When Is The Right Time To Move Family Homes?

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Believe it or not, there are right and wrong times to move house. When you have a family, you have to put their needs above all else. Let’s say your children have just started school and have begun settling in, is it a good time to disrupt their life with a move that might mean they need to change schools? Similarly, what if you have older kids that are doing important exams – like GCSEs or A-Levels? Again, moving homes can be a huge disruption that can distract them from revision and negatively impact their results. 

Loads of things factor into whether or not it makes sense to move out of your family home and into a new one. Need help making this decision? Here are some factors to consider:

Can you afford to move?

Don’t move home just for the sake of it, or because you’ve seen a really nice new house for sale. For starters, only move if you can financially afford to do so. Calculate the costs of selling your home and buying the new one, and you will soon figure out if it’s financially viable or not. 

Are your kids at an important stage in their lives?

If they are, can you justify moving homes at this moment? Wouldn’t it be better to wait for a moment where your children aren’t at important stages. For example, when a child finishes primary school and goes to secondary school. This is a prime time to move as they’re moving school anyway, and you might be able to move to the catchment area of a better school. In fact, your child may only be able to attend the same school as their friends if you move, so it can be beneficial in some instances. Basically, if your children are in the middle of a very important time in their lives, you shouldn’t disrupt things by moving house. 

Do you have time to move?

It’s not just the kids that are busy, what about yourself? Do you physically have the time to put all the effort into moving house? As this checklist for moving house shows, you have a lot to deal with. You need to contact various companies, pack everything up, find a house, sell your house – the list goes on and on. If you’re busy with work and life – such as welcoming a new baby to the family – you physically don’t have time to move. So, don’t force one, wait until you do have time to handle everything. 

What’s your professional life like?

Have you been offered a job in a different part of the country that pays much more than the current one? If so, it could be a good time to move, seeing as you can’t miss an opportunity that benefits your family so much. On the other hand, if you don’t have a job lined up elsewhere – or the only ones you can find will pay less than your current one – does it make sense to move?

By answering these questions, you can figure out when it’s the right time to move house, and when you shouldn’t.