We’ve all made mistakes moving before, but if you’ve never gone through a big move and experienced the major problems that can occur, you might want to learn from the mistakes of others. Below are a couple of examples of major moving mistakes that ended up costing the involved party thousands of dollars in recovery costs. These are not errors of stupidity, just lack of foresight and forgetfulness than can happen to almost anyone. You can avoid these types of expensive mistakes simply by reading about them and planning accordingly when you move yourself. Using a relocation service can also ease a lot of difficulties that arise out of moving.

Joseph decided that he was going to move from California to Kansas when he was offered a job in Topeka that increased his salary by 10%. Within a week of accepting his new position he packed up all of his belongings, put them in a truck, and drove all of the way to Kansas. He did this without having ever visited the state or scouting locations to live. When he arrived, he decided to stay in a motel until he could find a house to move into. Within a week he was packing up his things and moving back to California. He found that he didn’t like anything about the place he moved to and decided that the slight increase in salary was not worth living in a place he wouldn’t like.

Another story deals with a near opposite circumstance. A family decided to move from their home in one of the outer burroughs of New York City to a small quiet town in Colorado because it was listed in a magazine as one of the nicest places to live in America. Both parents quit their job and moved during the summer when their kids were out of school. Once they go there, however, they found that jobs in their areas of expertise were scarce. After four months they were unable to find high enough paying work to pay for their living expenses and were forced to move back to the city.

Deciding whether to move or not is not easy. There are lots of things to consider before you pack all of your belongings and head towards a new home. Sometimes you are planning to move because of a new job and think the decision is simple, but even this may not be an entirely one-sided argument. Many people who are desperate for employment may not realize the full implications of moving to a new location because they think that they do not have a choice in the matter. Before making a final decision, consider some of the facts about your current home and a new one so that you can have as much information as possible before making such a important decision.

Visit your prospective new home. There’s not likely any job in the world that would be good enough to overcome a location you hate. Traveling to and just looking around your potential new town or city can be invaluable in making the right decision that will likely effect the rest of your life.

Do you know anyone where you are moving? Sometimes people forget about how important their social structure is near their home. The internet and technology in general has made it much easier to communicate with family and friends that are far away, but sometimes we neglect how important it is to have more than occasional physical contact with those who we care about.

If you own a home how easily can you sell? Having liability over an existing mortgage at your old home can be an insurmountable financial burden. Some people decide to move before they are even sure their old home will sell, which can make their life in their new city too expensive before they are even able to settle down. Some employers are willing to take on these costs but many are not.

What are my job prospects? If you are moving because you have found a new job in a different city then this question may be simple. If not, research the job opportunities in your prospective city in comparison to your current one. You may end up finding that you are better off staying at your current location to find employment, especially when you take into account all of the costs of moving.