The average person moves house several times in their lifetime (I have moved 14 times!). Moving for a job, more storage space, or a change of scenery, its one of the most stressful, and rewarding times for the majority of people. From moving a few doors down, to across a continent, moving house is one of the most important things, and sometimes the hardest to organize.

From collecting supplies – buying boxes and tape, to packing your house up, cleaning and moving to your new home, it’s an adventure for all involved. Small and home offices are also usually quite interesting to move – a new area for local clients and a nightmare for people that run services online, so it’s important to plan accordingly and ensure that you’ve made plans to cover yourself during the move. Your small office may be the last thing you actually pack fully, but you can start by cleaning through your paperwork and ensuring everything you’ve got has storage – if you run a craft business or have a hobby that takes up space, its always good practice, as soon as you’ve heard you’ll be moving, to start clearing and boxing up your non essential supplies.

It takes careful planning to move house, but you can do so via the web at http://movingplan.com or http://helpiammoving.com – two great sites that help you plan your move and give you an idea where to start. Most importantly, you need to start planning as soon as you know you’re moving – so that you’re as organized as possible.

Whether you’re selling your house or moving due to a new baby, need for more, or less storage space, because you’re renting and need to move on, or are going to let your own house and move into another one – moving can be stressful….but it can also be a lot of fun.  You may also be in need of low cost van hire or self storage.  Give Lok’nStore a call on Free phone 0800 587 3322 or visit our website at www.loknstore.co.uk for more useful information and help on moving house.

If you have storage at Lok’nStore and you have taken advantage of their low cost van hire, this handy guide about loading your van may help.

(1) Before you load your van, you need to make a few preparations. For starters, you will need to have the smaller goods boxed up in cardboard boxes that will not rip or damage too easily (buy quality boxes from your local Lok’nStore for the best deal).  The bigger items will be going in first, so prepare by having them placed towards the front. The shorter the distance you must carry the goods the better.

(2) Make sure you have enough people to help you. Not enough people may mean you over exert yourself and end up with a damaged back anyway, so get a small crew of strong individuals together to load the van. It is vital that you instruct everyone how to load the hired van correctly and safely and in what order.

(3) Do you know how to safely lift a box?  First, straighten your back, then bend down towards the item and pick up the goods. Make sure you are using the power of your legs to pick up the goods, rather than from your arms and back. This will enable you to get more power and hopefully avoid injury.

(4) Use a free Lok’nStore trolly to move your goods between the van and your storage. If you have hired a van with a ramp, load the van using a dolly. This should make the whole process much faster and easier.

(5) Pack the van well. Larger objects, like furniture need to be at the back. Cover these with blankets or in order to protect them from damage. Medium sized items can be then positioned on top of the larger ones and smaller items can be positioned in any safe left over space. Next make sure everything is safely packed (nothing should wobble) and secure down using rope or lashing straps.

(6) If you have any delicate goods, such as glass, pack these in-between soft items. It may be also worth getting some bubble wrap to wrap the glass in. This will help decrease the risk of damage to your delicate goods.

Always be careful when loading a van, as you can cause serious damage to your back if you do not lift the goods correctly. Pack carefully as well, making sure everything is secure, otherwise you might end up with broken items at the end of your journey.  For more expert information on van hire and self storage, call Lok’nStore on 0800 587 3322 or visit loknstore.co.uk

 Original article at: articlesbase.com

A checklist for your moving house day

After dealing with your solicitor; chartered surveyors, removal and self storage companies and mortgage company, most probably with the help of a home information pack to get your home on the market and an exchange in place, its then on to the moving part which can potentially more difficult and stressful.

First make sure you have a documented resource of all the information above and keep it safe and secure as you will it no doubt in the future and things get lost and moved in the packing and removal process.

Then, conduct a list of all your main and most precious possessions, it may also be easier to start with larger items such as your televisions, sofas, beds, wardrobes etc and also try making a floor plan on which you can plan where the items will go in your new home.

