Before You Move House

Families in Australia sometimes need to move house. They may want to live in a bigger one or work circumstances may change. Before moving house there are many things to take care of. You need to give your landlord 4 week notice before you move out. If you don't give this notice, you may lose your bond. This is very important to know. The real estate agent will come for a final inspection and tell you what needs to be done in the house. You can't leave the house dirty and go. They will hire a cleaner to clean the house and you will have to pay. If you don't want to pay, the real estate agent will deduct the money out of your bond.
You will need to hire a carpet cleaner to steam clean your house. You will also need to clean the walls of the house with sugar soap. You can buy sugar soap at any hardware store. Remember to wear gloves when you use it.
You need to call your electricity, phone, gas and water companies to arrange for a disconnection of the service. Tell them what date you plan to leave the house.
Start packing your things in boxes. You can hold a garage sale. People can come to your garage and buy the things you don't want any more. You can also give your old furniture away to friends and family or you can give them away to charity. The charity will send people to your house to pick them up if they are in good condition.
Go to the post office and fill in a form to get the letters sent to your new address. This normally costs about 6 dollars a month.
Arrange for a removal company to come and pick up your furniture to the new house. A removal company always charges a lot of money. If you want to save money, you can rent a truck and do the job yourself. Ask friends to come and help you on the big day. Be careful not to hurt your back. When every thing is done, say goodbye to your close neighbours and friends and give them the new phone number. Make sure they have your email address.
When you settle down in your new home you need to have your new phone connected. You also need to find out some important information. You need to know where the supermarket, the local school and shopping centre are. You need to know what day rubbish gets collected in your street. The first thing people do when they move to a new house is to get plenty of sleep because by that time they feel very tired.