Archive for the ‘Domestic Moving’ Category

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A Guide to Hiring Movers

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

Hiring movers may seem like a somewhat trivial task, but it’s important to hire people who you can trust to handle your most important valuables and get them where you need them to go. Evaluating whether or not a mover is trustworthy may not be readily apparent, but can be accomplished through several different methods. This involves doing research online, asking around, checking certifications and getting a general feel for how the company operates. However you decide to make the final decision on a mover, make sure you have as much information as possible

One of the most reliable ways to hiring a good moving company is to get recommendations from friends. This will provide you with a detailed experience of how the company operates and whether or not they can fit to your needs. Make sure to ask any friend that gives you a recommendation plenty of questions about what the company is willing and not willing to do and how well they do it. It’s a good idea to supplement any recommendation you get with outsider reviews and evaluation.

Always have more than one option available before making your final decision. This will allow you to compare and contrast movers based on a variety of factors: price estimates, online reviews, services offered, reputation, BBB status and any other factors that you might feel are important. It’s a good idea to narrow down your choices to between 3 and 4 companies before going through with the final decision. Relocation services will typically offer a much wider variety of services than a typical moving company, including vehicle transportation and international moving services.

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How to Protect Furniture When Moving

Sunday, November 13th, 2011

It can sometimes take years or even decades to build up a decent collection of furniture, and there is no reason that it should be at risk when you decide to move. Extra care and attention should be paid to furniture when moving to ensure that it arrives at your new home just as it left your old one. Protecting furniture while moving is all about proper padding, support and orientation. The following is a quick guide to show you how to properly protect your furniture during a move so that nothing will get damaged.

Proper padding is essential for making sure that your furniture doesn’t get scratched or cracked along the way. Many moving companies will provide furniture paddings that you can place in between items so that they don’t damage each other. Much of the time, however, they don’t provide enough to meet all of your needs. Old comforters or blankets you can find at garage sales will work just fine as a substitute for traditional furniture blankets. You can even use things like bubble wrap and newspaper to fill in spaces that leave room for furniture to shift during moving.

Properly protecting furniture when moving also requires the correct arrangement of items in the truck or transport container. This typically means that you want heavier items to be below lighter ones and that you want each individual item to have a low center of gravity. This may require you to flip certain items, like tables, upside down. It’s also good to break down any furniture as much as possible, as assembled furniture with detachable components can be particularly weak and prone to damage during transportation.

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Finding a Job after Your Move

Friday, November 11th, 2011

It’s always a good idea to have a job ready for any new location you’re moving to. Having a ready source of income for your new home is both a reliever of stress and one less thing to worry about when going through the process of relocation. If you don’t have a job ready and waiting, however, there are some things you can do to get the process of finding employment rolling before you begin your domestic relocation and arrive at your new home.

First, scan jobs around the area of your new home through any of the number of job search engine websites out there today. Put in applications for anything that looks interesting and make sure to put in the address of your new home so that businesses know you will be a local candidate. You can start this process months ahead of time, as it sometimes takes companies quite a while to sift through applications and pick out candidates eligible for a first interview. If you get a call for an interview, schedule it for a soon as possible after you arrive.

If you still haven’t been able to land any good prospects for employment by the time you finish your move, take the opportunity of settling in to the neighborhood by making contacts and establishing a personal network in the community. It’s fairly common knowledge that networking is the easiest way to get a job.  Talk to neighbors, store owners, employees and anyone else near your new home that may know of job openings. You’ll not only be able to find valuable contacts for the business world, but you might make some long term friends as well.

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Taking the Hassle out of Moving Your Household Goods

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

It seems like everyone has tips for family and friends about the best way to move their household goods in the least intensive and stressful way possible. These tips often involve a lot of planning, organizing and leaving a lot of time to set everything up properly. Sometimes there just isn’t enough time before a move to do everything properly, especially when you need to move quickly for a new job or because there are deadlines to meet.

A great way to save a lot of time and hassle when moving domestically is to consult with a relocation service. A domestic moving company can coordinate large portions of the move to be both cost and time efficient. They can do this because they have access to resources and information that aren’t necessarily available to the average mover. They can set it up so that your household goods can travel along several different van lines, effectively saving time and money on your household goods transportation.

