Every house move raises a myriad of important questions, so finding good answers to those moving puzzles is the first step to having a hugely successful move from start to finish.
Not surprisingly, one of those fundamental questions when moving to another home is just HOW TO MOVE HOUSE.
The good news is that you’ll be given multiple moving options to move your household belongings from Point A (the home you’re about to leave) and Point B (the home you’re moving to).
Will you try to plan and execute a do-it-yourself move? Do you prefer experienced professionals to help you out with your entire move, or maybe part of it?
Or are you looking for alternative moving options that will enable you to save money, time, and energy during the course of the move?
Understanding all of your moving options will definitely help you make an informed decision – be well-informed and choose the moving option that works best for you.
Here are the top 7 moving options you’ve got when moving to a new home.
Moving option 1: Organize a self-move
Naturally, your first thought when you learn of your impending move may be to organize a DIY move so that you don’t have to pay professionals to pack and move your household belongings.
That’s right, moving by yourself is likely to be your preferred moving option simply because you’ll be thinking about all the money you’ll manage to save, supposedly, by not hiring professional movers.
The first thing to understand is that moving on your own is a lot of work – planning and organizing a self-move requires plenty of time and effort, while handling the logistical side of your household move will be even tougher and far more dangerous in terms of risks and dangers on Moving day.
Your options when moving house will depend on a number of critical factors and you do need to weigh those facts and reach the best decision for you and your family.
First of all, moving by yourself is a good option when
you’re moving locally, within a distance of roughly 100 miles;
you’re not moving specialty items that require special packing and transportation care to survive the house move;
you’ll be able to rely on your friends to help you pack and lift all heavy items in your home;
It takes a lot of courage, confidence, and experience to organize a successful DIY move.
When considering the option of moving house on your own, it’s important to note that these will be the biggest challenges before you:
Packing. Packing for a move will be the most time-consuming task in your moving checklist, so it’s best to invite your friends to a packing party.
Heavy lifting. Lifting, carrying, and loading super-heavy and large household items can be plain dangerous and too risky if you’ve never done it before. You’ll need proper moving equipment and reliable helpers to make it happen injury-free and without any property damage.
Truck renting. Renting a moving truck is a tricky business – on one hand, you don’t want to rent a truck that’s too small because it won’t fit all of your belongings; on the other hand, you don’t want to rent a moving truck that’s too big because you don’t want to be paying for storage space you’ll never use.
Truck driving. Driving a huge truck across the country is not a joke. Are you up to the challenge? HERE you can read the top 15 tips for driving a truck cross country.
When should you use this moving option?
Consider moving on your own when
you’re moving only a short distance;
you’ve got loyal friends you can count on;
you don’t have any specialty items to move;
you’ve organized at least one successful DIY move before.
While weighing up the different ways to move house, you should definitely look for the easiest moving options for you – the ones that will enable you to move house easily and smoothly, without any major problems along the way.
Without a doubt, the easiest and most efficient way to move house is to hire a full-service moving company. Why?
A full-service mover will take care of all the stressful details of your relocation and, granted that you’ve picked one of the best full-service movers in the country, you won’t really need to lift a finger or worry about anything throughout the move.
Essentially, you’ll be paying for an all-inclusive full-service moving. Professional movers will handle your household move from start to finish, giving you the peace of mind that your possessions will be in safe hands, and also giving you more free time to take care of other important tasks, such as saying goodbye to your friends.
Reputable full-service moving companies should be able to offer you the following moving services, often tailored to your specific requirements and needs:
Packing. Especially important when you have specialty items in your home – antique furniture, a piano, a grandfather clock, a pool table, etc., or too many fragile items to protect for the move.
Furniture disassembly and re-assembly. Large and heavy furniture pieces will have to be disassembled first before they can be moved safely.
Transportation. Full-service movers will load your household items onto their moving truck and transport them to the new address. The delivery date and time should be pre-arranged with your long-distance mover.
Unpacking. Professional unpacking goes with proper disposal of all no longer necessary packing materials.
Hoisting. Your full-service mover may be able to offer you a number of extra services, if needed. Hoisting, also referred to as rigging, is an accessorial service that includes hoisting of really heavy and large items through a window or a balcony to avoid property damage.
Crating. The best full-service moving companies should be able to offer you the service of crating – placing your most delicate and valuable items in custom-built wooden crates for maximum protection.
Storage. When your new home is not ready to receive the household items you’re moving, your full-service mover will offer you temporary storage of your things at their safe storage facility. You will be charged for the period your items are stored there.
What’s the best way to move house? To let experienced professionals do it all for you, of course.
