Anyone do an Interstate Move?

[Russ Filtz]

I may have to move to Florida from Chicago and have never moved a household (this is my first house and I've always moved locally). I've got a medium sized 3-bed house and started to look at getting quotes. This is for a new job and I'm sure the new company will pay for it (one reason I need to get at least in the ballpark so I can put the cost in the hiring agreement). Most companies give you some kind of lump sum these days right? And if you go over it's your nut to pay.

I have NO idea what a professional move costs, $5k, $10K, $15K? Probably will end up also renting a uhaul for misc. items such as paint, motorcycle, etc., and maybe my tools, big screen. Stuff I don't want mis-handled or stolen!

Any tips or traps to watch out for?

[Lee DeRaud]

I know you're having refrigerator issues, but isn't that solution kind of...drastic?!?:eek: :cool:

[Ken Garlock]

Russ, if you are taking a job with a company in Florida, that company should/will pay for your move. The moving company will come in and remove everything you want moved by them, create an inventory of what they are taking, load it, and leave. If something is damaged in route, the moving company will work a claim with you, and your new company should back you up on any claims.

When we moved from Ohio to Texas in 1979, I drove down with my car loaded with my closes. After our house sold, the wife and kids followed using a one way airline ticket. All they brought with them was a suitcase for each kid, and two for her. We took about a month to find a new home, and the moving company stored our household goods in their warehouse in the interim.

My take on the move is don't do anything you don't have to. Let the moving company do the work. You might even want to ship one or more of your vehicles....

Also, keep careful record of your out of pocket expenses as they are tax deductible.

[Jim DeLaney]

I moved from California to Ohio about a year ago. Allied Van Lines charged me $9600 for just under 14,000 pounds of goods.

We did much of our own packing ahead of time. The moving companies charge about three times the actual cost of packing materials, so if you buy your own boxes, etc. and pack them yourself, you can save a lot of money...

I also shipped my Toyota truck. I used Dependable Auto Shippers (DAS.com). For door-to-door service, it cost me just over $600. Considering it was a 2500 mile drive, it would have taken about a hundred gallons of gas, and four days on the road (meals, lodging, etc.), so I thought the $600 was a pretty good deal.

[Rob Littleton]

California to Arizona.

Loved these guys and they were great to work with.

I packed the trailor so I knew what was going on.

Check them out.....

http://www.upack.com/moving-services/residential.asp

[Ned Bulken]

I'm a bit more hands-on, working in the trucking industry, and I can't speak to the cost bit. The 'packing' bit, though is a different story.
about 8 yrs ago my folks retired from NY to VA, and I was tapped to drive the Rider trucks. We did two trips, one in an 18' cube van, and another in a 24' medium duty. They pared down from a 3000 sq ft to a 1800 sq ft house. just to give you an idea of the amount of stuff involved.
I too will strongly suggest when moving time comes, that you do the boxing up of the stuff yourself, with the following exception: any paintings/artwork of significant value, you get professionally crated.
When it comes to the whole house, make a detailed box by box inventory, keep it in a notebook and number the boxes, that way you can label the box for what room it is for, and know what box you're looking for when you're unpacking. that's what my folks did and they had the luxury of not undoing the 'storage' boxes until they felt the need. Day to day household items of course they got right open and unpacked.
Also, check around for a company that receives a lot of inventory and then repackages it, we found a business that does medical kits for example, they were happy to supply our boxes for free, saved them the hastle of disposal of the cardboard, might save some $ that way.

edit;
how could I forget, I also was tapped to help some family members move from South Carolina to Montana once, a buddy of mine and I went down and helped with the whole deal, from packing to driving two 24' rider trucks (plus a trailer for one vehicle). That was quite the trip, three days to pack up and 5 days travel plus two days unpacking. that was a fun and memorable adventure. We even cannoned the engine on one of the trucks (it was January and the fuel gelled up), luckily it was at the destination and we didn't get stuck. Rider didn't charge anything extra, we had specifically requested they 'wintereize' (add anti-gel to the fuel, and get any water out of the tanks) the trucks before we picked them up in SC, and of course they didn't do anything. We just called breakdown and they came with a wrecker and got the truck eventually. I was long gone on my way home before that happened.

