Moving in-state or even within your locality is no piece of cake. It still involves all the hassle of packing and unpacking, coordinating with the moving services, and making sure that all your belongings reach your destination in one piece. But there are some things you can do either before or during your move that can help make the entire process easy for you and your family. So keep reading to find out!
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Transfer All The Essential Services
Even if you’re moving locally, you wouldn’t want to keep running back and forth between your new and old home. While some utility companies have a broad reach, allowing you to simply change the registered address, some companies would need you to cut off the subscription as they don’t provide services to your new locality. Learn beforehand about your service operators and make the required changes for all your utilities such as water, gas, electricity, telephone lines, Internet, etc.
Use Eco-Friendly Packing Methods
Each year, relocation generates heaps of waste, biodegradable and not, including bubble wraps, newspaper, binding tapes, cardboard boxes, etc. However, since you’re moving locally, you can pack more efficiently using some eco-friendly packing materials and methods.
For instance, you don’t need to empty your closet. You can simply transport it as it is. You could also use a laundry bag or duffle bags to store clothes temporarily. Use your backpacks to carry small kitchen appliances and books, etc., and your traveling luggage can be used to pack things instead of cardboard boxes!
Another great way to ensure you pack with zero waste is using reusable storage boxes. These are made of reusable plastic, silicone, or cloth and can be used as storage containers once you’re done shifting into your new home. Certain companies, especially local movers, are quickly upgrading their inventory to these reusable boxes too.
Purge Your Belongings
When packing, you would come across numerous things you should get rid of. The t-shirt you’ve kept in your closet promising yourself you’d wear one day. The pile of books you were supposed to donate to the library. The box of old toys you were supposed to hand down to your cousins. It’s time to get rid of them finally.
You could donate or give away the items you don’t wish to take with you. Numerous organizations work to source things for people in need. You could also host a garage sale to make a quick buck out of all the extra things you own.
Choose The Right Vehicle
No one wants to make multiple trips to transfer all your belongings to your new home. Ensure that you contact your movers to book an appropriate vehicle beforehand.
At the time of signing the contract, most moving companies would quiz you about the kind and amount of luggage you would be carrying and send a vehicle accordingly. For instance, movers in Fairfax VA, send a vehicle after a thorough assessment to avoid problems.
Hire A Professional Cleaning Service
To wrap things up, it is ideal that you hire a professional cleaning and maintenance service. They can access your home for any damage, do minor repairs and maintenance work around the house, and clean the property, making it ready for the new tenants to walk in.
This process can also help you check in case you left a certain belonging in the house.
Bidding farewell to a home can be emotionally challenging, especially if you’ve lived there for a while. We suggest that you enjoy the cathartic process of packing away your belongings, slowly soaking in every nook and corner of the house until you are finally ready to head out for good.
Packing for a move- here’s how to do it right!
One reason for people postponing the move is the packing. It’s a time and energy-consuming process, especially when you lack the organizing skills. The tips for packing for moving are all about cutting down the time for packing while keeping your belongings protected and safe. Having said that, our packing hacks for moving come right down below:
Don’t take the clothes off the hanger
You might feel that it’s heavy to move the hangers with the clothes on, but remember that you need to move most hangers and clothes. Instead of spending minutes and hours packing your clothes, it’s easier and quicker to group the hangers with clothes on and protect them with large garbage bags. You can also protect them in wardrobe boxes.
Leave everything inside the dresser drawers
Leave your belongings in the drawers and only take the drawers out of the dresser. Use plastic wrap to wrap and secure the items. As long as the dresser doesn’t get too heavy, you can leave the drawers in the dresser and cover the dresser with plastic wrap as well.
Place small items in pots
Don’t waste boxes and storage space to pack the spices, gadgets, and kitchen tools. Instead, make use of all the pots and sealable containers to pack the small items. It’s an incredible hack to save space.
Use all the soft items
Protect fragile items such as perfume bottles and glasses with towels, linens, and soft items around the house. The plushy items will create enough cushioning for delicate and breakable things such as vases and lamps. Use the dish towels to wrap sharp utensils and knives. Use a rubber hand to secure the packed items.
Pack the suitcase
Heavy items are easy to pack and carry if packed in your rolled suitcases. Use the bags for tricky things to carry in boxes; heavy serving dishes and books make for such items.
