Author Topic: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!  (Read 2307 times)

nexus

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Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« on: July 20, 2020, 02:32:10 PM »
Hi folks,

I'm considering a cross-country move from CA to [possibly] TX in the next year or two. As I figure these things out, one of the biggest hurdles is going to be getting our stuff from A to B in as few trips as possible, with the least amount of hassle (assuming the cost isn't outrageous).

We live in a 2 bedroom condo that's maybe 900 sq feet. Our 2nd bedroom is a home office, and both my fiance and I are pretty minimalistic when it comes to personal possessions. We need to figure out what to sell here, versus what to take with us if we move. The big unknown is the cost between hiring movers versus saving some money and doing it ourselves. I know that rates are going to change over time, but I'd like to get a general idea of what the cost comparisons might be without having to reach out to moving companies for quotes (since I can't seem to find them online) and risk getting spam calls/emails thereafter. I have no idea what it would cost. $2.5k? $5k? $10k?

So, my questions are: 
A) if you hired movers...
1) How far did you move?
2) What was the cost?
3) How much stuff did you move? (size of house you moved from)
4) Were there any issues?

If you rented a moving truck and drove yourself
1) How far did you go?
2) What was the cost (rental & gas, hotel stays, etc)
3) How much stuff did you move? (size of house you moved from)
4) Would you do it again or hire movers instead?
5) How long did it take?
6) Were there any issues? (damage to stuff you moved, car trouble, etc)


For more backstory:
I have done two cross country moves so far from CA to TN, then TN back to CA. CA to TN involved me loading up my Scion Xa and driving to TN. I bought furniture gradually once I got there since I was a single guy and didn't care much for decorating/nesting. From TN back to CA: I sold my car, rented a u-haul, and towed my girlfriend's (at the time) car behind the u-haul. I ended up buying a new car once we got settled in.

Now, about 6 years later I'm way more established, have two cats, pet fish, and more furniture and kitchen stuff than I've ever had*. I'm thinking I'd rather shell out the cash to have someone else move the stuff we want to keep. We'd just drive our cars cross country, or I could sell my current vehicle (since it is older and has more miles) and buy another used car when we get where we're going. I guess we could also just both sell our cars, fly there, and use a rental car until we have our own vehicles again.

I think the move from TN to CA cost about $2k between the truck rental and gas consumption (8-10 mpg is awful!).




Sibley

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2020, 03:35:53 PM »
I moved from MI to CA in 2007, somewhere around 3k. Used a POD type thing. Not much stuff. Moved from CA to IL in 2014. Somewhere around 3k. Found a company that would load your stuff on the truck, then fill it up with whatever commercial load. Took longer, but was cheaper. Slightly more stuff, but I ditched a lot so really not a ton. Both moves I had cats - one cat to CA, and 2 from CA to IL. I also had real wood furniture that I can't move by myself.

If it's from IKEA or similar, ditch it. Do a really good purge of your stuff in general. The goal being to have to move at little as possible. Given your cats, your best option may be to rent a uhaul or similar, load it up with your stuff, and then put the cats in the car and drive them. You could also potentially trailer the 2nd car.

Moving sucks, no matter how you do it. Something will always get lost or broken. Even with movers to do the heavy lifting, you will be exhausted and sore.

Cranky

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2020, 06:52:54 PM »
I can’t speak to costs, as it has been a mercifully long time since we’ve moved, but I‘ve moved kids and friends a bit more recently. Moving is always awful, no matter what.

We’ve only had professional movers once, when someone else paid, and it was still awful.

You can hire people through UHaul to load and unload the truck, and I think that’s the most bang for your buck, honestly.

We’re going to move next year, probably, so we are cleaning out this winter. I’ll rent a pod and send a load of stuff, and then hire a truck for the rest. We’ve got a piano to move. Ugh.

