When you’re planning to move house, whether you’re buying your first home or moving from one rented flat into another, you might wonder if there’s a best time of year to do it. Is there a way to optimise your house moving experience simply by picking the right date?
First of all, I’m afraid there’s no perfect day to move house. Whenever in the year you do it, you’ll find yourself burdened with the additional work of dealing with estate agents, movers, and solicitors as well as viewings and the decisions and compromises you need to make to find the right home. That said, there are a few factors you can take into account to improve your lot a little.
Winter
The depths of winter are a tempting time to move: you can fill up the dreary, cold days with planning your move, and then celebrate Christmas in a new home, or start the new year in a new house.
Unfortunately, this really is one of the worst times to be looking. The problems aren’t insurmountable if you find yourself needing to move at this time, and of course there is always the possibility of keeping your possessions safe with a company like byStored storage, while you stay with friends. If you have the option, however, moving in winter means you’ll be spending Christmas in a half-packed home full of boxes, and worrying about admin. You also have to contend with a lot of the businesses you need being closed for Christmas holidays, which makes it harder to get everything done in time.
Summer
Summer is a more promising time for a move. If you have children they’ll be on their holidays, which means less disruption to their school lives, and depending on their age, possibly more help for you as you pack and shift boxes. On the other hand, it may also mean they are more underfoot when you’re trying to get urgent tasks done.
This also means that other people in your chain of movers will be dealing with summer holidays and you also run the risk of estate agents and solicitors being away into the bargain, which will slow your move down. There’s also the issue of the high temperature which could make moving day itself more challenging.
Spring and Autumn
These two seasons avoid all of the problems mentioned above: you can expect all the professionals surrounding and supporting your move to be at their desks and working for you, and there are no major holidays which will be comprised by your house move.
Thought it’s still a stressful undertaking, you can make things a little easier for yourself by aiming to move in the springtime!