Brisbane relocation checklist
Everything worth doing, in the order it needs doing — from choosing a corridor to your first month on the ground. Print it, or work through it a stage at a time.
01
Three to six months out
- Pick your corridor before your suburb — north, inner east, inner south, west, bayside or the growth corridors.
- Shortlist two or three schools and request their enrolment timelines in writing.
- Work out whether you're renting first or buying, and set your one-off moving budget.
- Check flood overlays and 2011/2022 history for any street you're serious about.
- Get quotes from two interstate removalists and ask about transit insurance.
02
Six to eight weeks out
- Lodge school applications and pay any enrolment deposits.
- Book short-stay accommodation for the gap between arriving and moving in.
- Start rental applications, or brief a buyer's agent if you can't inspect repeatedly.
- Line up a building and pest inspector and a Queensland conveyancer.
- Book the removalist and confirm access and parking at both ends.
03
The final fortnight
- Arrange electricity, gas, internet and contents insurance from your move-in date.
- Redirect mail and update your address with banks, super, insurers and the ATO.
- Confirm bond and advance rent, or settlement funds and cheque details.
- Organise pet transport, and a plan for the first night's essentials box.
- Photograph your existing home's condition report before you hand back the keys.
04
The first month here
- Transfer your driver licence and vehicle registration to Queensland.
- Update Medicare, register with a local GP, dentist and vet.
- Get a go card and drive the school run and the work commute in peak hour.
- Join a club, a Saturday sport or a surf lifesaving group — this is what makes it stick.
- Revisit whether your suburb still suits before you commit to buying.
Want to talk it through?
Half an hour with someone local usually saves a wasted trip. Ask about corridors, schools, timing or what your budget really buys.