MonkeyJenga

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2020, 07:47:12 PM »
How much stuff do you have, how much is it worth, and how big will your new place be? Once you know where you're going, I'd check out the used/free market to get a sense of replacement costs. My inclination would be to get rid of as much stuff as possible, so you can do the trip with your car and maybe shipping some stuff by freight/Amtrak. Be ruthless.

Do you need two cars? Will you both be commuting by car in your next home?

nexus

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #4 on: July 23, 2020, 12:48:16 PM »
I can’t speak to costs, as it has been a mercifully long time since we’ve moved, but I‘ve moved kids and friends a bit more recently. Moving is always awful, no matter what.

We’ve only had professional movers once, when someone else paid, and it was still awful.

You can hire people through UHaul to load and unload the truck, and I think that’s the most bang for your buck, honestly.

We’re going to move next year, probably, so we are cleaning out this winter. I’ll rent a pod and send a load of stuff, and then hire a truck for the rest. We’ve got a piano to move. Ugh.

Great idea about ditching the Ikea stuff.
The piano sounds brutal.

SO and I did an inventory/walk through, and we can pretty much part ways with most of our furniture. I just bought a new couch and as much as I love it, I really don't want to try and figure out a way to stand it up and shimmy it through the front door and then down the stairs. I'd rather just sell it because it is pretty heavy and required two dudes (about twice my size) to deliver it to our living room. Plus, it'll just be SO and I once we get where we're going so lifting more heavy stuff isn't going to be an option.

nexus

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #5 on: July 23, 2020, 01:02:50 PM »
How much stuff do you have, how much is it worth, and how big will your new place be? Once you know where you're going, I'd check out the used/free market to get a sense of replacement costs. My inclination would be to get rid of as much stuff as possible, so you can do the trip with your car and maybe shipping some stuff by freight/Amtrak. Be ruthless.

Do you need two cars? Will you both be commuting by car in your next home?

Our new place will be much larger than our current abode. I'd love it if we could each just load up our cars and make the trip. I think the most likely scenario is that we will rent a u-haul and I'll drive it while SO drives her car. Then one of us (or both) would fly back to CA to tie up loose ends and prep our unit for the next move in while continuing to sell/dispose of stuff that didn't make the cut. I think we will end up straddling CA and [new state] for a month or two before we fully transition to calling [new state] home.

As for 2 cars, I work remotely so I don't need a vehicle to get to work but given our extracurricular activities we need separate cars to get to our hobbies/team practices (at different locations). Its obvious that there's a lot of time where both our cars side idle, but it seems like we both tend to want to use them at the same time which makes sharing one terribly inconvenient.

I should clarify, my day job is remote, but I do teach tennis lessons after work several days a week (sometimes last minute), so I usually take off before SO ever makes it home (or end up going to practice). The plan when we get to our new location is to start all over and build my client base again, and of course find a team/tennis community.

nexus

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #6 on: July 23, 2020, 01:04:15 PM »
I can’t speak to costs, as it has been a mercifully long time since we’ve moved, but I‘ve moved kids and friends a bit more recently. Moving is always awful, no matter what.

We’ve only had professional movers once, when someone else paid, and it was still awful.

You can hire people through UHaul to load and unload the truck, and I think that’s the most bang for your buck, honestly.

We’re going to move next year, probably, so we are cleaning out this winter. I’ll rent a pod and send a load of stuff, and then hire a truck for the rest. We’ve got a piano to move. Ugh.

I didn't know you could hire people to load the truck through u-haul. That is awesome, and I very well may take that route -- especially if I want to keep my month-old couch and some bigger pieces of furniture.

Cranky

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #7 on: July 23, 2020, 01:14:46 PM »
While I am happy to replace tables and dressers at the thrift store, I’m not too keen on buying couches and mattresses used. Some people have a higher tolerance for that than I do. So if you’re going to rent a truck anyway, I’d take those. If you can do without a truck ...

