There’s so much to keep in mind when moving house. One particularly challenging part of the process is striking the right balance between ease and affordability. How much time, capacity, and skills do you have to do it independently, and what do you need to call the professionals for?
There’s no one right way—or one best way—to move house. If you’re on a tight budget, a DIY move might seem like the most appealing option. But while the right relocation tips can definitely make the process run a lot smoother, there are still drawbacks involved due to factors like physical labour and the risk of injury.
If you’re facing an upcoming move and all that it involves, you’re probably wondering, ‘Should I hire a removalist, or can I handle all this on my own?’
Ready Movers is a home removalist company with more than 17 years of experience and is here to offer you our take on the age-old question: should I DIY or hire a removalist? We’ll take you through the pros and cons of each approach so you can choose how to move house in a way that works for you.
DIY Moving
A DIY move is a house move you plan, execute and control. Although you’re taking the move into your own hands, it’s always too big a job to do alone. You’ll need a support team of family or friends for everything from babysitting to carrying the other end of the couch or refrigerator. If you’re on the fence about how you plan to move house, here are the pros and cons of DIY moving.
What It Entails
DIY moving takes a lot of hard work: packing your possessions, hiring a moving van (or carrying the load in your car) and making sure you have enough people, power and supplies for the job. That’s just for starters.
Pros
It’s affordable
Hiring professional removalists can get expensive. DIY moving is often a more affordable option, although the costs can quickly add up when you’re filling up with petrol and dealing with unexpected events.
It’s flexible
When you choose the DIY option, you have complete control over what you move and when. You only have to coordinate your schedule with the people who are helping you.
Cons
Hard work
DIY moving means undertaking an exhausting amount of work on your own. Moving is both physically and mentally demanding, with logistics to consider along with the heavy lifting itself. It’s challenging to plan, coordinate, and carry out an entire move yourself while dealing with work and family life.
Accidents and injuries
Moving involves a lot of potentially dangerous situations, including loading and unloading a truck, lifting heavy furniture and navigating stairs. One little slip or trip can lead to serious injury, and long-term illness or health issues make the procedure more risky.
Limited by your resources
When you carry out your DIY move, you’re limited by the equipment, vehicles, and other resources you have on the premises and by what you can accomplish with your own skills.
Hiring Professional Removalists
Professional removalists offer a surprising variety of services, from transporting your belongings from place to place to more detailed and personalised packages. Here are some of the pros and cons of the professional approach.
What It Entails
Hiring professionals involves calling a removalist company to do the heavy lifting (and sometimes even the packing and planning) for you. If your new place isn’t ready to move into yet, they can often put your items in storage, too. Removalists can make your move much easier, particularly if you’re travelling interstate or moving an entire house rather than a room.
Pros
Highly trained and experienced
Professional movers have carried out many moves and dealt with all kinds of challenging situations, from bad weather to slippery stairs. With likely years of experience behind them, they can quickly identify the best way to do things and plan to avoid any disasters.
Save a lot of time
Moving is a time-consuming process. Professionals can carry out most of the heavy lifting and even some of the planning so you can focus more on your other responsibilities.
Less stress
It’s widely known that moving house is often considered one of life’s most stressful events. Professional removalists can relieve some of that stress, which is better for your health and well-being.
Cons
Cost more than DIY
There’s no getting around having to pay for hiring removalists. Fortunately, you can get some great deals and will likely find the price more affordable than you expect.
Less control over your moving timeline
When you hire removalists, you may have less control over when you can move as you have to coordinate your schedule with their availability.
Dodgy company risk
There are many removalists out there, and like any business, not all are created equal. It’s important to research the companies you plan to hire by looking at their websites, reading Google reviews, assessing the team’s experience, and getting multiple quotes if you can.
Why Hiring a Removalist Is the Recommended Option
‘Should I hire a removalist or not?’ There is no hard and fast answer, and it depends on your specific needs, preferences, and budget. However, hiring a professional is still the most effective option for most people, and it’s often more affordable than people think.
Professional movers handle heavy, fragile and bulky items daily and have a wealth of experience to bring. If you shudder at moving your furniture downstairs or through tight spaces, you can take comfort in the fact that your removalist has already organised more complex moves on many occasions.
Lifting heavy objects is dangerous, and professional removalists have the skill set and tools to carry them out safely. In the unlikely and unlucky event that damage to one of your possessions occurs, they most likely have insurance to cover it. Often, they can also customise their level of assistance to your needs and your budget, so you’re not paying for services you don’t need
Expert Professional Removalists at Ready Movers
Whether you’d prefer to leave your whole move up to a removalist or take a more hands-on approach to some of it, Ready Movers offers home removalist services to suit you best.
We provide two men and a fully equipped truck for every removal, with more hands available to help if necessary. Our input into the move can be any size, ranging from a single room to the entire house.
Packing is one of the most stressful and time-consuming parts of your move. We can offer packing, unpacking, or providing the materials if you’d rather do all the packing yourself. If you don’t have the time or the energy to pack, our pre-pack service will handle all your fragile items with care and the protection of our no-damage written guarantee on local moves.
Moving interstate adds another level of complexity to an already massive life event, and it’s important to be well-prepared for the change. Ready Movers interstate removalist services include a dedicated move manager and long-haul transport via railway.
To find out more and to tailor a move to meet your needs, contact the Ready Movers team and get a free quote.