Using a Moving Company for the First Time: Success Guaranteed

For better or worse, you’re about to move home (again?) and you are perfectly aware of what it will mean for you.

Basically, if this is the first time you’re using a moving company to handle the toughest aspects of your residential move, then you won’t know where to begin the search for good movers.

As an extra stressor, you will have absolutely no idea what to expect from the relocation professionals either. Yes, the mere thought of using movers for the first time can be a little daunting simply because you’ve never done it before.

And this is why we’ve prepared this very guide for first-time movers so that you can have a problem-free, movers-assisted home-moving adventure.

It’s extremely important that you read the following 8 concepts and additional moving tips for using professional moving services. Only then will you be able to understand the moving process better and thus guarantee yourself the success of your own move.

So, you’ve never used a moving company before? No problem.

1. CHOICE – Hiring movers vs do it yourself

You’ve already made up your mind to hire the services of a professional moving company.

And yet, before you start the actual hunt for reputable, reliable, and affordable movers, you want to be 100% sure that you’ve made the right call.

You’ve made a good decision to hire movers if

• you’re moving out of a large-sized home – a house or an apartment with too many household items to protect, pack, load, transport, unload, carry, unpack, and arrange;
• you own a number of specialty items with special packing needs. Such special items include antique furniture, pianos, pool tables, hot tubs, heavy safes, grandfather clocks, etc.;
• you’re moving across the country to another home that is a long distance from where you live right now. Moving to a new state without professional assistance will often end in disaster;
• you don’t have enough time to plan and organize a self-move. In most cases, you’ll need approximately 8 weeks to get completely ready to move out;
• you know you won’t be able to receive packing assistance and heavy-lifting help from your friends or family members;
• you’ve never had to move home until this very moment, so your zero relocation experience necessitates hiring movers for the first time;
• you’re moving on a budget.

Hire Movers or Do It Yourself: 10 Questions to Help You Decide

Yes, using a moving company will cost you but a common misconception is that hiring professionals is always more expensive than organizing a self-move. What you need to do is look at the bigger picture and take into account the large number of hidden costs, expenses, risks, and dangers when moving by yourself.

Forgotten Costs of Moving Out on Your Own

2. OPTIONS – Full-service movers or moving labor?

When hiring movers for the first time, it’s important to know exactly what type of moving assistance you need. Are you hiring full-service movers to take care of everything for you, or will you pay for moving labor only?

• Full-service movers will handle your residential move from the very beginning to its very end, including packing your household items, loading them into a moving van, transporting them to your new address, unloading them into the new home, reassembling the furniture pieces, unpacking your stuff, and even disposing of the packing materials that are no longer needed;
• Moving labor services are quite flexible, so you can choose the specific type of assistance you will require. Basically, you can hire small loads movers (aka partial movers) to pack or unpack your stuff, disassemble or re-assemble furniture pieces, lift and carry large furniture and other heavy household items, load and/or unload the moving vehicle, etc.
• Full-service moving is the most expensive type of relocation simply because it’s all-inclusive – you just sit back and enjoy the show – no stress, no physical work, and no efforts of any kind. Still, you can get a really good deal just because a full-service moving company will do it all. Request a price estimate to assess your options.
• Moving labor services is usually more cost-effective and it gives you better control and more opportunities to save money on your move. However, you’re still going to have to complete some of the tasks yourself.

Moving Labor: All You Need to Know About Moving Labor Services

3. SEARCH & FIND – How to find the best movers

When using professional moving services for the first time, choosing a good moving company is vital to the success of your home moving adventure.

That’s right, you don’t want just any moving company that comes along – you want movers that are reputable, reliable, and affordable.

In other words, you want the best moving company you can possibly find. The only problem is that you’re not sure how to find good movers because, you know, you’ve never used professional moving services until now.

