Moving house in Ho Chi Minh City, in order

Generic moving checklists tell you to change your address at the post office. This one is for this city: the lease deposit you have to fight for, the lift you have to book, the temporary residence declaration nobody mentions, and the trucks that cannot enter District 1 at eight in the morning.

Updated September 2026

Four weeks out

1. Read the lease for the notice period and the deposit terms. Most ask for 30 days' written notice; some ask for more, and some make the deposit forfeit if you leave before a minimum term. Give notice in writing, by email or a signed letter, and keep a copy. A Zalo message is a weak record.
2. Confirm the new home's handover date in writing too, and ask what "ready" means: painted, cleaned, appliances installed? A one-week slip is normal. Decide now what happens if the dates do not meet: a storage plan with both-ways collection turns that gap from a crisis into a line item.
3. Book the move. If it is door to door on one day, a mover; if there is any gap, book storage with collection on the move-out date and set the delivery later. Two days' notice is the minimum; four weeks lets you pick the day.
4. Start the sort. Every box you do not move is money saved on the truck and the plan. Sell, give away and throw out in that order; the buyer groups on Facebook and the second-hand apps move furniture within days if the price is honest.

Two weeks out

1. Building management, both ends. Ask for the moving rules: lift booking, deposit for lift and corridor damage, permitted hours, whether the freight lift or the passenger lift is used, whether you must lay protective sheeting. Book the slots and get them confirmed in writing.
2. Internet. FPT, Viettel and VNPT all relocate an existing contract; ask for a "chuyển địa điểm" and book the technician for the day after you move in. Cancelling and re-signing usually costs more than moving the line.
3. Air conditioners you own. Book a technician to recover the gas and remove the units on the last day, and another to reinstall. Movers and storage crews carry units; they do not decommission them.
4. Schools, employers and banks. Update the address where it matters for deliveries and for the residence paperwork: your bank, your employer's HR, the children's school, the delivery apps.
5. Pack what you can live without: books, off-season clothes, decorations, the second set of everything. Label each box with the room in the new home, not the room in the old one.

The last week

1. Confirm the crew, the vehicle and the time. Tell them about the lift slot, the alley width, the floor and any item that needs two people or a dismantle.
2. Defrost the fridge 48 hours before, drain the washing machine, empty the water dispenser.
3. Arrange the meter readings. Electricity and water accounts in a rental are almost always in the landlord's name. Agree a time to read the meters together on the last day, photograph them with the date visible, and settle the final bill from the readings, not from an estimate.
4. Pack an "open first" box: kettle, cups, chargers, toilet paper, a towel, the router, a change of clothes, the paperwork. It rides with you, not on the truck.
5. Photograph every room of the old home empty and clean. It is your evidence in the deposit conversation.

Moving day

• Central districts bar light trucks from main streets in the morning and evening peaks. Crews start mid-morning in Districts 1, 3, 5 and 10; plan for it rather than around it.
• Be there for loading and check items off as they go. With a storage crew each item is photographed and listed on the spot; with a mover, make your own list.
• Walk the old home with the landlord: meters, keys, fixtures, the empty-room photographs. Get the deposit return date in writing if it is not paid on the spot. A deposit "returned after the next tenant moves in" is a deposit you will chase.
• At the new home, direct furniture to its final place the first time. Moving a wardrobe twice costs a second crew hour.

The week after

1. Residence registration. Vietnamese tenants register temporary residence at the new address; foreign tenants are registered by the landlord or the building, who must file a temporary residence declaration for you. Ask for confirmation that it was filed. Visa extensions, work permits and some bank and school processes check it.
2. Confirm the internet technician came, the electricity and water are in whoever's name the new lease says, and the first bills arrive to you.
3. Update the delivery apps and Grab with the new address and the new alley instructions. Half of the first week's frustration is a driver at the wrong gate.
4. If part of the home is in storage, set the delivery date from your account when the last room is ready, and bring items back in the order you want them, not all at once.

If the dates do not meet

A gap between homes is the normal case, not the exception. Book both-ways collection on the move-out date; the crew packs, catalogues and stores everything, and you set the delivery to the new address when it is ready. Small, Medium and Large plans cover a studio, a one-bedroom and a family home, from 1,250,000 VND a month, with collection and return from 5,100,000 VND. Anything you need in the meantime can be sent back on its own.

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