3 things to consider when moving home · uninsured, un-reviewed, “man with a van” or “chuck...
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Congratulations!!!
If you are reading this there is a fair chance you have had an offer accepted on your house and
made the choice to move house.
It may be into your forever home, a stop-gap renter, a downsize, closer to that school, bolt hole closer to
work .......
The list of reasons why people move is endless.
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The Considerations Are EndlessThe process usually starts whilst you are sat on the sofa, rubbish TV on, mobile device in hand looking at Rightmove.
You forward links to partners, family and friends, you make contact with the agent, you view the properties, hate some and wonder where they pull the prices from, but then that one, possibly the unexpected one grabs you.
At this point logic takes a back seat, it’s all heart and no head. You look at each other with knowing glances. Your offer is accepted. You appoint your solicitors, your mortgage broker springs into action.
The Next StepsThe following weeks are a flurry of activity. You have forms to fill in. Are you leaving the curtains, what about the cooker?
Your surveyor identifies a few issues with your new place. You work through them with your solicitor. The questions that your buyer’s solicitor are asking seem ridiculous.
You do your best to answer them.
The process rumbles on. It’s starting to get real. You visit carpet shops and get samples, start thinking where your sofa will go. Imagine the bedrooms set up with your bedroom furniture, your kids’ rooms all set up.
You allow yourself to get excited!
We all know there’s a lot to sort out when you move home and it’s an expensive thing to do, so it’s understandable that people look for any opportunities to save money.
Is it worth it?
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1. Ensuring Peace-of-mind With Professional Service
You could have applied for your mortgage yourself but you wanted the assurances that it the application would be carried out by a professional who would provide a service/ product that is as unique as you and your house.
You could have got a builder mate to do your survey but you didn’t because you wanted a professional that could insure their services. You could have used a faceless online estate agent that was half the cost of a local agent.
You didn’t because you wanted to know who you were dealing with, have a trusting relationship and call into their office to resolve any potential issues.
So why oh why do you get to the final link of your move and use an uninsured, unprofessional, internet-based ‘removal company’?
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2. What does it cost to move house?Let’s imagine you’re selling a house for £160,000 and buying another for £200,000. There are a lot of costs which you can’t avoid, including:
• Solicitors’ fees: these vary, of course, let’s say £1000 to £1200
• Estate agents fees: based on a variable % of the sale price, rough estimate £2000
• Survey/valuation of your new property: say £800
• Stamp duty: £1500
We’ve just listed the bigger ones here, so when you add in all of the other bits and pieces associated with moving house, you could easily clock up a bill of around £6000, probably more – just for all the legal and financial arrangements.
And of course, if your new property is more expensive, all of the costs will be higher.
Moving house is a huge financial and emotional undertaking, then, of course, there’s the cost of moving your furniture and possessions to your new home.
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3. What value do you put on your possessions?
Particularly when finances are tight, it might be tempting to save money by shopping around for the cheapest deal to move your house contents.
But think about it – on the day of the move, you’ll have a lot to think about and take care of (e.g. Has the money transferred okay, so we can move? Do we have the new house keys? Where’s the cat? Are the children safe?) All this on top of actually moving your possessions.
If your house contents are worth between £20,000 and £50,000, would you want to risk losing or damaging any of them – bearing in mind all of the money you’re already committed to spending?
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What Makes Us DifferentFor the sake of a few hundred pounds, why trust an unregulated, uninsured, un-reviewed, “man with a van” or “chuck with a truck” who charges £300 to move you. It’s not realistic. Moving a houseful of stuff is hard work, needs the right equipment and transport and of course the skill of knowing how to pack fragile items, how to carry furniture safely, protect things from wet weather, protect your new carpets etc – I could go on and on. We get feedback daily from my customers: you are double the cost of XYZ removals. Who?
• How can we be double? Our trucks cost the same as every other truck. They are not gold plated.
• We buy my fuel from the fuel station the same as everyone else. • We pay our guys slightly above the going rate. • As a company, we net about 10% profit. • How can we be double the cost??
I will tell you:
• Insurance. We have it. It is fit for purpose.• Pensions. We pay them. Just like everybody should.• PAYE. Without fail. No cash in hand here. • Full-time crew. Guaranteed Salaries. Not a mate from the pub. • Training. Not on the job. Actual certified training. • Equipment. Transit Blankets, sofa covers, TV covers, mattress
bags, floor protector. Wardrobe cartons. Not a couple of your mum’s old duvets and curtains.
• Holidays. Everyone who works for us gets one months paid holiday every year.
• Audited. On a yearly basis. Member of trade associations. • Reviewed. Daily, by customers. Not friends and family. • Established. For nearly 40 years. Our family name plastered all
over our trucks. There is little doubt who you are booking when you book Ballards.
• I am sure there are a multitude of other reasons but the above spring to mind.
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Reliable Service You Can Trust
A man and van service might be fine to move a few items (in fact we offer that service here at Ballards). For a complete house move though, you need a professional service you can rely on, where everything can be planned and organised for you and you can be sure that everything that’s collected from your old home will arrive safely at your new one.
Remember you get what you pay for. You wouldn’t ask your mate to do your property survey just because he has a set of ladders. Why ask your mate to move you just because he has a van!
Wherever you’re moving to, trust the specialists, Ballards Removals for a stress-free move – you can’t put a value on that!
T: 01777 871 871E: [email protected]
www.ballards-move.co.ukBallards Removals LtdBallards Business Park, Old London Road, Markham Moor, Retford, Notts, DN22 0TE