House Moving

    House moving should be as easy as snapping your fingers and magically all your stuff is in you new home, exactly where it should be so you can start enjoy the new chapter of your life. But does it always go that way? No. Normally, what should be joyous occasion turns into panic ridden chaos. Stress runs high, sometimes yelling's involved, but not when it's done in the right way. According to Master Simplifier and professional mover, Cynthia Ivie, with the right preparation your move can be a smooth transition into your new home.
    To make that transition as smooth as possible it should start eight weeks out from when you want to move. Eight weeks may seem like a long time, but when you see all the details that must be planned and all the logistics that must be managed to ensure a smooth transition, you'll wish you had given yourself twice as many. But if you heed Cnythia's advice, gained from many years of personal and professional experience, eight weeks will be plenty of time to organize a smooth-as-silk house moving.
    Now, the tasks involved with house moving can be broken down into seven parts, which can roughly correspond with Cynthia's suggested eight weeks, but consider this as a rough outline which you should adapt to your own personal situation and schedule.

Part 1: Purge

    It's common sense that the more stuff you have the harder it will be to move. So, to lighten the load you need to get rid of as much stuff as possible. "Eight weeks out you want to purge," Cynthia suggested. "Purge everything you're through with, and donate it. And you want to process those donations so that you get a nice tax write-off for it."

Part 2: Find Potential Movers

    You want to give yourself plenty of time to find potential movers because you'll be forming a close relationship with them through the entire moving process. Cynthia suggested getting personal recommendations from friends as well as checking the Better Business Bureau and Angie's List.
"You've got to have a reputable mover because there certainly are companies that will take advantage of you in the moving process," Cynthia cautioned. "They will lowball the estimate and then give you the final bill, and you have to pay the bill before they let your things off the truck. And that bill could be two or three times what they quoted."

Part 3: Interview Potential Movers

    After you have your recommendations, narrow you list of movers down to the best three, and then you need to interview them. Think of it like any job interview process. After reviewing their resumes, you call the best three in for personal interviews to help you select the best candidate for the job.
    "[Each mover will] do a quote for the house and then you want to compare the quotes side by side," Cynthia said. "You want to compare the box count, compare the charges for travel, the number of men assigned, the hourly labor charge based on the number of personnel assigned, and you want to come up with an apples to apples comparison. What on a hourly basis is this mover going to cost me to make a fair assessment. Because movers estimates will vary dramatically."

Part 4: Change of Address Notification

    Notifying the U.S. Post Office about your change of address shouldn't be an afterthought, unless you don't mind not receiving your mail for half a year.
    "You want to notify the post office that you're moving 4 weeks in advance at least," Cynthia said. "Because the US Postal system today doesn't keep up with changes of address very well, and we've had clients who waited months for their mail."
    I don't know about you, but I don't like receiving the June issues of my magazines in November.

Part 5: Plan Ahead for the Logistics

    Now that you have your mover lined up and your address change submitted, it's time to sit down and think long and hard about the physical task of moving your stuff from where it is to where it will be. This isn't only helpful for you, but also for your mover. The movers need to know what they're up against. So, give special consideration to large pieces of furniture and appliances.
    "We've seen sofas suspended underneath elevators; we've seen subzero side-by-sides brought in through widow frames and grand pianos are always a challenge" Cynthia said. "You need to consider the openings of the stairwells, doorways and the access into and out of a home. And plan ahead for those and be able to tell your mover too what they're going to deal with on the other end. Is it a 3rd floor walk-up; is it the ground floor, is it 16 stairs up, is it an elevator building? If it's an elevator building often times people don't know you have to reserve the elevator in advance, and you probably have to pay a deposit to get that elevator, and the building will want to schedule that for you so that it's at the greatest convenience to their residents who are already in as well as to your need to move in."

Part 6: Moving Day Preparation

    With the bigger logistical issues ironed out, you can focus on the actual move and the supplies that you will need to make it as smooth as possible. And, as you'd expect, Cynthia had some great suggestions for the pre-move prep, such as making arrangements to have your kids and pets off site during the move. "We recommend getting them off site because animals and kids both are susceptible to the stresses of a move," Cynthia said. "So, if possible, board the animals and send the kids to grandma and grandpa's house."
    With your kids and pets accounted for, next you need to tackle your remaining possessions. Cynthia suggested zoning your possessions into piles by where they will be going in your new home, and then you create a spreadsheet that you give to the movers detailing what will go where. For example, everything that you want to go into your new kitchen should be piled up, let's say, in the middle of your current kitchen. That way the movers and quickly pack and label everything with no mistake of where it will be going. But be forewarned. Movers pack very quickly and if your possessions aren't separated bad things can happen.
    "The movers are going to pack very quickly," Cynthia cautioned. "They've been known to pack trash, wallets, car keys, and boxes have to be opened and those have to be searched for if in fact they do get packed. So, you want to zone all the possessions together and you want to set aside the things that you'll need to survive for the time period you will be disrupted. Some people even put it in the bathtub and say, 'don't pack what's in the tub.' And that's one way keep it separate from getting swept up in the packing."
    In addition to keeping keys, your wallet in that bathtub, you should keep a suitcase filled with at least two to three nights worth of clothes and toiletries, Cynthia suggested. "I mean if they pack your house in a day or even half a day and then load the van, they're going to keep everything on the van overnight and then unload the next day," Cynthia said. "Then it's going to be at least a day before you find it again. So, you definitely want to have packed for your self, I would say, two or three night minimum of clothing, supplies and all."

Part 7: Moving Day To-dos

    With all the planning taken care of well in advanced, moving day can be the easy part. Cynthia suggested just being an observer, making sure everything goes as planned. Check to make sure packers aren't inflating the box count by using too much packing material, ensure that the movers are following the spreadsheet you created, but most of all take it easy. Enjoy the last time in your old home and let it sink in that you're moving onto bigger and better things, a new part of your life. If you really want to help pack, only pack things that aren't breakable like books and files, Cynthia said.
    "It would be against my best council to tell you to pack the breakables, and people often make that mistake. They think, 'Well, if I pack it, it will be safe.' But packers are professionals. They're going to charge you a minimum hourly fee, and then they are going to pack so much faster than you could yourself, and the key point is that movers will only insure what they pack. So, if they didn't pack it and it arrives broken on the other end, they're not going to insure it."

    Even with the best planning things can still go wrong, but by being prepared you'll be able to handle the bumps in stride. Cynthia put it best, "The biggest thing is to allow enough time to sit down and really think about all the details of what's going to happen because there will be surprises. That's unavoidable, but you want to minimize the surprises and minimize the cost of the surprises, and the only way to do that is by planning."