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You’ve had it with your old home—or maybe you’ve received a great job offer in another city.

So, you want to sell your old home as fast as you can, but you want to get a good price for it so you can buy the home of your dreams in your new location.

What can you do to speed up the likelihood of finding an eager buyer? Here are some tips from the moving experts at Zoom Removals.

First, Clear Your Home of Clutter

You’ve probably heard this before—but it’s essential to attracting buyers. Be ruthless. What you can’t bear to part with, store in a secure storage facility until it’s time to move.

Buyers like to see plenty of storage space—and living space. Fewer furnishings around a room and fewer belongings inside your cabinets and wardrobes make a home feel more spacious—and more attractive to buyers. Box up your excess clothing and shoes until your moving day.

Secondly, Stash the Personal Mementoes

Buyers love to imagine their own belongings in a room, not your family portrait or your kid’s name plastered on the wall in huge wooden letters. Instead, select artwork that picks up the colours in your walls and drapery to provide a balanced, tranquil room. If you’re not comfortable choosing art, ask a friend who’s good at home décor to help.

Next, Place Your Furnishings in an Attractive Arrangement

Glance through home design magazines to get some ideas. Arrange your furniture in a way that enhances the best features of each room. If some of your furniture looks shabby, store or donate those pieces. Rent or buy new pieces of furniture—or hire a home staging business to provide furnishings that work well in the room.

Attention to Detail Equals Perfection—So Pile on the Details

It’s those small touches that pull a room together like nothing else. Glance through those home décor magazines again. Look at the accessories they use in each room. You’ll notice that the colours blend well with the walls and other furnishings in the room.

Texture is important in accessories so don’t be afraid to add smooth metals, nubby fabrics, and natural woods. Use plants and flowers to bring a touch of nature inside. In your kitchen and dining room, bowls of fruit send a subtle message: This room is the perfect place to create memories through food.

Finally, entice buyers through scent. In the autumn and winter, apple or cinnamon-scented oils in a diffuser set the stage, while in the springtime or summer a lovely floral or berry create a fresh feeling throughout your home.

When you use these tips to prepare your home for sale, your real estate agent will have a much easier time finding a new buyer for your home. After you sell, all the work you have done will pay off when the removalists finally arrive to take your belongings to your new dream home.

When it’s finally time to move, choose the best. Book your move with the helpful professionals at Zoom Removals today.

One universal truth about piles of paperwork—they evolve into mountains of the stuff over the years. When it’s time to move, you wonder, ‘Which of these documents do I need to keep’? Which ones can I toss? Here are some tips from the experienced removalists at Zoom Removals to help you sort through your mountains—and turn them into molehills once again.

First, Find the Most Important Documents

Medical records, birth and adoption certificates, passports and legal documents, insurance policies, tax records, documentation for your valuables, and investment records are all files you need to keep. To better organise them for the move, create a three-ring binder for each person in your family and one for each pet.

Put important medical and veterinary records, birth certificates for your two-legged family members, registration papers for your four-legged ones, insurance policies, wills, advance directives, and other important papers into each file. Secure them with a clear plastic sleeve and organise them by type so you can find them quickly in case of an emergency.

Keep your passport and driver’s licences on your person in a secure location. If you plan to fly to your new home, never leave your passport in your carry-on. If a plane hasn’t enough room in their carry-on storage bins, you might have to check them before you board. Don’t take chances. Keep your personal IDs and credit cards by your side.

Next, Locate Owners’ Manuals for the Appliances You Plan to Keep

If you’re like most people, you still have the paperwork for your fridge—three fridges ago, that is. Get rid of the paperwork for the appliances you’ve tossed out long ago. If you plan to sell or donate some of your old appliances, tape the owner’s manual for each to the appliance. Don’t leave it in your file boxes.

Dedicate a moving box to transport all the owners’ manuals for your appliances that will go with you to your new home. Label it well. Ask the removalists to load the box near the back of the truck so you can find it easily when you arrive. You may need these when you install your appliances in your new home.

Find, Label, and Pack Away Your Tax Records—Five Years’ Worth

According to the ATO, you only need to keep five years’ worth of records. Keep those—and pitch the rest. Shred any documents that contain sensitive information, though, so your financial information doesn’t get into the wrong hands.