TheGadfly

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #8 on: July 23, 2020, 01:39:48 PM »
Paying for movers is REALLY expensive but, if you have a lot of stuff, it's worth it in my opinion. I've done a few cross country moves and I did it as cheaply as I could. Here's my most recent experience:

1) My wife and I moved from MA to MI
2) Paid for a u-haul ($837.26), gas ($137), and 2.5 hours of labor from a dude on craigslist to help me move some heavy items into the truck ($80). We stayed with friends in PA and we paid $40 for an AirBnB near our new place in MI.
3) We had a 1 bedroom apartment. Everything except the couch fit into the elevator. We had enough to fill a 15' uhaul to the brim: https://www.uhaul.com/Truck-Rentals/15ft-Moving-Truck/
4) My wife and I plan to move back to the east coast in the next few years, at which point we will DEFINITELY hire movers. The whole ordeal is so stressful and exhausting that I'm willing to pay someone else to do it. Estimates I've seen are at least $3000
5) It took 2.5 days to move everything into the uhaul 2 days to drive to MI and 1 day to unload. 
6) No car trouble. I was actually quite pleased with the uhaul both in terms of power and fuel efficiency. Nothing broke in the move but most of my house plants didn't survive the 2 days in the cargo hold.

When you consider the rental truck, gas, tolls, lodging, boxes, tape, etc. the move cost $1200 and 3 years off my total lifespan. Moving is stressful no matter what you do but it's SUPER stressful and tiring if you decide to move everything yourself.

A couple tips:
- Try to sell as much as possible on craigslist or facebook marketplace before you move. I managed to earn $500 selling miscellaneous stuff and furniture I no longer wanted.
- Get boxes for free on craigslist because paying for boxes is ridiculously expensive
- If possible, don't tow your car behind the uhaul. When you consider the cost of the hitch and extra gas, it's more cost-effective to have your partner drive the car separately. It's also safer and eases the stress of driving with a trailer.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2020, 01:43:13 PM by TheGadfly »

Just Joe

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #9 on: July 23, 2020, 02:01:16 PM »
Pay someone to do the lifting. Its worth it. Moved several times in my adult life. Better to arrive in your new location functional than try to recover from an injury AND travel across the country.

we paid a local moving company last time we moved (local to local) and it was well worth it. My back isn't what it used to be. 

SimpleCycle

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #10 on: July 23, 2020, 02:02:56 PM »
I've done two cross country moves - one from Maine to Arizona, and one from Arizona to Michigan.

For the Maine to Arizona move, we did a less than a truckload shipping company where we packed our stuff into the truck, they put up a bulkhead and then loaded the truck full of other stuff and shipped it across the country.  The cost was $2400 for five linear feet of truck space back in 2004.  We then drove our car across the country, which cost gas money and hotel money but would have had to be done if we'd used another moving mode unless we shipped the car.  Two people, a 2 bedroom apartment worth of stuff.  In retrospect we moved WAY too much low quality stuff that we didn't really need and could have replaced off Craigslist.  Unfortunately some stuff got dirty when the truck was opened to load/unload the rest of the truck in the dusty Southwest, so that was irritating.  I think Pods largely solve this problem.

I moved solo from Arizona to Michigan in 2008.  I had recently divorced and downsized what little furniture I had left.  Everything else got shipped via USPS general delivery to my new location (I didn't have an address that could receive my stuff in Michigan when I left Arizona).  The post office is required to store general delivery for 30 days until you pick it up, although they may not be happy about it.  I still moved way too much stuff, especially too many books (those can be shipped Media Mail), but total cost was $700 plus $100 for a guy with a truck to help me pick everything up from the post office.  Unencumbered by my worldly possessions for 30 days, I slow traveled to Michigan via plane, train, boat, and car.

In your position I'd load up two cars and ship the rest.

