Current Events > Moving Tips/Advice?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Hi all!

I've recently accepted a new job after leaving teaching. I'm currently remote, but I'm moving about 3 hours from my current location to be at headquarters 4 days a week (remote every Wednesday).

I've never done a move before with an apartment that I've been established at for 4 years. The only significant move I've done was in college but everything could fit it my car.

I have a one bedroom apartment. I don't own a ton of stuff. It's mainly just like my couch, 2 TVs, my ultra wide monitor,, my gaming consoles, my bed frame, mattress, washer/dryer, kitchen stuff, my computer desk, my ottoman, a couple end tables, and my clothes.

My company gave me $3000 foe relocation, but most of that is just to break my current lease. So, I guess Uhaul is the best option? I would be towing my car with their car trailer things.

Any advice for boxes, packing, towing a car, etc. would greatly be appreciated. I think one of my former students (who is 21 now) will be helping me, but otherwise, it's just me.

Any advice is appreciated!

Hire movers. Blowing you back out aint cool

Naysaspace posted...

Hire movers. Blowing you back out aint cool

Unfortunately, that's not really an option. Too expensive. And a bit too close. I'm moving tentatively on August 4th.

Spiritlittle posted...

I don't own a ton of stuff.

my advice: you might have more than you think. adds up quick when you start packing.
other advice: don't move with just you and one student. hire some people. moving sucks, but you can make it suck less.

LinkDaLunatic posted...

my advice: you might have more than you think. adds up quick when you start packing.
other advice: don't move with just you and one student. hire some people. moving sucks, but you can make it suck less.

Unfortunately every moving company around me is charging close to $1500 for moving, and that's just not an option.

Spiritlittle posted...

Unfortunately every moving company around me is charging close to $1500 for moving, and that's just not an option.

wtf mine was like $400 and I was in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath + loft
I packed everything and they just moved it. I was on the third story and they were still done in like 2-3 hours

If you get a uhaul make sure get one big enough that has a ramp. Also i would rent a dolley to make moving some stuff easier like the washer and dryer.

Dont buy the box from the moving places, i think Lowes or wherever might be cheaper.

Also are you returning the uhaul to same location or different one? Think dropping it off in dofferent location may cost more

Also, i would try to make sure everything is packed before the actual move since packing stuff as you go slows you down.
Also make sure to wrap stuff you seem is important to pack up. If most of the stuff are packed in a same size box, the dolley would help carry 2 or 3 at a time at half the effort

Im glad to say i think ive had my last move after doing a handful of them all without movers.

I always bought a bunch of those plastic totes to put my stuff in instead of boxes. If you don't have a ton of shit to pack, they're worth it. They're easier to move and you can stack them wherever in the new place without fear of smashing stuff and go through them at your leisure

People are always posting free moving boxes and sometimes paper on NextDoor or similar. You may not even need to buy any.

Washers (and maybe dryers?) come with bolts to keep them from shifting during a move. If you didnt keep yours when they were delivered, buy new ones. Or consider selling your set and buying new at the other end. Some things are more trouble to move than they are worth.

ETA: Also, congrats on the new job!

Yeah if youbare trying get random boxes just to hold stuff without wanting them to be the same boxes, stores like sams club or even total wine give them away if you ask i think.

hire movers. you got paid $3000 for a reason.

edit: also you've got too much heavy stuff for just two people, one being a 21 year old.

UHaul locations will also sometimes have stocks of used moving boxes available for free, along with the ones they sell.

Label things really well when you pack. It'll save time and effort in the long run.

If there are things you don't use or don't love, start selling/donating/trashing it now, don't wait until you have a full truck in the driveway or are unloading at the new place and realize there's nowhere to put it.

Seriously consider hiring movers, that's enough large pieces of furniture/appliances to not only be exhausting/stressful, but also dangerous. Hiring seperate people to help you load/unload might be a cheaper option as well if you don't mind driving the truck yourself.

Do you trust your student to drive your car, have someone else who can do it for you, or the ability to make a seperate trip before/after? Driving a truck for the first time can be enough of a learning experience, if you can avoid towing I'd try to.

also too late to help you with the current situation but after a year or two in one place as a good tenant you should be able to go month to month when the lease expires so you avoid the big penalty when you move out, something to think about for the future.

Yeah. The more I think about it, the more I'm considering hiring movers.

I do have the money, for sure. I'm just not used to spending money, so it's a mental obstacle for me, I suppose.

And I think I may talk to the woman who is now the Property Manager to see if she'll cut me a deal once I have an official move-in date. I had a lot of issues with plumbing in this apartment, and I've been a good tenant, so maybe she'll make an exception for me because I've been here for 4 years.

Spiritlittle posted...

Yeah. The more I think about it, the more I'm considering hiring movers.

I do have the money, for sure. I'm just not used to spending money, so it's a mental obstacle for me, I suppose.

I completely get that mental block - took me a while to see the value but it's really worth it, especially with a three hour move. I had to spend half a day calling around but found a really good team at a decent price moving a 2 bedroom 1 bath.

With your new place - make sure to check all the outlets with a nightlight or phone charger on the day you move in if you haven't already...along with how long it takes for hot water to come to each tap.

Good luck with breaking the lease. I'd go ahead and spend a solid 15 minutes reading over the fine print in your lease before actually talking to your leasing office about it.

Spoilers, you're probably fucked in terms of trying to get out without paying big fees/penalties. Apartment lease verbiage has been built by lawyers almost solely around the reality that anybody living at an apartment complex is going to want to up-and-move at some point in time in the not-too-distant future. And the fact that when you want to move is likely not going to line up nicely with your lease term. At least this is what I'm used to having lived at solely bigger complexes...which I'm guessing is the same for you if you're saying you have a "property manager". If it's an actual management company that owns your complex anybody working in the leasing office likely can't even cut you a "break" regardless if they'd like to help you or not.

masticatingman posted...

