You may find moving midweek to be far more cost effective, as weekends always carry a premium. The company you eventually choose to move you will want to come out and inspect your home, to work out what they will be moving, and to provide you with a quotation, so you may want to de-clutter before they arrive - they will take an inventory, in some cases, with you and decide what your quotation will be. If you're washing textured walls, use a nylon sock to do so it means you won't leave fluff in your wake and always wash walls from the bottom up to avoid streaking, applying any cleaning solution you're using (once tested to ensure paint, or wallpaper fastness) in small patches whilst you're cleaning. Your job too plays a huge part in picking a house - can you easily travel to your place of work, and more importantly, is the area able to offer a similar job, should the worst happen? You can also balance isolation and city life with what you prefer - if you prefer a quieter pace of life, its better to move to a town, though you may find that houses further out of cities may cost slightly more. It is possible for your belongings to be damaged in storage, but highly unlikely you'll be given a list of belongings that you're checking in and you should check at that time that everything is secure, sealed and stacked or placed well. If you're moving long distance, its always good to research, throughly, by phone and if possible, in person, how much access you'll have to your furniture, and belongings, and what sort of notice you need to give you'll also need to work out what is going into storage and how much space you'll need for it all. Estate agents, and Realtors do a great job of selling houses, but in an ever increasingly competitive market, you have to do very unique things to sell your house - it has been reported that some people are offering new cars, or paying the tax on your house for the first year of your stay in the new house. Painting and Decorating Painting, decorating and other ways to make sure your house is in a good condition to sell. House selling has become a very competitive market, and though people are desperate in some areas to buy a house, its important you take care to ensure that the you've done all you can to make your house as attractive, safe and saleable as possible.