Pennsylvania Real Estate News, Views and Rants

It's MOVING DAY Are you ready??

So the closing is completed and now you have to move on to the last and final step: moving day. Okay, perhaps we shouldn’t make it sound so exciting and thrilling but it honestly is one of the biggest days ahead.

The best thing to do is to be prepared. Chances are you have a date for when you take possession of your new home so you can plan well for the move.

There are so many pros and cons for each side of the story when it comes to moving.

On the pros list for having a movers do the job is the fact that you can choose to have them move you completely from packing to moving you into your new house or choose to just have them move the sealed boxes and large furniture you have. You don’t have to beg friends to help, rent and drive your stuff yourself or worry about anyone dropping and destroying stuff. You’re covered by the moving company’s insurance.

On the con list is the pure and simple fact that it costs a substantial amount to have professional movers move you. You can choose how much you want the movers to do and it is obviously cheaper to pack your own boxes and move as much as you can a little at a time as opposed to leaving it all up to the moving company. Many people choose to move their own boxes and just pay for the movers to move the big stuff; saving them having to find extra help and a lot of hard back breaking work.

Remember if you are utilizing a moving company read the contract thoroughly. You don’t know how many times professional movers have entered a home and seen open boxes with stuff thrown in them and have to tell the person they can’t take those boxes because they only move sealed boxes with lids, nothing open so things can fall out. There are also those who forget to show the movers everything they want move and then realize grandma’s old buffet that weighs a ton, because it is beautiful hand cut maple and needs moved also. That’s fine but what happens is the cost of the move increases.

So make sure you’re absolutely certain about what you want moved, where you want it moved from (it’s more expensive if they have to remove items from an attic, so if you can move stuff to the first floor or even second floor area you can save money), and also if there are conditions you need to know about in the paperwork. Most people are quite astounded at the cost of having professional movers do the work and end up doing at least some of the work themselves.

However, as most of us know from experience, it can be even worse to wake up Saturday morning with 2 dozen doughnuts ready for your “helpers” who never show up or call you with a reason why they can’t make it. Many times it’s worth the price to utilize a moving company for at least the heavy work. You may find that it’s easier to ease into your new house box by box also; starting with the items you absolutely can live without.

Here are a few quick moving tips that you may or may not already know but can help make the move easier no matter how you are handling it.

• Keep one large box available for the last morning you are there at your old house and mark it “LOAD LAST PLEASE!” In it you will want to put your bedding items that you will need that first night at your new place. Put all of your bedding, pillows, and if you have kids their favorite sleepy bear to go to bed with.
• Mark all boxes as to what is in them and which room they go to. Mark the rooms in LARGE PRINT so there’s no question where anything goes.
• Try to keep like items in the same boxes; for example – living room decor items or kitchen utensils and spices, etc. all in the same box so you aren’t trying to figure out what you need to put where or what’s inside each box.
• Weeks ahead start cleaning out your food items. Use all you can and anything that can’t be used think about donating to your local food bank instead of hauling them with you if you really don’t need them. Check dates on them too because that can of pork and beans in the far back of the cupboard has probably been there awhile.
• Don’t just put items into boxes as they are; dust them, wash them and have them clean and ready to use when you unpack them.
• Anything you take apart keep the screws, nuts and any other items that are small with it by putting them in plastic zipper bags labeled what they belong to and taped onto the item so they don’t get lost. When you’re ready to put it back together you won’t be looking all over for the parts and pieces.
• Don’t forget to leave your garage door opener for your old house for the new buyers. All too often people drive off, close the door, and don’t realize that they’ve kept the opener. Usually it’s only a matter of taking it back but it can be a bit of an inconvenience for both parties since you’re both in the process of a crazy time in life when things are a bit chaotic to say the least.

Most of all be careful and use your common sense. Take the time to figure out if you can afford to have professional movers help you at least with the large stuff. Utilizing professional movers could end up saving you both money and aggravation in many ways:

• You don’t have to worry about hurting yourself or pulling something while moving and missing days of work which ends up costing you even more money in the end.
• You don’t have to worry about anything being broken or dropped – if it is the movers will be covered for it and replace its value because they are insured.
• You don’t have to worry about all those “friends” who promise help but never show up and you don’t owe anyone else a reciprocal move since they’ve helped you. As terrible as it sounds it saves you from owing one and from being stuck with little to no help when you really need it; it also saves friendships and hard feelings.

If you can’t afford to have professional help moving, even for a portion of the move, then make sure you take your move slowly. Don’t expect to be completely moved in and complete within a single day or even a single weekend if you can’t physically do it.

Give yourself a decent amount of time to move out of your house that is at least a good week or more after your move in date for your new home. Most of all don’t procrastinate and put off packing things. Start by packing up the items you absolutely don’t need and getting tons and tons of boxes (sturdy ones!) to get your move started.

Make sure even if you’re not utilizing professional help that you seal each box up. In many cases people like to use those plastic bins that you can purchase in various sizes with lids and simply put a piece of masking tape or a label on each bin to let you know which room it goes to and what is inside.

Most of all, celebrate your move when it’s finished and throw yourself a little home warming party.

 BrokersRealty.Com