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Moving To Canberra: The Ultimate Guide

Canberra, the heart of Australia and the nation’s capital is a planned city famous for its unique blend of natural beauty and urban sophistication. In a 2023 study by Oxford Economics Canberra was ranked as the second-best city in the world for quality of life, thanks to its tree-lined streets, arresting architecture, diverse job prospects, lively culture, and world-class cultural institutions. 

If you’ve decided to move interstate to Canberra, there’s a lot waiting for you – but you need to get there first. Relocating long-distance is notoriously stressful, and can be unnecessarily ex pensive if not planned and researched properly. That’s why we’ve put together this comprehensive Canberra moving guide so that you can get your new life – whether for work, family, or work reasons – off to the best start possible.

Key Takeaways

  1. Research: Before choosing to move interstate to Canberra, understand the city itself, the neighbourhoods, amenities, job market, housing situation, and culture.
  2. Plan carefully: Create a detailed plan that includes budgets, timelines, logistics, and contingencies.
  3. Find your home: Decide whether you want to rent or buy, then research neighbourhoods that align with your needs and budget.
  4. Pick the right removalists: Research interstate removalists, compare quotes, check reviews, and ask the right questions.
  5. Pack efficiently: Start early, use quality materials, go room by room, create a detailed inventory, and don’t forget to label.
  6. Master moving day: Confirm arrangements, engage with your team, pack essentials separately.
  7. Settling in: Unpack systematically, prioritise essentials, and personalise your new home.
  8. Explore Canberra: Get to know local transport options, check out nearby and citywide events and attractions, and engage with your new community.

 

Getting To Know Canberra

Canberra is highly distinctive thanks to its planned city design featuring defined town centres, purpose-built residential suburbs and green spaces, and geometric street patterns. Here’s a quick rundown of the different areas.

Neighbourhoods And Suburbs In Canberra

North Canberra:
South Canberra:
Weston Creek and Molonglo Valley:

 

Choosing Where To Live In Canberra

Everyone has different priorities for when it comes to their neighbourhood. If you’re not sure and are open to choice, the following points will help you narrow down where you might want to make your new home.

For more information on Canberra’s suburbs, take a look at the official page on Visit Canberra

 

Planning Your Interstate Move To Canberra

Moving interstate is a daunting prospect, and it can be difficult to know where to start, and how to keep track of it all. This section is all about the steps you can take to keep everything manageable, and on time.

Creating A Moving Checklist

Don’t underestimate the power of a checklist – it’ll help you prioritize tasks, track your progress, and ensures that nothing gets overlooked. Here’s what one might look like, and when things should happen.

In the weeks and months before moving

In the days before moving:

Moving day:

After moving:

Now, the above is just an overview to give you an idea of what’s involved. For a detailed specification that you can download and follow, grab our handy interstate moving checklist.

Setting A Timeline For Your Move

A detailed timeline for your moving task will give you a much better chance of hitting the milestones in an organized way. Start by working backward from your moving date and assigning deadlines everything on your checklist. Be realistic about the time required for each task and leave some buffer for unexpected delays.

Here’s a sample timeline to give you an idea:

Finding Your New Home

Moving interstate means that you’re going to have to make some serious choices about where you’re going to live, and the nature of the accommodation. Your individual budget, needs, and preferences will inform the choice, but to help you narrow things down in your mind, here’s some information on the differences between buying and renting.

Renting:

Buying:

For more insights into prices and trends, here is a fantastic look at prices per suburb in Canberra, and a useful property report by Allhomes.