Edited to add more details, and to say that professional movers are very expensive.  We moved from Michigan to Chicago in 2012 with about the same amount of stuff as the Maine-Arizona move, and it was $5k for a much shorter trip.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2020, 02:09:25 PM by SimpleCycle »

FINate

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #11 on: July 23, 2020, 02:09:47 PM »
We recently moved ~750 miles. Paid for a full-service move. We got rid of a lot of stuff yet still had a lot to move. Plus, our starting location had access issues and could not get a large truck to the house, so the cost was extra to setup a shuttle. It was expensive, around $12k, but that was in the ballpark of the estimates for our situation of the places that actually bothered to get back to us with a quote (I suspect COVID was interfering with many company's logistics/operations).

Despite moving during a pandemic, we did not find the move to be all that bad or stressful. Six guys came 2 days before to box everything up, which took a full day. Next day 4-5 guys loaded/shuttled the trucks, which took another full day. The day after that we drove our vehicles to the new location loaded with stuff we wanted/had to move ourselves (liquids, important papers, valuables, etc.). Our stuff arrived four days later, and it took 4 guys almost a full day to unload, and then several days more for us to unbox everything. Nothing was lost or damaged in the move.

If the starting point was more accessible I would have instead gone with POD storage unit(s). Have the POD(s) delivered at the house, load it up (either yourself or hire local movers to help). Have the POD(s) delivered to your new location. Then unload it (either yourself or local movers at the new location). As an added benefit, you can easily store stuff if you need extra time between moving out and finding a new place.

If we ever move any significant distance again I'll gladly pay to hire movers, at least to load and unload. Yes, I could do it myself, and I've moved myself locally in the past. But a long distance move is already very complicated, even more so with a kids, so well worth it for me to pay the pros and arrive at the new location full of energy.

Be aware that a lot more people are moving out of California than are moving in, so you're going to pay much higher rates. 

trollwithamustache

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #12 on: July 23, 2020, 02:50:07 PM »
Any chance you can get a job that will pay the relocation? That means full service move and you don't have to worry at all about the costs.

Otherwise, Pods sounds like the best option.

clarkfan1979

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #13 on: July 23, 2020, 04:36:15 PM »
I worked for a moving company in college. This is basically one of the lowest levels of employment. Stuff was constantly stolen and damaged. Based on my personal experience, I would never have "professional movers" move my stuff, even if the cost was 100% free.

A hybrid model would be to pay movers to load your truck and unload your truck. You will need to box everything and leave it in separate rooms. As long as you can observe the movers loading everything and unloading everything, I would do that.

I highly recommend the Penske diesel trucks that come in 22' or 26'. They typically cost $1200 to rent for 5-7 days and then you will spend $500 to $1000 on gas.

One of my good friends had a move "paid for" by his employer. He had a $6,000 stipend. The delivery of his stuff was supposed to take 2 weeks. Instead it took 2.5 months. He did not have his stuff for 2 months. His stuff was put on the incorrect truck and went in the opposite direction. Because it was loaded and unloaded so many times about 25% of his stuff was broken. Items in boxes and furniture. He filed a claim, but I do not think the moving company paid for anything. Read the fine print.

big_owl

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #14 on: July 24, 2020, 03:28:33 PM »
If I ever move I will hire movers for two reasons:

1. Nucleus pulposus
2. Fibrous annulus

socaso

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #15 on: July 24, 2020, 04:35:00 PM »
Are you me? I have also done 3 cross country moves from TN to CA then back. Then back again.

Our last move was CA to CO. 5 years ago. We used PODS. I hired a couple of guys for one day on each end to help load/unload. If there was any damage it was minor and I don't remember it. The total cost for PODS plus hired muscle was about $3500. Prior to the move I unloaded a LOT of stuff and it really helped the move go smoothly. Even with that, there were some last minute items we could not fit in the PODS and I had to sell/give away some stuff I would rather have kept. Our house in CA was about 900 sq ft.

