long distant move-DIY or hire movers?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>My son is heading 1600 miles away to begin his residency and we are trying to figure out the best way to handle the move. If money was not a concern, we would hire a moving company, have them load, drive and unload; that said, my son is cheap!! </p>

<p>Currently, my son lives in a house with a roommate, but most of the furniture is his. I do not think he will be able to take everything with him as he will be moving to an apartment, most likely a one bedroom. What doesn’t go with him will come to our house, 2 hours away from his current home and on the way to his new city.</p>

<p>My husband’s first thought was to rent a U-Haul truck, maybe hiring a moving team to load the truck and one to unload on the other end, and he and my son driving the truck while towing my son’s car. Other options are for me to go with them, instead of flying and meeting them, and not towing the car as we would have 3 drivers. I would not drive the truck, only the car. Oh, he also wants to make the drive in two days which means a 13+ hour a day drive! If we really want to do this in 2 days, I suggested we tow the car so we don’t need two driver and the other drive can sleep while he isn’t driving. The one factor we forgot to figure in with a DIY was the price of gas; that might make the price close enough to a moving company that we might not want to bother doing it ourselves. I saw on maybe U-Hauls site that the truck gets 10 MPG :(</p>

<p>I have seen online the companies where they will deliver the storage containers that we load ourselves and then they drive them to the location, but I am not sure that is really cheaper. My concern with us loading the truck or containers our self is making sure every things is secure. We know how to pack boxes; my husband has moved his office several times in last few years and have moved the MIL as well as the kids back and forth to schools!! </p>

<p>A concern I have with a moving company, is we want the furniture picked up on set day and delivered 3 days later; not interested in waiting two weeks for it to arrive. We could have it loaded a few weeks before, IF we could have a guaranteed deliver day as my son could stay with us until we head out. Because he doesn’t have a ton of furniture, I am thinking we would have to share the moving truck with another load which usually means no set delivery date. This is why I thought the pod system would work. </p>

<p>While my husband and son are capable of shlepping furniture, I think doing this on both ends as well as the drive is more than I really want then to handle. Any suggestions on how best to hand a long distant move are welcome :)</p>

2

<p>I moved from NY to Chicago for grad school with a whole apt of furniture and my boyfriend (who is now my DH) drove the UHaul and unloaded it all in 98 degree heat. He survived.</p>

3

<p>We moved from CA to IN, packing ourselves, towing one car and I drove the other car with child and cat in tow. What made it great was that we hired movers to unpack the boxes. It wasn’t that expensive and it was a lifesaver in a snow storm.</p>

4

<p>We have had paid movers do all the loading and driving, then we had a move where friends helped us load two u-hauls and we drove them (I did not like that when it began snowing!) and paid about $700 for a team to help us unload, we unpacked. There was less damage on that second move. I preferred saving the money, that said, I would make a spreadsheet and calculate the cost of the truck, the gas, the time off work, any hotels, a true bottom line versus the movers and then decide if you save enough to make it worth the stress and hassle.</p>

5

<p>All of our moves have been “self moves” … except one cross-country move that was paid for by employer. That one cost only several hundred dollars (to fix/replace damaged items). Obviously we are self-move oriented. That said, one has to be willing to do a LOT of work boxing and loading, driving, unloading and unboxing. If you can manage it all in a trailer that’s cheapest. Rental trucks get poor mileage, and the ride is very rough on poorly maintained roads. Have you considered a Mini-POD?</p>

6

<p>Definately recommend doing it yourself. We have had movers move us 3 times and if it were not for my dh company paying for it, we would not have done it…VERY EXPENSIVE! He probably has some friends to load…plus, it will be memories, even though one may not realize it at the time, ha! Good luck!</p>

7

<p>It’s time to do some math. Compare the cost of getting new furniture at his destination with the cost of moving his old stuff. Does he view this move as temporary - something for a small number of years? If so, he probably doesn’t need a whole lot of furniture and doesn’t need expensive furniture - picture craigslist+Ikea. Don’t forget the mileage charge for the truck and the cost of gas on something with lousy gas mileage - it may be worse than you imagine. You might find that it’s a wash to just buy furniture there (notice I didn’t use the word ‘new’) or even less expensive and less hassle.</p>