 

Tips For Home Hunting in Canberra

  1. Get pre-approved: If you’re buying, getting yourself pre-approved for a loan will give you a better understanding of your budget, and the offers you can make.
  2. Talk to a local estate agent: A local agent will know better than a nationwide one, and can provide more targeted advice and insights on specific areas and values.
  3. Be realistic: You’ll likely find that things cost more than, and nowhere will be perfect. You’ll have to make compromises to suit your budget.
  4. Act fast: The property market moves fast. If you find somewhere you like, you’ll have to make your choice quickly, or you’ll probably lose it.
  5. Go to open houses: Open houses and auctions are regularly scheduled events, and will give you valuable insights into current market conditions, and a better understanding of how a property’s features and condition correlate with the asking price.
  6. Know the area: As above, you need to be well acquainted with the local services, conveniences, and proximity to the workplace and schools before making your choice.
  7. Check online listings: Take a look at Allhomes, Domain, and Realestate.au to see what’s out there.

 

Choosing Your Interstate Removalists For Canberra

No Canberra interstate moving guide would be compete without understanding how to pick your moving team. Interstate removalists come in all shapes and sizes, and going with the wrong one can make the difference between a smooth move, and a nightmare.

Researching And Choosing Your Moving Partner

  1. Check their credentials: One of the first things to look for is whether or not the company is part of the Australian Furniture Removers Association (AFRA). This means that they are accredited and guarantee a professional service with insurance coverage.
  2. Get personal recommendations: Ask friends, family, and colleagues about their experiences with moving companies, or know someone that has moved recently. There’s no better evidence than a personal experience.
  3. Compare different companies: Get quotes from at least three different interstate removals 
  4. companies to see how their prices compare, and what is included in the service.
  5. Check their services: See if your potential moving partner can offer extra services you may need, such as storage, cleaning, packing, and unpacking.
  6. Visit their website and check reviews: Take a look at the company website to find out more about how they work, and check review platforms such as TrustPilot and Google Reviews to see what people have to say about them.

 

Understanding Moving Costs And Quotes

Moving service quotes aren’t complicated, but there are certain things you’ll need to look out for – both to notice red flags, and also to understand what you’re getting for your money.

  1. Get detailed quotes: Make sure that your quotes outline all costs involved, and are fully transparent about any admin costs or hidden fees.
  2. Compare carefully: Don’t go for the cheapest option – instead, look at the overall value that’s on offer, including the reputation of the company, the quality of their equipment, and levels of insurance coverage.
  3. Don’t forget the additional services: Account for extra expenses if you go for added services such as packing, unpacking, cleaning, furniture disassembly, and specialist cargo handling.
  4. Understand the payment terms: It’s important to know when payment is due, what payment methods are accepted, and what kind of cancellation fees there are.
  5. Insurance: Find out what level of insurance is on offer for your cargo, and what kind of options you have for additional cover for expensive and specialty cargo.

 

Packing For Your Long-Distance Move To Canberra

Next up in our Canberra moving guide: Packing. There’s no getting away from it, and is easily one of the most-hated aspects of moving. One thing we suggest is to remember that it can be an ongoing process, so as long as you start early enough, you’ll be just fine.

Streamline Your Packing And Unpacking

  1. Have a timeline: start super early to avoid last-minute rushes, with a schedule for each room, or type of cargo.
  2. Gather quality supplies: Don’t get cheap boxes and materials, as this could result in your cargo getting damaged. Talk to your removalist company, who may be able to supply you with boxes, padding, bubble wrap, tape, and anything else needed.
  3. Room by room: Start with less-used rooms and cargo, such as guest rooms or storage areas. Then pack items in groups, such as books (here’s a guide on that), clothing, kitchenware, bedroom, and so on
  4. Label properly: Make sure that each box has a number, a note about the contents, which way up it goes, and whether or not the contents are fragile.
  5. Consider colour coding: One way to quickly identify the contents of a box is to use a color-coded sticker system. For example, you could use red stickers for kitchen items, blue for bedroom items, and green for living room items.
  6. Prepare a ‘first night’ box: You won’t want to go digging in your main boxes on your first night home. Have a special box packed with bedsheets, toiletries, medication, basic kitchenware, and other things you’ll need quickly and easily.
  7. Use suitcases and bags: Save on boxes by using backpacks, suitcases, and gym bags for soft cargo such as clothing and shoes.
  8. Protect breakables: Give fragile items extra bubble wrap and protection, making sure that the boxes are full, and that the contents won’t shift around and break when moved.
  9. Create an inventory: Use a spreadsheet or word processor to document which boxes have which code or number, so that you can make sure that when everything is unloading, nothing is left behind.