This will help you to make the decision of what to keep and what to get rid of before the items go into your new home. It is very common for homeowners to sell or pass on to charities many items that they once believed that “may need” in the future. Keep things simple and in turn your new house will give a clean, uncluttered and more modern appearance.

It’s important to remember, of course, not to pack important items such as passports, jewellery, driving licenses etc as not only can they be lost but it may be rather difficult claiming theft with a removal company. Save the hassle and keep them in a purse, bag or somewhere close and safe during the move.

In fact it may be best to find a reliable and professional insurance company who will cover the possessions; you may find that the removal company you are thinking of moving house with will be able to provide you with cover too.

Then its time to start moving your possessions that are undecided on or not easily placed into your new home into storage and also travel to your new home or hire cleaners to completely revive your new home, this can also include painter and decorators and carpet fitters to move in before your possessions are in the house.
Transfer your Childs school records, and register with new doctors dentists in your area, this also may be a good time to arrange pet and child care on the day you move and purchase moving cards or an online post to inform friends and family of your new address and contact numbers.

Remember to arrange your gas, electric, water, TV license and phone lines too. This can be a nightmare if not sorted and once they are all done, it will allow you to settle into your new home stress free.

Original article here.

When it comes to moving house that age old question keeps rearing it’s head: is it better to rent a home or is it more cost effective to buy one? There are many factors to consider, however the decision over to whether to rent or buy will largely be a personal one.

Of course there will be various economic factors that will play a part when you are considering purchasing a home. Interest rates will fluctuate and real estate values and concerns over job security can determine whether the current climate is right for realistically considering a purchase.

There are certainly plenty of advantages when it comes to renting a home. If you are moving to a completely new area then deciding to rent a home or apartment then this will offer you as much time as you need to grow accustomed to a new location and you will also have the freedom to move elsewhere at short notice if the situation arose where career opportunities arose elsewhere. Another advantage of renting a flat is that apartment complexes will quite often offer health and fitness facilities. There is usually the added benefit of not having to worry about the cost of property maintenance, property taxes or homeowner’s insurance.

It would seem that renting a home offers plenty of advantages; however they are mostly short term benefits. People who decide to buy a house get the opportunity to accumulate equity by paying down principal and also through possible real estate appreciation. In an economic climate where the market appreciates rapidly, you will be staggered at the gains that can be made. It can be argued convincingly that with the additional deductions that are allowable for mortgage interest, owning your home is actually not that much more expensive than renting a flat when the markets are rising. This is particularly true when interest rates are low. These factors aside, the other appeal in buying your own home comes from the pride that comes with owning your own property and the freedom that you have to make changes where desired.

Your own personal financial circumstances and the current state of the market will determine whether it is more cost effective for you to buy or rent. There are plenty of websites available that will help you with the relevant calculations that you need to make. If you perform an analysis of ‘rent Vs buy’ then in a climate where the marketing is appreciating moderately then on average it works out at about 5-6 years before the buyer gains the financial advantage, so if you are willing to take the long term advantages into account then it could work out better for you if you buy.

An excellent alternative to either of these choices would be a rent-to-own arrangement, This is especially useful if you are at all undecided about the area that you are choosing to live in, your career choice, the possibility of prices falling or perhaps you need to accumulate the money to buy. You still get all the advantages of renting so you will always be able to move out quickly if your circumstances suddenly change.

Ultimately you have to consider your personal long-term goals and lifestyle. If you feel happiest renting and not having the pressure of having to maintain a property then this will probably be the correct move for you.

Dave Matthews

http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Renting Or Buying A House - How To Decide?

Are you moving house?  Do you need Self Storage?  LoknBlog spotted this useful article…

There is so much to think of en route that sometimes you forget about the simple necessities once you move into your property.

Property Ladder presenter Sarah Beeny cites the number of people she has come across who forget light bulbs and find themselves on their first night in their new home scrabbling around in the dark.

