Moving to another state can be a very stressful time, especially when done for the very first time.
With little or no relocation experience, you may find yourself at a loss when it comes to figuring out what to do when moving out of state. The sheer number of things you just have to do can become too overwhelming and even too daunting, which in turn is likely to stress you out even more.
Wouldn’t you just love to get good advice for moving out of state?
Of course, you would.
These 77 tips for moving out of state for the first time will make your life so much easier throughout the entire relocation.
They will guide you from the moment you start thinking about hiring one of the best out-of-state movers until the point where you might need some help overcoming a post-move phenomenon known as relocation depression.
77 is your lucky number!
These hand-picked pieces of advice for moving out of state will be exactly what you need to bring your interstate to a successful conclusion.
Here we go:
Tips 1-4: Movers
Bear in mind that moving by yourself over great distances is just too risky. Not only will you have to deal with the hidden DIY moving costs and expenses, but you’ll also get the likelihood of property damage and the probability of personal injuries.
Do yourself a favor and hire one of the best out-of-state movers in your area. The experienced professionals will take care of all relocation aspects for you – packing, heavy lifting, and transportation.
Use our Moving Cost Calculator to get free quotes from top-rated interstate moving companies near you. All state-to-state movers must be licensed by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) in order to operate legally.
Compare the cost estimates (price + extra service) and then compare the interstate movers that have provided them. Read customer reviews to determine their professional reputation and general trustworthiness.
Be aware that the average cost of a long-distance move is somewhere between $2,407–$5,015 (1-bedroom) and $4,334–$7,123 (4-bedroom) for a distance of 1,000 miles, without any extra services. The add-on service of packing can cost from $500 all the way up to $4,000.
Keep in mind that the only way to know for sure how much your out-of-state move will cost is to get accurate cost estimates from the best state-to-state moving companies in your city or town.
Remember that the cost of your interstate move will depend directly on the distance between the two homes, the total shipment weight, and the additional services you request from your cross-country mover.
Look for good ways to reduce the cost of moving to another state. Yes, moving across the country is an expensive affair so you have to do all in your power to move out of state for less money.
Use these proven ways to move out of state cheaply: 1) hire an affordable out-of-state mover, 2) schedule your move for the off-peak moving season, 3) purge your home of any unwanted items, and 4) pack up whatever you can by yourself.
Organize the time you have until the move-out day in the best possible way by using a moving checklist – a detailed to-do list that’s been customized for your particular state-to-state move.
Rest assured that a good moving checklist will help you use your time much more efficiently simply because it will tell you which task you should tackle next. No more wasted time in relative inactivity.
Take a closer look at our interactive Moving Checklist and personalize it to reflect your own house moving scenario. It’s imperative that you know exactly what you should do, and when, to guarantee the success of your out-of-state relocation.
Create a budget when moving to another state to have a better understanding of where your money will go during the relocation process. A preliminary budget will give you more control over the moving expenses.
Take a look at the cross-country moving budget from time to time to make sure you’re not spending more money on a particular task than you should. If you are, then take measures to correct the issue, if possible.
Be sure to include the major expenses when moving out of state: moving company costs, extra services, additional insurance, extra fees and charges, and of course – unexpected expenses as well.
Keep in mind that the most common house-moving scenario is to entrust your household items to reputable movers while you drive to the new destination in your car. However, you may still need to hire top-rated car shipping services.
Getcar shipping quotes from trustworthy car shippers when you need to have your car transported (in case you’re flying to the new state) or to get your second car shipped to the state you’re moving to.
Research the car movers that have provided you with free car shipping estimates. Read customer reviews to be able to pick the most reliable and experienced auto shipper in your area. And the most affordable one too.
Prepare your car for transport so that the vehicle is completely ready to be picked up by the car shipping company you’ve selected. Here you will find the detailed steps about how to prepare a car to be shipped to a new state.
Assess the necessity to move any of your furniture items all the way to the new state. Most furniture pieces are so large and so heavy that their transportation cost would be roughly the same as the price of brand-new furniture.
Get rid of the furniture items you don’t plan to take with you. You can try to give them away to friends, sell them at a garage sale or online, donate them to charity, or simply throw them away for proper recycling.
Disassemble safely the large furniture you do intend to move with you to the new-state home. When done correctly, furniture disassembly will make the moving task easier and will prevent property damage and personal injuries.
Wrap your (disassembled) furniture pieces with moving blankets. The soft pads will create a thick protective layer around the delicate furniture items and will keep them safe and sound throughout the move.