 

Get To Decluttering

All of us have a bunch of clothing, shoes, DVDs, books, and old utensils that we haven’t touched for months if not years – and instead of sorting through it all, we just put them away. Well, moving is a great time to donate, sell, or dispose of these items. Not only will you lighten the load to unpack, but you can save on moving costs as well.

The best way to go about this is to start as early as possible, so that you don’t feel pressured to get rid of everything. Next, sort into categories based on whether you’re donating, selling or throwing away. And, if you can: be ruthless. 

 

Getting Through Moving Day

Everything you’ve done so far has led up to this day – but there’s still more to do. Despite all that planning, moving day can still be stressful, so here’s how you can go about keeping things calm and efficient.

 

Navigating The Unexpected

 

Settling In To Your New Home In Canberra

Congratulations on getting the hard part done! Moving long-distance to Canberra is no small job, so after your interstate removalists have unloaded your cargo, give yourself a quick break…and get back to work! There’s still plenty to do.

Unpacking Tips

You might feel that unpacking is easier than packing – but once you get started you’ll see it still takes a lot of time. 

  1. Start with the essentials first, such as bedding, medication, toiletries, kitchen supplies, and clothing.
  2. Go room by room so that you don’t have to bounce around too much, starting with the most important spaces, and working your way through to lower priorities.
  3. This is a good chance for even more decluttering, so see what else you can ditch.
  4. Have binbags in every room, as all that packing material needs to go somewhere. This will make it easier to collect and recycle all that tape, paper, and plastic.
  5. After unpacking, personalize your space with a few simple touches. Full decoration can wait, but displaying photos, artwork, or even posters will make it feel more like home.

 

Exploring Your New Neighbourhood

After spending hours indoors unpacking and organizing, you’ll be itching to explore the outdoors. This is a great time to find out more about your suburb, and wider Canberra. 

Get on a bike, or put on your walking shoes and just get out there. Discover the local shops, facilities, parks, and transport links. Say hi to the neighbours and ask them about connecting with the local area. You can also look for local community groups or clubs that align with your interests, such as sports or music. 

You can also look at:

Your local community council – Each suburb in Canberra will have a community council that organises events, and has other information about the local area. Give your suburb a Google, with ‘community council’ afterwards to find one specific to your new area.

Local Facebook groups – Facebook is a fantastic resource for anyone new to a particular area. Seach for your suburb on the platform and you’ll find a group where you can ask questions, and find out about local events.

 

Practicalities And Transport In Canberra 

The key to living in a city like Canberra is to understand the transport network, and where you need to look for other essential services and organisations.

Transport In Canberra

 

Updating Your Details And Local Service Registration

While it might seem like a hassle, registering yourself in the appropriate places is crucial. Failing to do so could mean missing out on essential services and benefits.

 

Summary And Further Reading 

It’s been a long road, but if you’ve followed the above advice, your interstate move to Canberra has every chance to be smooth and hassle-free. If we had to say the three most important Canberra moving tips we want you to takeaway from this guide, it’s 1.) To start early, 2.) Do your research, and 3.) Work with experienced interstate removalists.

For more reading on moving interstate, why not take a look at our articles on moving interstate on a budget, the cost of moving a car interstate, and the dos and don’ts of moving interstate.

Good luck, and we hope you love your new life in Canberra!

 


Experienced Interstate Removalists For Canberra

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ZOOM Removals is a leading interstate removalist service provider for homes and offices. Our five-star rated relocation services are renowned across Australia not only for its quality but also for the best prices when compared to other interstate moving companies. Our attentive furniture removalists can move your belongings from Canberra to all major Australian cities for added peace of mind and a worry-free relocation, including:

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