FINate

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #16 on: July 24, 2020, 05:10:16 PM »
Family has decided to follow us from CA to ID. PODs quoted $3300 per 16' POD, which includes one month of storage.

The 16' POD is for about 1200 sqft and has a capacity of 4200 lbs, which works out to about $0.80 per pound if you max out the weight. They will likely need 2 PODs, so $6600 for the freight part of the move.

If I recall correctly, our movers charged about $0.90/lb + cost to box, pack, shuttle, and unload. So the PODs are cheaper, but moving is expensive either way. For every item you need to ask yourself "is this worth 80 cents per pound?"

I got quotes from U-Haul for a 26' truck, same route, for $3600. This is without towing a car, no idea how much more this is. If you *really* purged you might get a 3 bed house in a 26' truck. The U-Haul website also provides quotes for local movers at both ends. On the CA side, 2 people for 3 hours runs $500-$800. On the Idaho side 2 people for 3 hours is $200-$400.

nexus

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #17 on: July 25, 2020, 02:48:27 AM »
I worked for a moving company in college. This is basically one of the lowest levels of employment. Stuff was constantly stolen and damaged. Based on my personal experience, I would never have "professional movers" move my stuff, even if the cost was 100% free.

A hybrid model would be to pay movers to load your truck and unload your truck. You will need to box everything and leave it in separate rooms. As long as you can observe the movers loading everything and unloading everything, I would do that.

I highly recommend the Penske diesel trucks that come in 22' or 26'. They typically cost $1200 to rent for 5-7 days and then you will spend $500 to $1000 on gas.

One of my good friends had a move "paid for" by his employer. He had a $6,000 stipend. The delivery of his stuff was supposed to take 2 weeks. Instead it took 2.5 months. He did not have his stuff for 2 months. His stuff was put on the incorrect truck and went in the opposite direction. Because it was loaded and unloaded so many times about 25% of his stuff was broken. Items in boxes and furniture. He filed a claim, but I do not think the moving company paid for anything. Read the fine print.

Jeebus, that sounds like a nightmare.

I also had a buddy in Nashville hire movers and they basically quoted him 1 price, then held his stuff for ransom until he paid. Not sure how it was resolved but sounded horribly illegal ... but as a mid to early 20 something at the time I’m not sure he knew any better.

It sounds like minimizing, and PODS are the way to go.

nexus

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #18 on: July 25, 2020, 02:53:01 AM »
Are you me? I have also done 3 cross country moves from TN to CA then back. Then back again.

Our last move was CA to CO. 5 years ago. We used PODS. I hired a couple of guys for one day on each end to help load/unload. If there was any damage it was minor and I don't remember it. The total cost for PODS plus hired muscle was about $3500. Prior to the move I unloaded a LOT of stuff and it really helped the move go smoothly. Even with that, there were some last minute items we could not fit in the PODS and I had to sell/give away some stuff I would rather have kept. Our house in CA was about 900 sq ft.

Bwahahahah!
Maybe I am?

I am seriously considering documenting the entire endeavor via various YouTube videos. From the initially culling of the items to the moving of stuff and figuring out how to get all of our awesome fishies to the new place (seems doable. Just lots of separate plastic bags with air and water... and having tanks already set up and cycled in the new place) . So it ticks a lot of boxes of interest. Out of state move, moving fish, moving for FI benefits, buying our first home, etc.

nexus

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #19 on: July 25, 2020, 02:56:09 AM »
While I am happy to replace tables and dressers at the thrift store, I’m not too keen on buying couches and mattresses used. Some people have a higher tolerance for that than I do. So if you’re going to rent a truck anyway, I’d take those. If you can do without a truck ...

I was able to sell a 2 yr old ikea couch / sleeper sofa for about 1/3 purchase price on CL the day I posted it from a under-30 couple . Mattresses definitely going to buy new or keep our old one. We’d just dispose our current one if we don’t take it with us.

