
When a household moves out of a house, the player is given the option to sell household objects, leave them, or transfer them into family inventory. In later expansion packs or patches, the phone can also be used to purchase additional homes. If the player chooses, he or she can move the active household to a new lot using the telephone. If story progression is enabled, empty houses may be filled with NPCs a house must have a refrigerator and at least one bed in order to be automatically filled. Sims are now able to visit other inhabited residential lots. However, the inventory feature, introduced in Nightlife, allows Sims to take objects with them when they move. As in The Sims, a family's belongings, other than build mode items, are sold when they move out of a residential lot. Residential lots can be placed almost anywhere as long as they connect to a road, however, it is possible to have a lot anywhere one wishes with certain modifications. Like residential lots in The Sims, residential lots are the center of gameplay. However, unoccupied residential lots in Magic Town cannot be edited even if Unleashed is installed. If the Unleashed expansion pack is installed, unoccupied residential lots in the original neighborhood and Old Town can be edited. ( Vacation allows Sims to sleep on Vacation Island lots.) Residential lots are the only lots that can be edited during gameplay. Unless the Vacation expansion pack is installed, Sims can only sleep on residential lots.

However, build mode items, such as doors, windows, stairs, etc.

If the family moves from one residential lot to another, all their belongings are sold. When a family buys a lot and moves in, it becomes their home and the center of gameplay.
