Moving Advice Here!!!

Great thread - When I moved from New York to Illinois, it was really hard to get adjusted from the East to the Midwest. Although I had a lot of family friends/relatives living in that area (so I had a good idea of which places to move to), I knew that the living in the suburbs was a safe option. @Ravenclaw - great sites!

[ides]

OrionGrad told me about ABF U-Pack's ReloCube. They have good reviews on movingscam. I got a quote from them, and it looks like it'll be roughly $500 for two relocubes from NYC to Columbus terminal to terminal (not door to door since we have no door / driveway on the NY end!). We may only need one since we're moving from a studio, but I think I'll reserve 2 to be on the safe side (I'll check to make sure that if we reserve two but only use one, we'll only pay for one... the movingscam message board leads me to believe this is so). Since you're moving to a bordering state, I imagine it will be less for you.
We will have additional expenses, of course. We'll need to rent a truck to bring the stuff to the terminal in NY, and I imagine we'll get movers to get the stuff and move it into our new place in OH. But, it's looking like we might be able to do this for $1k or less.
Obviously we'll be moving at the same time, but I'll be sure to post my experience after for those who need to move in the future.

For those looking for full service movers, I had a decent experience with Flat Rate Movers when I did my intra-city move when DH and I got married. My furniture was in great shape, nothing broke, they were (just barely) on time, and I paid what they quoted.


ETA Update: Just made the reservation. They confirmed that we won't have to pay for the 2nd cube if we don't use it. Also used MOVE50 coupon code to get $50 off.
My rate seems cheaper than those in the review thread on movingscams, but maybe that's because our move is shorter / terminal-to-terminal / starts on a Tuesday? So, maybe it'll be a tad more instead of a tad less for Chicago to Iowa for whatever reason. Also note that, like NY, Chicago has special rules for the move. (City living is always so complicated!)
Anyway, happy moving, all!

How did your move go? Did you use both cubes? How was it going terminal to terminal? I am starting to figure out our options for moving from Manhattan to Albuquerque and would love to hear how the reolcube worked for you. Who did you hire to move your stuff to the terminal in nyc/brooklyn?

[OrionGrad]

How did your move go? Did you use both cubes? How was it going terminal to terminal? I am starting to figure out our options for moving from Manhattan to Albuquerque and would love to hear how the reolcube worked for you. Who did you hire to move your stuff to the terminal in nyc/brooklyn?

DH and I used ABF U-Pack to move this summer and the move went fantastic. We used a Penske truck (which we shared with NYCHoosier and her DH) to actually get our stuff too the terminal, and once we got there her cube and our partial truck were all ready for us to start packing. I thought the Brooklyn terminal worked out great. It wasn't crowded, and the ABF staffers were all professional, etc.
I can't speak for how the rest of NYCHoosier's move went (although I think it went great), but ours was really, really smooth. We did the terminal-to-terminal partial truck option (because it was slightly cheaper than the relocube option for us), and we were given a tracking number that allowed us to check where our truck was along the whole journey. It ended up arriving in Portland a day ahead of schedule, which was great.
The ONLY thing I had an issue with at all (and this is minor) is that the bottom of the truck did get a little damp somehow along the trip. (I don't even want to think about how that happened.) Because of that, a few of our boxes got damp on the bottom and the legs on our wood entertainment center got a little warped. It was a small enough issue that we didn't even bring it up with anyone at the ABF terminal when we noticed, but if that is something that would be an issue for you then it might be better to pay a little more and go with the relocube (since it's a sealed container).

[Lala]

Here is some general moving advice, based on what I've learned from packing up the car and moving a several days' drive from home:

1) Take as little as possible with you- Of course you want to bring all the important stuff, especially if you are moving for a long period of time (eg. residency), however, at the end of the day, unless you are planning on staying in your new city, you're just going to have to move the stuff again. I learned this the hard way, after I insisted on packing the expensive wine glasses we got as a wedding gift, when we moved for residency, instead of storing them in my mom's basement. When we moved here, they were individually packaged in their original packages, so it was no big deal, but when we move again, I have no idea how we are going to package them well enough so that they don't break... Plus, we hardly ever use them!

