Moving out of town for the first time...don't know what to do!!!

[Lita Rennold]

Hey everyone, so I have an out of town move coming up in the next 6 months or so and as the title says I've never done this before. I was wondering if anyone here could lend their thoughts on the pros and cons of hiring professional vs amateur movers vs self moving (renting PODS container, UHAUL, etc.). I'm of course trying to do this the easiest most cost efficient way possible.

Thanks.

[gaymer77]

How far away is your move? When I think of out of town move I think just a city or two away unless its cross country.

[Vermicious]

IMHO pay for someone else to do the moving for you, use a professional well rated service, not some '2 guys with a truck'. Ask around, or check on local YELP or similar sites. If you're working with a Realtor, they often have great connections.

It's a total pain if you do it yourself, both figuratively and literally, as some things are HEAVY. It's well worth a few extra $$$ to not hurt your back or other body parts.

You can do a mixture of things too (get a POD, and hire movers), it all depends on your budget.

[Balazaar]

Cost-wise solo move is cheapest, amateurs next, pros are expensive.

Work-wise least to most is the reverse - pros, friends, solo.

The safety of your stuff is pros (insured), solo, friends (who may drink).

It all depends on what is most important to you ... price, work, or safety of your stuff. You won't get all three.

[Lita Rennold]

Awesome suggestions....thank you all so much!!! I think I'm going to compare cost of the PODS, and movers with a their own truck. My friend said I should just use professional movers too so I can get everything insured because like everyone else is saying something will break and told me about movingguru.com/moving-quotes/?? Have any of you heard of that website as a tool to find movers? I don't trust Craigslist (or any site similar) so I'm just trying to make sure it has more reputable "companies" lol

[Endus]

Some of this may be repeated, but I've moved a bunch, and here's what I've learned;

If you're moving a fair distance and have a lot of stuff, spring for the movers. They'll get the job done in one day, and they'll be providing a guarantee against damages and the like. If you're just moving to the next town over and have like a small apartment worth of stuff, U-hauling it yourself is just fine. Basically, if you think you can finish the move in one day (not the packing, the move itself), do it yourself/with family/friends. Otherwise, pay someone.

Books are heavy as hell. Don't pack them in standard 2x2 cube boxes. Your movers will thank you. If you need boxes for books, liquor boxes are perfect, and usually you can grab some for free at local liquor stores; they don't need them and they're glad to get rid of them.

Pack EVERYTHING. Every single thing going in the truck is either in a box, or is furniture. Period. At most, you should have one bag of cleaning supplies or the like that's loose. Don't just toss stuff into laundry hampers or whatever. That's fine if you're moving within the city, but don't put yourself through that if you're moving out of town. And pack it all before the day of the move. Your goal should be to start packing the truck relatively early in the morning. This is especially true if you're going with a moving service, though they'll provide boxes too.

Disassembling furniture is almost always easier that moving it in one piece, if it's an option. This becomes exponentially true with every flight of stairs involved, on either end. Keep any tools you need for disassembly available, not packed, because you'll need them for re-assembly on the other end. And trying to remember what box has your tools can be a PITA.

Use twice as much packing paper as you think you need to. Get more boxes, if need be. Densely-packed boxes usually end up crushing something inside; you want enough packing that the paper is what gets crushed, not your stuff. Exceptions are things that are crush-proof, like books, but with dishes and such, wrap each dish separately, and be sure to wad some paper inside of glasses/mugs and such.

Your goal at the far end is to get everything in the front door, and then let the movers go/return the truck/whatever. Take a break. You don't need to unpack that day. And don't unpack as boxes come in. Go get another box. Get that stuff inside. The last thing you want is to not finish unloading and have to put in another day at it.

[ItachiZaku]

If you are still packing anything on moving day (aside from last minute cleaning supplies), you are wrong.

[Deleted]

burn it all and just buy new stuff
much better approach imo

[zealo]

How far are you moving?

Self moving by renting a truck is definitely possible but if I where in your shoes id hire professionals to handle the move if its a distance greater than perhaps 600 kilometers.

[Victor23w1]

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[Lawlhero]

Just stay inside, and play video games. Don't need friends or outside activity.

[crono14]

I have a lot of experience in this area and I am even moving in 2 weeks from Chicago to Texas. We moved last year from Nashville to Chicago and then a few times before that. While my wife and I didn't have much stuff, we drove all our stuff in cars and that worked. We hired movers to come and pack everything for us and completely move us. This was a large company, but they contract out the moving to another company of course. DO NOT let them pack everything for you as this will increase the cost substantially. We are talking about packing your kitchen and then they put like 1-2 cups or plates in a box and then charge you $30 per box. We ended up with another $1000 of cost and then we were over the quoted weight limit which is not uncommon anyway. You never really know how much you have.

We could have easily saved ourselves about $2000 just packing ourselves but we had a 1 yr old and not enough time to do so. This move we are packing everything so the movers will just come and load all of our stuff and that's it. If you can move yourself or get friends to help, then by all means rent a truck and do so. It will be much cheaper, but moving companies charge based on weight and per mile. The longer a move, the more it will cost. Hope that helps.

[nomansland]

For me moving out of town is super simple. You just sell your house and then sell your furniture thru garage sale, pack your truck with clothes, and then in the new place buy all new. For furniture you can read reviews and choose anything for any budget. As for clothes, it is even easier. Right?

[smityx]

Sell, donate or dump a lot of your random extraneous junk...err stuff. Get a fresh start at the new location.

[KOUNTERPARTS]

Always identify the places surrounding your new home that are essentials: grocery stores, police + fire department, local government buildings, recreational, etc. It doesn't have to me those specific examples but get to know the locations of your new surroundings.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

I moved cross USA several times when I was in the service and also a few times when climbing the professional ladder. The easiest way? In all honesty is to dump almost everything you can and move with only the items you absolutely need. So some clothes, your non-replaceable (photo albums, pc, stuff like that), and maybe some sleeping situation. After the first time of fighting with a big moving company to move my shit (which was expensive, basically a fraud, and nothing but trouble) all I ever did was rent a small u-haul and a trailer to tow my car on (also from u-haul). I packed up the important stuff and just drop across the country with my car in tow.

As I mentioned above the big move everything professional companies are trash and expensive (at least in the states). They will milk all they can from you with your shit as hostage. A lot of stuff will either be damaged or outright broken and you will have to sign papers pretty much making that ok. So by the time you spend 5-10 grand moving your shit across the nation and find half of it in a junked state when it gets there you could have just sold that shit on the cheap (even if its for bin bargain throw away prices) and then used that 5-10 grand on top of what you just sold all your old stuff for and pimp out your new crib.

[Orange Joe]

Necroed twice.......