procrastinate in the face of an unwelcome task. (Speaking of lists, take a look at our Home Move Checklist, when you have a mo, to get an oversight of what to do, when).
The same goes for unpacking, too - it seems like you're undoing all the hard work that you oh-so carefully went through just a matter of days or weeks ago.
So there you have it: getting all your stuff to your new residence safely, the risk of physical illness or injury, the last journey down to the supermarket for bubble wrap, and all of the other concerns, issues, worries and annoyances that come along with - whisper it - packing, make it the single most stressful thing about moving house.
Eliminate the hassle from one of your most stressful life events
Or... you could do away with all that pain and suffering, and go the better, brighter, stress-free way.
During a home move, you've got a choice, and you find yourself at something of a crossroads. Which route do you take: go with the independent move, where you'll have to deal with all of the above and more by yourself, or the pro-assisted way, where you get dedicated professionals onside to massively help in mitigating all the stress points of the move?
Seems a simple enough decision to us.
Here at Just Move In we'll take care of all of the stresses for you, leaving you the time and headspace to focus on what really matters: getting you and your family into your beautiful new home in one piece.
Do away with the pain and the paperwork, and save yourself a lorry load of time and stress with the home move specialists. Find out more and get started online to see how we can help take the stress out of your home move.