Tips For Making Home Moving More Efficient

Written by Melissa Villalobos

Whether you’re moving to a new house right down the street, or you’re moving to the other side of the country, getting everything packed and ready to go can be a daunting process. Without proper planning, it can also be expensive and time consuming. Here are some tips to help you be more efficient with your home moving so you can decrease the stress and simplify the move as much as possible.

To Do List

To get started, you’re going to need a detailed list that covers everything, start to finish. Include everything including:

  • Purchase packing materials
  • Quotes from moving services
  • Book auto transport
  • Schedule boarding/vet visit for pets
  • Childcare for moving day
  • Contact current and new utility companies
  • Change of address form from postal service

Garage Sale

Before you have time to let the stress of moving hit you, take an inventory of your home. Go one room at a time and make a checklist of items you do not use or do not like and just want to get rid of. Hosting a garage or yard sale, even online if you don’t have a day to spend sitting in the yard waiting on neighbors to wander into the yard, can help you declutter and get rid of unwanted property, but it also helps you make some quick cash to use for your move. If you are moving after the sale of your home, you will want to make sure it is clean for the new owners.

Donate

Items that you don’t want to take along for the move can also be donated to charity. Donating to charity is a win-win situation. You declutter and the charity receives an item that someone in need may be able to use.

Trash

Trashing unwanted property is another option for slimming down your packing detail and removing unwanted or damaged, old property from your home before you start packing.

Once you have your “to-do-list’ and have taken a little time to declutter the current home, you will want to move forward with planning the move. If you plan to tackle the move without the help of a pro, you may need to contact moving truck companies to see what the rates are for a truck that your belongings will fit inside. If you do need to hire professional movers to take care of the move for you, then you need to get quotes from several moving companies. Be sure to ask what services each company offers, whether they pack boxes or just pick them up to load or unload and whether they do background checks on their employees and whether their insurance will cover your property if it is damaged during the move.

The earlier you get started with packing things up, the less you will need to do as the move approaches. Here are some packing tips to help ensure everything is in its place just in time for the move.

Rarely Used Property

Pack those items that you rarely use before you pack the essentials. You will want to have quick access to the things you use frequently, so pack them last so you have them near the top of the boxes.

Pack Boxes Completely

When you pack your bosses, don’t leave unused space or you will wind up with far more boxes than you need packed into the truck. If you are packing items such as books or CD’s, try to toss in some softer items like towels or washcloths to take up the extra space and save on the box count. Not only will this help fill boxes, but it also cuts down on packing materials such as bubble wrap that would otherwise need to be purchased to place in boxes to shield fragile items.

Get Enough Boxes

Whether you decide to purchase boxes from the moving company, or you prefer to swing by your local grocery or liquor store to see if you can grab boxes, be sure to get as many as possible. If you think you have enough boxes to hold everything, grab a few more. It does not hurt to have more boxes than you need to pack everything, but it is no fun to discover you still need boxes and have no way to get more just before you need to load the moving truck.

Color Code Your Labels

It’s wise to place labels on every box so that you, and the movers, know which room each box should be placed in when unloaded from the truck. Color coding your labels is also a big help because rather than reading the label you can look for the color and automatically know which room it should go to. For instance, your box might have “Kitchen” written on it, but if all your kitchen boxes are labeled with red marker and other rooms in another color, placing the boxes in the right rooms will go much quicker. Be sure to label the boxes on all sides as well as the top so you can easily see where they need to go once unloaded from the moving truck.

Dresser Drawers

It’s easy to move clothing that is already inside a dresser drawer. Remove the drawers from the dresser to lighten the load when carrying to the truck and then simply place the drawers back inside once the dresser has been loaded. This saves room inside the truck and keeps your clothes nicely folded and ready for use when the dresser is unloaded.

Trash Bags for Clothing

For hanging clothing, grab a large trash bag and cut a hole in the bottom of it. Once this is done, take some of your hanging clothes and place the bag over them, slipping the hangers through the hole in the end. You can then tie the bottom of the bag at the bottom of the clothing and load them into the moving truck. This keeps the clothing dirt free and ready to hang right back up in the closet when you get to the new house.

Ziploc Bags

When you remove pictures from the walls or disassemble furniture before the move, place the screws and blots inside a Ziploc bag for easy hauling to the new home. Be sure to pack the Ziploc bag in a bag or box that you can easily get to when everything is delivered. This will help set up your new home much faster.

Pack with Care

Glassware and dishes as well as electronics and expensive fragile heirlooms need to be packed with care. For glasses and other dishes, you can use paper, bubble wrap or clothing to help prevent them from breaking during the move. Be sure to take special care when loading or unloading your television set, stereo and other electronics as these are items that you won’t want to have to spend extra to replace right when you get to the new house.

Bedding

It’s easy to pack bedding deep inside the moving truck only to arrive at a late hour and be too tired to unpack a whole truck in the middle of the night. Just in case this occurs, it’s a good idea to have bedding near the door of the truck so you can easily grab some pillows and blankets to get some rest before you need to get up and unload everything else.

Overnight Bag

Pack an overnight bag for each member of the family to include a change of clothing, pajamas, toothbrush and shower supplies. You will also want to ensure you have your mobile phone charger and other overnight necessities including medications and maybe a small snack to get through the night.

While packing overnight bags, you may even want to throw in a coffee pot, a bag of coffee and a couple mugs to have a fresh cup of coffee to get the first full day in your new home started on the right foot. Taking a few simple steps to planning the move ahead of time can save you countless hours of frustration help simplify your move to make everything efficient and stress free.

Photo credit: Pixabay

Written by Melissa Villalobos &  Published by  Price & Co. Realty © –  June 2020