We plan on keeping dining table , probability tossing chairs.

nexus

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #20 on: July 25, 2020, 02:58:07 AM »
Any chance you can get a job that will pay the relocation? That means full service move and you don't have to worry at all about the costs.

Otherwise, Pods sounds like the best option.

Nope. Hoping to keep CA job and at least 90% of my CA salary if we move to TX. I like my job so have little interest in trying to get a different one. Fiancé is unemployed and probably won’t get a job until we get to the new state/home/place.

nexus

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #21 on: July 25, 2020, 03:01:32 AM »
If I ever move I will hire movers for two reasons:

1. Nucleus pulposus
2. Fibrous annulus

Ouch?

Take away: potential of f***ing up your back beyond recovery?

nexus

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #22 on: July 25, 2020, 03:03:07 AM »
Family has decided to follow us from CA to ID. PODs quoted $3300 per 16' POD, which includes one month of storage.

The 16' POD is for about 1200 sqft and has a capacity of 4200 lbs, which works out to about $0.80 per pound if you max out the weight. They will likely need 2 PODs, so $6600 for the freight part of the move.

If I recall correctly, our movers charged about $0.90/lb + cost to box, pack, shuttle, and unload. So the PODs are cheaper, but moving is expensive either way. For every item you need to ask yourself "is this worth 80 cents per pound?"

I got quotes from U-Haul for a 26' truck, same route, for $3600. This is without towing a car, no idea how much more this is. If you *really* purged you might get a 3 bed house in a 26' truck. The U-Haul website also provides quotes for local movers at both ends. On the CA side, 2 people for 3 hours runs $500-$800. On the Idaho side 2 people for 3 hours is $200-$400.

Nice!

I wish our family would follow— would make things way easier especially as our parents near elderly age.

big_owl

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #23 on: July 26, 2020, 06:49:10 AM »
If I ever move I will hire movers for two reasons:

1. Nucleus pulposus
2. Fibrous annulus

Ouch?

Take away: potential of f***ing up your back beyond recovery?

Yeah.  In my 20s...heah I'd be gung-ho to do it myself. Now that I'm 40?   Nah, somebody else can put that wear and tear on their spine.

clarkfan1979

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #24 on: July 26, 2020, 07:03:46 AM »
Family has decided to follow us from CA to ID. PODs quoted $3300 per 16' POD, which includes one month of storage.

The 16' POD is for about 1200 sqft and has a capacity of 4200 lbs, which works out to about $0.80 per pound if you max out the weight. They will likely need 2 PODs, so $6600 for the freight part of the move.

If I recall correctly, our movers charged about $0.90/lb + cost to box, pack, shuttle, and unload. So the PODs are cheaper, but moving is expensive either way. For every item you need to ask yourself "is this worth 80 cents per pound?"

I got quotes from U-Haul for a 26' truck, same route, for $3600. This is without towing a car, no idea how much more this is. If you *really* purged you might get a 3 bed house in a 26' truck. The U-Haul website also provides quotes for local movers at both ends. On the CA side, 2 people for 3 hours runs $500-$800. On the Idaho side 2 people for 3 hours is $200-$400.

$3600 for a 26' truck rental seems really expensive. I would get a quote from Penske.

norajean

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #25 on: July 26, 2020, 07:40:26 AM »
Depending on how far you are moving, figure $1-2 per pound and go from there. Most things over 200 pounds are probably not worth moving. Just sell and buy on the other end. And don’t heavy worthless things like books, cds, etc.

MrsSpendyPants

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #26 on: July 26, 2020, 07:52:57 AM »
Company paid for us to move across the state (5 hour trip).  1800 sq ft house was just over 5k.  We did a lot of our own boxing too.  This was in 2016.

FINate

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #27 on: July 26, 2020, 09:22:27 AM »
Family has decided to follow us from CA to ID. PODs quoted $3300 per 16' POD, which includes one month of storage.

