A House Move That Helped Us Upsize For Our Future Family

They had lived in their 2-bed flat since 2013, but their wedding made Andy and his wife realise that it was time to spread their wings even further and buy a house. They had been discussing having children and soon realised the flat would be inadequate for their future growth. “With wanting to start a family, we wanted to stay local to have a family support network and we know the area well enough to know it is a safe place to raise children.”

Andy explained that Sanderstead was a very significant area for the pair, as well as highly convenient, so they knew they wouldn’t go looking very far. “I work in Civil Aviation down near Gatwick and my wife works in the City,” Andy told us. “Sanderstead is therefore very convenient location wise as it is pretty much equal distance between our workplaces.”

Karen had actually grown up in Sanderstead, whilst Andy’s family home was one town over in Selsdon. “We know the area very well,” Andy explained. “We both have family, our parents, still living in Selsdon and Sanderstead, as well as my wife's brother. Further Aunts and Uncles are all fairly local too.” With such a strong family network around them, they knew that no other place would be better suited as their forever home. “...The fact we are located very close to the Primary school my wife attended and the secondary school we both attended, we feel like we are on familiar ground.” So, they had the area picked out, but what about the home?

To put it simply, the move was going to be quite an upsize for the pair. “From a 2-bed, second floor flat to a 4-bed semi-detached house, the change is quite remarkable!” Andy explained to one of our content writers. “Having a garden was a must as we both missed private outdoor space during the lockdown, especially on the warmer days. ” And, would you believe it, they actually found that perfect home only 200 yards from their current location. It was certainly meant to be! Once the lockdown restrictions were lifted, Andy and his wife could finally begin their moving journey in July of 2020.

This would be the couple’s first big move together and so they decided that it wasn’t to be tackled alone. “This was the first move I haven’t done as, previously, I did it myself with a van and friends...never again by the way!” Andy had found Compare My Move through a number of our moving guides and decided that this would be where he would start his search. “I did receive several quotes for surveys, although I ended up going with a family friend. It was great to receive calls rather than have to trawl through online...”

After receiving a number of quotations and reading reviews, Andy and Karen chose to work with the Croydon-based removals company, Good Movers. Good Movers are a family-run business who only joined the Compare My Move network in February 2020 - they have already achieved a superb 5-star rating from our users. They offer a number of quality removal services along with a professional packing service to help make their client’s moving day as stress-free as possible. They were most certainly a perfect option to help the married couple start their journey.

And with one simple phone call, Andy knew he had chosen well. “I ended up speaking to Jim on the phone, and I don't know about you, but I get a sense of a person on the phone and he just sounded like the kind of person I would be happy working with,” he said. “When I spoke to Jim initially it was very early in the process. It was several weeks before we spoke again and he remembered me which I thought spoke volumes too.” And just like that, their moving day was organised.

Andy explained that Good Movers were incredibly punctual, professional and hard-working. Despite the short distance, the team still worked with maximum efficiency and effort, ensuring a quick and seamless moving day for both Andy and his wife. He continued by stating that although he didn’t have much experience with moving companies and “didn't have much to compare them with”, he had “heard other people's horror stories” and was very impressed. “I have and would absolutely recommend them again.”

With the heavy lifting complete, the married couple finally had more house space to call their own. From sharing a communal garden to having a whole house and more to themselves, it was an upsize that resulted in what they now believe to be their ‘permanent’ family home. “[We now have] somewhere we will stay for the foreseeable future and therefore doing things like decorating or extending will feel worthwhile,” Andy explained. “The flat was only supposed to be somewhat short term but we ended up staying much longer than we thought…”

The upsize has truly been worth the effort and the pair have settled into their new home very quickly. “It's great to have a garden (we did have a communal garden but it didn't feel private at all) and now we get to have barbecues!” Andy told us excitedly. “We have been able to use one of the bedrooms as an office for working from home and are currently planning on getting another desk to fit into another room.” They even get to enjoy the most basic of life’s little pleasures, such as taking their weekly shop right to their door and not up 4 flights of stairs as they once did. “I also like the idea of being able to wash my car on the driveway in front of the house. It’s the simple things!”

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