How about Those Sentimental Papers Clogging up My Files?

Let’s face it. You don’t need every dinosaur drawing Junior ever drew. Keep a few and ditch the rest. If you can’t bear to get rid of the rest, scan them into your computer and store them on the hard drive—or even in the cloud.

You don’t need to keep all the medical records on your late cat Fluffy. Keep a few pictures and ditch the rest of the paperwork. If your pets were show animals and had progeny, then scan their competition records and store them digitally. Otherwise, keep only the most meaningful mementoes of your pets who have passed on.

Finally, Make Backup Copies of the Documents You Put into Digital Storage

With important information, backup copies are essential. Make sure you have at least one backup copy of all your important digitally stored documents before you move. That way, you’ll know your data is protected against loss.

After you’ve sorted through all your files, you’ll have considerably fewer boxes than you would have if you had waited until you arrived at your new home to clean out the clutter. Fewer boxes, a better deal with your removalists. More money to spend on your new home.

To discover the best deal for your move, contact the expert removalists at Zoom Removals today.

Just the idea of moving sends more people than you know to the brink of sanity. We know. We’re the removalists who help them keep it all together.

But you can do a lot to reduce your stress level—even change your perspective on moving—if you follow a few simple tips. Use these time- and sanity-savers and save yourself a trip to the therapist.

Make a Master List

Before you start to pack, decide how you want to keep track of everything. The system doesn’t matter. What matters is this: that it works for you.

List every box you pack on this list. Give it a number. List everything you pack in each box underneath its number. Duplicate that list on the box itself.

Get Specific

When you label, detail counts. List the types of items within. Instead of ‘dishes’, write ‘Pfaltzgraff Carmen dishes’. Instead of ‘Files’, write ‘W-Z files’. Instead of ‘Clothes’, write ‘Bobby’s summer clothes’. When you get to your destination, this helps you decide what to unpack first.

Also, don’t forget to write on each box—and on your list—the name of the room where each box or item will go in your new home. This will help the removalists unpack faster, and you’ll have everything in its proper place the first day in your new home.

Buy Plenty of Supplies

Nothing pushes the stress buttons more than running out of markers, stickers, wrap, boxes, or tape. Most removalists will provide boxes for you—many times free—so get plenty of them. Take advantage of their generosity and save yourself a trip to the local supermarket for extra boxes. Be sure not to overfill boxes. Tape them well so they don’t burst open if the driver hits a pothole.

Organise as You Go

Keep items with their accessories as you pack. Pack books with bookends, wiring with devices, and appliances with their cords and extension cords. Pack holiday trim with your artificial trees and parts in sealed plastic bags taped to the item they belong to.

Take Your Most Important Papers and Valuables with You

Unless they’re larger antiques that you cannot move yourself, take your valuables, such as jewellery, coins, and your important papers, with you. That way, if you need a paper, it’s right at hand. And, trust us, even though we’d take extra good care of it, you’ll be a lot less stressed if you know Grandma’s ruby brooch is right beside you, tucked away in its special box, all ready for its new home.

When you’re ready to ditch the stress for a smooth move, call on the experienced removalists at Zoom Removals. Book your move today.

You were perfectly happy in your Sydney home. A block big enough to have a lovely garden, nice neighbours, great schools. Then your partner came home and announced a promotion. Trouble is, you’d have to move to Brisbane. Near her office. In an apartment tower.

No chance for a garden there. Who knows about the neighbours?

And the worst thing about it? She’s heading off in a week, leaving you to handle all the arrangements.

Talk about a recipe for stress. You can feel the cortisol build up as she drones on about the new office.

Take a breath—and take a few tips from the professional removalists at Zoom Removals.

Know You’re Not Alone

First of all, know you’re not alone. Psychologists rate moving on the stress scale right up there with divorce—and even with losing a loved one. When that move requires a huge change in your lifestyle, it’s even more of a challenge.

Find Ways to Lower Your Stress Level

Use stress reduction techniques, such as deep breathing, meditation, and even ‘retail therapy’ to help ease the burden. Shopping for furnishings for your new place—like a windowsill garden box for your sky-high digs—can help move you from stress overload to joyful anticipation.

