Understanding The Basics Of Working With A Moving Company

Many people have moved, but not everyone has worked with a professional moving company to help with relocation. The differences between a DIY move and a professional move can be striking. In terms of professionalism, efficiency and customer service, nothing compares to a move with the pros. Once you have a great move, it’s hard to go back to doing it yourself. In order to have a great move, it’s important to understand the basics of moving from your home.In this post, we'll go over some things you need to know in regards to working with a moving company.

Long Distance vs. Local Moves

A local move is a relocation within your city, usually about 25 miles or less. Local moves can be charged by the hour, or by weight depending on distance. Local moves are often easier to coordinate than long distance moves.

Interstate relocations are charged by weight and distance. Not all moving companies will perform these relocations, so finding the right moving company can be trickier.

How to Prep for Movers

Unless you’re able to pay for a full-service relocation, you'll need to prepare for the moving company to help the relocation go faster and easier. Consider the following:

• Disconnect appliances from the wall before movers arrive.
• Remove anything attached to walls, such TVs, shelves, pictures and knickknacks.
• Stack/store packed boxes in easy-to-access locations.

It’s important to be completely packed before moving day arrives. Start well in advance to ensure that you have enough time to pack your items. Label every box properly. Boxes that contain fragile items should be packed and labeled accordingly.

A quality moving company will pad wrap any furniture with a surface which might scratch, including stained wood, paint or leather. They will also take care to shrink wrap any upholstered furniture. They will never shrink wrap leather or wood, since it can sweat when the temperature changes and cause damage.

When to Buy Moving Insurance

First insurance is a misnomer. It’s actually called valuation. There are two types of valuation. The first type is required by law and that’s a basic valuation of $.60 per pound per article. This is virtually nothing. For instance if an eight pound laptop is damaged, that claim by law would only settle at $4.80. Since that level of valuation would hardly cover most items, many customers opt for full valuation, which covers the cost to repair or replace the item with a like item.  The premium for the valuation is usually about 10% of the cost of the move. If you see that your valuation is much more than that, you should question the quality of the company you are using. Expensive and/or rare items may need to be inventoried and insured separately. Contact your moving company to determine what’s needed to insure your belongings at a level of coverage that makes you comfortable.

Different Services For Different Types of Moves

Every move is different, so many moving companies provide a range of services to help people relocate. The services you select may be based on your budget, the type of items you're moving or how far you're moving. Typical services include:

·      Storage. After leaving your current residence, it might take a few days or weeks to move into your new home. Reputable moving companies will store your belongings until you’re ready to unload and unpack.

·      Packing. Some people prefer to handle the packing, while others want to leave it up to the movers. Packing can be expensive and one way to lower your cost is to buy your materials from a box wholesaler and pack your own household goods. In other cases, only fragile items, or large items like mattresses are packed by movers.

·      Third-party services. Some moves require third-party services that generally relate to large, bulky, easily damaged items of which the moving company is not equipped to handle — such as a piano, hot tub, pool table or grandfather clock. Third-party services can be arranged by your moving company and offer crating and assembly as well.

Get Started Early

No matter what type of move you’re facing, it's important to get a jump-start on planning and preparation. Normal lead time is three to five weeks. However, movers book up quickly, especially during the peak season from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Contacting a moving company well in advance can improve your chances of securing services on the dates you need. A good rule of thumb is to contact your moving companies to begin the estimating process as soon as an offer has been accepted on your home. That is usually 45 – 60 days from the move date, and provides plenty of time to go through a couple of in home estimates and still have the flexibility of selecting your preferred date.