Consider requesting the extra service of furniture disassembly and reassembly from your interstate moving company if you don’t have the time or the skills to dismantle safely those big units.
Prepare the necessary packing materials in case you’ve decided to pack up your things without hiring professional packers. You should have the packing supplies ready to be used very early in the house-moving process.
Make sure you’ve got the following packing materials available before you begin to pack your stuff: cardboard boxes of various sizes, packing paper, bubble wrap, stretch wrap, furniture blankets, packing tape, and marker pens.
Getfree moving boxes to lower your overall packing expenses. The best ways to obtain cardboard boxes for free are to ask your friends, neighbors, or work colleagues, or to get them from the largest retail stores in your city.
Think twice before deciding to skimp on packing materials when protecting your most fragile possessions such as kitchen plates, glasses, porcelain items, electronic devices, jewelry, and so on. Always use plenty of packing paper and bubble wrap to pad your breakables.
Ensure that all your possessions have been carefully inventoried and sorted out before you start placing them into boxes. When you’re moving out of state, you’ll want to take only the things you really need and really like.
Think about this: the cost of moving to another state is calculated by the total weight of the shipment. What this means is that the fewer items you’re taking with you, the less money you’ll pay for transportation charges.
Get rid of any items that are too old, too outgrown, too broken, or too forgotten to be used again in the new place. As a rule of thumb, you should discard all belongings that you haven’t used in more than a year.
Discard all unwanted items in one of the following ways depending on their current condition and market value: 1) gift them to friends and family, 2) donate them, 3) sell them online or at a garage sale, or 4) recycle them.
Organize a moving sale for most of the things you won’t be taking with you if you happen to have ample time before having to move out of state. The cash earned from the sale will be added to your interstate moving budget.
Price your items smartly for a successful moving sale. Yes, you want to get as much money as possible for those unwanted things but your main goal should be to get rid of them before you move away.
Advertise your upcoming yard sale to attract more people to it. Use the power of social networks to spread the word and place signs and posters in strategic places around the neighborhood.
Group similar sale items together and display your stuff in a highly systematic manner. Make the sale area appealing, attractive, and most importantly – safe, especially for children. Be polite and friendly, and of course – be ready to bargain.
Start packing up your things, one box at a time, as soon as the move becomes only a matter of time. Packing for a move is the most time-consuming task in your moving checklist so you shouldn’t underestimate it in any way.
Ensure you’ve got enough packing materials before you begin the packing marathon so that you don’t have to keep interrupting the packing process in order to search for more boxes, packing paper, or bubble wrap.
Sort out and pack up the hardest rooms to pack first – all the storage places in the house – so that you’re left with easy-to-pack areas when you get really tired and really demotivated toward the end of the packing job.
Use the room-by-room packing technique instead of throwing random items into random boxes. Start with the garage, basement, attic, and guest rooms, and work your way toward the kitchen, living room, bedroom, and bathroom. Follow a room-by-room packing checklist for best results.
Remember to always use plenty of padding materials such as wrapping paper, bubble wrap, and furniture blankets when you’re packing up highly fragile items. The idea is to create a thick protective layer around those delicate things to keep them safe.
Fill up any empty spaces inside a box so that the items you have packed inside it cannot shift around during transit. Use leftover sheets of packing paper or bubble wrap, or old clothing items as fillers.
Turn it into a habit to label each box immediately after sealing it up. Use a marker pen to write down the content, destination room, and any handling instructions on at least two sides of the container.
Speak openly with your children about the upcoming relocation. Moving to a new state will be a huge change for them so it’s your responsibility as a parent to prepare them mentally for what’s coming.
Help your children to sort out their own things before packing. Explain to them that it’s a noble thing to donate the toys they don’t like anymore so that other less fortunate children can experience the joy of playing with them.
Encourage your children to help out during the preparation period. If they are old enough, they can pack up their things, clean up their own rooms, prepare their own essentials boxes, and even have some fun labeling and decorating boxes.
Arrange the school transfer simply because your children will have to change schools when you all move to the new state as a family. Obtain the school records of your son or daughter from their current educational institution.
Find a good school for your kids in the destination area. Do thorough research about the most prestigious schools there and don’t forget to schedule a school tour together with your child after you move there.
Be mindful that moving with pets to another state is never an easy thing to do. It’s imperative to know that out-of-state moving companies are not allowed to transport pets for safety reasons.