Leave plenty of time to set up utilities in your new home. The moment you exchange is a good time to start as it can take longer than you think. If you rely on having a broadband connection from day one, then that too will take some pre-planning. Otherwise, you will find yourself becoming familiar with local internet cafes over the first few weeks.

If you are planning to buy new furniture, delivery times can be another surprise. Allow about three months from ordering a sofa in the shop to being able to sit on it in your living room.

If you want your remaining possessions to accompany you on your first night in the property too, arrange for a removal van well in advance. The cheaper options are to hire a van and do the removal yourself, or hire a man with a van. But check on the insurance situation and prepare for some backbreaking work.

Otherwise, employ a specialist company, who will get the job done at higher cost but far more quickly and efficiently. Get several quotes in writing – they will vary enormously – and make sure the company belongs to a recognised trade association such as the British Association of Removers.

You will soon release you have far too many possessions, so rather than drag items that haven’t seen the light of day for years to another property where they won’t be used either, have a good clear-out.

Also to be done about a month before you move, book electricity, gas and water readings at your present home. Redirect your post (www.royalmail.com) for the first few months. Contact any tradesman you will need on moving day, to disconnect your gas cooker for example. And let everyone know your new address. Not just the fun people – friends and family – but your bank, car insurer, council tax department, mobile phone company, doctor, TV licensing department… There is a useful checklist to tick off on

Natwest.com/content/personal/mortgages/downloads/Mortgage_FTB_EasyStepsPeopletoTellChecklist.pdf.

A week before you move, if you are currently renting a property, confirm when the landlord will collect the keys, check your removal firm/van hire company is all prepared for moving day, contact your local council to suspend parking restrictions during your move, pay your local newspaper and milk bills and start giving the property you are leaving a thorough clean. Also, put together a box of essentials, including light bulbs, breakfast and nightwear, to ease the transition on the first night.

On moving day, check you have cleared everything out of your previous property, locked and switched off everything necessary and keep a copy of the last meter readings. At your new home, check that everything the previous owners agreed to leave has been left. Tell your solicitor if not.

Then resist the temptation to start unpacking and put your feet up. After all, you deserve it.

Full article by:

Zoe Dare Hall

The owners of a cliff-top property threatened by coastal erosion in East Sussex have spent more than £80,000 moving their house inland.

Geoff and Ann Nash have moved back into the Boathouse in Birling Gap, East Dean, four months after the move began.

The front door of their 1900s-built house is now 72ft (22m) further back from the crumbling cliff.

The couple moved into the Boathouse 16 years ago, despite knowing that the cliff was eroding.

The original Boathouse is thought to have been demolished and replaced in the 1970s.

Mr Nash, 75, said: “Each year it was getting a bit closer and we thought it was about time we moved in case there was a major case of erosion.”

He said he called about 10 organisations including Defra and the Environment Agency about grants for moving his house but no funding was available and he had to fund the project himself.

Builder Bill Coote said the wooden building had to be split in two before it was moved.

Full article BBC News

Lok’nStore Business & Household Self Storage can help in you’re moving house.  Lok’nStore provides low cost, safe secure storage in various locations.  Lo’knStore also sells a range of cardboard boxes and bubble wrap at low costs.  Give them a call on 0800 587 3322 or visit loknstore.co.uk for more information.  But Lok’nStore cant ‘move’ your house…

Magdalene Landegent, weighing in at 220,000 pounds and stretching 38 feet across two lanes of traffic.  The former St. Joseph Church rectory from Le Mars made its way on a 17-mile journey to its new home northeast of Hinton where the Ken and Donna Bliek family will live in it.

“It’s a strange feeling watching your house move down the road.”

That’s what Donna Bliek said last Wednesday after seeing her new 220,000 pound home lumbering down Highway 3. In August, she and her husband Ken Bliek purchased the former St. Joseph Church rectory, a massive brick house located in north-eastern Le Mars with plans to move it to land near Hinton and make it their family home.  This week, those plans became reality.

