Moving between homes is inherently stressful, even when everything goes like clockwork. It’s exciting, but also disorienting and sometimes a bit scary. So, it’s well worth carefully planning your move to prevent any preventable curveballs on your moving day.
All the more so in a city like Johannesburg, where plot twists are fairly predictable, ranging from power and water outages to summertime flash floods to miniature Grand Canyons appearing on the road between your current home and your new one.
This guide provides a detailed recipe for a gloriously hitch-free moving process in Johannesburg—offering practical advice on budgeting, prepping and packing, and finding the best local moving service.
Ready? Let’s get moving …
Following this checklist will help guide you through your big Johannesburg move.
Start packing: A good starting point is packing up anything you won’t need before move day.
Place orders for your packing materials: Get everything you need to pack like boxes, cartons, storage units, tape etc.
Update your utilities and service providers: Tell your municipal and other service providers from water, power and refuse collection to internet, subscriptions, etc. that you will be moving and let them know when.
Update your new address with services: Make sure your bank or official record that stores it has your new address.
Create a shortlist for movers of special and fragile items: Include items like artwork, electronics and other valuables, which could be moved in a special consignment.
Check if you need a parking permit: You may need to secure parking permits for the moving truck, perhaps in busy commercial areas like Sandton or Rosebank.
Make final arrangements with your moving company: Confirm the moving details and times with your moving service.
Book cleaning services: If you don’t employ a regular cleaner, landlords may penalise you for leaving a mess and deduct cleaning costs from your deposit at an above-market rate.
Consider what plans you need to make for your special loved ones: Make arrangements for pets, young children, or elderly housemates. For example, can they spend the moving day at a friend or relative’s peaceful home?
Inspect your new home: Pop over to your new home to fix or clean anything that needs it ahead of the move.
Keep up the packing: Box and label all the stuff you won’t need till after the move and work on one room at a time.
Assign a carry bag for stuff needed on move day: Set aside toiletries, a change of clothes, and important documents. You can finish packing it at the last moment.
Update your address details for official records: You'll need to do this for your driver’s license, and car registration. If you’re feeling very organised, you can even update your IEC voting district for the next elections.
Final confirmation with your moving company: Make sure that all the move day details are communicated with your moving service.
Clean your current home: Start cleaning up your home and at least tackle the time-consuming cleaning tasks.
Pack up the remaining items: Now is the time to pack up all the remaining items that aren’t needed in the next week.
Make final arrangements: Confirm your plans for pet and/or childcare on move day.
Set aside a big enough parking place for the movers: You can mark it out with cones or pot plants. If you live in a sectional title complex or apartment block, clear this first with the body corporate and/or superintendent.
Meet the movers: Be available for movers when they arrive and let them know of any last-minute changes.
Do a final walkthrough of your old property: Check if you’ve forgotten anything important.
Check your new place: When you arrive, check that the utilities are working. If not, contact the utility companies to find out why.
Unpack, unpack, unpack: This can seem a daunting and exhausting task after all the work of packing up. Be gentle with yourself. Tackle the kitchen and bedrooms first. You can unpack the rest once the place is liveable.
Check off your itinerary: Confirm that all the boxes and furniture have arrived and have been put in the right rooms.
Take a stroll around the neighbourhood: This will give you a relaxing break from all the move-day drama, and give you a sense of your new surroundings.
Should you hire a mover or deliver your possessions yourself—assuming your load is small enough? That can be a tricky question, involving tradeoffs between higher cost on the one hand and a higher risk of damage to your valuables and a certainty of hard physical labour on the other hand.
Insurance offered by movers is a big factor to consider—knowing you’re covered against any losses is valuable when entrusting your worldly possessions to strangers, however professional they may be. And their professionalism is in itself an advantage, they know exactly how to move everything safely.
