Some reflections on the move

Now that the shift is over, well mostly, I can reflect on the various experiences. I hope my experience will help you avoid some of the traps that caught me.

Here are a few things that might be useful to do months before you pack. These things all take time, but they are worthy of consideration.

Trash or treasure
Have a look around the house and work out your valuables from the junk. Transporting stuff to your new home that will get thrown away after a few months might as well be thrown out before you go. It can take a lot of time going through stuff. Make a realistic assessment of all your stuff. Start doing this early. Try for three to six months early. You’ll need a long time because you don’t want to get rid of good stuff.

Garage sale
You should consider having a garage sale. I’m not keen on them but I’ve heard of them working for others. The best garage sale ever I went to was organised by the street residents, and about a third of all homes in the street had stalls. It was great just wandering up and down. They may have got more people there because everyone was close by with less need for driving around.

ebay sales
I found ebay worked remarkably well for me, but of course these sales take time with photographs and the write-ups you have to do, and because of that should be organised many months before moving day. Ebay got rid of some large items that would have caused me a problem, and included an old rusty car with a blown up engine. I also had a rusted out trailer which also sold. Why anyone wanted them I don’t know, but they brought in a bit of cash when I would otherwise have had to pay someone to take them away. Ebay was also useful for getting rid of some left over mild steel that I had (recycle merchants won’t pay for steel unless you have a truck load, so you might as well sell it; they will pay for copper and aluminium etc), a motorcycle and cement mixer were also sold, along with various other stuff. It didn’t all sell, but most did.

Damage and insurance
Think about insurance if you are doing your own move. If you are being moved by your employer the chances are high that you will be covered by the company insurer, but check.

Take photographs of your valuables to help with that insurance claim you hope will never have to be made. Digital cameras make this so easy. Just think about it. If you get your furniture to your destination and find your antique dresser has been gouged by some mishap you are certain occurred during transit or storage you’d be disappointed and angry if the insurance assessor knocked back your claim. An accident could happen during transit, and some employee not wanting to upset their boss by their incompetence may have kept quiet about the incident and rubbed some dirt or stain into the fresh scratch to cover it up. The insurance assessor might reasonably assume it was you who had damaged the item before the move. A few suitably date proven photographs before and after may help with your claim. And if you are going to do this do it well otherwise don’t bother. As well as a distance shots of the items, get your camera close up and cover all surfaces, and have good lighting on the subject.