How Much Does it Cost to Move House

If you’re moving house, you want to make sure everything goes smoothly. Whether you are moving locally or moving interstate, it is important to know exactly how much does is cost to move house?

In Australia, the price of moving house varies from city to city, and there are a number of factors that can impact the overall cost. On top of your regular moving expenses, you need to factor in the cost of travel, shipping items overseas, and a few other expenses such as estate agent fees, rental application fees, vehicle transport and furniture movers.

Here’s a guide on the factors affecting the total cost of moving house in Australia.

Packing Supplies & Self-Packing House Moving Costs

The average cost to move house in Australia can be up to $10,000. This price includes the transport and packing services of a professional moving company. Factors that affect this process depends on how big your house is, how far you have to move and any additional fees such as packing services and equipment hire or storage costs. Removalist quotes can vary greatly, depending whether it is an interstate move, you are in need of house cleaning and the hourly rates of the removalist company.

However, if you decide to pack your belongings yourself or use partial packing services, the average cost decreases to a few thousand dollars for packing supplies, van hire and storage while moving yourself. You can start saving on removalists charge rates by taking up some moving tips in this article.

If you choose to do it yourself, you will need packing material. These include cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, packing tape, permanent markers, and more. You can buy these items at a local hardware store or order them online. You can even go as far as finding free moving boxes to keep your costs down.

Most interstate removalists will have the packing supplies ready for you, but they will charge extra costs for that service. If you decide to pack your belongings yourself but still hire a removalist to do the lifting, check with the company if they have free moving boxes as part of their service. Some companies will provide free boxes if you are willing to return them after the move, which can lower costs when determining how much does it cost to move house.

Removal Companies Moving Costs

How much it costs for a removalist depends on the distance you are moving and the volume of items you are transporting and the types of properties the removalist will face when packing your goods. If you have a big house, you may need an additional truck or trailer to transport your belongings, which will increase the price.

You may also be able to get a better deal if you have your possessions packed up when the removalists arrive as opposed to paying for this service.

It’s easier and cheaper to move from one suburb to another than from one city to another. For example, it costs an average of $650 to move from Sydney CBD to Parramatta (about 30km), but about $2,800 to relocate from Sydney CBD to Brisbane (over 1,200km).

The more stuff you have, the harder it will be to move and the more money it will cost. If you have lots of furniture and other bulky items, or there is difficult access to properties,  this will increase the costs of moving and the packing time.

Moving House Storage Costs

Your storage costs are also an important consideration when moving house, especially if you are downsizing or moving interstate, where there could be a gap between selling your old home and buying your new one.

A storage unit can be useful if you have to move out of your house before the settlement date or if you have items that won’t fit into your new home.

The cost of storage will depend on the size of the unit and how long you need it. You should also consider the distance between your old and new homes. If they are far apart, you might want to consider a long-term storage plan. A good storage unit will have a space calculator you can use to determine your storage costs.

You can expect to pay between $20-$50 per week for a small storage unit, $150-$300 per week for large furniture, and up to $1,000 per week if you have an entire house full of things to store.

Investing in quality storage is worth it if you are planning to store your goods for an extended period of time. Moving house is one of the biggest reasons people use self-storage units.

Moving House Insurance Costs

Home and contents insurance can protect you against loss or damage to your possessions while loading and unloading furniture as you’re moving home. Many policies will be automatically suspended while you’re in the process of moving your belongings. However, this is considered a high-risk period.

Be sure to check whether your existing policy will cover you during this time and for how long. If not, it’s good to get temporary moving house insurance cover for peace of mind before, during, and after the move. Your should also ensure that your moving company has insurance along with checking your storage unit insurance options when moving house.

Local Authority Planning Costs

Depending on the nature of your move and where you’re moving to, you may need to get planning permission from your local council. It can be a complicated process, and you may need to hire a professional to do this for you.

Many types of planning applications may require permission, such as changing the use of land or buildings or building an extension.

Stamp Duty and Other Legal Fees

Stamp duty is a government tax paid by the purchaser on all property sales in Australia. It’s calculated as a percentage of the sale price and varies depending on your circumstances, whether you’re buying an investment property or your first family home. It also varies depending on which state or territory you buy. For example, Victoria has some of Australia’s most expensive stamp duties.

Stamp duty rates depend on the property’s value and can be paid in one lump sum or instalments over three months. For example, purchasing a $500,000 home in Sydney with a mortgage would cost around $20,000 in stamp duty.

Moving House Bond Costs

A bond is a sum of money paid by a tenant when they move into a rental property. The state's tenancies authority holds this money during the tenancy and only returns after the property have been vacated and checked for damage.

If you’ve never rented before, it’s important to know about bonds, so you don’t get caught out later. When will you get your bond back is one of the most common questions tenants have about bonds. You need to put this sum in your moving cost so that you don’t get stranded anywhere.

Save Money With Quality Storage

You can use the list above to check that you have prepared everything for your move before even packing. By going through it, you should now have an idea about the costs associated with moving house in Australia. Quality storage solutions will ensure that you don’t lose money and time by losing your possessions to poor storage conditions and inflated storage prices. A quality storage unit will be affordable and highly secure.

Moving House With A Plan

Moving home can be a stressful time. Aside from packing, you need to prepare a variety of documents from where you are situated to the location where you intend to settle.

If you plan well and with some useful moving tips, pack efficiently, and budget effectively, you will avoid many of the pitfalls and unexpected expenses that are always lurking when you are moving home. Hopefully by now you have a rough idea of how much does it cost to move house.