Think about what’s best for your lovely animal companions, whether they are DOGS, CATS, BIRDS, FISH, or other types of pets. Ultimately, the best way to move a pet across the country is to take them with you in the car.
Ensure the safety of your pets by first taking them for a medical check-up at the vet’s office prior to moving away, and then by keeping them comfortable and stress-free during the car trip.
Tips 52-54: Plants
Figure out what you’ll do with your house plants way before Moving day. When it comes to the best tips for moving out of state for the first time, you should do the right thing for your beautiful plants.
Bear in mind that interstate movers will refuse to move your plants simply because the law forbids it. And you can’t move them in your car because they are not likely to survive the long trip to the new home.
Do consider giving away your house plants to friends and neighbors – trustworthy people who you know will look after your home flora. Also, think about donating some of the plants to churches, hospitals, schools, nursing homes, and libraries.
Take into consideration that since you’re moving to a new state, your postal address is going to change. Buy it won’t change by itself – rather, you have to be the one to initiate the change of address procedure with the United States Postal Service (USPS).
Remember to change your address with the USPS approximately 2 weeks before Moving day. This way, you will ensure that no piece of important mail gets lost in the interim.
Change your address before moving out of state using one of these four change of address methods: 1) in person at the nearest post office, 2) online through the official USPS website, 3) on the phone, and 4) by mail.
Take into account that you’re going to have to change your home utilities when moving out of state. The thing is that you wouldn’t want to find the place without any power or running water.
Get in touch with the current utility companies and schedule the disconnection of the utilities you’re enjoying at the moment. In most cases, the ideal disconnection date is roughly 2 days after you’ve moved out.
Contact the utility companies in the destination state and arrange for the reconnection of the major house utilities (electricity, water, gas, phone, Internet) to your name approximately 2 days before you arrive there.
Remember to set an appointment with your family physician before Moving day. One of the things to consider when moving out of state is that you’ll have to find a new doctor in the destination city or town.
Obtain copies of all medical records – yours and those of your family members. In reality, the medical documents will enable you to register with another healthcare provider in the new state.
Ask your current doctor if he or she can recommend a good doctor in the state you’re moving to. Also, your physician can give you advice on how to go about finding the right healthcare provider for you and your specific medical needs.
Start Moving day early so that you have enough time to finish up any last-minute tasks before your interstate movers show up at the door. To have the stamina and energy required, go to bed early the previous night.
Keep your valuable items with you at all times – this is one of the best tips when moving out of state. You shouldn’t trust your movers to transport valuables such as jewelry pieces, documents, portable electronic devices, and so on.
Make Moving day as safe as possible by taking specific safety measures that work. Ask a person whom you trust to look after your young children or pets in a room that’s far from the epicenter of moving boxes and hauling furniture.
Greet your out-of-state movers and show them around the place, voicing any concerns you may have. It’s a good idea to hang around in case they have any questions for you but you should still let them do their job.
Take one final walk around the place after the state-to-state movers have left and before you drive away. Secure all doors and windows and make sure nothing is accidentally left behind.
Unpack the essentials boxes immediately after you move into the new place. The bedroom and bathroom should be the very first rooms you unpack since they are the most essential ones for normal habitation.
Keep unpacking your things are your own comfortable pace. In fact, this is the best thing about unpacking after moving out of state – you don’t have a deadline looming so you can stretch out the unpacking task.
Keep getting rid of the packing materials as you unpack to avoid creating a mess in your own home. Reuse, store, or recycle all packing supplies once you’re done unpacking a single room.
Purchase new auto insurance after moving to a new state. Keep your current auto insurance policy for the time being but remember to buy a new one from the state you just moved to in order to register your car.
Contact the nearest DMV office and ask them what documents you will need to register your vehicle in the new state. In most cases, you’ll need your driver’s license, proof of insurance, the car’s title, and current registration.
Update your driver’s license as well while at the DMV office. After moving to a new state permanently, you’re going to have to apply for a new driver’s license that’s issued by that new state.
Bear in mind that you might become a victim of relocation depression – a powerful and often overwhelming sense of nostalgia for the life (understand your friends) you had to leave behind.
Look out for any typical symptoms of relocation depression after moving to the new state: excessive sleep, uncharacteristic tiredness, unwillingness to go out, no desire to socialize, and apparent apathy.
Fight that bout of relocation depression (aka separation anxiety) with all your might. Keep in touch with your old friends, get to know your new city, make new friends whenever possible, and most importantly – give yourself more time.
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