As a rule of thumb that applies to (not all but) most cases of corruption: If the action you want to take, partially or fully removes data tied to other sims, it will cause corruption.
Best example of that is (like you probably know) deleting sims, who other sims have memories of or deleting custom food that one of your sims particularly liked.
Since the lot is unoccupied and since the game wipes out all belongings left behind by the previous family, moving them in will be safe imo.
It really is not a silly question since corruption in the Sims 2 is so absurd, like the saving while on the phone thing, that you can never know. :lol: