Suggestions for an intercounty/intercity move?

[jeromedawg]

Hi all,

My in-laws just went into escrow and currently live 80miles/1.5-2hrs away in LA County. They are hoping/planning to move closer to us here in OC. From the time they decided to list (past month or two) they've really cleaned their house and gotten rid of a lot but they will still have a number of furniture items: couches, dining table, bed(s), dressers, etc.

I figure hiring a moving company to also drive would be costly for this distance. So I'm wondering if a better option is to rent a Uhaul and hire local movers in their area to load the truck up, we drive it down, and then hire local movers to unload it here.

Those of you who have made similar moves, what do you typically do (btw: none of us are of young/college age or vibrant youth, so any suggestions of DIYing this are out of the question....lol)?

[Saving in Austin]

That is exactly how I executed my last move.

Hire movers on both ends using Craigslist and rent a truck you can drive yourself.

It's definitely cheaper than professional movers.

We packed and unpacked ourselves.

[FLBiker]

We moved from Tampa to Nova Scotia in 2020.  We hired local movers to load the truck in Tampa -- that was some of the best money I've ever spent.  They did a phenomenal job.  It would have taken us 5 times as long (at least) and we would have ended up with a worse result.  Nothing broke, and we fit much more stuff in that truck than I would have thought possible.  We didn't pay for movers on the other end because we had to quarantine for 14 days (and Uhaul wanted us to keep the truck that time) so I had plenty of time to unload it.  I would definitely move this way again.

[jeromedawg]

That is exactly how I executed my last move.

Hire movers on both ends using Craigslist and rent a truck you can drive yourself.

It's definitely cheaper than professional movers.

We packed and unpacked ourselves.

You hired movers on CL? That seems a little sketchy and just from a quick search there are hundreds of listings (some of which seem like they could be questionable) - how did you choose a single mover (in either location) and then proceed to vet them to make sure they wouldn't scam, steal stuff, or rob you? lol

[SweatingInAR]

That is exactly how I executed my last move.

Hire movers on both ends using Craigslist and rent a truck you can drive yourself.

It's definitely cheaper than professional movers.

We packed and unpacked ourselves.

You hired movers on CL? That seems a little sketchy and just from a quick search there are hundreds of listings (some of which seem like they could be questionable) - how did you choose a single mover (in either location) and then proceed to vet them to make sure they wouldn't scam, steal stuff, or rob you? lol

I have done this, too. You're not hiring full service "movers". You are renting someone else's arms, back and legs to move your stuff from house to truck. You still supervise and direct them from room to room. It would be pretty hard for them to walk a taped box of stuff to their own car with you watching. Offer to feed them and tip well to keep them happy. Tip at least 1x copay at your doctor.

Hire an expensive and reputable company if you need someone to pack boxes or do anything without supervision.

Do they have a destination for their stuff? Consider 'ubox' or 'pods' if the stuff is going into storage.

[Villanelle]

What about Pods, UPack, or I think there's at least one other similar company?  (I think Pods is usually most expensive, but it's worth checking.)  Your ILs and you could load the things you can DIY, hire movers to load the rest, then repeat at the other end. 

Having the storage container can be nice because it can allow you to unpack over the course of a few days (though you probably pay a daily rate).  The movers do the heavy stuff last in, first out, and you can take your time unloading the rest so you aren't drowning in boxes and killing yourself to get it all carried in ASAP. 

IDK if this is cheaper than a truck (or if you could keep the truck a few days on either end so you can take your time with the DIY parts) but might be worth considering. 

[ChickenStash]

A half-step up from hiring randos on Craigslist is movinghelp.com. There are at least ratings to go by and they act as the payment hub. The movers are still usually just randos but they at least had to go through the hassle of signing up and keeping their ratings clean.

[jeromedawg]

What about Pods, UPack, or I think there's at least one other similar company?  (I think Pods is usually most expensive, but it's worth checking.)  Your ILs and you could load the things you can DIY, hire movers to load the rest, then repeat at the other end. 

Having the storage container can be nice because it can allow you to unpack over the course of a few days (though you probably pay a daily rate).  The movers do the heavy stuff last in, first out, and you can take your time unloading the rest so you aren't drowning in boxes and killing yourself to get it all carried in ASAP. 

IDK if this is cheaper than a truck (or if you could keep the truck a few days on either end so you can take your time with the DIY parts) but might be worth considering.

This seems like an interesting idea but the other issue is that my inlaws may not immediately move into another home right away (they may stay with us for a bit) so then they'd be carrying the cost of that POD or UPack unit unless we were to unload it all into our home (we were originally going to do this even with movers). The Pod/Upack just seems more convenient in that you can have it stored for you and when you're ready to unload you can do it (it just costs more). Are the transport/relocation costs opf the PODs/Upacks quite a bit more?

[jeromedawg]

A half-step up from hiring randos on Craigslist is movinghelp.com. There are at least ratings to go by and they act as the payment hub. The movers are still usually just randos but they at least had to go through the hassle of signing up and keeping their ratings clean.

The other concern is liability in case one of the movers gets injured and comes after my inlaws. How do you protect against that?

[ChickenStash]

A half-step up from hiring randos on Craigslist is movinghelp.com. There are at least ratings to go by and they act as the payment hub. The movers are still usually just randos but they at least had to go through the hassle of signing up and keeping their ratings clean.

The other concern is liability in case one of the movers gets injured and comes after my inlaws. How do you protect against that?

That would require checking with the homeowner's insurance policy. It often covers workers while they are on premises but it would be best to verify.

[jeromedawg]

A half-step up from hiring randos on Craigslist is movinghelp.com. There are at least ratings to go by and they act as the payment hub. The movers are still usually just randos but they at least had to go through the hassle of signing up and keeping their ratings clean.

The other concern is liability in case one of the movers gets injured and comes after my inlaws. How do you protect against that?

That would require checking with the homeowner's insurance policy. It often covers workers while they are on premises but it would be best to verify.

Thanks!

This is what they have:

Worker's Compensation for Residence Employees
Provides for bodily injury that results from accident or disease, arising out of, and in the course of employment by you for which you are legally liable.

Per Person Limit$100,000
Per Occurrence Limit$500,000

[Villanelle]

You might call and confirm whether they applies to anyone you hire, or if the person must be part of a licensed/bonded business.  It sounds like it would be anyone whose services you hire, but it can't hurt to ask.

On a related note, I know that something high school football, wrestling, etc. teams will do this sort of thing as a fundraiser. 

[yachi]

We moved most of a house from about 5 1/2 hours away.  I hired movers on the Uhaul website to load the Uhaul.  It was very easy.  I'd do it again because they were very fast and efficient at packing.  I think the guys that do it are movers working weekends or extra shifts on the side.  At the destination friends and family helped us and we treated them to a buffet.  See what's available in your area here: https://www.uhaul.com/MovingHelp/

[affordablehousing]

I hired a rando once on Craigslist. It was phenomenal. The guy showed up with a friend on time, helped me uninstall a fridge, get it down two flights of winding stairs, drive it across county, and install it in my house up a flight of stairs. No damage, the guy was high as a kite, and even with gas and a bridge toll, charged me $40. It was the best deal ever.

[MayDay]

We've done this multiple times.

We've done UBF, they were cheaper than Pods by a lot. I heard they got out of the home moving business with the supply chain issues since they have more than enough commercial business 😂. 

We also just rented a U-Haul for two weeks once, because it was cheaper to leave all our stuff on the U-Haul than get a pod.

It sounds like you have an unknown time you'll need to store the stuff. A pod type thing will be more expensive than a storage unit but I would probably try to avoid having to unload and reload the stuff.

We hired "loading/unloading only" labor from local moving companies.

[jeromedawg]

We've done this multiple times.

We've done UBF, they were cheaper than Pods by a lot. I heard they got out of the home moving business with the supply chain issues since they have more than enough commercial business 😂. 

We also just rented a U-Haul for two weeks once, because it was cheaper to leave all our stuff on the U-Haul than get a pod.

It sounds like you have an unknown time you'll need to store the stuff. A pod type thing will be more expensive than a storage unit but I would probably try to avoid having to unload and reload the stuff.

We hired "loading/unloading only" labor from local moving companies.

Yea the factor is that they *may* be storing stuff at our home and living here, so in that case a POD (or similar) probably wouldn't be ideal. As a side note: Right now, I'm trying to push for my inlaws to just identify a place in the 55+ community they like and to put an offer in just to see if it can work out. We have retained a specialist realtor who does a lot of sales in this community for this and they are coming back down Saturday to look at more units. As things get closer, I'm not really liking the idea or thought of them living with us even if it's temporary. Our place will be full of all their furniture and personal belongings and they'll want to be moving things like their dresser upstairs into the guest room (or at least my wife wants to provision this). I think it's better if they can find a place to get into and coordinate their move-out/move-in days accordingly so they get right into a new place and not have to stay here.

[SweatingInAR]

Yea the factor is that they *may* be storing stuff at our home and living here, so in that case a POD (or similar) probably wouldn't be ideal.

That sounds perfect for POD, UBOX, or similar. Ask them to pack a van with all of their important documents and enough stuff for a 1 month vacation. Put the rest of the stuff in storage until they find a place. Enough stuff for a "1 month vacation" is usually enough stuff to live indefinitely.

I don't know about POD, but I had to access my uboxes a few times, and uhaul is really good about that. The local uhaul store that has your boxes pulls them out of the warehouse and puts them on a curb. You drive up, unlock it with your key, and take out or put in whatever you need.

[jeromedawg]

Yea the factor is that they *may* be storing stuff at our home and living here, so in that case a POD (or similar) probably wouldn't be ideal.

That sounds perfect for POD, UBOX, or similar. Ask them to pack a van with all of their important documents and enough stuff for a 1 month vacation. Put the rest of the stuff in storage until they find a place. Enough stuff for a "1 month vacation" is usually enough stuff to live indefinitely.

I don't know about POD, but I had to access my uboxes a few times, and uhaul is really good about that. The local uhaul store that has your boxes pulls them out of the warehouse and puts them on a curb. You drive up, unlock it with your key, and take out or put in whatever you need.

But in this case, my inlaws would be paying the carrying cost of that unit rental. The whole point is for them to minimize/reduce/eliminate paying carrying costs (this is why there was discussion of them moving in with us and storing most if not all of their stuff here... they are currently binge cleaning their house to reduce the clutter as well)

[Villanelle]

Yea the factor is that they *may* be storing stuff at our home and living here, so in that case a POD (or similar) probably wouldn't be ideal.

That sounds perfect for POD, UBOX, or similar. Ask them to pack a van with all of their important documents and enough stuff for a 1 month vacation. Put the rest of the stuff in storage until they find a place. Enough stuff for a "1 month vacation" is usually enough stuff to live indefinitely.

I don't know about POD, but I had to access my uboxes a few times, and uhaul is really good about that. The local uhaul store that has your boxes pulls them out of the warehouse and puts them on a curb. You drive up, unlock it with your key, and take out or put in whatever you need.

But in this case, my inlaws would be paying the carrying cost of that unit rental. The whole point is for them to minimize/reduce/eliminate paying carrying costs (this is why there was discussion of them moving in with us and storing most if not all of their stuff here... they are currently binge cleaning their house to reduce the clutter as well)

It's still going to be less than paying rent on a place. (Or at least it should be.)  And on the other side of that coin, perhaps having an expense associated with not finding a place will encourage them to make it a priority to find something.  It seems at least worth pricing out a POD-type solution as that really does seem idea in that it allows them and you to load and unload much of the stuff and have the rest done professionally, it keeps their crap from taking over your house, and it at least somewhat incentivizes them to take the house hunt very seriously. 

As someone who gets stressed out by clutter (but still has more than her share of her own clutter), I'd probably rather pay for ILs pod for a month than have it loaded into my home.  And it if is a more moderate amount of stuff, there are smaller POD-type options that might work and cost less. 

[jeromedawg]

Yea the factor is that they *may* be storing stuff at our home and living here, so in that case a POD (or similar) probably wouldn't be ideal.

That sounds perfect for POD, UBOX, or similar. Ask them to pack a van with all of their important documents and enough stuff for a 1 month vacation. Put the rest of the stuff in storage until they find a place. Enough stuff for a "1 month vacation" is usually enough stuff to live indefinitely.

I don't know about POD, but I had to access my uboxes a few times, and uhaul is really good about that. The local uhaul store that has your boxes pulls them out of the warehouse and puts them on a curb. You drive up, unlock it with your key, and take out or put in whatever you need.

But in this case, my inlaws would be paying the carrying cost of that unit rental. The whole point is for them to minimize/reduce/eliminate paying carrying costs (this is why there was discussion of them moving in with us and storing most if not all of their stuff here... they are currently binge cleaning their house to reduce the clutter as well)

It's still going to be less than paying rent on a place. (Or at least it should be.)  And on the other side of that coin, perhaps having an expense associated with not finding a place will encourage them to make it a priority to find something.  It seems at least worth pricing out a POD-type solution as that really does seem idea in that it allows them and you to load and unload much of the stuff and have the rest done professionally, it keeps their crap from taking over your house, and it at least somewhat incentivizes them to take the house hunt very seriously. 

As someone who gets stressed out by clutter (but still has more than her share of her own clutter), I'd probably rather pay for ILs pod for a month than have it loaded into my home.  And it if is a more moderate amount of stuff, there are smaller POD-type options that might work and cost less.

Right now the options for them are:

1) They either stay with us and keep their stuff here while looking
or
2) They make a contingent offer on a place to move into and hope to close right away in conjunction with the sale of their home going through.

There has been no talk about them renting a place in between (or if there was it was shot down because of their desire to save on paying rent... part of this is them and part of it is my wife). This is why I'm seriously pushing for #2 right now hahaha.

[MayDay]

I cannot imagine living with my I laws indefinitely, let alone my in laws and all their stuff.

OMG just shoot me.

Letting them stay with you is bad enough. Put their stuff in storage!

[jeromedawg]

I cannot imagine living with my I laws indefinitely, let alone my in laws and all their stuff.

OMG just shoot me.

Letting them stay with you is bad enough. Put their stuff in storage!

Yea, they just put a contingent offer down on a unit in the 55+ community so hoping it works out. The more I think about it the more I feel it's a bad idea. My wife says she's OK with it despite knowing "it will suck" lol - she was venting to me in the middle of the night last night about how they're so loud when they close doors, talk, etc... I asked her "so are you *sure* you'd be okay having them live with you for an indefinite amount of time?" and she resorted back to the same sentiment that it will "suck" but she'd also suck it up. I think she's so caught up with saving them money - she grew up latch-key and 'poor' due to her parents running a restaurant 24x7x365 yet literally squandering their money at every opportunity, experiencing the water/power get shut off, etc. So I think there's some of that going on where she wants to 'save' her parents.

[Turtle]

The monthly expense of maintaining POD or similar storage might help in having them not stay with you guys indefinitely, though.