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Are you stuck with the dilemma whether you should hire movers or a moving company for your move, or just do it yourself?
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. When it comes time to move this is a question that bothers almost everyone. Obviously you’d like to save as much as possible and keep your moving cost as low as it can be. But before you make the decision, its important to consider a few things.
The truth is that there is no right answer here! Both options can be good and there are pros and cons for both. The right option for me, might not work well for your move. So it becomes important to consider all the factors that may influence your decision. The factors that typically effect a move’s cost are complexity of the move, time, money, difficulty, and location (where you’re moving out from and moving into).
Worried????
Don’t fret. There are several questions you may ask yourself to help you reach a reasonable conclusion. The following questions can easily help you out:
How Much Stuff Are You Moving?
First, you need to decide what you’re moving and what you’ll leave behind. If you intend to hire a moving company, how much stuff you’re moving will determine your costs. In order to have an idea of what you intend to move count the bedrooms in your house.
Several moving companies have a truck-size guide to give you an idea of what to expect when you’re moving.
Here is a typical sample:
- 26′ will move 4+ bedrooms
- 24′ will move 3-4 bedrooms
- 17′ will move 2-3 bedrooms
- 14′ will move 1-2 bedrooms
- 10′ will move an apartment
Get moving quotes from a few moving companies to find out the which truck size you’ll, and come up with an estimate of your moving costs. Then you may find out how much it will cost to hire a moving company to help you move. Compare the costs and workload involved in packing, loading, shipping, unpacking, and make up your mind.
Do you have expensive or rare items that require proper handling?
The furniture I had in my townhouse wasn’t very bulky or expensive. But that may not be the case for you. Since I had just got married and haven’t really collected a lot of expensive, permanent items in the house yet, i didn’t really care too much if one or two items got damaged. They weren’t too expensive. This may not be the case with you. Take a look at all your items and figure out if your friend can be trusted to move them properly or should you engage a professional.
Distance: Where Are You Moving To?
Moving to the next street will be definitely easier than moving from the west to the northern part of the country. Distance is one of the single most important factors you must consider when you’re moving. If you are moving cross-country, driving a rental truck might turn out to be very tiring and expensive. Plus you might not be able to ask your friends or family to come along to help you unload the truck.
How much will Gas and Toll cost?
Bigger trucks eat up more gas. A lot of people forget to factor this cost in before making their decision. The truck size you opt for and how much stuff you’re moving will determine how much gas you’ll need or if you’ll need any extra permits and insurances to be able to drive the truck.
Then you have to consider gas costs and mileage if you choose to hire a truck. Fuel calculators can give you an idea of how much it will cost to fill up the gas tank. Also, distance calculators can give you an idea of how far you’ll be travelling. You need to add both costs to the truck rental fee.
Will you have help to assist you in loading and unloading?
I’m sure you won’t be doing the whole mofve alone and lifting everything by yourself. It’s important to have enough help during your entire move. From packing to loading, to driving and unloading the truck, you’ll need to extra hands to make it easy. Don’t forget about disassembling and assembling the furniture. Ask yourself if you have all this covered, or it’ll be better to leave it to the professionals.
- Do you have additional help? Friends, family, neighbors or colleagues that can lend a hand? Or you are going to hire moving labors?
- Are you confident that you can move your household goods safely?
- Will you need to rent additional equipment/supplies/hired-hands to move larger items such as appliances?
- How much time will it take to pack your things, load your things and drive it all to your new destination?
- Do you have fragile or special items that will require special handling? Can you move these items yourself? If not, what will it cost to move them?
- Are you aware of hidden costs that can creep into your move, such as additional insurance or packing supplies?
Once you answer the above questions, it’ll become easier for you to determine which option will be better for you. Then you can make a reasonable decision between moving yourself and hiring movers. You may search online moving quotes of moving companies.
