Moving House Yourself V’s Hiring Removalists : Pros & Cons

So you’re moving home, congratulations! Whether you’re upsizing, downsizing or finally moving out of your parents’ home, moving can be an exciting time.

It can also become stressful and overwhelming. One of the many decisions you will be faced with is whether to hire a removalist or move yourself. If you are one of the many people who would like to move without the costs of a removalist, rest assured it can be done! At RentWA, we have watched and helped hundreds of DIY home movers carry out their home move successfully. 

To help you weigh it up and decide what’s best for you, here are some of the pros and cons of a DIY home move.

Pros

• Save money

This is the most obvious and the main motivating factor for people when moving to a new house. Performing the move yourself saves a lot of money. All you need to pay for is your moving truck and the equipment needed to pack your belongings and load them in the truck. (Check out what equipment you will need here)

Tip : You can save on labour costs by recruiting some friends to help – it may just cost you the price of a pizza!

• Stay in control and handle your items

Professional movers will expect all your items to be packed up and ready to go when they arrive. With a DIY Home move, you can pretty much pack up your items and load the truck as you want. You are in control of what items go where and how your items are packed.

• Make the move at your convenience

You choose the time of the day, and the day of the week you want to move. You can do the entire move in one day, or you can choose to spread it out over a few days – whatever is most convenient for you and your schedule.

Most likely, if you hire a moving truck you will want to complete your move within a day or two to minimise rental costs.

• Bonding Experience

Lots of busy family’s say that organising a DIY home move has been a great bonding experience for them. It forces the family to work together as a team with one common goal and gets everyone involved in the excitement of moving to a new home!

Cons

• It may take more time – beware of procrastination!        

As you have a bit more time and no removalist company deadline, procrastination can kick in. To help avoid this, we recommend drawing up a moving house plan.  Write out the tasks that need doing, by when, and who is responsible. Give yourself clear deadlines…and adhere to them!

There are many resources online to help you create your moving house checklist.

• Items not packed correctly can lead to breakages.

While having the ability to pack yourself is a pro in our list, unless you are careful, packing yourself may become a con! You should pack up your items diligently and carefully to avoid breakages. You can read up on some packing tips from professionals here.

Make sure you have the appropriate materials (boxes, tape, trollies etc) to secure your items while they are in transit. We can supply you with all the accessories you will need for moving day which will help make your move easier and more successful.

• Your mates aren’t insured!

Items that are damaged or brake, while being packed or in transit, are not insured. Make sure that whoever is helping you out, will be very careful with your items, while packing them away and loading them in the truck. Otherwise, you could be shelling out for the replacement of those expensive wine glasses you treated yourself too!

There are plenty of pro’s and con’s to DIY home moves. It all comes down to your preferences and abilities as to whether you bring in the professionals or not. If you decide to go with a DIY home move, you can certainly count on us to help guide you.