A Checklist From a Long Distance Moving Company
You are uprooting your world, heading across the country for a new life. You probably feel some excitement. You may also have a fluttering, uneasy feeling in your gut. Maybe it’s because you ate some questionable oysters last night. But more likely, it’s anxiety about your big move. That’s perfectly understandable.
This move is a big transition. On top of that, a long-distance move is a complex logistical ballet. Thankfully, you don’t have to figure out how to choreograph, stage, and conduct the entire production on your own. We have tips on preparing for a long-distance move to help you feel better prepared and more in control.
Advance Planning and The Big Three
This may be the most important tip: start as soon as possible. As you get closer to your moving day, your schedule will become increasingly full. Anything you can get done now will benefit you later when all the unavoidable, last-minute tasks pop up.
Planning early also means you have more choices available to you. Whether it’s a housekeeper for a move-out clean of your apartment, professional moving services, or a caterer for your farewell party, the longer you wait, the fewer choices you’ll have.
Okay, deep breaths. It sounds like a lot, and it is. But you’ll tackle this like eating an elephant: one bite at a time. If your thoughts are bouncing around like a rampaging pachyderm, that’s normal. What about schools for the kids? How will I handle my mail during the move? I need to figure out a plan for my pets. What route should I take for the drive? How will I safely transport great grandma’s piano?
All of the questions and what-ifs can cause analysis paralysis. There’s so much to do that you can’t do any of it.
If you need a place to start, we recommend the Big Three:
- Find a place to live (residential move) or work (commercial move).
- Declutter your space.
- Figure out how you will get everything to your new location.
1. Find a Place to Live
If you are moving to an unfamiliar area, start by researching neighborhoods. Consider schools for kids, commute times, costs, and the overall vibe or culture of various areas. You can contact real estate agents, rental agents, or apartment complexes for information. Consider whether you want to find the home you hope to stay in for years or prefer to land somewhere temporarily until you’ve gotten to know your new hometown better.
If you are relocating a business or expanding to a new location, focus on finding a space for your operations. Consider foot traffic, nearby facilities, and access to major roadways.
2. Declutter and Purge
Initially, this may seem like an odd thing to be in the Long Distance Move Big Three. But decluttering is a process that can be time-consuming, so you want to start early. If you wait to sort and purge until two weeks before you move, your schedule will be full with attending going-away parties, cleaning your home, and canceling your mail service.
You won’t have time or energy to determine what items bring you joy and which can be donated or tossed. Starting this process early makes it easier because you can do it a bit at a time, but it’s also the only way it’s likely to get finished.
Every box and every pound you move costs you more. Whether paying for a full-service move, purchasing your own packing materials, renting a truck and paying for gas, or hiring assistance for loading and unloading, the more stuff you have, the more you spend. Carving out even an hour or two a week will allow you to make significant decluttering progress over a few months. If you have trouble letting go of sentimental items, remind yourself that you will make new memories in your next home. Keep the memories, dump the clutter, and save the funds.
Relocation is a great reason to organize and downsize your files, whether dealing with personal paperwork or business documents. Boxes of paperwork are heavy. Moving costs will add up quickly if you are toting around receipts or customer files from the last millennium. Talk with your accountant about how far back you need to save tax files and other paperwork. Get rid of everything else, shredding or burning sensitive documents. For those you do need to keep, consider going digital. It’s a lot easier and less expensive to move a hard drive than a few dozen boxes of paperwork.
3. Figure out How to Get it All There
This item is the biggest of the big three. No matter how you do it, moving is a lot of work. The only way around that is to outsource some or all of the process of moving your belongings.
We understand not everyone has the budget to hire long-distance movers to pack, load, drive, and unload their entire household or business. When preparing for your cross-country move, budget is a consideration. However, even if money is tight, don’t write off the idea of getting some professional assistance. The longer your move, the more stressful it will be.
When you are trying to find the best neighborhood in Orem, Utah, while you are still in the Great Lakes City in Illinois, you already have a lot on your plate. Don’t add an unnecessary heap of stress by not even considering hiring movers to help.
Professional long-distance movers from a company that emphasizes training have the strength, physical stamina, and understanding of packing and loading techniques that you may lack. You may feel you will save money by packing and loading yourself. You can eat up those savings and more if things go wrong. And with a long-distance move, a lot can go wrong.