Movers hoisted the building, stripped of its brick exterior and a small addition, onto wheels and manoeuvred it on a 17-mile journey to its new foundation on Jade Avenue 2 miles northeast of Hinton. Move U, a structure-moving company based in Kingsley and Sioux City, started moving the house Tuesday, but it was slow going because the ground was soft. “The biggest obstacle has been the rain,” said Tim Badgerow, of Move U.  At 7 a.m. Wednesday, the crew was back to work. MidAmerican Energy crews, along with six of their lift trucks, joined them on the scene to take down electrical wires in the way or raise them up to allow the 30-foot tall house to pass.

Two hours later, a semi-tractor pulled the former rectory the two blocks to Highway 3.

It was time to hit the road.

The route was a round-about one to get to Hinton. The house left town heading east on Highway 3, then south on Nature Avenue and other gravel roads to K-49, then C-44 to K-42, and finally onto Jade Avenue.  Badgerow said that route was best based on how many electrical wires they’d have to cross. The rambling journey took more than five hours.

“We go whatever speed we can, but on average we get about 5-7 mph,” Badgerow said. Law enforcement officers stopped traffic ahead of the house, which at 38 feet wide took up both lanes. Electric crews travelled with the caravan and moved wires as needed. “I was surprised it took so long,” Bliek said. “I guess it’s never a hurried up deal when you’re doing something like that.” The Blieks brought their three daughters, whom they home school, to watch their new house move. “It looks big going down the road,” Bliek said. “We’re anxious to get in it. We’ll be moving the addition maybe next week and move in hopefully next month sometime. There’s a lot of reconnecting to do.”

St. Joseph Church’s parish had been seeking to move the rectory to allow for construction of a new church in a few years. The rectory was built in the 1970s. A 1905 school building, located next to the former rectory, was demolished last summer to make room for the new, larger church as well.

Bliek said her family was thankful for sunshine after waiting through weeks of rainy weather to move the house.  “It was a beautiful day for it,” Bliek said. “And we’re thankful for all the help. Everybody was pitching in. There were a lot of men out there working.”  For Move U, transporting a structure this big is all a day’s work, Badgerow said. “We’ll be moving the Hinton golf clubhouse later this month,” he said. “We do this every day.”

Full article at:

www.lemarssentinel.com

I’m not sure why Essex University spent so much time on this research as most women could have told them for free!  If you’re moving home and need self storage give Lok’nStore a call on 0800 587 3322.  Lok’nStore Business & Household Self Storage has centres at various locations across the South East and can help with all your storage needs.  For more information please visit loknstore.co.uk

Married couples are more likely to leave a neighbourhood if the woman dislikes it than if her husband has a problem.

Married couples are more likely to leave a neighbourhood if the woman dislikes it than if her husband has a problem. Researchers believe this may be because the woman spends more time there.

The decision is more to do with the perception of a neighbourhood than its reality, according to the study from Essex University.

More than 4,000 households in 30,000 areas across the country were surveyed, with the research finding a “big difference” between the sexes when it came to influencing decisions about whether to re-locate.

The team looked at whether people moved for subjective reasons such as liking their neighbourhood - or used more “established objective criteria” such as crime rates and employment opportunities.

Head researcher Dr Mark Taylor said: “Couples were more likely to move if the woman disliked the neighbourhood.

“The study does not tell us why that is, but we can make some educated guesses.

“Mine would be that it is about relative amounts of time spent in the home or neighbourhood. On average, it is the woman who spends more time there.” 

The study, published as part of a research paper called ‘Residential mobility, neighbourhood quality and life-course events’ also found that for singles and couples, many ‘life-course events’ such as taking up a new job, partnership break-up, a child leaving home and leaving the parental home were associated with moving house.

Among the “objective” measures of neighbourhood deprivation, crime and the quality of the local environment both within and beyond the home were most important, the researchers added.

Ceasing to live with parents or having a child leave home was associated with single people moving into more deprived neighbourhoods.

“Life-course events like having a baby, losing a job or splitting up are often associated with moving house,” Dr Taylor added.

