Costs of moving to and from a new home
Home moving costs vary greatly. Some factors that influence the costs are:
- Number of items moved
Weight of the items
Distance of the move
Value of the items being moved
Ease of access to the locations
Storage Costs
Type of items being transported
Time of year you are moving
Another factor, is how much of your own (and family and friends') time you can spare.
Moving can be classified as do-it-yourself, and professional hire. Most moves are a combination of the two.
Moving can also be classified as local, or cross country.
For a local, do-it-yourself move, you can call up some friends, buy and fold boxes yourself, disassemble, label and pack yourself, move the items into a truck (or other vehicle), unload, unpack and reassemble yourself. Usually, this involves renting a truck or trailer and driving yourself.
Besides the time taken in a move like this, a small apartment can be moved for less than $100. Packing materials, vehicle rental, clean up of the home moving out of, pads and dolly rental, and gas are the only other costs.
On the other end of cost, a single family home, vehicles, pets, high value items, and large bulky items moved across the country with a large family, can be a major expense, running $10,000 and more.
For a typically 4 bedroom house, and 4 people to move 900 miles away, the potential costs are the following:
Hiring a moving company, with insurance, and no storage costs. $9,900
Transporting a car. $700
Travel expense for the family, two nights in a hotel, meals, transportation. $750. More if flying to your new home.
Packing materials. $540
Trash removal. ?
Clean up. ?
Additional storage costs if the new home isn't ready to move in. $400/day.
A few other costs that can be involved with a move.
* New driver's license, license plates, inspection.
* New home insurance.
* Utility hookup and deposit fees.
* New will. (all states have different laws concerning wills)
* Immunizations (or documentation) for children attending school.
* New locks in a new home.
* Home owners association fees.
* Additional insurance, packing or moving services for items like antiques or pianos.
* Moving large plants, or plants that require special care.
* Moving plants or animals to a state that requires documentation, immunizations, or quarantine.
* Installation of appliances in a new home.
* Activating a security system in a new home and getting monitoring services.
* Canceling a home monitoring service in the old home.
* Selling your old junk before moving
* Moving between the beginning of June and the end of September
* Moving during the beginning or end of any month
* Exterminate bugs in the new home before moving in.
* Extra luggage payments if moving by flight
* Repairing any damage if moving from a rented home.
* Mailbox rental
* Informing concerned parties of your new address and phone number.
* Throwing away perishable foods from the home you are moving out of.
* High value article, if more than $100/pound will require extra insurance
* You must have cash to pay the moving company before unloading at the new house, if not prepaid.
A couple other options are, you load and unload the truck and hire a transport company, or you provide the transport, and hire a company to load and unload for you.
Also, when hiring a company to do a complete move, or only loading and unloading, if you can't access any location with a big truck, you must pay extra fees for using a small shuttle truck, and extra loading or unloading fees.