A load shift on the truck destroys your solid wood table and the box of glassware you unwisely packed underneath it. Improperly packed plates result in your unpacking a box of shards instead of dinnerware. Your lack of familiarity with large vehicles leads you to sideswipe a car on the interstate with your rental truck. Once you add up the destroyed furniture, replacement plates, and insurance deductibles, you likely could have covered the entire cost of a professional move, perhaps with a bit left over for a much-needed spa day.
Professional moving services may cost less than you think. Reputable companies will provide free, comprehensive estimates, so it can’t hurt to investigate the costs.
If a fully outsourced move is outside your budget, consider hiring partial help and doing the least physically demanding parts of the move yourself. Look at all elements of the move and decide where you’d most benefit from professional assistance.
You may feel comfortable boxing most or all of your items. While you still have to purchase all the packing materials, that can bring some savings. Hiring movers to load your truck can shorten the timeline for your truck rental since they can accomplish most residential loading jobs in only one day. In addition to saving money, professional loaders also mitigate the risk of injury and damage. Well-trained movers know how to carry a washing machine and a piano safely. Do you?
Contracting a crew to do the driving relieves you of the stress of renting a truck and managing a massive, unfamiliar vehicle. We understand if driving a huge truck across the state or country on roads you don’t know is terrifying. There’s also a theft risk when you leave a vehicle with all your worldly possessions in a hotel parking lot overnight.
Outsourcing the driving portion of your move makes sense, especially when you consider that you’d still need to pay for gas, a rental truck, and any one-way rental fees the company charges.
Some moving companies offer these a la carte services, so you can pick and choose which items you outsource and which you handle yourself. When preparing for a long-distance move, try to budget for at least some assistance.
When hiring long-distance movers, you’ll want to verify their licensing. They should have a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) number. You can find that information in this database by searching the company name. If nothing comes up, that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have an official number. Ask them for their number, then search the database again to confirm.
Your landlord, property manager, apartment complex, office building, or HOA may require a certificate of insurance from the moving company. That policy will cover damage to community areas like elevators, hallways, or landscaping. While well-trained, professional movers will exercise all possible care to prevent these things, it’s impossible to protect against every eventuality. Your movers’ insurance policy steps in when other precautions fail.
If you decide to move yourself, remember that damage to an elevator door can be expensive. If you dent the wall of your apartment complex’s lobby, will your insurance policy cover that? Check with your insurer to clarify. That brings us to our next point.
When leaving one home and going to the next, you may cancel a homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy, planning to restart it in your new location. However, that insurance gap can be a costly mistake. If your rented truck catches fire on the highway somewhere, you could lose everything.
When calling your insurer to notify them of your impending move, ask about maintaining coverage for your possessions during the relocation. That policy will likely be inexpensive but could mean avoiding financial devastation if catastrophe strikes en route.
After the Big Three, Tackle the Medium Everything-Else
So you’ve checked the Big Three off your list. What’s next when preparing for a cross-country move?
Once you know where you will land, that you are only moving items you love or need, and how you will get everything there, you can start to address everything else.
One of the best ways to generate a custom list of things you need to accomplish is to pay attention during your everyday activities.
- When you take your daughter to her soccer lesson, that should generate a list item: cancel soccer lessons. Also, find a soccer program in the new home.
- A magazine arrives in the mail? Change subscription address.
- If you get a notice in the mail reminding you about upcoming elections, add a new item to your list: Register to vote in my new location once I arrive.
- Just dropped your dogs off at daycare? Look online for pet care near my new home.
- The plant person just stopped by to water the office greenery. Arrange for plant care in our new office.
By being mindful of what is happening around you and your routines, you will have a comprehensive source for your move checklist.
Be especially aware of your mail. That will be a gold mine for your to-do list. In addition to that magazine that will need an address change, your utility bills can all serve as reminders of what you need to cancel and reestablish at your new home. Letters from friends or holiday cards from extended families help you remember whom you need to notify about your new address. A bill from your lawn care provider should trigger you to end that service.
For each item in your mailbox, ask yourself if there’s a corresponding action item for your move. Add that to your list. Better yet, make the necessary change now so you can cross it off the list and be done with it. One less thing to do as you get closer to moving day is always better.
Types of Moves
College Moves
Your nest is emptying. Significant changes are ahead, not the least of which is dorm life. Chances are, your child will need help getting their goods into their new place. You can do it yourself, or you can give yourself space to focus on the emotional goodbye and transitions rather than carrying boxes up the stairs while dozens of other new students do the same. If you prefer the latter, consider a professional moving company to help with your college move.