[Dennis Peacock]

Yup, sure have......moving company cost for the least expensive was just over $12K and that was 10 years ago. If I added in my shop stuff that was an additional $10K for a total move price of $22K!!! :eek:

We moved ourselves for just over $2500, packed ourselves, rented two of the largest U-Haul trucks they had and one Penske Truck with 3,000 lb lift gate for moving my big shop stuff. In short.....I can't afford a moving company's fee for moving a family of 6 with 3 bedrooms and a lot less furniture than most folks with only 2 kids.

Moving yourself can be a real pain, but it depends on how deep your pockets are for hiring it done. Oh Yea....that was moving from Alabama to Arkansas or almost exactly 400 miles one way.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Russ...Until we moved here 23 years ago we moved about every 2 years. My youngest son age 5 at the time after we'd been in Bend OR for 18 months asked "Mom ...isn't time to move again?" At age 5 he'd had homes in Mississippi, Texas, Illinois and Oregon. Call around....I bet the movers will give free estimates.

Good luck!

[Jim DeLaney]

Addendum to my earlier reply:

The advice about having the valuables is good. We did have all the good china, electronics, etc professionally packed. Packing costs for that were about $500 (included in the $9600 total).

For the self packed stuff, we kept a spreadsheet. We coded each box LR (Living Room) G (Garqge) S (Shop) ST (Storage), etc. and numbered them from one to whatever for each room.

The boxes weren't marked for contents - mainly because I didn't wantthe movers to know what was in them. Nothing illegal, I just didn't want to be labeling tools, or valuables in order to deter potential pilferage. BTW, we didn't lose anything at all during the move.

On the spreadsheet, though, we listed the contents of each box. That way, when we needed something specific, we could consult the spreadsheet and go to that specific box. Saved a lot of unpacking confusion... It's been almost a year, and we still have a few "Storage" boxes in the basement that haven't been opened yet. I keep telling my wife that "six more months, and we'll just put the still unopened boxes out for the trash pickup." I seriously doubt that'll ever happen, but it's a nice idea...

[Frank Hagan]

One caveat, from experience in my family (but not mine directly): make sure you are dealing with a major, reputable firm. My SIL was taken by a team of movers a few years back who low-balled the quote, then wouldn't unload the truck without another $5,000 cash. She called the police, who told her they couldn't interfere, so she refused to pay it, and they took her stuff away. Ended up having to pay the $5,000 plus storage fees to get her stuff back.

Don't go with the lowest bid automatically ... they bid by the pound, and the low-ballers will estimate the weight light then sock you with a higher bill at the end after they actually weigh the trailer.

There are ways to protect yourself from this ... when I moved within the state (but about 100 miles) 7 years ago, we got a binding contract amount, and a weigh-in the same day they picked up the household goods, and a sign off on that weight. And the movers I picked were one of the national chains (although that is no guarantee).

[Russ Filtz]

Thanks all, the decision is coming soon (company is making an offer today). Although the first number I heard was only $5k :eek: I kind of balked at that and the headhunter is going back. I might get them up to $10k unless I agree to just submit all bills. At 10k, I might try to do it myself and pocket the change.

Is it common for a new company to pay for realtor's fees, or is that up to you?

And Lee, it's not just the fridge, my wife also hates our Kenmore washer/dryer. :o I think those three items warrant the move!

[Frank Hagan]

Is it common for a new company to pay for realtor's fees, or is that up to you?

My experience has been that it depends on the package the company has. For instance, my company does not pay real estate fees, but my brother's company not only covered the fees but actually bought his house at market value so he wouldn't have to futz with selling it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Russ,

Moving expenses vary from company to company. I've had companies pay the difference in home loan interest rates for a period of 3 years after I moved; pay "accomomadations expenses....ie. $1000 for new curtains etc., in the new home, pay all household goods moving costs, travel expenses(meals, hotel rooms etc.) for me and my family; pay for home loan closing cost; pay for a lawyer to conduct the closing on a home loan. It's really dependent on company policy and the desire of the new company to hire you. Some companies don't pay any moving expenses for new hires. I don't work for them.

Good luck with your decision!

[Dan McGuire]

Russ,

I have plenty of experience interstate moving, MO to NY, NY to MI, MI to MN, MN to IL. That being said it was all with one company, Chrysler Corp. Being a large company they had and excellant RELO package for employees. Realty fees, moving expenses and lump sums were all included. They contracted with a national relocation company to handle the process.