Create a Nostalgic Sanctuary in Your New Home

If you can, plan at least one room to resemble your current home. It will ease the transition and provide a place in which you’ll feel centred. Curtains, furniture—even wall art and photographs—will create a feeling of familiarity.

Plan to Have Help Come Moving Day

When you face a move you’d rather not have happen, you need to spend some time with friends and familiar places, saying your goodbyes and forming a mental picture you can take with you wherever you go. If you can, treat yourself to your removalists’ packing service. Leave all the tough work for them. That way, you can keep your routine as normal as possible. You may even want to use the extra time to do some long-distance job hunting in your new location, provided you haven’t found work there yet.

Make Checklists

Even if you do have extra help moving, making checklists for the tasks you can’t delegate can make you feel in control. Every time you mark something ‘done’, it helps you take ownership of the move itself. That’s powerful. The more you feel in control, the less stress you will have.

Finally, take the time to say farewell to your old home. Get your mates together, get some takeaway and some bubbly, and celebrate your ongoing friendship and your new life. Plan to meet again—and then make sure you keep that appointment.

When it’s time to move, call on the removalists who make the process easy—the professionals at Zoom Removals. Book your move today.

You just got a call to fill your dream job.

The only problem, it’s in a faraway state—and you have to move right away.

Or maybe you were too busy wrapping up loose ends at your current job to take care of hiring a removalist, packing your things, and getting all your paperwork together.

Either way, you have a move coming up in just a few days—and you’re in full-on panic mode.

No worries. Take some tips from the professional removalists at Zoom Removals—and you can handle your last-minute move like a pro.

1. First Off, Call the Removalists

Since many removalists have full schedules, it’s important to book your move right away—especially if it’s during their peak season. Tell them your situation—and they’ll do their best to work you in. If you haven’t packed yet, it might be a good idea to pay a little extra to have your removalist pack most of your things.

2. Take Care of Paperwork Before You Move

Have your medical, dental, and veterinary records transferred to providers in your new location. If you have children in school, fill out all the required papers to transfer them to their new school. Cancel utility service at your old home and schedule it to turn on at your new home.

3. Start Purging Inessentials

Travel light. People whose jobs keep them moving often, such as Defence families and corporate executives on the rise, know that culling your belongings to eliminate all but the most valuable and essential is the key to a successful move.

You really don’t need every paper the kiddos brought home from school. Limit it to a few, and you can enjoy all the memories without all the clutter. Similarly, that clothing that used to fit a few years ago but you can barely get one let into today—pitch it. Chances are by the time you get down to the required weight, the item will be hopelessly outdated.

Keep things that have value to you and your household. Whether their value is monetary or sentimental, pare your collection down to your finest and pack those. You really don’t need five different sets of crockery. Sell or donate your least favourites.

If you haven’t room for something that has great value to you, consider storage instead. That way, if you do find room for it in your new home, you can retrieve it then.

4. Pack Your First-Week Essentials

Pack enough clothing, food, and household basics to last you until you unpack your things at your new location. Plan to take important legal papers and valuables with you, not in the moving van.

5. Enlist Your Friends and Family to Help You Move

If you run short of time, don’t hesitate to call on those close to you. Make it a farewell party with takeaway food and good vibes—and you’ll make memories that you’ll treasure for a lifetime.

With these tips, you’ll be on your way to your new home in no time, ready to embark on your new adventure. If you have an upcoming move—don’t wait. Book your move today with the expert removalists at Zoom Removals.

Cats, according to the feline health experts at Hill’s Pet Foods, ‘develop strong bonds with their environment’. Some cats are so sensitive to changes in place that they even run away to their former home when their owner moves. To keep your cat safe from his or her own instincts and other moving hazards, follow these tips for stress-free moving with your cat from the moving experts at Zoom Removals.

Keep Kitty Confined while the Removalists Pack Your Things

Before the removalists come, put your cat, his or her litter box, food, water, cat carrier, and favourite bedding in an empty room. Place a sign on the door to tell the removalists not to go into the room. Keep your cat in the room until you get ready to leave the home.

