With such an important family occasion coming up at the end of December, it’s only natural that you’ll want to feel settled in your new home by the time Christmas comes around. Not only is it the season when you spend the most time inside your home but, if you have children or teens, it’s also more convenient to move house within the school holidays rather than during term time.
Plus, you may want to entertain guests during the festive period and are looking forward to doing that in your next house. Or you may have family coming to stay during the holiday period and want to welcome them into your new guest room. Perhaps it’s even essential that you move before Christmas if you’re moving into a bigger property that has more space for the above visitors.
The winter is also the time of year that we all want to feel cosy in our homes; settled and snuggled in a warm home, ready to ride out the child weather and dark days. So, let’s get you into your new home before the big day comes…
1. Consider the conveyancing timeline
Although Rightmove has indicated that the duration of the conveyancing period has increased in recent years by 66 days – taking it up to 150 days total, which is already beyond Christmas – it IS still possible to speed up the conveyancing process.
Firstly, you can choose a conveyancing solicitor that has a usual conveyancing time that’s less than the national average. When you get a conveyancing quote, try to find out the number of days that the conveyancing team are taking to complete the process.
Secondly, you can ‘upfront’ your conveyancing by instructing your solicitor before you even put your home on the market. This means all the information on your own property is prepared in advance, reducing the likelihood of a sale falling through by up to 50%.
The paperwork and deeds are ready to go so, as soon as you find a buyer for your property, you’re already ahead of the process and it’ll be much speedier overall. This extra preparation will make it even more likely that you’ll meet your festive deadline.
2. Get renter ready
If you’re renting, it can be easier and quicker to move so you’ll be more likely to be able to make that move by Christmas. However, some landlords require three months’ notice when you’re leaving a property, so be sure to check your contract.
Even so, you’ll still be on track to move during the school Christmas holidays if you hand in your notice now – so there’s no time like the present to get on with contacting your existing estate agent and making plans.
Plus, you might need to gather together paperwork to be able to lease your next home, so start to get references, check your credit score and pull together any other identity info you might need. You’ll also need to put aside your rental deposit and save for any associated moving expenses.
Finally, check the inventory of your existing rental contract so that you can make sure the property is in the same condition as when you moved in, will make it quicker and easier to get your original deposit back after you leave.
3. Be ready to move
Sometimes, if you know you’ve got a deadline, you’re much more likely to do the things you’ve been putting off. Many of us can’t find the time to declutter our homes – we really want to have a clear out but there’s never the right moment or you run out of energy before even starting the task.
However, if you want to move before Christmas, you already know you will have to pack boxes and perhaps get rid of some of the belongings that can’t move with you, such as large furniture that won’t fit in the new space or clothing and toys that the kids have outgrown etc.
So, having that potential pre-Christmas moving date on the calendar will give you the encouragement to start tackling the packing and decluttering right now. While packing all in one go can be overwhelming, if you do a small amount each evening or dedicate a few hours at the weekends, it’ll soon add up to a big result.
Let’s face it, the packing and decluttering will still need doing before you move, whether it’s a stressful all-at-once task or a little-and-often approach. The benefit of starting it now is that you’ll feel more on top of the situation and it won’t be a panic if a quick moving date suddenly becomes available.
Plus, if you’re selling your home, it will look clutter-free for viewings and will be easier to keep tidy and clean, making it more likely to sell quickly when potential buyers view it!
4. Do your research
Now is also a great time to start preparing for the inevitable move. You’re definitely going to be moving house at some point over the coming year (whether you manage to do it before Christmas or not!) so there’s no harm in doing your research to be fully prepared to move.
So, start to get quotes from professional movers or van-hiring companies. This not only prepares you for the costs associated with moving and helps you budget for it, but it’ll also help you to figure out just how much cubic footage you’ll have available in the vehicle. If you know the size of the truck, you’ll know the limit of the volume of items you can take, which may make it easier to let things go during the decluttering process if they won’t fit in the moving van.
As such, you may also need to research self-storage companies. If you have items that you don’t want to get rid of but that you don’t yet have space for in your new house (for example, if you’re planning an extension on the new property and will have space for that piano in the future) then you might want to store them.
Also, there might be a period of time when you’ve left one house but haven’t yet moved into the new home, but you can build the expense for storage into your house-moving budget so that you can keep hold of bulkier belongings during this in-between period.
In the comments below, please let me know if you have any other tips for moving house at this time of year or any other ideas for speeding up the process. And I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for you to move into your new home before Christmas!
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This blog post is a collaboration. The pink links in this post may indicate a collaborative link or information source.
