Moving To A New City: 4 Things To Expect

As you guys know, a couple of years ago I bought my first home, and it wasn’t too far away from where I lived before! However during that time I also took some time out and flew to Salt Lake City, USA with work for a while, and so I do have some experience in moving to an entirely new city – new country in fact!

When the majority of people move home, like me, they don’t tend to move far; most will usually move to another part of the same city, or at least the same county. With these short moves, familiarity and convenience help to make the whole process a little easier. People can move gradually, for example, and always have the opportunity to quickly return to their old property if they realise an item has been left behind.

However, if you are moving to an entirely new city or even country, then moving – an experience that is not exactly known for being pleasant at the best of times – tends to become a little more complex. If you’re contemplating such a move in the near future, here are four things to expect along the way…

#1 – DIY moving is next-to-impossible

When moving locally, it’s often possible to manage much of the move yourself as you can make repeat trips in your own vehicle. However, if you’re moving further afield, then you’ll usually find that you’ll need assistance from professionals such as Grange Removals to help with the process. Outsourcing to experts makes it all the more likely you can achieve an “all-in-one” move and avoid the need for long – and, in terms of petrol, expensive – trips back and forth between properties that may be hundreds of miles apart.

#2 – You’ll become ruthless with decluttering

Most people tend to use moving home as an opportunity to declutter, but it’s likely that you will be especially ruthless in this regard when moving to a new city. There’s something about the fact that items have to physically travel a further distance that makes people question if each item they own really needs to make the trip. The good news is that this decluttering fervour means you’ll have less to unpack when you arrive, which should make the process of settling into your new property that little bit simpler.

#3 – Some bureaucratic changes will be tricky

If you are moving neighbourhoods rather than cities, it’s relatively simple to make admin-related changes such as updating your address on your water bill or arranging your new council tax schedule – your address may be changing, but your region isn’t. However, when moving to a new city, you’ll have to adjust to entirely new systems and, in the case of water rates, potentially an entirely new company. As a result, it’s best to leave a little more time to take care of the admin than you would if you were moving locally.

#4 – You’ll have doubts

Doubt tends to occur with any move, but when moving to a new city, those doubts will usually be magnified tenfold. Even if you are moving to a city you have visited many times before, there’s a big difference between spending a day somewhere and actually living there, and concerns over the scale of the change will likely rise every now and then while packing. When this happens, take a deep breath and remind yourself why the move is the right choice for you, and why your new city is the perfect place for you to be at this point in your life.

In conclusion

If you can account for the points above when planning to move to a new city, then you be able to keep the process as straightforward as possible – so you can plan your move without having to encounter any unpleasant surprises along the way.