• Seek recommendations. A person you trust (sibling, friend, colleague, neighbor) may have recently moved house. Ask them which moving company they used and whether they would recommend their services.
• Ask for in-home surveys. Get free quotes from several pre-screened moving companies. Remember that price estimates can only be accurate when issued after on-site inspections from moving company representatives. Opt for written binding estimates.
• Compare the cost estimates. Get a closer look at the moving cost estimates you have received by paying attention not only to the final price but also to the extra services included.
• Check movers’ reputation. Customer ratings and moving reviews are a great way to see just how reputable moving companies are, so make sure you check them out. Ultimately, you don’t want to hire a mover with too many negative reviews and a low overall rating.
• Research the movers. Reading moving reviews is important, but you also want to check the movers’ standing with the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

How to Choose a Good Mover in 31.5 Steps

4. MISTAKES – What mistakes to avoid when hiring movers

Your inexperience in dealing with professional movers may cause you to make certain mistakes when hiring a moving company for your upcoming relocation.

While some of those first-time movers’ mistakes will be nothing to worry about, some serious ones can easily put a spoke in your moving wheel, thus forcing you to lose time, money, and arguably more importantly – nerves.

• Looking for movers at the last moment. The time to start looking for a good mover is right after your move has been confirmed. Don’t lose precious time, for top-rated moving companies get booked up first – especially during the height of the moving season (May-September).
• Getting only one quote. Obviously, you need more than just a single estimate in order to compare them effectively and choose the one that best suits your needs.
• Getting estimates over the phone or via e-mail. Such moving company quotes can never be accurate and you’ll likely end up paying much more in the end. Request on-site estimates and walk away from any companies that won’t come to your home.
• Going with the lowest quote. It’s nice to get a good bargain but think twice before choosing a moving cost estimate that is way lower than the rest. Low-ball estimates could be a sign of moving fraud.
• Not researching the movers. Don’t forget to research the moving companies no matter how reputable and reliable they may seem at first. All interstate movers must be registered with the U.S. Department of Transportation in order to operate.

10 Common Mistakes When Hiring Movers

5. COST – How much do movers cost?

When you’re using a moving company for the first time, the question of how much movers cost can be really confusing. You may have heard that professional moving services are expensive, but just how expensive are they?

Above, we’ve talked about how the only good way to know the cost of your move is to have moving experts come to your home and give you precise price estimates after carefully inspecting all the items you intend to move + any house-moving circumstances that may increase the price come Moving day.

Nevertheless, it’s important that you have a general idea of how much moving companies cost so that you don’t get any unpleasant surprises.

• Local movers charge by the hour. On average, hiring 2 men and a van will cost you approximately $90-$120 per hour. The exact rate will depend on the city and state you live in, as well as the local moving company itself.
• Moving labor (without a moving vehicle) usually costs $30-$40 per mover per hour, which makes around $60-$80 per hour for a team of 2 movers.
• Each additional local mover will cost you extra, approximately $30 per hour.
• Professional packing comes as an extra service at the cost of $25-$35 per hour per mover.
• Long-distance movers charge on the basis of shipment weight, shipment volume, move distance, and additional moving services.
• Moving out of a 1-bedroom home (shipment weight: 2200-3200 lbs., move distance: 1000 miles) should cost around $1500-$2200, while moving out of a 2-bedroom home (shipment weight: 5000-6000 lbs., move distance: 1000 miles) should cost approximately $3500-$4200.

How Much Does It Cost to Hire Movers?

6. COST REDUCTION – How to save money when using movers

Probably the best advice for first-time movers, like yourself, is to be careful how the moving budget is managed because it’s relatively easy to overspend throughout your move, especially when you’re paying for the services of a professional moving company.

