I wish it weren’t, but making a move, Big or small, can be stress inducing. Having a checklist, giving yourself plenty of time, boxing everything – these are the easy steps to avoiding your Biggest Moving Mistake of all time.
Moving Is Stressful
But there are plenty of additional steps you can take to remove the stress from your move and enjoy the moment as you settle into your new home!
Get It In Writing
Easily one of the most avoidable and biggest moving mistake or outcome is being overcharged for your move. The day of the big move, you are going to be under a lot of pressure to get everything, from your pet cat to your Mother’s china out of the old place, into a truck, and then into your new home.
If you were going to fly on a vacation, you would get an idea ahead of time of the cost of airline tickets, your hotel room and more. So, don’t wait for the big day to ask what its going to set you back. For those meticulous in planning, opt for a binding agreement. This locks the mover into a preset price, but also requires you to know your responsibilities for the move up front. A delay on your part can still up the cost.
Many folks making a cross town move in Boulder will avoid having their biggest moving mistake by having a non-binding quote up front. Movers can still increase costs up to 10%, but traffic jams or unexpected weather delays won’t overly expose you to higher costs.
To DIY Move Or Not
Somewhere between the move out of your college dormitory and the first time you move into your new home, your belongings stop fitting in the trunk of your car. It’s at this moment you need to ask yourself, would making a DIY move be the biggest moving mistake of all time? Maybe, maybe not.
If this is your Modus operandi, take the time to research your move first. You might still want to get a quote or two from professionals. Why? They can give you a good idea of what sized truck will actually be necessary for the impending relocation. And its also a good idea to talk to friends and family who have done the DIY House Moving thing. A move can be a stressful experience, one most people avoid on too often a basis if at all possible.
The Best Time To Move
Real estate transactions really dictate when most people make a move. As Spring and summer are popular Boulder Colorado housing times, expect to run into a lot of competition for the best and biggest moving companies out there. Don’t wait until the week before your closing to call a moving company.
The day of your big move, start early. Avoid heavy traffic around rush hour – this can add wasted, but expensive, driving time to your move from point A to point B.
Guns, Booze and Gold
Some stuff is best to move yourself. I’ve made a bunch of moves and almost always a box gets lost, only to be found a year or two later when we clean out a lost corner of our basement. You don’t want to lose something valuable like your Grandmother’s China or that gun you purchased when you were sure the other guy was going to get elected and take away your 2nd amendment rights!
True story. Clients of mine made a big move, from the East Coast to the West Coast. They weren’t big drinkers, but had a big bar, mostly leftovers from their wedding. When they arrived out west, they couldn’t find their alcohol. Then, a short time later, they moved from the West Coast to Colorado. The first box they opened – thinking it was ski gear and sweaters – in fact held their long lost alcohol collection. Alas, it had been ten years since they first moved from the East Coast.
Most importantly, you don’t want to lose something irreplaceable. That would be the biggest moving mistake ever. Take the time to carefully pack and personally transport your treasures, whatever they are. For some clients, it is gold and jewelry. For others, it is the handmade art projects from children’s elementary years.
Get It On The Inventory List
When you work with a Mover, they will keep an inventory list. Ideally, you are stationed at the front door of your house during the move-out, keeping a list of what is going on the truck. This is also a responsibility of your mover. A silly if not the worst biggest moving mistake is rushing the move out and losing track of something really important – like your collection of home movie tapes.
Keep a list. Check the movers list. Best to do this the day of the move.
Important Papers
Consider hand carrying your most important papers. This might be a few rolls of paper towels and toilet paper for those first few hectic hours in your new place. Okay, just kidding. Seriously, pack medications and paperwork for refills. Credit card documentation. Pet documents – such as shot records. Utility information, marriage license, anything important that you would have difficulty replicating in a worst case ever scenario.
Insuring Your Biggest Move Ever
Movers tend to offer insurance, by the pound. This is not nearly as good a value as you might think. One of the worst moving mistakes ever is relying upon the standard insurance. Take for instance, your flat screen television. It cost you thousands to buy that bad boy, but when the mover drops it, it’s only insured for the weight – sixty to eighty pounds of TV at $2/pound probably won’t even cover the tax on your replacement. For valuables, avoid the biggest moving mistake ever and get real insurance to protect your stuff.
Regift, Reuse, Recycle
Hold a garage sale. Send everything that doesn’t sell off to Goodwill or another charity. Listen, one of the biggest moving mistakes ever is to pack up all that stuff cluttering your basement, pay to move it to another location and then have it sit boxed in your basement, garage or worse yet, storage locker, while yo decide if you can live without. Hint: you can live without that stuff.
Make a weekend of it. Move everything you don’t really need to the garage. Invite friends and family over for a pre-garage sale spectacular. Let them haul off the stuff you don’t want for free. Sell everything that is left in the morning. Still have stuff left over? Arrange for a service to haul your junk off. Many will do so for free.
I Love Survivor
But I wouldn’t want to be stuck hungry, thirsty tired in my new home stuck in the dark. Pack the basics: TP, a flash light, light bulbs, an extension cord, paper towels and cleaning supplies, snack food, cash for pizza (staple of moving since college dorm days), gloves, bottled water, pet dishes and cat food, kids favorite toy, plastic fork/spoons, your toiletries and definitely medications. Its the baddest biggest moving mistake of all time to wind up at an ER because you forgot to pack, and take, your lifesaving medication. But it does happen.
Really the Biggest Moving Mistake of all Time
Hey, imho, the single biggest, most deplorable moving error of all time? Not having sufficient boxes for the move. Try to put everything – I
mean everything – in a box. Got a plant you are moving? Box it. Your clothes? Box it in a wardrobe box. That all important comic book collection? Box it up baby!
From experience, I’ve learned professional boxers can move 3 to 5 boxes at one time. Have something you forgot to pack? Movers will take that one item out to the truck. As moves are charged based upon time, save your time and money and box everything before the movers ever step into your home!
That Story Moved There
Addition blogs on making a big move from Realtor Bob Gordon. Read on:
- August 9th Moving blog
- October 12th Moving Extravaganza
- Talking To Kids about your big move!
- The big March 2nd Move
- the Big story from June 1st, 2016.
- Who to tell when you make your move!
- Avoid unwanted stress when moving to a new city!