Move Your Cat’s Essentials with You

Just like you pack a first-week bag for each of your family members, pack one for your cat as well. Food, favourite toys, bedding, and dishes should go with you if possible. If not, ask your removalists to put your cat’s bag of belongings towards the back of the van so they will unload it first.

Travel with Your Cat if Possible

Keep your cat with you in the car. Make sure to keep him or her in the carrier until you arrive at your new home to ensure he or she won’t hop out during the trip. If you have a long trip, and the cat needs to relieve himself or herself, use a collar or leash—or allow him to use the litter box. Have water freely available to your cat during the trip.  If you have to fly, see if you can hold your cat in your carrier on your lap. Otherwise, make sure your cat carrier contains familiar objects, such as a favourite blanket, that will provide familiar scents and keep your cat calm. Never allow your cat to sit in a hot car unattended.

Make Sure Your Cat Has an ID Tag or is Microchipped

Though you take all the precautions in the world, your cat may still find a way to escape. It’s important that you have a collar on your cat or have him microchipped to ensure that he or she will be returned to your care.

Once You Arrive, Place Your Cat in a Pre-Cat Scented Room

Cats’ sense of smell is keen. Use that sense to create a familiar environment for him or her in one of the rooms in your new home. Since cats have scent glands around their faces, use a soft cloth to rub your cat on his or her cheeks and face. Rub the cloth with the cat’s scent on it around your new home, starting with the first room you keep your cat in.

Keep Your Cat Inside for a Few Weeks

Allow your cat to get used to your new home for a few weeks before you let him or her explore outside. If your cat is used to a collar and leash, you may want to take him or her outside with a leash until she or he seems calm in the new environment.

Maintain Your Cat’s Normal Routine

Once everything’s unpacked, try to keep your cat’s schedule as normal as possible. Feeding times, times you turn your home’s lights off and on, and your family bedtime should stay the same as it was in your previous home.

With these tips, your move can be as much of an adventure for your cat as it is for you. For more moving tips or to discuss an upcoming move, contact the moving professionals at Zoom Removals today.

You think moving across the country or across town can be a challenge for you and your household? Just think how stressful it can be for your dog.

As a rational creature with access to services that can make moving easier, such as free, sturdy boxes from your removalist, packing services, and more, moving need not be a huge deal for you.

Dogs, on the other hand, are creatures of routine. New routines, such as the hustle and bustle that occurs when you start packing up belongings in boxes—not to mention when the removalists arrive—can upset your dog.

The other aspect of moving that can send your dog into an emotional tailspin is the variety of new smells in your new home. Because a dog’s sense of smell is much more developed than a human’s, your dog may become upset when he or she senses that strangers—the removalists—have entered your home. The scent of your new home’s former occupants, too, may confuse your dog. Here are some tips from the professional removalists from Zoom Removals to help your move go smoothly for your pup as well.

Keep Mealtime and Training Times Consistent

As best as you can, says pet care expert Kristina Lotz, stick to your dog’s normal schedule. Meals, training time, and walks should keep to the same schedule your dog normally keeps.

During the Removal and House Showings, Plan to Keep Your Dog in a Familiar Place

If strangers cause your dog anxiety, find a trusted friend or doggie daycare to keep your dog when you show your home and when the removalists arrive.

Keep Your Dog with You When You Move

On moving day itself, plan to travel with your dog at your side. Your dog will appreciate your presence to help keep calm. When your dog travels with you, it will seem like just another vacation with his family.

Make Sure Your Dog Is Up to Date on Vaccinations

Don’t forget to check the state laws in your new location. Make sure you meet all the vaccination requirements in your new home. Find a trusted veterinarian in your new location and transfer all your dog’s medical records there.

Make Sure Your Dog Has Proper ID

If possible, have your dog microchipped in case he gets loose during the moving process. At the very least, have a tag with your new contact information fastened securely to his or her collar.

Bring Your Dog’s Favourite Toys and Blanket

Don’t allow the removalists to take all your dog’s equipment. Keep a favourite blanket and toy with you when you travel. If you have to board your dog or plan to fly him or her in cargo, make sure he or she has a familiar blanket and toy during the journey.

Once You Arrive, Keep Your Dog on Leash for a While

Your dog may become confused at your new location. He or she might even try to run away to your old home. Until your dog has acclimated to the new home, use a leash when you take him or her outside.

