Everything we've learned from 75,000+ moves across Australia, turned into a guide that works for you: real price benchmarks for your city or route, a checklist that remembers your progress, a timeline built around your move date, and packing know-how from the pros.
View pricing, read reviews and book professional interstate and local removalists online.
Free to compare, no obligation — every mover is vetted through our 7-stage verification process.
The single biggest thing that separates a smooth move from a financial disaster is starting early. The moment you know you're moving, set a move date and work backwards — the checklist does the working-backwards for you.
Confirm your move date, set a budget and sketch a timeline. Leave room for surprise costs and delays — the cost calculator gives you a starting benchmark.
Lock in your removalist, vehicle, cleaners and storage if you need it. Arrange electricity, gas, water and internet at the new place.
Go room by room and decide what to keep, sell, donate or dump. Don't pay to move what you no longer need.
Pack non-essentials first and label every box with its contents and destination room. Keep valuables, documents, medication and your essentials kit separate.
Notify your bank, employer, insurers, government services and subscriptions. Redirect your mail and update pet, school and childcare records.
Clean and repair the old place, photograph it and finish any rental or settlement requirements. Check access, parking and measurements at the new one.
Confirm every booking, supervise loading and unloading, and do a final check of the old place. The checklist has the full move-day run sheet.
Unpack the essential rooms first, test the utilities and make the place secure. Finalise your bond or settlement, review invoices and chase anyone still writing to your old address.
Watch: Muval's Moving Guru on how to approach a move, in four minutes.
The less distance your removalists carry things, the less time it takes and the cheaper it gets. Stack packed boxes as close to the exit as possible, and if you're price conscious, nominate a single room at the new place for all boxes and distribute them yourself later.
Scout the parking at both properties — the closer the truck gets to the door, the less "back and forth" time you pay for. Some councils require parking permits for removalist trucks, so check early. If you have the new floor plan, sketch where big furniture will go so you can direct the crew straight to the spot.
Moving locally? Move your potted plants yourself — they travel badly in trucks and are fiddly (read: slow) for crews to handle.
Every box you don't move saves money, and selling unwanted items puts cash back in your pocket. Host a garage sale, list on online marketplaces, or donate to charity. Disassemble all the furniture you can — flat things stack, and stacked things are cheap to move.
If you can't part with something but know it won't make the cut at the new place, box it separately and label it so you never unpack it.
The full list lives in our hidden costs of moving article.
Compare prices and reviews, get quotes in writing so you understand the terms, and book as soon as you're happy — good removalists book out fast, especially at the end of the month. If your dates are flexible, ask about backloading: sharing truck space on a route a mover is already driving, at a lower price.
Removalists generally won't move aerosols, paint, alcohol or chemicals — ask what's excluded, and watch for the common pitfalls when choosing a removalist.
Every mover on Muval passes a 7-stage verification process and needs a minimum customer rating to stay on the platform. Compare removalists near you.
Make a list of everywhere your address lives: driver's licence, vehicle registration, electoral roll, banks, super, insurance, work, subscriptions. Transfer home & contents and vehicle policies to the new address, and ask your GP how to transfer medical records if you're changing clinics. Our change of address checklist covers the lot.
Then redirect your mail with Australia Post for a month or two — it catches everything you forgot.
Getting the bond back comes down to the final clean and how you've maintained the place. Book end-of-lease cleaners (and carpet cleaners) three weeks out, schedule garden maintenance and a rubbish run, and photograph everything when you leave. Here's how to clean your house to get your bond back.
Keep your utility disconnection a day or two after your move-out date so you still have power and hot water for the final clean.
Start as early as possible. The moment you know you need to move, put a move date in place and work back from there — that's exactly what our checklist and timeline does for you, week by week from six to eight weeks out.
Check with your removalists, but as a rule they won't move:
And keep important documents, house keys, jewellery and your first-weeks essentials kit with you rather than on the truck.
A few light items down the road? A mate's ute will do (reward them accordingly). A whole home, or an interstate move? A quality removalist earns their fee in saved time, avoided damage and lower stress. Compare vetted local and interstate removalists here.
Plan and budget, book your removalists, pack room by room, sort utilities and address changes, confirm everything in the final week, move, then unpack and settle in. The interactive checklist walks you through the whole process — including when to book removalists and how to get reminders in your calendar.
A couple of weeks before move day, make sure your connections are set up at the new property — you don't want your first night in the dark with no Wi-Fi. Muval Connect can set up electricity, gas, internet and pay TV in one go, so the power and the Wi-Fi are working the day you arrive — or give us a bell on 1300 168 825.
Removalists carry their own protections and insurances, but in many cases they don't automatically extend to customers. That's why we introduced Muval cover — optional insurance for moves booked through Muval where you choose the items you want protected. Chat to us on 1300 168 825 to find out more.
Local moves are billed by the hour — typically $140–$170 per hour for two movers and a truck, with a two-hour minimum. Interstate moves are priced on how much truck space your things take up, in cubic metres. Our moving cost calculator gives you a benchmark from real Muval bookings for your city or route.
Check reviews and insurances, get quotes in writing, and remember that you get what you pay for. Muval movers are approved through our detailed 7-stage verification process and require a minimum customer rating to retain their place, so you can compare removalists with peace of mind.
View pricing, read reviews and book professional interstate and local removalists online — in minutes, not days.