For people short on time, hiring workers to help with everything from packing to unloading and loading trucks can save a ton of time as well. A relocation service can help set up a door-to-door delivery service, then you can get people to help move things in and out of the house as well as arrange and set up furniture. Sometimes people get their friends to help, but if there is no one available or you don’t want to burden your friendships, there are always plenty of people available to do any type of work in this economy.

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Choosing a Great Location When Moving

Monday, October 24th, 2011

Cleanliness, size and price are all important considerations when selecting an apartment or home to purchase or rent. That does not mean they are the only things to pay attention to though. Location is probably the most overlooked characteristic of a property, but that does not diminish its importance. Most people pay attention to how close their prospective home is to where they work, but they don’t necessarily pay attention to other surroundings like parks, restaurants, grocery stores, schools and other community services. For some people, though, isolation is more important. Before deciding where to move domestically, take a look at the ideas below.

Being close to public areas is important for people who want to integrate with the community and make friends in the neighborhood. For apartment dwellers, proximity to stores, bars and restaurants can be especially useful for late nights out without having to go through the hassle of bringing a car. It’s also great for doing frequent shopping and getting exercise while doing so. Moving to a big city or center of a smaller one will provide ample places that fit these criteria.

Location is also very important for people who want to be in a more isolated, quiet environment. Discovering places like this may not be quite as clear. It’s important to pay attention to things like traffic patterns both air and ground, makeup of the neighborhood, natural barriers like hills and trees, and orientation of the house to the street. When looking for isolation it is essential to communicate with prospective neighbors and previous owners to get a feel for how quiet the area is. Moving to suburbia or rural areas can make it easier to find properties that are more isolated.

 

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Moving to College: What You Need

Saturday, October 22nd, 2011

Moving away from home for the first time can be both exciting and intimidating. The key to success is to follow the advice of people who have done it before, be prepared. Most people who move out of the house for the first time miss the little things they have taken for granted. Establishing independence can be more about conquering the little things than the big ones. Below are some helpful moving tips for those who find themselves on their own for the first time.

Learn to Cook – students in college can be on a very limited budget. Eating out on a consistent basis can be very expensive even when sticking to fast food. Learning to cook can be a great way to reduce costs and still eat hearty delicious and healthy meals. Many students are limited by the space provided in their dorms or apartments, but most

The Little Things – there’s lots a little things that people can forget if they’ve never been the primary shopper in their household. Bathroom items like toilet paper, hand towels, plungers, brushes and even toothpaste can go unnoticed until you absolutely need them. Until a have a fully stocked kitchen, a person might feel like they have to constantly go to the store in order to get a an item they need to cook certain food.

Learn to Budget – the cost of living independently can rack up quickly. It’s a good idea to create a list of estimated costs and measure it against income. It may be necessary to cut back on certain creature comforts in order to survive and stay out of debt. The first few months will be unusually expensive as normal household items are stocked up on, but costs go down after awhile. It’s also a good idea to put a little bit of money in a rainy day account in case of emergencies.

 

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Essential Moving Tips: Infrequent Movers

Friday, October 14th, 2011

The advantage of only moving once in a blue moon is that no matter how stressful the move may be, it doesn’t happen often to be a major problem in life. That doesn’t mean, however, that you shouldn’t make those infrequent moves as stress free as possible. The best way approach a big but infrequent move is to do lots of planning ahead. This means things like packing slowly and over a long period of time, organizing, and getting the help of others for complicated or difficult tasks.

Moving out of a house with multiple bedrooms can seem daunting, so it is important to spread out the work into smaller more manageable sections. Start with the rooms of the house that are used least often, and with items that don’t need to be brought out on a daily basis. This can include things in the garage, closets, and any other storage areas. As you are packing these items, make sure the boxes they are in are properly labeled so that you know exactly where to find them when you are unpacking at your new home.

For infrequent movers, it’s a good idea to get professional help with heavy items and transportation. Using a relocation service for domestic moves is your best bet for value and service. This is because a relocation service can coordinate multiple moving companies and services to create the greatest value and efficiency. Why risk injury and damage to your most precious items by trying to lift and move them yourself. Get the help of professional movers who have the strength, tools and experience to move heavy items like bedroom furniture, kitchen appliances, dining room tables and hutches. The small extra expense is worth it, and you will thank yourself for getting the help afterwards.