Here are a few good ways to save money when hiring movers:

• Pick a low-cost mover. Since you’ll have several price offers from different moving companies, you can easily pick the quote with the lowest price. Be careful as things are not always as obvious as you think: as mentioned above, stay away from offers that are too good to be true.
• Negotiate a better price. Contact the company that has made you the best offer and see if you can get to lower their price even more. Tell them you want to use their services but they will need to price-match an allegedly lower bid you’ve received. Top-rated movers will do their best to keep customers by showing more flexibility in their rates and conditions.
• Get rid of useless stuff. Shipment weight is one of the major price-forming factors, which means that the more household items you move to the new home, the more money you’ll pay for their packing and transportation. Do yourself a favor – inventory your home and sort out your stuff. Sell, give away to friends, or donate all the things you’ll never use again.
• Pack your home by yourself. Each accessorial service will cost you extra, that’s for sure. For example, if you request temporary storage for your items, you’ll have to dig deeper into your pockets. Luckily, oftentimes you will be able to save loads of money by completing on your own the most common additional moving service – packing.

Follow a super-detailed Packing Timeline and pack what you can by yourself, then leave any special or valuable items for the pros. Also, save further by getting most of your packing boxes for free.

How to Cut Moving Costs and Expenses

7. PREPARATION – What to do before movers arrive

One of the common mistakes most first-time movers make is to be unprepared for the professional movers they have hired. It’s good to know that there are a number of essential things you must complete even if you’ve hired the services of a full-service mover.

Follow our one-of-a-kind interactive Moving Checklist featuring 90 must-do tasks that will also serve as a moving checklist for first-time movers.

In brief, here’s what to do before your movers arrive:

• Declutter your home of any no longer useful items. Be ruthless during the inventorying and sorting process and remember that each extra item will mean a higher transportation bill for you. This is especially true when hauling furniture pieces between the two homes. See how to declutter your home in 10 easy steps.
• Organize a garage sale to feed two birds with one scone – reduce the number of items to move and pocket valuable cash to help your relocation budget. Here you will learn the secrets to having a successful yard sale prior to the move.
• Start the packing process right away. Even if you can afford to pay for full-service movers, you can still save plenty of money by packing by yourself easy-to-pack non-fragile items such as clothes, shoes, books, and scores of other small items. Keep in mind that movers will not be responsible for the damage to items that have not been packed by them.
• Don’t waste your time packing items that are forbidden for transport. Use up, give away, or throw any hazardous materials (flammable, corrosive, explosive). Remember that movers are not allowed to pack or transport dangerous or perishable household items, so ask your mover for their complete list of non-allowables.
• Arrange for the transportation of your pets and plants. Professional movers are not permitted to move pets or plants due to their fragile nature. Consider your transportation options and see how you can move with pets and transport plants to your new home.

7 Fun Things to Do Before the Movers Arrive

8. ETIQUETTE – What to do when movers arrive at your home

If you’re using movers for the very first time, it’s only natural that you won’t know what to do when they arrive at your home on Moving day.

Don’t fret too much: if you’ve done your homework right, then you must have hired the best moving company you could find. And that automatically means that you’re not expected to do much on Moving day – you just let the pros do what they do best.

Here’s what you’re supposed to do when the movers arrive at your home:

• Be in your home on the scheduled day and hour to meet the movers. If you can’t be there for some reason, assign a representative of yours to be present.
• Greet your movers and show them around your home. Even if you’ve already discussed this in detail with the cost estimator specialist, explain again what you expect of them in a clear and unambiguous way to avoid misunderstandings.
• Be a considerate host and offer your workers coffee, tea, and possibly a snack of some kind to kick off the day the right way. Also, provide plenty of drinking water (bottled water works best) and easy access to the bathroom.
• Consider buying the relocation crew lunch should the work is scheduled to take many hours. Treating them to something you yourself have cooked is the better and usually the cheaper option.
• Be respectful, polite, and well-mannered – hopefully, your hired movers will treat you the same way.
• Keep the communication channel open in case there are any questions you need to answer or issues you have to resolve. In case of problems, turn to the foreman or contact the moving company directly.
• Consider tipping your movers if you’re really happy with their work. This is one good way to show your gratitude and appreciation for their genuine efforts. And because you may be really puzzled and confused about how much to tip movers, follow the link below to learn more information about this sensitive matter.

How Much to Tip Movers: Be Smart When Tipping Movers