<p>You really should consider doing the 1600 mile move in 3 days rather than 2. What’s the big hurry? Maybe you guys can even enjoy a couple of small breaks on the way. If you end up with the uhaul truck remember that driving it all day long is not the equivalent of driving your comfortable personal car all day long. It’s going to be jouncy, have uncomfortable seats, will be loud, etc. and 8 hours in it will feel like 16 hours in your personal car.</p>

8

<h2>(just crossposted with GladGradDad!)</h2>

<p>Is all this furniture good quality or just some used things he’s picked up so far in his young life? It might be worth it to sell everything at a loss and rebuy in the new community. </p>

<p>Are there many boxes of books? We have this problem every time we move, and it’s always a long distance move. Once we saved some money by only packing our own books and mailing them UPS. The rest was done professionally by a company. Moving companies charge by weight, so the books became a burden we could address differently by self-packing just those. ETA: We had a work destination address to ship those books in the new city; they didn’t mind holding them for a few weeks until we arrived.</p>

<p>If you can purchase professional moving boxes that stack well, you’ll save a lot of space in a truck. Packing liquor store boxes and others collected from stores, high in a truck, isn’t as efficient. There are different professional boxes for different purposes, by size and weight of the cardboard. We always needed a nice variety for a household move. </p>

<p>We considered the amount of time a move would take when we did the math. If you save money on a move but incur a night in a motel because bed furniture hasn’t yet arrived, that reduces your savings. Also, eating too many times in a restaurant or ordering pizzas before kitchen is unpacked is a problem. We learned to make a “fast kitchen” box and drive with it, to fix that problem.</p>

<p>What is hardest to imagine is how fast those packing and moving crews move through your stuff! It’s a very different rhythm than a self-move. Be prepared to back off and let them work. </p>

<p>We never had anything stolen by moving crews except liquor. If you end up with professional packers, have S pick up any valuables (cash, jewelry, a passport…) long before they walk in; move those in your own travel suitcases. If you leaave your own purse lying around his apartment on packing day, they might pack it before you turn around; so don’t let that happen to you! (been there…)</p>

<p>Tip your movers with cash. (There’s an industry standard for tip percentage== I’m not sure of the figure, but if you need that, PM me and I’ll ask my S who worked on a moving crew.) The head man will distribute it fairly to the crew members. If you don’t go professional…tip yourselves!</p>

9

<p>We recently made a move of about 1,000 miles. Decided NOT to take most of our old furniture as we were going to a different climate and home style. But still had allot of stuff. Traditional movers quoted in the 6K to 8K range. We went with a pod from RatPack for a little less then 3K which included 3 months storage. Packing everything into boxes took a week. Loading the pod took one long day. My wife and I unloaded it ourselves in 4 hours. We then opened boxes for months as we pleased. I expected some movement within the pod but when we opened the pod everything was exactly in the condition when we packed it. RatPack did a really careful job. They offer different pod sizes. We got the 16"’.</p>

10

<p>We have plenty experience in packing boxes, for books as well as other belonging; we only use boxes purchased from the box stores. We mainly use the book boxes, but also will use a medium when necessary. I figure we will also use a couple of wardrobe boxes. </p>

<p>As far as furniture, my son has furniture he purchased 4 years ago. While this move may only be for a year, the furniture has to be moved somewhere. If he didn’t take it with him and rented or purchased cheap, we still have the problem of where his current furniture would be stored. The cost of storage plus buying used or cheap doesn’t seem worth it; besides, my son loves his bed and recliner, not sure he is willing to give them up :slight_smile: Mom here is not thrilled with used furniture due to a bed bug scare!</p>

<p>I know the drive will take 3 days, my husband is the one that said two; we all know which one of us is right :wink: Even if we hire someone to do the truck driving for us, we still have to drive the car there. I have looked into the pods as well as a freight hauler. I am liking the pods the best at the moment, although the freight hauler sounds good on paper; the reviews for freight don’t thrill me though. </p>

<p>Anyone have experience with the pods? Tobin I crossed posted with you; Pack Rat is who I was looking at and did the online quote with.</p>

11

<p>My niece and her H used a pod when they moved from the west coast to the east coast 3 years ago. They were very happy with the decision and I am sure they did the math.</p>