Whether the college of choice is in the same state or at the opposite end of the country, this move will be a massive change. We can’t help your child find the most lenient professors and the best place to get a cheap slice of pizza during a 2 am study session. But we can offer your college student a long-distance moving checklist for stress-free college moves:
1. Find out what the dorm or apartment includes.
If a room is fully furnished, showing up with a mattress and dresser is unnecessary and will create more work for you on move day.
Also, pay attention to the size of the room. Be realistic about what will fit in the new space. Get measurements if possible. It may be much smaller than what you are used to at home. You may also be sharing your space with a roommate. They will not appreciate your clutter overflowing into their space or shared areas, so only bring what you are confident will fit in the space.
2. Bring storage and organization items.
It’s a small space. You need to make the most of it. You’ll have enough on your plate with orientations, buying books, and trying to make friends, without running to a big box store to find these items. Purchase them ahead of time and bring them with you. Even if you wanted to shop for them after you move in, stores will likely be cleaned out by all the students who didn’t procrastinate.
3. Look into restrictions.
There’s no need to bring a hot plate and Instant Pot if these devices aren’t allowed in your space. Check the restrictions for your future accommodations and pack accordingly. College can feel like enough of a pressure cooker on its own without you needing to offload contraband appliances because you didn’t look into the rules.
4. Bring personal items.
Remember that your space needs to feel like home. Sure, you need a desk lamp and a drawer organizer. But a poster, a comfy throw blanket in your favorite color, and the crayon drawing your kid sister gave you to wish you luck at college are just as important. The practical items are critical, but so is making sure you feel comfortable and at home in your new space.
Don’t neglect these special items or the means you need to display them. Magnets for posters, frames for photos you want on your desk, and removable adhesive strips for the giant image of your dog you had printed will all come in handy. (Check with management to see what they allow on walls.)
5. Connect with roommates.
Get to know your future roommate before move-in day. A cross-country move will feel less daunting if at least one familiar face is in the crowd. You can also coordinate your packing lists. If the room allows a microwave or minifridge, it makes little sense for each of you to bring one. Discussing your list with your roommate prevents duplicates.
6. Take time to soak it in.
Heading to college is an incredibly exciting time for the student and their family. Try to minimize the stress and chaos of move-day so you can focus on this milestone. Give yourself plenty of time to arrive, even if you hit traffic. Take photos. Students, try not to get annoyed by your mom if she cries. Parents, try not to get annoyed (or hurt) by your student if they just want to go off and explore.
The less you have to do on move-in day, the more you can focus on the excitement of starting your college experience. Hiring movers is one way to give yourself time to say your goodbyes without feeling rushed or exhausted.
Relocating for Work
Congratulations on the new job! If you are moving because of a promotion or job opportunity, you’ve got a lot to handle. Keep things as simple as possible. Create your long-distance moving checklist to guide you through the process from job-acceptance day through moving day to unpacking day.
There’s a lot of moving parts in a big move. If you don’t write them down and keep track of what’s left, things will fall through the cracks. You want to show up ready to go on your first day of your new job. It’s hard to do that when you are sleeping in your car because you waited too long to book a hotel or you have no hot water because you forgot to turn on the utilities at your new home.
With a new job comes a new paycheck. Between that and a different cost of living, you’ll want to pay close attention to the finances to ensure you don’t overextend yourself. Consider renting for a year or signing a short lease to get to know your new home better. That way, you aren’t committing to a neighborhood long-term. Think of this like test driving a car only you’ll be test driving a new area, taking it out for a spin to ensure you like how it feels. If you love it, you can commit by buying a house or signing a longer lease.
If your new home is less spacious than the one you left, or you’ve opted to live in a smaller place while you search for “the one,” you may need to store some of your belongings. Check with your long-distance movers to see if they have connections with storage facilities in your area. They may get better rates or have additional availability not accessible to an individual customer.
If this is a military move, save your receipts. Your move expenses may be tax-deductible if they weren’t otherwise reimbursed and meet the IRS’s requirements.
Finally, when negotiating your new contract, ask about moving expenses. Many employers will offer a relocation allowance. If you use that money to hire professional movers, you can check off many items from your long-distance moving checklist with that one decision. Instead of shopping for moving boxes and torturing your body by forcing it to load and unload your furnishings, you can use your time to memorize the names of your future coworkers and pick out the best power tie to wear on day one.
Long-distance moves are a massive undertaking. You are packing up an entire life and relocating it to parts unknown. Start early, focus first on the most significant elements, and make thorough lists to track your progress and remind yourself what you still need to do. The most important thing you can do is just get started.