When should you use this moving option?
Hiring a full-service moving company is an excellent choice when
you’re moving long distance across the country;
you don’t have enough time and energy to organize a self-move;
you know you won’t be able to gather up your good friends to help you out;
you’re moving out for the first time and have no previous house-moving experience.
The best way to move house quickly and efficiently is to hire professional movers, but do you know what it takes to find the best full-service movers in the country?
You may not be able to afford to hire a full-service moving company but you will still need help when it comes to lifting, carrying, and loading heavy household items, such as furniture.
Or you may need assistance when packing some of the more special things you own – the thought alone of having to disassemble and pack your priceless grandfather clock on your own makes you rather nervous, doesn’t it?
What should you do when a full-service mover is too expensive to hire but you still haven’t managed to find any friends to give you a hand during that tough transitional period?
Another moving option you’ve got is to hire moving labor services. In reality, moving labor falls between Option 1 (organizing a do-it-yourself move) and Option 2 (using full-service movers).
The great thing about this viable moving option is that you get to choose the type of assistance you get from professional movers. Basically, you get to decide how involved you need those pros to be in your own move.
To get a better idea of what moving labor really is, you’ll need to break down the entire home-moving process into 5 separate stages:
Packing,
Loading,
Transportation,
Unloading, and
Unpacking.
Now, moving labor services can help you with any of those 5 moving stages except the Transportation bit. In effect, moving labor providers are professional movers who don’t have a truck.
Interestingly enough, moving labor companies don’t have moving trucks but they still offer the extra service of truck driving – at least the best ones do.
What this means is that you can arrange a moving vehicle – rent it from a truck rental agency, for example – but if you don’t want to go through the stress of driving a big moving truck across the country, you can still pay a professional driver to do it for you.
The type of moving services you should expect from the best moving labor companies in the country are: 1) packing, 2) furniture disassembly, 3) loading, 4) truck driving, 5) unloading, 6) furniture re-assembly, and 7) unpacking.
When should you use this moving option?
Consider hiring moving labor when you only need professional assistance with some of your home moving tasks, most often jobs involving furniture disassembly and reassembly, as well as lifting, carrying, and loading heavy and big household items.
Sometimes you may have difficulties with solving the big pre-move dilemma of whether you should move by yourself or hire movers to do it for you. Both moving options have a number of advantages and disadvantages, so you may find yourself in two minds about which way to go.
And if that should happen, then going with Moving option #3 (hiring moving labor only) usually turns out to be the safest and cheapest option when moving house.
However, there’s yet another in-between moving option that may work out brilliantly for you – using portable storage containers (aka moving pods) to move your belongings between the two homes.
In reality, renting a moving container can easily prove to be the best moving option for you thanks to the good number of unquestionable advantages it offers.
How do moving containers work?
The container moving company you’ve chosen as your partner will drop off a storage container of the right size at your home on a pre-arranged date. Then, you will be given as much time as you need – a few days, a week, or more – to load that container with your possessions – stress-free and at your own comfortable pace.
Renting a portable moving container can prove to be a masterstroke.
When you’ve packed the container with all the household items you’re taking with you, the container movers will come and pick up the loaded portable container and will either transport it directly to your new home to be unloaded by you (again, taking as much time as you need), or they will take it to their storage center where it will be safe and secure until you need it once more.
When should you use this moving option?
Renting a moving container will give you a great amount of flexibility and control over your own move, especially when it comes to packing and loading your things at your old home, and then unloading and unpacking them at your new house or apartment.
Consider using portable moving containers when
you’re looking for an alternative option to move house – one that will give you more control over the packing and unpacking tasks, and will offer much less move-related stress;
you’re moving to temporary housing, or your new home is not yet ready for your household items.
Moving option 5: Use your own car on multiple trips
You should be well familiar with all options when moving across the country – that is, all the moving options you’ve got when it comes to transporting your household items from the soon-to-be old home to the new residence.
In case you’re moving locally – across town or to another neighboring same-state town or city, you may want to consider doing multiple trips with your own vehicle to move all the things you wish to take with you.
Of course, first, you’ll need to decide whether the decision to move your various household things with a car will make any sense in your case. And as you might suspect, the two deciding factors will be MONEY and TIME.
How many trips will you need to make with your vehicle to get all relocation-worthy items from Point A to Point B? How much money will you spend on gas and wear-and-tear? Also, how much time will it take to complete those required car trips?
Bear in mind that making the car moving option work is all about knowing the best way to pack your car for moving. And that way, of course, is to optimize the storage room inside your own vehicle.
When should you use this moving option?