The 16' POD is for about 1200 sqft and has a capacity of 4200 lbs, which works out to about $0.80 per pound if you max out the weight. They will likely need 2 PODs, so $6600 for the freight part of the move.

If I recall correctly, our movers charged about $0.90/lb + cost to box, pack, shuttle, and unload. So the PODs are cheaper, but moving is expensive either way. For every item you need to ask yourself "is this worth 80 cents per pound?"

I got quotes from U-Haul for a 26' truck, same route, for $3600. This is without towing a car, no idea how much more this is. If you *really* purged you might get a 3 bed house in a 26' truck. The U-Haul website also provides quotes for local movers at both ends. On the CA side, 2 people for 3 hours runs $500-$800. On the Idaho side 2 people for 3 hours is $200-$400.

$3600 for a 26' truck rental seems really expensive. I would get a quote from Penske.

Welcome to the California Exodus! :)

Seriously. Reverse directions and it drops to $185. That's not a typo.

There's a shortage of trucks/trailers in CA as they pile up in places like TX, ID, NV, etc. It costs a lot to send people out to dead-head empty trucks back to CA. So moving from ID to CA means you're saving them money.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/03/08/u-haul-prices-reflect-growing-push-to-leave-silicon-valley/
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2020/01/07/outbound-u-haul-united-van-lines-traffic-signals-a.html

Abe

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #28 on: July 26, 2020, 02:07:21 PM »
We moved from a 3 bedroom condo from Chicago to CA (2 parents + 1 baby) for $5000 with full packing service and 2 cars on a trailer 3 years ago.

We are now moving from a 4 bedroom house (2x the condo's size) from CA to TX with the same size family, but way more toys. This will be $9k with full service packing & unpacking. My company is paying, so the rate may be lower than usual. Regardless, that should give you a high upper bound for cost.

nexus

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #29 on: July 26, 2020, 10:03:40 PM »

Welcome to the California Exodus! :)

Seriously. Reverse directions and it drops to $185. That's not a typo.

There's a shortage of trucks/trailers in CA as they pile up in places like TX, ID, NV, etc. It costs a lot to send people out to dead-head empty trucks back to CA. So moving from ID to CA means you're saving them money.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/03/08/u-haul-prices-reflect-growing-push-to-leave-silicon-valley/
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2020/01/07/outbound-u-haul-united-van-lines-traffic-signals-a.html

Thanks! I'm hopoing we can keep the momentum and follow through. Tentatively we are planning to visit San Antonio in late August, or early September if it doesn't seem to risky.

nexus

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Re: Hiring Movers - Pros? Cons? Cost?!
« Reply #30 on: July 26, 2020, 10:17:30 PM »
Just wanted to say THANK YOU ALL FOR THE WONDERFUL FEEDBACK!!! <3

I apologize if I haven't been able to respond to each and every one of you -- but believe me I read your input and am taking everything into consideration.

After a couple more talks with my SO, we're very likely to get rid of the vast majority of our stuff which means either a POD, or small u-haul will do the trick if we can't manage to fit it into both our cars. Heck, I'd even consider renting just a standard u-haul pickup truck, sell my current car, and drive the pick up truck while SO drives her car.

Full service packing and unpacking sounds amazing, too*. I'm thinking it will all depend on the timing of the move. The farther out, the more time we have to save up extra money to pay for the full service experience. At the same time, the farther out we wait, the more time we have to gradually get rid of things. I'm being pretty ambitious and targeting Q4 2020 or Q1 2021 for the move, but who knows whether or not it'll happen. I'll keep updating the details in my journal over time.

Definitely going to dump most of my books -- just keeping a handful that probably amount to less than 10lbs**

I totally forgot about Penske. Didn't even realize that was an option. Thank you!***

Turned 30 this year, SO is 34. I'm clumsy. We will err on the side of caution for sure. ****

* Abe
** norajean
*** clarkfan1979
**** Big_owl