12

<p>I agree it doesn’t pay to store the furniture. Treading gently here, because I know people get attached to furniture, but … can he sell all the furniture in place to the current roommate for one price? Whoosh- one quick handshake, nothing to store or move! </p>

<p>Lately I see young people going to tremendous amounts of cost and effort to move furniture when it’s all replaceable. If he were to sell even his bed and recliner in place, and buy the same brand new in the next city, would the cost differential be worth it to save all that cost and effort to move it? </p>

<p>Actually, don’t answer it here, because I know it’s a radical solution. Just something to consider. To me, furniture is just something to be bought and sold in place, unless it’s heirloom or antique. Some of my own furniture has resale value, others just can go to the curb and I’ll start over again in the new place. But this reflects my personal mood these days; might not fit your family. I understand that. </p>

<p>OP wanted responses on using a POD…so back to topic…</p>

13

<p>We are a family that always has self-moved. Last move was from Northern CA to NC. 3000+ miles. Uhaul and a suburban. Animals and kiddos in the back of ole’ bessie. Not a fun move but it got us here.</p>

<p>Just did son’s 2 bedroom apt for med school, local though. Moved him from his undergrad that was not local. 800 miles, maybe. He condensed everything to an 8 ft bed truck (bessie’s replacement) and a trailer hitched to the truck.</p>

<p>If it were possible for your son I would encourage him to condense to a “rented” truck, van, or suburban and a u-haul trailer. Both one way and easier to drive. Mattresses/beds will fit into the trailer, also a recliner. Is he taking appliances? Not fun moving those up apt steps!</p>

<p>Son just furnished his 2 bd/1350 square foot apt with Craig’s List furniture and we were really careful about what was clean and what wasn’t. Did buy the mattress new. Same with the linens and drapes, all new. When he goes to move again he will condense and resell, depending if he needs to move or not for residency.</p>

<p>Good luck, and yes try to have fun!!</p>

<p>Kat
ps we moved son in july last year and off course record setting temps, well over 100 degrees up 4 flights…but we did have fun driving around looking collecting his various “junk”!!</p>

14

<p>P3T, I don’t mind hearing your suggestions, and I will respond. The furniture my son has was all purchased new and is good quality furniture. While he isn’t that attached to it, it doesn’t pay to sell it and buy new/used/rented, etc… His first roommates parents were very close friends with a furniture store owner allowing us to purchase exceptional furniture at a fraction of the original cost. We purchased furniture that we expected him to keep for quit a long time. Even if he were to keep the bare minimum, we would still need more than his car to get his belongs to the new city. As my husband and I do not have the time from work to make the drive there and back, we can not take our car to load stuff. A one way truck will be needed, so it might as well be one that has room for his furniture. We are looking at the smallest U-Haul (or whatever brand) truck which is a 12 foot; nothing terrible big. </p>

<p>By towing my son’s car on the truck, at least we will only have to pay for the gas on the truck. The only reason I am looking into the pod system or a mover is to save my husband’s back and all of our tempers which tend to rise, especially in the heat :slight_smile: I have just started looking into this and we still have 2 months before the move.</p>

15

<p>You can do a self move by hiring movers to load your truck and another set of movers to unload for you at the destination. That’s the way my D moved to grad school She drove the U Haul alone, no map, just a GPS. The professional loaders know how to maximize space and balance the boxes so nothing will fall over. I’ve used movinghelp.com many times and have been very satisfied.</p>

<p>We’ve also used a pod for my son many years ago and the experience was also positive. We also used movinghelp.com for loading and unloading.</p>

16

<p>By the way, even if you reserved the smallest U-Haul truck, they don’t guarantee they would have the size there at the time of pick up. My daughter had to maneuver a 17’ truck (they didn’t have the 10ft size we reserved) along the narrow streets of Dupont Circle in DC. Since she couldn’t park the truck in her neighborhood streets, she had to park it overnight in the parking lot of a grocery store.</p>

17

<p>I have done some self-moving, and some company paid moving, and some self-pay moving, and I still remember what that professional Mayflower driver told us 30 years ago, and I quote: “Moving sucks” (Yes, he was being ironic)</p>