With these tips, your dog can enjoy a stress-free move, just as you will when you book your removal with the caring professionals at Zoom Removals. To book your move, contact the Zoom Removals team today.

The removalists have come and gone; you’re unpacking your boxes, and then you notice. The sofa. It looks all wrong.

You did the floor plan on paper before you moved. It looked so good. But now? It looks out of place. It definitely belongs in the study.

Even worse, it’s a sofa bed. How in the world can you move it from your living room to your study without throwing out your back? And how will you move the other one from the study to the living room?

Big pieces of furniture—like sofas or heavy wardrobes–can be a big pain when you move. That’s why removalists have a few tricks up their sleeve when it comes to moving them. Here are some sofa-moving tips from the moving professionals at Zoom Removals.

First, Measure the Furniture

First, measure the piece of furniture you want to move.  If you must move it up or down a staircase or through a narrow opening, this is one step you don’t want to leave out. If the piece has removable legs, measure it without the legs. Otherwise, measure the height with the legs. Write down the width, length, and height.

Next, Measure the Opening the Furniture Must Go Through

Nothing is more frustrating than moving a piece of furniture through a couple of doors, only to get hung up because you forgot to measure the narrowest door it needs to go through. Instead, scout out the route you need to take to get it to its new home.

Make sure you measure every doorway or opening, so you know ahead if you need a Plan B. Remember, you can always turn a piece of furniture around to make sure that you move it in its narrowest profile.

If it doesn’t fit, consider removing the door and its hinges temporarily. Measure it first to make sure that this solution will work.

Remove all the Cushions and Drawers

The less bulk, the better when it comes to moving heavy furniture. If it’s a sofa or a chair, remove the cushions. If the piece has drawers, remove them as well.

Use Moving Blankets or Moving Sliders to Decrease Friction

The heavy work—the kind that sends you to the chiropractor afterwards—doesn’t have to be so difficult. Like professional removalists do, use furniture sliders or moving blankets to help you move the item more easily. Using sliders or blankets can also help keep your timber floors scratch-free.

If you need to turn the sofa on its side to make it easier to move, the blankets will give it extra protection. Remove the legs if needed to make it easier to manoeuvre. Work slowly and carefully. If you need extra help, call in a friend or neighbour—or even your removalist. The small fee you’ll pay for moving a few pieces of bulky furniture around is well worth it—when you consider the work you’ll lose if you wrench your back.

With these tips, you should be able to move furniture easily around your home until the design is just right. For more tips or to book a move, contact the team of expert removalists at Zoom Removals today.

When you move, you don’t want to take all your clutter with you. Clearing it out can save you money when the removalists arrive to take your belongings to your new home since most of them charge less for fewer belongings.

If you really want to save money, though—go one step further when you clear out your clutter. Throw a garage sale that can help you pay for at least part of your move. Here are some tips for throwing the finest garage sale in your neighbourhood.

Think as a business person would. How do successful stores attract the right buyers? With the right advertisements.

Use Online Advertising That Attracts the Right Buyers

Look at the belongings you want to sell. If you want to sell camping gear, make sure you advertise online in local camping enthusiasts’ forums as well as in your circle of friends and acquaintances. Similarly, if you have a trunk full of your Aunt Addy’s old sheet music, place ads in local music forums.

Target Your Posters to Reach Likely Customers

Design posters to appeal to your target buyers. For the trunkful of music, make musical notes prominent on your posters. Use camouflage colours to appeal to camping fans. And so on. Put up the posters where your target buyers hang out to make sure they see what you have. Remember the adage, ‘One man’s trash is another one’s treasure’. People will buy what you sell—you just have to attract the right ones!

Put up Generalised Ads, Too

Your old camping equipment, antiques, and fishing gear aren’t all you’ll want to get rid of before you move. You might have some old dishes, clothing, or books that will appeal to the general public. Use your social media profiles to advertise for free. Your friends will spread the word.

Don’t Forget the Uni Crowd

Remember when you were in uni—and a set of used dishes fished from a garage sale was like finding a hidden treasure? University students have one thing in common—a tight budget. Stuff you might think is practically worthless (like chipped mugs, scratched furniture, or mismatched plates) are just what they need to furnish their Spartan digs. If you live near a university, be sure to advertise there.