If you do opt for a mover, there are options to choose from. Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons of a full-service move, a dedicated load, or a shared load
Type of move |
Pros |
Cons |
Full service |
Simplicity and peace of mind. A luxury moving experience. |
Higher costs |
Dedicated load |
Cheaper than full service, with very predictable timing. |
More packing work and insurance paperwork than full-service. Higher carbon footprint if you don’t fill the truck. |
Shared load |
Lower costs & smaller carbon footprint. |
Less predictable timing than a dedicated load. |
DIY / Truck hire |
Likely cost-saving saving, the thrill of adventure. |
More stress, hard work, complexity & risk. |
If you’re going to hire a mover, make sure to compare quotes on a platform such as Wise Move, which can help you quickly book Johannesburg’s best moving services.
When our moving day is a long way off, we tend to tell ourselves, with breezy confidence: “And we’ll get some boxes and tape and stuff.” That’s true. But there are boxes and there are boxes. Exactly how many will you need? And what size, and what shape?
Here’s a rough guide to the quantities of packing materials you may need for moving a three-bedroom home.
Several specialist box suppliers in Johannesburg such as Box Shop, Box Boys and Ecobox deliver to your door. If you don’t need new ones, Takealot also supplies packs of second-hand boxes at competitive prices. You can also find these on Facebook Marketplace.
With a bit of patience and legwork, you can also source free boxes. Save all your delivery packaging, collect discarded boxes at supermarkets or recycling centres, and ask friends and family for their post-move leftovers.
You can get tape from any major retailer like Builders, Takealot, PNA, or your local hardware store.
One or two rolls of bubble wrap should be enough to cushion fragile items like glassware, plates, artwork and electronics.
Two or three rolls of packing paper will be needed to wrap up your breakables.
Bubble wrap and packing paper are stocked by packaging suppliers like Box Shop, or large online retailers like Takealot. Your moving service may supply them too.
Ask your moving company whether they will provide furniture pads or moving blankets, or else can hire them out to you. In the unlikely event they do neither, you can order them from retailers such as Takealot and Leroy Merlin.
Box suppliers, Builders, Leroy Merlin and Pick ‘n Pay Home all stock plastic bins.
When you leave a home, it’s good karma to leave it perfectly clean. And if you’re a renter, it’s also good sense, because even the nicest landlords love to deduct any expense they can find from your lease deposit. Don’t give them that chance.
If you employ a cleaner, make it clear to them that this is a deep clean of all surfaces, not a routine clean.
Once you’re happy, take some time-stamped photos to document the state of the house when you left it.
If you don’t have time to unpack everything immediately, or if the new place simply isn’t big enough for all your stuff, then you may need to put some things into a storage facility.
While storage companies usually offer you standard insurance for your goods, it may be wise to supplement it with additional cover, whether provided by the company or sourced yourself.
Because moving is stressful, you need to make plans to reduce disruption and anxiety for yourself, and also for kids, elderly relatives and pets.
Pets can be disoriented and upset by a move, particularly a long-distance one. You should pack a bag with all their essentials such as food, water, and perhaps a cosy toy or familiar bed or blanket. If it’s a longer trip, you can use Wise Move’s pet transport booking platform to book a reliable moving company.
Younger kids can get manic on move day, which doesn’t help the mood of parents. Involve them in the packing process where practical to keep them busy. On the day itself, it may be a good idea for them to play with friends or relatives until the heavy lifting is done.
Moving is particularly daunting and flustering for the elderly. If you’re moving with an older parent, maximise their comfort by ensuring they have an accessible bag with all their medication and precious stuff. It’s best if someone can accompany them on the move, to navigate any mobility challenges and make sure they’re OK.
If you are moving with a disability, the top tips are:
Moving in Johannesburg, whether across town or out of town, is not for sissies. That’s why finding the most trusted, best-value moving service is essential. Using a platform like Wise Move, allows you to book your move with proven and reputable movers, saving you a lot of anxiety. Don’t leave the choice to chance.