“But not much is known about the effect that these types of events have on whether people move to a ‘better’ or ‘worse’ neighbourhood.

“This is quite surprising because research suggests that neighbourhood characteristics influence important outcomes such as life satisfaction, health and employment.”

For the full article please visit here.

Photo: GETTY

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LoknStore Business & Household Self Storage has heard that the new Commons Speaker John Bercow will be the first to move into Speaker’s House with a young family.

His wife Sally spoke of her pride in her husband’s achievement and disclosed that they were wondering how to fit their three children into the historic apartment in the Palace of Westminster.

Loknblog suggests that maybe they should de-clutter their new pad and put surplus belongings into storage?

She said: “We will have a look at it and see if we can make it more child friendly, that’s the plan.”I’m very proud of John. I think he will be a great reforming Speaker and a great credit to the country.”

The Bercows, who married in 2002, have two sons, Oliver, five, and Freddie, three, and daughter Jemima, one.

As the 157th Speaker, Mr Bercow gets a sumptuous grace-and-favour home within the Palace of Westminster, in addition to a salary of £146,041 and a pension for life of £40,000 a year on top of his MPs’ pension (alright for some).

If you’re moving house or you need to create some space, give LoknStore Business & household Self Storage a call on 0800 587 3322 or visit Loknstore.co.uk

There are certain situations in life when it is prudent to act very slowly, exercise great patience and to know exactly where your next move will take you.

One of those situations is when you are moving a two-story, 4,000-square-foot brick house that weighs almost 200 tons.

That, of course, is what happened on the campus of Elon University last weekend when the Holland House was taken on a trip a few hundred yards across campus to a new location near Holt Chapel.

Sounds simple enough when you say it that way. But it becomes a bit more complicated when you realize it had to be turned sideways to get it off the lot where it has been since 1963 and on to Haggard Avenue. Then just down the street there was another 90-degree turn on to Antioch.

Add to this situation the fact that the house is about as wide as the road, and that not only makes it hard to turn but it also interferes with big trees along the way, not to mention power lines and poles.

The streets were pretty level, but when you are moving something this big, even the slightest downhill movement is a problem. You have to hook trucks to the rear of the house to keep it from running down the grade too fast and overrunning the trucks doing the pulling. It looks a bit odd to see two trucks in front, two in the rear, apparently pulling in opposite directions. In truth, the ones in the rear are acting as brakes for the house.

The one thing that really made this move unique was the fact that the house had to be moved across the railroad tracks. And that, of course, meant close attention was paid to the train schedules. As soon as Amtrak passed, workmen built a large platform across the tracks. The house then began its crossing under the watchful eyes of a large crowd of spectators that had gathered. Carefully, slowly, ever so slowly, deliberately, an inch at a time.

And then it was across. Cheers, applause. The worst of it was over. Well, not exactly. Down in front of Johnston Hall, there are some very large and very old oak trees. And at Elon University oak trees are special. After all, Elon is a Hebrew word for oak, and oaks are tradition for the university. You just don’t tear down oak trees.   

Carefully, slowly, ever so slowly, deliberately, an inch at a time, and the house was moved past those trees, and the Holland House found its new location on the South Campus. 

Don Bolden 

Ian Carter and Enid Wells took their grand old lady for a drive in the country yesterday.

That old lady is a two-storey house at least 104 years old.

The couple, who have owned and loved their house for the past five years, decided it needed a more secure future so they had it moved from its original location in urban New Plymouth to a rural setting at Bell Block.

“It’s been on the corner of Dawson St and Young St since at least 1904, and we thought that for the next 100 years we should give it a nice lovely paddock,” Enid said yesterday.

“It’s a beautiful old two-storey villa that many people have lived in over the years. In the time we have owned it, heaps have told us of the times they lived in it.

“The house really has got a lovely feeling about it, so we decided to protect that.”

Two buildings were actually transported from the site to the new location the big house, and a smaller building that had been used for an office and which will now be converted into a granny flat.

By ROB MAETZIG - Taranaki Daily News