Moving us closer to the poor house

SOARING property prices in some cities have made it harder than ever for homebuyers and the myriad extra charges on top of the purchase price add tens of thousands of dollars to their burden.

The bad news is there is another financial hurdle that most are not prepared for; moving day.

New research shows property buyers spend an average of $1618 physically moving home, equating to a nationwide total of $863 million a year.

ING’s Cost of Moving Home Report found that 50 per cent of more than 600 surveyed recent home buyers had not budgeted for costs associated with moving, while 48 per cent exceeded their budget. This showed many people were underprepared, said ING head of product Tim Newman.

“When saving to move home it’s important to put aside some money for the actual move itself,” Mr Newman said. “Our research shows many Aussie buyers are left empty-handed by the unexpected costs of moving from one home to another.”

Costs involved with using a removalist can vary greatly. The 12 per cent of survey respondents who chose to hire a removalist to do the entire job spent an average $3655. One in five of that 12 per cent however spent more than $5000, with a small number of these forking out more than $10,000.

Meanwhile, the 44 per cent who packed and unpacked their belongings themselves, but had them delivered by a removalist paid an average $2009, while those who hired a truck or trailer to do the job themselves paid an average of $782.

The survey also found the economy is affected, with Australians taking 3.24 million days off work a year to pack, move and unpack. All up, 59 per cent said they took an average 3.5 days off work to move house.

The best way to save was to use elbow grease, Mr Newman said, something that may not appeal to all.

“Home buyers can reduce the cost of moving home by almost $1000 by choosing to do it all themselves,” he said.