Hopefully, you have done some research on a moving company before you secure your new apartment and did not leave this process until the very last day. Once you have signed the lease and know exactly where you are moving then the task of hiring a mover and finalizing the price begins. Many movers will not necessarily give you a final price until they know the exact address that you are moving to. Additionally, they will want details of whether it is 1st floor, 2nd floor, or there are other impediments to moving your furniture into the property.
Here are some tips and things to consider when hiring a moving company:
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Go Online, Read Reviews, and Ask For References
Websites such as yelp, Angie’s list, home advisor, or the company’s own website will be good sources for this. Research your options – there are plenty of companies out there and some may have different sizes of crew, different sizes of trucks and different processes that they use. Make sure that you have researched the different companies and have the details for each option before making a final decision.
Decide who is packing – you should pre-determine which items you will pack on your own and those items that you want the moving company to help assist with. You should also make a list of large bulky items so that they can incorporate that into their final pricing. Leaving this aspect of your move undefined will cause you to incur additional expense and delay the time the moving company spends doing the physical move. Determine what services you need and what insurance liability coverage you want. Many moving companies offer additional services such as packing dishes, moving dressers, and oversized items. Additionally, the insurance coverage options that movers have may vary in cost and amount as well. This will depend on the value of your belongings and how much security you would like to have. These will all ultimately affect the final pricing.
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Get Estimates from Multiple Moving Companies and Compare Apples to Apples
While it is important to get multiple estimates you need to ensure that these estimates are incorporating the same or similar services and scope before making a final decision. In the event that the bids are not exactly the same do your best to ask the appropriate questions to make sure that you fully understand what services they are providing and what you will get.
Here are some common questions to ask in helping to vet the process:
- Do you charge an hourly or flat rate?
- Do you handle local or long distances moves or both?
- Do you handle moves in the city I am looking to move to?
- What additional services do you offer for packing or storage?
- What insurance options do you offer?
- How many workers would be in the crew that you provide?
- Is your staff trained and certified in any way?
- Do you hire subcontractors?
- What potential additional fees would I be exposed to for heavy items, bulky items, stairs, etc.?
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Be Fully Prepared on Moving Day
It is imperative that you have completed your own checklist and that you are prepared on your actual moving day. The worst thing that you could do is have the mover show up and you are not ready and then they have to wait around for you to pack up your own things. This will cost you additional time in the move and additional money for them to wait around. If things are not packed appropriately the movers may need to repack it themselves. If you have delayed your own packing process and now need them to assist you in packing, once again you will pay for it.
While hiring a moving company can help ease the physical strain of moving it also presents potential pit falls as well. The better gameplan you have – the better off you will be.