How to Prepare Your Home Before Packers Arrive

When a packing crew arrives, the clock starts. Anything they have to wait for — decisions about what stays, cupboards that need emptying, a car blocking the entrance — is time added to your move. Here is how to have the house ready.

Finish deciding what is not moving

Packers pack what is in front of them. If you have not separated the items you are discarding or donating, they will be wrapped, boxed, transported and unpacked at the other end. Move those items out of the house, or into one clearly marked area, before the crew arrives.

Separate everything that travels with you

Documents, jewellery, medicines, laptops, keys and chargers should be in one bag or one room with a clear sign on the door saying it is not to be packed. This is the single most common source of moving-day confusion.

Clear the paths, not just the rooms

Packing and loading need corridors. Move shoe racks away from the entrance, clear the hallway, keep the stairwell free and make sure the parking space is available before the vehicle arrives.

Clear the entrance, hallway and stairwell
Reserve the parking space nearest the door
Book the service lift where one exists
Inform building security about the crew and timing

Prepare appliances in advance

Defrost the refrigerator at least twenty-four hours ahead and dry it out. Empty the washing machine and drain the hoses. Neither can be done quickly on the day, and a wet appliance should not be wrapped and loaded.

Point out the fragile and the awkward

Walk the crew through the house before packing starts and flag anything genuinely delicate, valuable or unusually heavy. Ten minutes of context at the start prevents the questions that otherwise interrupt the whole day.

Make basic amenities available

Keep drinking water, a functioning bathroom and a working light in every room until the crew has finished. It sounds trivial, and it makes a long physical day noticeably smoother.