It has also been my experience that companies hiring new employees to work in a different city won't step out on a limb with relo expenses, however that does not mean you shouldn't try your hand at negoiating some of those expenses into your new deal. Depending on how bad you want the job, how big you house is and how much you want to take on yourself, I would not start below $10,000. I would also consider asking for realator fees for selling and possibly buying down a point or two on your new loan. When I left Chysler and started with a new company I asked for everything I thought I would want and was able to eliminate those least important to me in the negotiation process.

Good luck

Dan

[Andrew Ault]

My parents moved to Arizona last year. They liked the area (Payson, in the mts. north of Scottsdale) with some exceptions like the price/quality of vegetables and some things like that. The distance from friends and family in San Diego got to them, though. So they moved back here this last weekend (hooray!).

The price to move to Arizona was higher than moving back. Dad did not tell me the name of the mover he used, but the cost to move to San Diego was $3250. He shopped the price a little. He had one bid of $3000, but liked the middle one the best and went with that.

Mom and dad did their own packing. They were very pleased with the service.

[Scott Parks]

Geez, my company only paid me $5000 to relocate. And that was payable in equal payments every two weeks for a year. Sounds like we got a rotten deal. Anyway, I never made the move. A year and a half later, I can't stand the commute anymore. Last week, I closed on a new house in Colorado, and sold my house in Idaho. So, now I'm making the move on Tuesday.

For the move, I'm spending $900 for a 24' Budget truck and car trailer, and paying a local moving company $130 to pack / load the truck. For my wife to drive her truck (1000 mi.) it will cost $150 in gas. For the moving truck, I'm estimating over double in gas, so $350. Two hotel rooms @ $90/night = $180. And for two friends to help unload, two cases of beer = $40. Another $100 for meals for the drive. Total = $1850 for a 1000 mile move, and 2-1/2 days of driving.

[Russ Filtz]

You're only paying 900 for 1,000 miles! I got a Penske 26' for around 2400 for my 1400 mile trip. All the others were over $3,000! Initial movers estimate was about $6,000, but I don't trust that. I think I'll take the priviledge of breaking my own things and pocket the $2-3,000+. :D

[Scott Loven]

How much did not moving for 1-1/2 years cost you! Lets see $.33/mile for your transportation, road food, .......................

[Wes Bischel]

Russ,
Inventory List!!! Make sure it is complete - pictures of the big ticket items may help as well. A few friends moved for work and had some items disappear - interstingly they were not on the inventory - especially tools.

Wes

[Norman Hitt]

How much did not moving for 1-1/2 years cost you! Lets see $.33/mile for your transportation, road food, .......................

Probably "NOTHING". Normally, when you Fly for an Airline, (in the past....that is, but I hear it's getting more difficult), you could fly on your, or other airlines to commute for FREE on a standby basis by showing your Airline ID card. With the airlines consolidating, and cutting out a lot of flights to get the passenger load per mile up, it has become more difficult to find seating available to make your schedule, at least in some areas of the country.

[Scott Loven]

Probably "NOTHING". Normally, when you Fly for an Airline, (in the past....that is, but I hear it's getting more difficult), you could fly on your, or other airlines to commute for FREE on a standby basis by showing your Airline ID card. With the airlines consolidating, and cutting out a lot of flights to get the passenger load per mile up, it has become more difficult to find seating available to make your schedule, at least in some areas of the country.
where does it say that Scott was flying for an airline?

[David LaRue]

Russ,

All you need to do is go to this site and go to "ball park price" http://www.navl.com/HouseHold/Ballpark.aspx put in your zips, the size of your house & content "light, med, heavy" (select heavy for your ww equipment!) and vola, a price. If you need a better estimate you can request a quote and a rep will gladly come visit you :eek: :)

David

[Greg Leighty, Chattanooga TN]

I am in the process of moving from Chattanooga, TN to Birmingham, AL. My work gave me $9,000 to move. I have a quote from Allied to move a four bedroom house (2600 sq ft) plus my shop with all my woodworking toys and about 800 bd ft of lumber for $5,200. Not bad.

Greg

[Norman Hitt]

where does it say that Scott was flying for an airline?

Sorry, that information came from posts he made last year, Annnnnnd.......since I was an Airline Pilot in previous years, it was something that I remembered, even with the CRS I've developed in my later years. :D Now..........if I could just remember how to get a few of those Paychecks again........... :(

[Russ Filtz]

David, thanks for the link. Quick check still shows $6,200 to $7,600, and I can do it myself even hiring help for about $3,000. Money left over for tools!