The Day Before the Sale

Before you hold your garage sale, get some boxes from your removalists. What you don’t sell—and want to keep—put into the boxes right after the sale so you won’t have to pack it twice.

The Day of the Sale

Organise your sale by type: Again, think about your favourite store. Create ‘departments’ so that people interested in antiques, for instance, can head over to that table, and those interested in books can go to your book table.

Create attractive displays: Just like a home, merchandise sells better when it’s ‘staged’. As best as you can, put your items in their best light. For instance, if you have a chair for sale, accent it with a throw that brings out its colour for a visual pop. Put knickknacks on shelves so buyers can imagine the items on their own shelves.

Make sure you have an extension cord for electrical items: People will want to test electrical items they want to buy. Make it easy for them with an extension cord.

Don’t Set Firm Prices—and Say ‘Thank You’

Set your initial prices with this in mind: people want to haggle. Allow them to do so—that’s what makes garage sales so appealing. It’s like a treasure hunt. People love to find a bargain. Offer them two items for the price of one—and watch your merchandise fly off the shelves. And do say ‘thank you’. Word-of-mouth travels fast. Friendly sellers attract more buyers—just like in any other business.

Wrapping up the Sale

Box up the things you want to take with you in the removalists’ boxes. The rest, sort into two piles: ‘Donate’ and ‘Throw Away’. Take these to the charity or to the trash bin right away so these tasks won’t complicate the days right before you move.

Wrapping up Your Move

Once you’ve cleared the clutter out, you may be in for a surprise. Double-check with your removalists to see if the ‘leaner, cleaner you’ is eligible for a lower price with fewer boxes and fewer large belongings.

Splurge a little with the proceeds on a dinner out with the family or friends to celebrate a successful sale—and use the rest to pay some of your moving expenses. To learn more about how to save money and time when you move, contact the expert team of removalists at Zoom Removals today.

When it’s your first time moving house, you may feel like the proverbial ‘deer caught in the headlights’. ‘What should I do first’, you wonder, paralysed.

No worries. The experienced removalists from Zoom Removals have some tips that can help.

First, Clear the Clutter

Everyone has extra stuff that they’ll never use. When you go to move, indecision about what to do with all these belongings takes up way too much time. Instead, place everything you own into categories: Keep, Pitch, Donate, and Sell.

Use these two criteria to decide which belongings go where: Have you used it within a year? Does it have a significant monetary or emotional value? If the answer to those questions is ‘no’, put the belonging in ‘Pitch’ if it has flaws that make it unusable, ‘Sell’ if you can get some money out of it in Gumtree or a garage sale, or ‘Donate’ if it’s usable but won’t bring much money on the market.

If it has monetary or emotional value, pack it. Don’t give it a second thought. When you’re moving house, time is money.

Next, Create a Moving Checklist

Knowledge is power. It’s never more powerful than when you’re moving. When you do a little research, you can make a checklist of all the things you need to do before you move. Once you’ve jotted them down, your stress will evaporate with each task you cross off your list.

Find Decent Boxes

Nothing ruins a move like flimsy boxes that don’t protect Uncle Ian’s pipe collection or Grandma’s china. Get sturdy boxes, preferably from the removalists themselves. At Zoom, we provide our customers with free boxes, since we’d prefer that our customers’ belongings make it to their new home in one piece.

Hire Removalists

Do your research on available professionals in your area. At the minimum, they should be members of AFRA, the Australian Furniture Removalists Association. Get referrals from your friends and read online reviews. Look at what services they offer to make sure they can provide the help you need as you get ready to move. Hire them early on in the process, though, since most reputable removalists have busy schedules. You don’t want to have to settle for some third-rate removalist just because you forgot to hire the one you actually wanted.

Finally, Get Insurance on Your Move

No matter how expert your removalists, there is always the chance for an accident. One can’t, after all, control that drunken driver that insists in driving in the wrong lane. Insure your belongings for peace of mind. We always advise our customers to do just that. Neglect this important detail at your own peril.

With these tips, even your first move can go smoothly. To book your move, contact the experienced removalists at Zoom Removals today.