Using Friends To Help vs Professional Removalists
There is no doubt about it: even though Brilliance is one of the cheapest removal companies in Melbourne, moving still costs money.
That is why many people ask friends to help them move. They think it will help them to save on the cost of hiring professional removalists. However, this is not always a good idea; what you save can be lost in other ways.
And you can run into many different problems.
- For a start, friends are not getting paid to do this. That means they may not show up if they get a better offer or if they have other more urgent family businesses to attend to. And they may not bother to let you know they are not coming. So you will be stranded with a lot of furniture and no one to load it, even if you hire a truck.
- You need to have a licence and experience to drive a hire truck. If your friends offer the use of their ute or one-tonner, remember it probably won’t have a roof. What if moving day dawns and it is rampant rain? Even a light shower can ruin furniture and bedding.
- Do your friends have training in how to lift properly? If they put their back out and lose work due to injury from lifting your goods you will certainly feel bad about it. Depending on how good a friend they are, they may ask you to pay for their medical costs – or even sue you.
- Have your friends had experience in wrapping and packing and stacking furniture? If it is not packed into a truck to distribute weight properly, the whole vehicle can become unstable and a possible crash around a tight corner is likely. Or the furniture may move and become scratched or broken.
- Having furniture or treasured goods damaged can cost a great deal – much more than the cost of moving – and there will be no insurance.
- Friends may be willing to help load furniture into a hired truck, but will they really want to travel with you to help unload at the other end? If not, who will help you?
All these things should be taken into consideration when you have to move. When you hire professional removalists, these issues will not become a problem. Furniture removalists in Melbourne and other centres are running a business, so they are not going to leave you high and dry without the kind of help you need. And they are professionals who know the best ways of wrapping, packing and moving a household of goods across the city or across the country.
Even though they charge for their services, hiring someone you can trust and who knows how to do the job at this end and at your destination is far better.
How to Get Your Bond Back When Moving
People have to move for many reasons and often move out of and into a rental home rather than their own. One of the main costs of a move is the bond. You cannot move into a new rental without paying a bond – and if your present rental is not left in spick and span condition, you won’t get back the bond you had to pay before moving in.
When it comes to the bond, it’s a good idea to look ahead. This will to some extent ensure that you will get the bond back when you leave. How? Not all rental homes are in a pristine condition before you move in.
They may have:-
- Stains on the walls or carpets
- Broken fittings
- Lights that don’t work
- Dripping taps or cistern
- Scratches on the flooring
- Cracked windows or torn flyscreens
- Loose towel rails or curtain fittings
- Ovens that don’t work
- Cracks in the walls
- Broken tiles or pathways
If you move in and take no notice of such things, when you move out you will get the blame for them and lose your bond. So what can you do?
These days, photos cost next to nothing to take. Once you are given an option on a rental house or apartment, take the real estate agent with you for another inspection before moving in. Try out all the taps, appliances, lights and other things mentioned above so ensure they work properly. If a refrigerator is provided, open it to check for broken shelves, especially the door shelf supports, as these can easily crack.
Make sure you point out anything that is broken anywhere in the house and yard and take a snap of it for proof. If you can’t take a photo, write a dated list and have the agent sign it. Keep the original and make a copy for the real estate agent to keep.
If you didn’t do this before moving into your present rental, you will need to fix everything that is broken and clean it all thoroughly before you move, if you want that bond back. Here is a list of things to clean that you may not think about.
Inside the home:-
- Inside cupboards and the oven
- Around hotplates
- On top of overhead cupboards
- Behind furniture
- Skirting boards
- Inside built-in wardrobes
- The grooves in sliding window and door frames
- The flyscreens of doors and windows and their grooves.
- Inside the laundry tub cupboard
Outside the home:-
- Hose down footpaths
- Brush down cobwebs from the cladding
- Wash the cladding if it is mildewy
- Weed the garden
- Mow the lawn, including the edges
- Clean out the garden shed/garage
Ways Of Saving Money When Moving House
Aside from cheap removalists, there are other ways through which you can save money. These ways involve dealing with tasks before or after your moving day, utilities and negotiating for a better deal. Here are some of the ways you can save money:
Change your address
This depends on where you are moving from and where you are moving to. If you are moving to a different area or state, you must change your address on time to avoid inconveniences. If you move into a new geographical area, you will have to change your energy suppliers and register with the local authority so that you can pay council tax, among other things. If you fail to report any of these, you will have fines or spend a considerable lump sum for failing to pay tax. You can redirect your mail to avoid missing bills or essential letters. In addition, remember to register as a voter to improve your credit score.
Double-check your utility change dates.
You must align your utility bills with the date you plan to move. If your date of moving does not match ideally with your bill cycle, you will have to cut off the services rather than pay an extra month of bills you will not use. Living a few days without some utilities is advisable. You could have saved rather than spent much money on utility bills. Also, if the utility provider can continue offering similar services in your new home, you should consider giving a notification and arranging for the same. However, if you are uncomfortable with their services, it’s high time you get a new, reliable service provider. You may be surprised to get better deals from other utility providers. You must research and ask friends, family members and neighbours for recommendations.
Use up or donate your food.
Planning your moving date in advance is essential because everything else follows that. With good timing, you will save on moving costs because you will move when the demand is low and numerous moving companies are looking for clients. In addition, you can plan how to proceed, your utilities, your new home etc. If you have a fridge/freezer full of food, consume it to avoid wasting food (money). If you still have non-perishable items you have not used up, you can donate them to charity rather than throwing them away.
Negotiate
To hire cheap movers in Melbourne, you must negotiate even if you are not good at bargaining. You don’t have to settle on the first moving cost you are offered because there is always room for negotiating depending on how good you are. You usually get a better deal negotiating with smaller companies or independent agents because they don’t want to lose the sale.
Finally, you must pay close attention to your spending during and after moving. After moving, you might spend a lot of money cleaning the house, filling the fridge, and buying appliances and furniture to make your new home attractive and hospitable. You may have saved a lot when moving, but if you are not cautious, you might spend a lot after moving, making your efforts to save while moving futile.
