Moving ranks right up there with losing a job, death of a loved one, or getting married or divorced as a stress producer. Compound that with the pressures involved in selling one property and then buying another and you have a circumstance fraught with anxiety. If you’ve chosen your Realtor wisely you will have been shepherded safely through the buying and selling and are now on the verge of actually making the physical move.
How do you choose the mover? Start with a referral from a friend or associate who has had an actual experience with that mover and of course from your Realtor who presumably knows the best in your area. Ideally, unless your move is long distance you’ll want someone local. But what do you do when you get several referrals? Interview them, just as you might any potential employee. After all, they’ll be taking your precious belongings on their trucks or to their storage facilities and you want to know that your things will be treated with respect and care. If you’re not speaking with someone who has been referred to you, it’s particularly important to ask for references. Your first clues come from the person who arrives to give you the estimate. (You want someone to come in person, not try to give you an estimate over the phone.) Are they courteous, on time, pleasant? Hey, you know. Are the fundamentals all there?
Are you asked a lot of questions about what you’re bringing with you or selling or giving away before moving day? Have you been asked to be specific about who will be packing what ? will you do all or most of it yourself? Has note been made of your irreplaceable artifacts and antiques that require special handling? Are you asked about the conditions at your new place – number of steps, elevators, number of stories, rules and regulations if you’re going or coming from a multiple family dwelling? Will there be deliveries at multiple destinations? Will you need boxes and packing materials from the mover? All these questions go to how accurate the estimate will be. You want to be sure that every mover who comes to give you an estimate factors all the same answers into the equation. It’s the only way that you can compare one to another on price.
It’s really important to understand the nature of the estimate; is it a probable cost estimate or is the estimator’s word his bond and the estimate a firm number. You don’t want your move to be one of the horror stories we’ve all heard in which a mover brings a customer’s things to the new doorstep and then refuses to unload until he’s given a huge chunk of change in addition to the amount already agreed upon.
Who will be handling your things? Are the crews experienced movers and packers? Do they work exclusively for the mover or are they moonlighters from other fields of work? It matters. Workers compensation insurance is an expense for a moving company but it protects YOU if someone is hurt on your property. You want to know these things. They are fair questions to ask.
Finally will you get help before the move, advice on how to plan ahead for moving day, on how to mark cartons so that the end up at the right destination ? in the kitchen if that’s where you want them, the library, the basement, wherever? Will you get guidance on how to pack? For instance, books are very heavy and the boxes shouldn’t be too big; Plates should be packed on their edges not flat. There’s a lot to know, much to coordinate. A terrific mover can make a big difference in the quality of the whole experience. You do want to begin this new phase of your life on a high note, don’t you?
