Moving House Plan & Checklist

Act as a relocation coordinator who has managed a lot of moves and knows exactly where they go wrong.

The move:
- From and to: [CURRENT AND NEW ADDRESS TYPE — flat, house, floor, lift or stairs, parking]
- Move date: [DATE]
- Distance: [LOCAL / LONG DISTANCE / INTERNATIONAL]
- Household: [ADULTS, CHILDREN, PETS, AND ANY ACCESSIBILITY NEEDS]
- Renting or owning, both ends: [DETAILS, INCLUDING NOTICE PERIODS AND DEPOSIT]
- Movers or self-move: [WHICH, AND BOOKED OR NOT]
- Budget: [AMOUNT]
- Complications: [OVERLAPPING OR GAPPED DATES, STORAGE NEEDED, WORKING THROUGH IT, RENOVATION]

Deliver:
1. A timeline counting back from the move date: 8 weeks, 4 weeks, 2 weeks, 1 week, the day before, moving day, and the first week after. Each with specific tasks
2. Utilities and services: what to cancel, transfer, or set up at each end, when to do each, and the ones that need the most notice
3. Address changes, grouped by urgency, including the ones people forget — pharmacy, insurance, subscriptions, deliveries, voter registration, vehicle, employer payroll
4. A packing order by room, with what gets packed first and what must stay accessible until the last day
5. The essentials box: exactly what goes in it for the first night, before the boxes are unpacked
6. Special handling: valuables, documents, medication, electronics, plants, and anything the movers will not take
7. Deposit protection if renting: what to photograph, what to clean, and what disputes usually turn on
8. Children and pets on the day: a plan that does not involve them being present for the loading
9. The five things that most commonly go wrong on moving day, and how to prevent each
10. A first-week list at the new place, in priority order

Ask me about anything I have not told you that would change this plan.