18

<p>Woo, boy! Married 30 years, moved 10 times. The first 4 times we did ourselves, after that the moves have been professionally done. We’ve done everything from pack ourselves, pay for pizza and beer for some friends to help load and unload… To a two day professional team pack with half going to storage an half going in a shipping container to Hawaii while I dove one vehicle and a six month old baby to storage at my parents house halfway across the country while DH drove the other all the way across the country to California to be shipped, then both of us catching separate flights.</p>

<p>This is your son’s move. Part of the growing up process is growing from crummy do it yourself moves to “adult” moves with packers. I can’t imagine that a single man, starting as a resident, could have enough good furniture and stuff to warrant a professional packer or mover. Sell or give away anything that isn’t really good furniture. Use good boxes and paper to pack the “stuff” that’s worth taking. Edit ruthlessly. Don’t tow the car. Someone should drive it, someone should drive the U-Haul. Take it easy. Smile, have an adventure. Plan for needing more time than you think you’ll need.</p>

<p>Once upon a time, along about our 6th move (by this time we had moved ourselves halfway across the country for medical school and a couple of small in town moves, and had then moved several times professionally through the military) we paid air fare for afriend of ours to fly to our home, then fly with with me, our 3year old and 6week old across the country. I wasn’t sure if I could handle my two little ones alone, with connecting flights. We also flew one of my husband’s siblings to our home to drive one of our two cars. My husband had a small U-Haul trailer with the stuff we knew we’d need right away in a new house with a new born. It was a move so complicated, and with such intricate timing we could have used a battle plan, but it is also one of our fondest memories.</p>

<p>A single young man, just starting out, shouldn’t need any plans quite so complicated. We know quite a few such young men who have had done such a move with just a U-Haul and a couple of friends. One to drive the car, one to drive the uhaul, and one to drive the friend’s car, so the friends can get back home after they help with the move in.</p>

19

<p>Friends of ours used a pod to load up stuff when their S headed to grad school. Loaded it themselves, the company came to pick it up, took it down to NC with other pods and dropped it off outside the apt. The family unloaded at the other end. They seemed pleased. It seems like a good compromise between doing it all yourself vs. big bucks movers.</p>

<p>We did the U-Haul thing several times as a young married couple, and then had professional movers (employer paid) when we moved down here. I was 30 weeks pregnant and on bedrest at that point, so DIY was NOT an option. ;)</p>

<p>S1’s future employer recommended pods in their reloc info package, but S doesn’t really have enough stuff to bother. He has always lived in a dorm. He’s headed cross-country, so he is inclined to hit Ikea and Craigslist when he gets there.</p>

20

<p>Someone asked about my son selling his furniture to his roommate; my son purchased his own home and his roommate is renting a room from his. All of his friends are heading to new locations to start their residency, not a large group from his class are staying in the area. Because he owns his own home, he also purchased nice furniture for the home that he would like to keep. It would not be cost efficient to sell what he has or store it and then buy new or used in the new city. If I had room at my house to store it, I would do that; that said, we still would have to move it to our city. If we are moving the furniture, it might as well go with him! Sorry if I am repeating myself.</p>

<p>I also was not looking to have a professional mover, load, move an unload for us. The options were to have someone load the truck that we would drive, just so we knew if was packed securely; we would unpack at the new apartment. Most likely the washer and dryer as well as gas grill will come to our house unless he finds a place that both or either will be needed. As he is looking at apartments, I can not imagine he will need/want a full size w/d or the grill. He also has a large desk that may not go, as well as his dining room table and chairs, and a overstuffed den chair.</p>

<p>This is a 28 year old man, although he is still my baby :wink: So to those that ask how much he could possible have in furniture, believe me, he has a good amount!!</p>

<p>A rental truck is what we will most likely use, unless we find the pod system which someone else drives is close enough in price. My son is looking forward to my husband and I helping; dad is handy and I get the job of furniture placement and unpacker while they do men’s work!! As I said before, his friends are also making big moves at the same time, so there really isn’t a friend that has the time to help with this. His friends that aren’t in medical school are busy with work and family. At 28, I was already married with said child. When we made a long distant move when son was 2, my mother drove with me in my car to keep an eye on son, while my husband drove his car. I then flew my mother home after she helped me while we unpacked. In our family as well as many of our friends, this is what family does for each other. </p>

<p>We will make a vacation out of this trip as we have never been to this area of the country. Actually, our daughter may meet us after the move part of the trip to spend a few days with us.</p>