Packing and moving a house is a complicated task irrespective of whether you are hiring a movers and packers or doing it yourself. There are tons of tasks that one has to carry out. Right from sorting out inventory to get everything packed, finding a trucking company to hiring a truck (in case you are moving of your own). There are plenty of tasks in your to do list and you ought to tick them off one by one.
Here in this post, I am going to give you a good overview of what matters and need your attention when moving a house in India. It’s possible that all of the tasks and tips mentioned here may not be relevant to your specific move, but trust me most of them are relevant and applies to every household move.
There are some major tasks that you will remember to address most likely irrespective of whether you are maintaining a proper things to do for moving a house or not. But there are a few smaller tasks which you may simply ignore for example intimating the newspaper vendor to stop dropping news paper every morning.
Take a good look and match it with your to do list and trust me, you will be able to track and manage your move much efficiently.
Things to do list for moving a house in India
So are you ready to just double check your things to do and track the tasks that have to be carried out while moving a house? Let’s dive deeper and check each of them below.
#1 Do it yourself or hire a mover
This is one of the most crucial decisions. I have seen people struggle while relocating house because they decided to do it themselves. Self move is good when you have prior experience of moving a house and when you can’t find a mover nearer to your location. Some time it becomes hard to find a mover at remote locations. One needs to access the resources and feasibility before taking a call on self move. Hiring a mover is always better than doing it yourself.
#2 Sort out the inventory
Complexity of moving a house is not directly proportional to the volume or weight of goods that is to be moved but it matters and matters a lot. More of the goods require more effort in packing as well as in handling and thus it directly affects the costs of overall home relocation.
So it makes sense to sort out the inventory properly. If there are things that can be left, donated or sold out, go ahead and do that.
#3 Start looking for movers and packers companies
Movers and packers companies can help you in many ways. They can manage everything smoothly because they get it. But finding a movers and packers who is qualified, experienced, reliable and cost effective is like finding a tall, dark and handsome girl and boys for getting married ( you can laugh, that was a pun). But on a serious note, it’s really quite complicated because not only the cost and quality, you would want to deal with a mover who have proper infrastructure to handle your home shifting assignments in best possible ways.
#4 Evaluate multiple movers instead of hiring someone randomly
As I said above, if you want to find a truly reliable, qualified and a well placed relocation company then you have to spend some time in finding a few of them and then further evaluating each of them. Comparing and evaluating rates of movers and packers, profile and infrastructure of movers and packers companies can help you hire the right service provider.
For example if you are evaluating three companies who look sound, but only one of them have their own branch at the destination then obviously he is the man you should deal with. Similarly if a mover has his own fleet of trucks and other are taking trucks from the marketplace then the obvious choice is the one who owns his own truck. I hope you get it.
#5 Finalize a mover and work out a schedule for packing
Once you have evaluated all of the movers, it’s time to finalize one and work out a schedule as per your convenience and availability of the movers and packers company. Usually they offer services as per your convenience, but when possible you should give them some advantage as far as schedule is concerned. If a mover has already committed packing on a specific date and if you also want to move on same day then it may be difficult for the mover to handle both. So work out a schedule.
#6 NOC for Car or Bike Transfer
If you are planning to move a car or a bike along with your household goods then getting NOC from the RTO of your city is necessary. Getting an NOC is not a one day task; you have to have time to obtain NOC from the RTO.
If your bike or car is financed then it’s going to be even more complicated. So start the process of obtaining NOC at least 3 weeks before moving.
It’s good that you have made required arrangements for your goods to be packed and moved safely by movers and packers. But you should also arrange your own travel tickets. Whether you plan to travel by train or flight, booking tickets in advance will always be beneficial. You may get some deals on flight tickets and if you book early chances of getting confirmed tickets in train will simply increase. Getting confirmed tickets in train during festive season is not less than a challenge; you ought to be lucky enough for that.
#8 Request for change of address
This is one important task that you can’t afford to forget. Usually these days’ people get e-statements, but still you should update your bank about change of address. They have a request form and sometime you may have to write an application. Get in touch with your bank and place a request for change in address.
Not only bank records, but if you are subscribed for other subscriptions like magazine etc then you should get your updated on their records as well so you don’t miss any of the subscription.
#9 Intimate friends and relatives
It’s a good idea to intimate your friends and relatives about your relocation. In fact it would be great to invite them to your place and organize a get together. Who know when you will get the opportunity to meet them again near future?
#10 Daily supplies and local home needs
Make sure to intimate the daily needs suppliers like milk, newspapers, vegetables etc and let them know you will be moving. One of my friends who moved from Kolkata to Bangalore later asked me to pay Rs. 150/- to the laundry man. He moved while the laundry man was not in the city and I paid him later. So the point is, even if it’s as small as Rs. 150/- you should make sure to pay every one you owe or else you will regret later.
Over to you
Apart from above mentioned things to do, it’s a good idea to paste label with your new address before your leave the house. This way any postal letters etc can be redirected to your new address.
Keep on adding to the list so that you can remember everything that need your attention. Having a to do list for moving a house will help you monitor and track everything properly.