Good luck with breaking the lease. I'd go ahead and spend a solid 15 minutes reading over the fine print in your lease before actually talking to your leasing office about it.

Spoilers, you're probably fucked in terms of trying to get out without paying big fees/penalties. Apartment lease verbiage has been built by lawyers almost solely around the reality that anybody living at an apartment complex is going to want to up-and-move at some point in time in the not-too-distant future. And the fact that when you want to move is likely not going to line up nicely with your lease term. At least this is what I'm used to having lived at solely bigger complexes...which I'm guessing is the same for you if you're saying you have a "property manager". If it's an actual management company that owns your complex anybody working in the leasing office likely can't even cut you a "break" regardless if they'd like to help you or not.

I've already spoke to them. I'm thinking about talking to the now Property Manager who was my leasing agent when I moved in.

But it's basically a charge of your month's rent, plus 60 days worth of rent. So it's essentially 3 months rent, which is right at $2600 for me. I was given $3000 for relocation assistance, so it's not too terrible, in comparison to most places.

Spiritlittle posted...

I've already spoke to them. I'm thinking about talking to the now Property Manager who was my leasing agent when I moved in.

But it's basically a charge of your month's rent, plus 60 days worth of rent. So it's essentially 3 months rent, which is right at $2600 for me. I was given $3000 for relocation assistance, so it's not too terrible, in comparison to most places.

That's unfortunately become common (two months rent to break the lease) which has made me sometimes question if it's cheaper just to let it run out even if I've not living there anymore.

Spiritlittle posted...

Yeah. The more I think about it, the more I'm considering hiring movers.

I do have the money, for sure. I'm just not used to spending money, so it's a mental obstacle for me, I suppose.

And I think I may talk to the woman who is now the Property Manager to see if she'll cut me a deal once I have an official move-in date. I had a lot of issues with plumbing in this apartment, and I've been a good tenant, so maybe she'll make an exception for me because I've been here for 4 years.

Even if you can't afford to hire movers to transport everything for you, you can hire people just to load everything into the Uhaul and people to unload everything once you get to your new place. That's going to be a lot easier than trying to do it with just you and one other person.

You'll want to make sure to get an idea of all the costs beforehand if you do rent a Uhaul. There's not just the rental fee for the truck but things like mileage fees, insurance, and of course you have to put gas in it. Once you add everything up you might not be saving much compared to just hiring movers to do everything.

Spiritlittle posted...

I've already spoke to them. I'm thinking about talking to the now Property Manager who was my leasing agent when I moved in.

But it's basically a charge of your month's rent, plus 60 days worth of rent. So it's essentially 3 months rent, which is right at $2600 for me. I was given $3000 for relocation assistance, so it's not too terrible, in comparison to most places.

Its worse at my current place. It also depends on how quickly they can lease the apt again. So actually consider yourself lucky if thats all it is.

I just moved from a fully furnished 3 bedroom house into another. I had my fiance and a friend helping but it's definitely doable and way more affordable without hiring movers. It costs me $6500 just to walk into the new rental and I couldn't afford movers at the $1200 they quoted. Here's some tips:

1. If you're moving appliances or anything extremely heavy that you can't do as a regular team lift between two people, buy one of those shoulder lifts. They're about $40ish bucks and they make moving heavy shit really easy

2. Get free cardboard boxes from liquor stores. They're tossing those shits away and they're more than happy to give them to you.

3. Buy large, plastic vacuum sealable laundry bags for clothes, blankets, towels etc.

4. If you have suits, buy closet boxes with the metal rods so you don't fuck your shit up

5. Feed whoever helps you. Feed them well too.

6. Use moving blankets for your wooden furniture, couch, etc.

Took us 4 hours to move. Movers quoted us 6.

I moved across the country about six yrs back, had a full apartment minus the couch but add a giant dresser, so kinda similar to yours. Ive also moved closer distances with multi-bedroom houses a few times since.
I personally dont feel like hiring movers is worth it if you are in decent shape (no bad back), are taking the friend, and understand its going to suck lol.
What I did drop money on, however, was rather than a uhaul, I did one of the moving container things. Theres a few companies- U-pack, pods, smart box, 1-800 pack rat.
I liked this specifically for the longer drive so that I could drive my own car, packed that with the delicate things. Another benefit is once it meets you at your new place, you can usually take a few days to unload it vs being rushed to have them pick it back up the same day.
If you do go the normal uhaul route, I believe if youre going one-way, they dont count mileage against you- but they do charge much more for the truck rental itself. However, for 3 hr trip you def need to just do that option vs driving it back to drop off.
Most important thing I tell anyone for any move- put a roll of toilet paper somewhere you can carry with you. You always inevitably have to shit in like, the first hour of moving in, and it sucks to be caught without tp. Lol. It also is beneficial to have some general cleaning supplies in a readily accessible box or whatever with you as you get into the house. In case of spills or the place not being perfectly clean, etc.
I dont think it hurts to talk to the property manager, just see if they can help you out. Also, if you are still selecting an apt, ask if they are running any promotions/deals. And with your old apt, if theres any carpeting issues, let me tell you that many places cannot charge you the full amount of reimbursement for it if youve been living there x amount of years (multiple). They have some kind of write-off process so with carpets specifically it lessens the value the longer its present. I always ask the property manager what you need to do to get your deposit back tho: somethings they list in the lease, they actually dont care about so you shouldnt waste time on it. Plus if you talk to them and they see you put effort into meeting the conditions they asked for, it leaves a pleasant taste in their mouth so they are more kind with refunding you. They may also have like referral deals with certain cleaning companies if thats a thing you need/is required by lease. Good luck.