We're not a moving company but we know the best movers
According to statistical data, the average American moves to a new home once every 5 years.
What this basically means is that, sooner or later, you yourself will be facing a house move for the very first time, most often a move out of your parents’ house.
And when it happens, you’d better be ready for the occasion.
In the majority of cases, moving out for the first time is tough due to the fact that you don’t have any previous experience in moving house. And due to the lack of such move-related experience, it’s fairly common to make some rookie mistakes, and that’s OK.
Unless, of course, the mistake you make happens to be a costly one.
To help you minimize the chance of committing any costly moving mistakes and judgment errors, here’s what you should do and what you shouldn’t do when moving out for the first time.
The main thing you should know when moving out on your own for the first time is that the house moving process hides a number of challenges that you yourself are likely to face as well.
And it’s how you manage to deal with those move-related challenges that will determine how successful your move will be in the end.
Be sure to use these tips for moving out for the first time to your advantage.
It’s very likely that you won’t know what to do when moving out for the first time due to the fact that you’ve never been through a house move before.
And that’s OK, sooner or later everybody moves house for the first time, so your aim should be to avoid any serious rookie mistakes during your move.
Due to your inexperience in moving house, you won’t have a clear idea of how to organize the time you’ve got until Moving day.
And that’s exactly why you are strongly recommended to follow a good MOVING CHECKLIST to guide you through the process.
As a first-time mover, it’s normal that you won’t really know what to expect from the move in terms of price – that is, you may not have the slightest idea how much your residential move will cost you.
As a result, you may not be financially ready to cover the moving expenses – something that will complicate matters even more.
The house moving process is not cheap in any way, but since you’re moving out of your home for the first time, you won’t be familiar with any good ways to lower the moving cost.
That’s right, it often comes down to those must-know cost reduction techniques that have been proven to work like clockwork.
Organizing a self-move when you’re moving out of state for the first time is an overly ambitious decision that often proves to be a big judgment error in the end.
But here’s the next challenge for you: you don’t really know how to find a good moving company either.
It’s normal to be experiencing high levels of anxiety about moving out for the first time.
In reality, the mere thought of having to pack up all of your things for moving is enough to fill you with panic as you’ve never packed for a move until now.
What’s more, you won’t know what items to take and what items to leave behind either.
The thing is that it won’t be easy to overcome the clear disadvantage of not having enough house-moving experience.
And yet, you can manage your upcoming move just fine by knowing what you should do and what you shouldn’t do when moving out of your parents’ house for the first time.
Here’s your personal must-do checklist when moving out for the first time:
CREATE a moving checklist – a detailed to-do list that will contain all the move-related tasks that you need to complete on time. Remember to add only tasks that relate to your specific move – that is, to personalize your moving checklist to reflect your own needs. For example: don’t bother with Take Rex to the vet if you don’t own a pet dog.
ORGANIZE your time with the help of the moving checklist you’ve set up for yourself. Think about that moving timeline as a calendar that will guide you, day by day, until you find yourself in the new home. Bear in mind that proper time management is key when you’re moving out on your own for the first time.
SET UP a budget to monitor your moving expenses. As a first-time mover, you won’t really know how to properly budget for your move and you may soon find yourself spending (much) more money than you’ve allocated in the beginning. A moving budget should help you stay within your financial limitations – after all, the last thing you’d want is to overspend on your move.
INVENTORY all the items in your home and create a detailed inventory that will help you decide which things to move to the new home and which things to get rid of before you move away. One of the biggest mistakes when moving out for the very first time is to move everything that you own without asking yourself if you’ll ever use some of those items or not.
SORT OUT your possessions and determine on a case-by-case basis what to do with each one: TAKE it or LEAVE it. Maybe the best advice when moving out for the first time is to take ONLY the most essential things with you. And here’s why: the more items you’re moving to a new home, the higher the moving cost will be because of the extra weight.
GET rid of the things that you do not plan to use in the near future. Consider selling some of those things for profit – moving seems to be an expensive affair so any cash you earn from the sale will be more than welcome. Organizing a profitable garage sale before moving away is always a good idea.
ATTEMPT to score free moving boxes so that your limited budget doesn’t get burdened more than necessary. Budgets seem to be rather restricted for first-time movers, so ask your friends if they happen to have cardboard boxes that they don’t really need.
PREPARE the rest of the required packing supplies as well: wrapping paper, bubble wrap, stretch wrap (Saran wrap), furniture blankets, and packing tape. Get black and red markers for labeling boxes as well.
ASK your parents and your friends to help you pack up your stuff. Hiring professional packers is rarely realistic when moving for the first time (due to the limited budget), so your best bet is to rely on timely packing assistance from the people close to you. Here’s an idea: organize a packing party and invite your good friends to it.
USE a good packing checklist to organize the packing task in the best possible way. Losing precious time during the most time-consuming job during a residential move is always a bad idea. So, follow a detailed packing timeline and stay one step ahead at all times.
START packing up your things as early in the process as you possibly can. You probably don’t know this but the task of packing a home for a move takes forever to complete – in effect, it begins from the moment your move is confirmed and ends on the move-out day. Initiate the packing task from the rooms that are harder to pack up – attic, basement, garage, and other storage areas.
BE careful when packing fragile items – things that can get easily broken during the move due to their delicate nature. Use sufficient padding materials to protect your breakables, including inside the moving boxes to stop them from shifting during transit.
LABEL each box the moment you’ve packed it up. Write down the content, destination room, and special handling instructions, if any: FRAGILE, HANDLE WITH CARE, THIS WAY UP, and so on.
CHANGE your postal address before you move out. While this task is not as essential as the other ones in your moving checklist (you can change your address after the move too), there’s always the risk of losing an important piece of mail if fail to do it prior to Moving day.
SHARE your new postal address not only with your friends, but also with major government institutions (IRS, DMV, etc.), financial institutions (banks), insurance companies, and other important organizations.
REQUEST in-house surveys from top-rated moving companies. Have movers come to your home for accurate price calculation and potential risk assessment. When you’re moving house for the first time, you just have to know the estimated moving price in advance.
COMPARE the moving cost estimates you’ve received from the professional moving companies. Since you’ve never compared moving quotes before, it’s important to be on the lookout for price offers that appear to be too good to be true. Why? Moving quotes that are way lower than the rest could be a sign of moving fraud.
RESEARCH the movers you plan to use as your partner – check whether they have been licensed by the U.S. Department of Transportation and read customer reviews to gauge how reputable and dependable they are. And when you do make an informed decision, book your movers ASAP for a chance to get a discount for early booking.
WEAR appropriate clothes and shoes on Moving day to minimize the risk of personal injury. Pick clothes that won’t restrict your movements but are not baggy either for fear of getting caught on something. Wear the most comfortable pair of shoes you own, closed ones with anti-slip soles.
WELCOME your professional movers and show them around the house. You should still stay actively involved in your own move in case the pros have any questions for you. However, in most cases, it’s best to just let the movers do their work.