2) Always pack emergency toilet paper. My husband makes fun of me for this endlessly. I've never needed it, but you never know.

3) Sell, give away, or throw out as much as possible before you move. If you have to think about it, the answer is, don't take it with you.

4) Pack as few heavy things as possible- Many moving companies charge by the pound. When deciding whether to bring heavy things (eg. furniture), consider whether it might actually be cheaper to buy the same thing new, given the fact that you will likely pay a significant amount to have it moved.

5) If you're driving through a remote area, fill up the car every time you see a gas station. You never know when you'll see the next one.

6) Look into driver's licensing and insurance stuff in the new city, before you move. When we moved to the new place for residency, our first stop when we arrived (before even going to the new house) was the Motor Vehicle place to register our car, and get a new license plate and licenses. It was great to have that over with, since those places are often only open during business hours, when you'll be at work.

7) Don't rely on your GPS!- I know it's the new millenium and everything, but don't rely on your GPS completely. Pack a map and driving directions, in case the GPS breaks or runs out of charge.

8) Keep change in the car for toll booths. Keep cash with you in case you can't find a bank machine.

9) If you'll be driving for several days to get to your new destination, just accept the fact that you WILL be eating junk food and you WILL gain some weight. Don't even worry about eating healthy on the road- it won't happen. Just enjoy the excuse to eat fast food and donuts!

10) If you're travelling with pets, book pet-friendly hotels ahead of time.

11) Try not to stress - Easier said than done, but at the end of the day, you WILL get there in one piece. The rest will fall into place, eventually.

[Michele]

To pack or not to pack thread: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/commu...omes-first.ece

my fiance and I moved to philly last summer and we hired movers instead of a moving company which saved a lot of money. We just payed for them per hour through a group affiliated with U-Haul, and it was definitely worth it! They even drove the truck for us

[moonlight]

Does anyone know if any rental property (like rent.com, etc) have message forms? I'm trying to scope out rental neighborhoods. OR can anyone help me find that thread we had a year back or so that talked about how to find the best neighborhood when you currently don't live in the area?? TIA!

[SoonerTexan]

City-data.com forums are your friend

[diggitydot]

Def use City Data forums. Also, go to the local news or county website and see if you can find maps of crime reports and sex offenders. Areas where those two coincide are typically places to avoid.

[oceanchild]

Reviews of neighborhood schools might help, too.

[Pollyanna]

I also encourage citydata forums, they are awesome. Greatschools will help for checking out the neighborhood schools. And Spotcrime will provide city and county crime maps and you can have weekly reports sent to your email.

[MrsK]

Ok, so we haven't made any decisions but knowing that we are most likely moving somewhere in about 9 months, and being neurotic as I am, I'm already thinking about coordinating the move. Does anyone have a comprehensive moving checklist? I am looking for something that has a timeline, inventory worksheets, places to write down new utility account information, checklists for each family member's records, etc. You know, The OCD Guide to Cross-County Relocations. If it doesn't exist, I'm going to create it but I'd like a starting off point.

[L.Jane]

After quick googling, here are a few sites that give a pretty extensive list:

http://www.upack.com/moving-resources/checklist.asp

http://www.realsimple.com/home-organ...208/index.html

http://blog.movebuilder.com/posts/ho...-country-move/
-has a link in it to a checklist: http://www.movebuilder.com/moving-re...-checklist.asp

[MrsK]

Sorry, that's not OCD enough for me. I'm looking for something that, for instance, lists the utilities that need to be contacted, which doctor records to get, and space for me to write notes. I know, I'm psycho. 9 months before a move and I'm already planning.

[SuzySunshine]

I looked for something like that last year and didn't come up with anything that met my OCD. I ended up merging a bunch of lists but didn't do it in a document I could share.