Color code the boxes
You will save a lot of time when unpacking by labeling all the boxes. You can use color coding for boxes and assign a color for every room of the house. You no longer have to use the marker to write down what’s insides and where it should go. Plus, it’s a lot easier when unpacking.
Pack the TV
Don’t pack the TV until you take a picture of its back—it’s the best way to know which wire goes where. With your TV still plugged in, remember to take a picture of the back of your TV to know how to plug it in in the new home.
Make an essential moving bag
An essential moving bag will come in handy. You can use a suitcase or a small duffle bag to pack the essential items you need during the move and right after you get to the new place. Medications, important documents, basic toiletries, chargers, and a couple of changes of clothes are some of the items to go in the bag.
Take pictures
You should take pictures of the inside of boxes after you pack them if you need to remember where specific items are. It’s impossible to capture all items in the bag/box, but you can at least get an idea about what’s inside every box/bag.
Prevent spilling
Use some plastic wrap to wrap around things with a high risk of spillage. Use plastic wrap to secure the lids of things like shampoo, soap, cleaning supplies, and other items that might ruin all your clothes.
DIY move or moving company?
When you plan to move, you can choose to move on your own or hire professional movers. If you’re sitting on the fence about which methods is best for you, here are some details about both types.
DIY move
If you’re on a budget or master the organizing, you can move locally without asking a professional’s help. It doesn’t mean that you don’t need to follow some tips to have a successful move. You need many reliable and robust friends/family to help you pack, carry the items to the truck, and load the car. They will need to be around at the new place, doing the same things, but backward.
Keep in mind that moving can involve carrying heavy and fragile items; the risk of injuries and incidents is never null. If you don’t hire a moving company, you should rent moving equipment such as a dolly to carry the heavy items to the truck.
Also, if you do the moving on your own, you won’t have insurance for incidents, so you will have to pay out of your pockets in case of unfortunate events.
With budget limitations as primary reasons for a DIY move, no one can say for sure if you will save a lot of money, some or not at all—it depends on if incidents/accidents occurring during the moving. Only when you’re already in the new home can you run the numbers and see if it was worth it to do it without the professionals.
Moving company
Reliable movers provide you with a guarantee for a quick and stress-free local moving job. A dependable local moving company has hourly rates for such services. It’s a good thing because you can pack the household items on your own and call the movers when you’re done with loading and transportation. You can discuss the rates for the distance upfront with the moving company.
A dependable moving company will also offer insurance against incidents, short-term storage for the items (if need be), and even a fast and effective moving guarantee. Needless to say, you should ask for an in-house written quote from the moving company. Spend the time you need to go all over the clauses of every document before you sign it. Ask about extra fees and express any worries and requests you may have about the move.
When you’re all settled in in the new home, it’s nice to write a review about the moving company’s services. It’s an important step that helps other people know what to expect.
Whether you hire a moving company or not is entirely up to you, but why not avoid all the stress and fuss when professionals are just one phone call away?
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a local move mean?
Any move under 50 miles is defined as a local move. Local moves represent the most typical moves in the moving industry. A local move can include moving a couch up a set of stairs to moving a 4-bedroom house 40 miles away. For local moves, moving companies typically charge the hourly rate.
How much will a local move cost you?
The average cost for a local move ranges from $500 for a one-bedroom apartment to $1,400 for a four-bedroom house. We need to highlight that the cost to hire a moving company for a short-distance move ranges a lot. You will pay more when moving out of state or a long-distance.
Do movers disassemble beds?
When dissembling a piece of furniture is necessary to load it safely for transportation, the moving company technicians will disassemble beds, dining room tables, bookshelves, buffets/cabinets, etc. Dissembling pieces of furniture is included in the service.
Are there items that movers won’t pack?
The list of items that movers won’t pack is rather long and may differ from one company. Gasoline, lighter fluid, oxygen bottles, matches, nail polish remover, fireworks, propane cylinders, paints, and paint thinners are some of the many items movers won’t pack nor transport.
Do movers wrap furniture?
typically, the movers will wrap the furniture into moving blankets and pad an item before loading it onto a truck. it’s how they protect the furniture against surface damage. it doesn’t mean that some companies don’t ask clients to have the items ready for loading, especially if they’re only paid for loading and transport services.