Using your own car to transport your belongings is an ideal moving option when you’re moving across town or moving to a nearby town or city. In such cases, you should be able to fit most of your non-furniture items as long as you know the best ways to pack your car for a move.
Moving option 6: Ship your items as packages with USPS
It’s important to consider all your options when moving across the country so that you can choose the one that is both convenient and affordable for you. And so, when you need small loads to be moved to another part of the country, one of the cheapest moving options you’ll have may be to send your things with the United States Postal Service as domestic packages.
Explore all your moving options to choose the best one for you.
To be able to ship packages through USPS, you’ll need to choose the right boxes and then pack them properly. The United States Postal Service has size and weight requirements for packages – requirements that you’ll need to observe so that you can pay less in the end.
The first thing you’ll need to know is that it’ll cost you less to ship your boxes with USPS if the containers can be processed with their automated mail-processing equipment.
Measure your boxes – they may not be more than 108 inches in total length and girth. To learn how to measure the package girth, click here.
Keep the weight of each package below 70 lbs.
Do NOT use string, cord, or twine when closing your moving boxes for the risk of getting caught in the mail-processing equipment.
Cover or black out old logos, labels, or addresses when using second-hand cardboard boxes.
Make sure you do not pack any restricted and prohibited items in the boxes you plan to ship via USPS. Here you can see the list of items you cannot send via U.S. Mail.
Address your boxes correctly by writing (use a permanent marker) or printing the address labels clearly. Both sender and recipient addresses should be on the same side of each box.
Lower your shipping expenses by choosing Priority Mail – shipping in 1-3 business days depending on your start and destination points. When you opt for the Priority Mail Flat Rate, you won’t need to weigh each box that’s up to 70 lbs.
Use the official USPS Postage Price Calculator to calculate your shipping costs. Prices start from $7.35 per box at Post Office locations or online.
Ship your packages at the nearest Post Office, leave them with an Approved Postal Provider, or request free package pickups.
When looking for the best moving options for small loads, make sure you visit the USPS website to get more information about how to prepare and send packages domestically.
When should you use this moving option?
Consider using the Postal Service to ship some or all of your things to the new address when
you’re looking for an alternative option to ship your smaller items;
you’re moving on a tight budget and wish to really lower your moving costs;
you’re moving only a small number of belongings across the country, with no furniture pieces of any kind.
Moving option 7: Ship your items with Amtrak Express Shipping
When moving house, you may also be interested in finding alternative moving options – ones that might work particularly well in your unique set of relocation circumstances.
So, here’s one shipping option for your household items that you may have never considered until now – using the express shipping services offered by Amtrak – the national railroad passenger corporation.
Amtrak offers shipping services for small packages between more than 100 cities in the country.
So, if your current city and destination city are both serviced by the medium- and long distance intercity railroad service, then it may be worth it to explore that shipping option, especially when you don’t own too many items and you’ve made the conscious choice NOT to move any large and heavy furniture pieces with you.
Amtrak has a weight limit for each shipment (500 lbs.) and a weight limit for each package (50 lbs.). So, roughly speaking, you should be able to ship via Amtrak around 10-15 moving boxes, depending on their individual weight. Also, the national railroad company has imposed a size limit for each item: 3 ft x 3 ft x 3 ft.
Amtrak requires that you pack appropriately all the items for shipment. You will not be permitted to send things packed in trash bags, large packing boxes that exceed the size limit mentioned above, containers with protruding sharp or pointed items, or various containers that won’t be able to hold their contents safely.
According to the official Amtrak website, you can ship regular bicycles and unicycles on Amtrak Express as well, as long as they are packed safely in a box. In those cases, the Amtrak Express size requirements mentioned above will not apply.
Using an Amtrak train as a moving truck? WHY NOT?
Using Amtrak to ship some of your items to the new destination city may easily be one of the most economical moving options you’ll have.
To learn more about their rates, schedules, and shipment terms, call Amtrak at 1-800-377-6914 (8 am – 8 pm ET, Monday through Friday).
When should you use this moving option?
Consider shipping some of your belongings with Amtrak Express Shipping when
both cities – starting point and destination – are serviced by Amtrak;
you’re looking for alternative ways to cut the moving costs;
you’re moving a small number of items without any furniture.
Ultimately, it’ll be up to you to pick the moving option that suits you best. Remember that you’re not restricted to only one moving option at a time – the best thing about having various ways to move house is that you can combine two or more moving options to cut the moving costs even further or to make the entire relocation even easier for you.
One good example of a hybrid move is to organize a DIY move, pack most of your things by yourself, and still hire moving labor to handle the heavy furniture pieces or any specialty items in your home.
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