 

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Essential Moving Tips: Frequent Movers

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

For people who live in apartments, domestic moving can be an all too frequent activity. Some people are forced to move every year or couple of years in order to get the best value out of rental properties and stay close to their jobs. Moving this often can be very expensive and tiresome, but there a few things frequent movers can do to relieve the hassle that comes from constantly being on the move. The following moving tips are great for people who move all the time, but they can also be useful for families and individuals who stay in one place for longer periods.

Plastic Bins – boxes are cheap and efficient if you only move once every couple of decades or so, but plastic bins are an invaluable resource for storing and moving items for frequent movers. Plastic bins, which you can find at most big box and home improvement stores, are cheap and durable and will last you infinitely longer than normal cardboard boxes. They stack easily and do not require annoying accessories like tape. T

Light Weight Objects – plastic dishes and cups might not be fancy or suitable for hosting the Queen for dinner, but they will reduce the weight load significantly when moving. Light weight plastic objects can also be far more durable than their glass or ceramic counterparts, which is essential when you are moving often.

Collapsible Furniture – desks, tables, chairs and other objects you can take apart and fit into smaller containers are a great way to save space in a moving truck. These items require a bit more work when moving, but they are usually lighter and easier to repair than their uni-body counterparts. When buying a collapsible item, make sure the hardware is not proprietary so that you can do repairs when needed.

 

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Adjusting from a Move to Alaska

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

Moving to Alaska can present a huge change for almost anybody. People know that Alaska can get very cold and that their winters can bring a lot of snow, but some people forget that Alaska has extreme polarity in daylight hours between Summer and Winter, meaning it can be daylight for 24 hours at a time during summer and dark for 24 hours at a time during winter. The residents of cities like Fairbanks are use to this phenomenon, but it can take getting used to if you’ve just moved to Alaska and are not familiar with the conditions. Alaska.net has a very informative quote regarding winter days in Alaska:

“The most important thing to be prepared for, however, is not the cold or the snow, but rather the darkness. Mid-November to the end of January can be difficult weeks because of the lack of daylight, and many Alaskans take a one- or two-week vacation warm-weather vacation during this time. If you can do that, too, the lack of light probably won’t get to you. Of course, if you enjoy the outdoors, winter is a beautiful time of year — you’ll be outside with picture-perfect low-angle light and an Alpenglow that illuminates the sky. And by mid-February, the days start getting longer again and you’ll start to dream of another great Alaskan summer. “

If you don’t have a job when moving to Alaska, it’s a good idea to become familiar with the type of employment available in the state. Despite it’s reputation, Alaska is home to lots of jobs outside the fishing and petroleum sectors. During the summer there are many temporary jobs as hotel desk clerks, bus drivers and lots of other positions in tourism. Health care and transportation industries are also rapidly growing to due Alaska’s strategic positioning between North America and Asia. There are also many great government jobs available for people who want to help with Alaska’s vast natural resources.

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Organizing Your Move or Relocation

Monday, September 26th, 2011

Domestic moving can be viewed as a huge hassle that brings out the worst parts of our stress and anxiety. Well, it doesn’t have to be. A lot of the hassle from moving comes from procrastination and lack of planning. When given enough time and the proper resources, moving doesn’t have to be as traumatic of an event as we make it out to be. Reducing stress can be achieved through two main concepts, timing and organization.

Timing is all about leaving the appropriate amount of days or weeks to enable proper packing and placement. For small apartments this can be a matter of days, but for large homes with lots of stuff inside it can sometimes take a month or more to get everything properly packed. The key here is to work slowly but consistently. Don’t stress yourself out by trying to get everything done as quickly as possible. Do a little bit at a time but at a steady rate and you will have everything packed in time for the move.

Organizing is work that is mostly done before the move, but has the most benefit during unpacking. There’s lots of different ways to organize your household items and make sure that nothing gets lost. Some people keep it as simple as writing labels on the boxes for where stuff belongs. Others find it easier to create color codes that can be spotted more easily. Either way, it’s a good idea to keep items for the same room together. Some people go as far as keeping inventory of every item in a list on a spreadsheet. While this is probably helpful, it is definitely not necessary.

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