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Genuinely the best position on this site. Every other page is about working around something already attempted, and you have the whole thing still in front of you.
This page includes the circumstances in which we would tell you not to book a removals firm at all.
What to settle, in order
The first question decides all the others
What is actually going. Volume sets the vehicle, the vehicle sets the crew, and the crew sets the day. Any figure quoted before that is a guess with a number written on it, however confidently it is given.
So a survey — at the property, or by video where the access is plainly straightforward — is the first real step rather than an obstacle before the interesting part.
What is staying is worth writing down
Sofas being left for the buyer, appliances included in the sale, furniture going to a family member, things being sold before the move. Each is a genuine reduction and each is routinely decided after a survey without anybody being told.
A list of what is staying is as useful to us as a list of what is going, and hardly anybody makes one.
When we will say you do not need us
A single item across town is a courier. One room, with a lift at both ends and no stairs, is frequently you and a friend with a hired van for an afternoon. A few boxes is your own car over two trips.
We will say all three, and each costs us a booking. It is simply the honest answer to the question that was asked.
And when to book
As soon as a date exists, and earlier around the end of a month when completions cluster. That is not a sales line — any firm you ring will tell you the same thing and the good ones fill first.
If the date is not fixed, a survey is still worth doing early. It means a date can be acted on the day it appears rather than starting a scramble.
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- 01
What should we do first?
Settle what is actually going, loft and garage included. Volume sets the vehicle, the vehicle sets the crew, and every figure before that is a guess.
- 02
Do we need a survey?
For a whole house, yes. By video is fine where access is straightforward, and it takes far less time than the conversation that follows a wrong estimate.
- 03
When would you tell us not to book anybody?
A single item across town is a courier. One room with lifts at both ends is often you and a friend. A few boxes is your own car. We will say so.
- 04
How far ahead should we book?
As soon as a date exists, and earlier around the end of a month when completions cluster. The good firms fill first and any of them will tell you the same.
- 05
Should we get a survey without a date?
It is worth doing. With the volume settled, a date can be acted on the day it appears rather than starting a scramble.
- 06
What is the commonest thing people forget?
The loft, and then the garage. Between them they hold more than any single room in most houses and neither is visible from anywhere else.
Where are you up to?
Both addresses, roughly what is left, and how much time there is. If you are partway through something already, say so — that is the useful part rather than the embarrassing one.