Moving Tips: How to plan your move!

chris.ha • February 5, 2020

When it comes to buying a home, it can be a very stressful process. That is until closing day. Once closing day comes, you sign the paper work, and grab your keys, it feels as if your cortisol levels have become healthy again! Then you realize you still have to load up all of your belongings and move it all to your next destination, all within a very short time frame! We have gathered some moving tips and tricks from experience and research to help you make moving day as stress free as possible.

Purge

One of the best ways to prepare yourself for your move is to completely purge your house of things you don’t need. This a first step that you DON’T want to skip. Once moving day comes, there is no time for purging the things you do not want or need. We’ve found that having a garage sale is one of the most efficient ways to get rid of all the unused items and clothes you own, while getting paid for it! You can also post the things that do not sell online. Sites like Facebook, Craigslist, LetGo, and more are a great way to sell the items you don’t want to drag along with you. Once you sell everything that you can sell, pack everything up in boxes or bags, and take it to the nearest donation center! You can even order a free donation pick up from places like Salvation Army or Goodwill, and make sure to save the donation receipts!! You can use these receipts for a possible deduction on the upcoming tax season. Anything you can’t or don’t want to donate, you should consider asking your family and friends if they may need the items.

Everything else that cannot be donated, sold, or given away should be put in a special box/bag to be taken to the dump. It is much easier to move with the essential belongings than dragging along everything you own and finding a new place for it, so make sure you take the chance to do your due diligence before planning your move.

Packing

Packing is always a pain, but there are ways to make it less stressful and more efficient for your move in. The majority of people know how to pack their items (fragile items labeled, kitchen supplies together, etc.), but not a lot of people know how to better organize them for an easy transition. We recommend you color code all of your boxes to help organize the moving truck. You can color code them for heavy items, fragile, kids rooms, bathrooms, etc.

One thing to help you in the moving process is to color code by urgency/need. For example, all of the boxes with items that you do not need immediately can be labeled with blue tape and put in the front of you U-Haul. Likewise, all of the boxes with things such as work clothes, toothbrushes, etc. that will be needed the day you move in, can be labeled red and put in last!

Maximize your space. A great way to maximize your space is to utilize things you already have to pack stuff inside. A great example of this is to pack all of your spices into your slow cooker or crock pot or using laundry baskets for your electronics! The more space you utilize, the less trash you will end up with and the less hassle you will have with packing the truck. This also helps with delegating moving tasks, the less you have the less you’ll spend on hiring movers or paying people to help.

Preparation

Preparation is KEY to moving successfully. A friend of ours did not coordinate his moving truck and day accurately and was stuck hauling stuff in his little car back and forth for a couple days!! That’s the absolute last thing you want to do, especially if the new tenants/homeowners are expecting to be in your old home by a certain time and date. While U-haul is the most popular moving truck company, there are plenty of others that offer the same services and supplies. You can even pay for your entire house to be moved without you having to lift a single finger, but that can get very expensive.

Make sure to set your moving day in stone, usually it will only take one day to move all your belongings from one place to another. So coordinate with your moving company, truck company, friends/family, etc. to all be ready to go on the date you set for moving. A great way to save money is to setup the day with friends and family and offer to buy them food and/or drinks for after the move as a reward for helping. For some people this may not work, so you may have to pay them for their time, but the chances are you will still be saving money. Make it an event! Plan on having pizza, wings, or any other catering delivered for everyone to enjoy and make a house warming party out of it. This takes the grit out of moving day and gives you something to look forward to instead of grudging through the day.

Pro tip: Pick a mid-week, mid-month date to get the cheapest rates on a moving truck. If you try to schedule a weekend or a day at the beginning or end of the month during higher volume times, companies tend to charge more for their services.

If you are hiring movers to take care of everything, here are a few things to make sure you do:

Consider taking pictures of everything incase things get broken, damaged, or stolen
Leave a fully charged iPad or other device for tracking purposes
Pack fragile items with pillows or comforters for extra protection
Get quotes from at least 3 different moving companies
Make sure the movers have a parking place

There are plenty of things to do when it comes to preparing your move, and their not all easy. Consider using Moving.com’s Moving Planner to help with the process, making sure you don’t leave out or forget anything, and the whole process goes as smooth as possible.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, moving day will never be stress free, but there are plenty of ways to make the process simpler and more efficient! Whether you’re moving down the road or across the country, preparation and planning is the key to a successful moving day! As long as you start with purging your home before the move is within arms reach, set a solid date with movers, friends/family, and the moving truck company, and pack your things in an organized fashion, everything should go perfectly!

If this article helped you in any way, please let us know by emailing or calling the Brown Home Group at 321-348-8720 or email rick@brownhomegroup.com!

Written By:

Blaine Wyker

Brown Home Group @ Keller Williams Advantage II Realty

Resources:

https://www.moving.com/tips/21-easy-moving-tips-tricks/

https://hip2save.com/tips/pack-moving-tips/

https://www.loveloveloveblog.com/2019/03/moving-tips-to-save-money.html/

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