The Complete Guide to Moving

When you think about the most enjoyable experiences in your life, moving probably isn’t among them. There’s no doubt that moving can be stressful, particularly if it’s been years since you last packed up your belongings. The tasks you need to handle, from decluttering your home, to finding movers, to contacting utility companies, may seem never-ending. Fortunately, our guide covers all of the things you’ll need to think about if you’re planning on moving to a brand new home in Central New Jersey.

Choose a Quality Moving Company

Bad movers can turn moving day into one of the most stressful days of your life. Whether they fail to show up on schedule, damage a valuable antique or are surly and uncooperative, your movers can turn what should be an exciting day into one you’ll want to soon forget.

Luckily, it’s easier than ever to determine if a company is just as professional and reliable as its website claims by reading online reviews. Visit Yelp and the companies’ Facebook and Twitter pages when you begin your search. If companies have many complaints or don’t seem to be responsive to questions or complaints, cross them off your list. Friends and relatives who’ve moved recently can be a good source of referrals. Ask them what they liked and didn’t like about the companies they used.

Ask the top two or three contenders to visit your house, give you an estimate and explain how they’ll handle your move. If you have particularly heavy or unwieldy items, such as a grand piano, ask the company what steps they’ll take to ensure that the item reaches your new home safely. Find out how long they think it should take to pack up your belongings and transport them to your new home. If the move is expected to take two or more days, ask when you can expect to see the movers at your new house.

Although moving companies provide insurance that can cover the cost of items damaged during moves, Consumer Reports notes that the claim may not pay enough to replace your item. They recommend purchasing a supplemental policy for interstate moves or finding out if your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policies will cover moving damage.

Begin the Purge

Because movers charge by the volume of items to be moved, it doesn’t make sense to bring along the treadmill you rarely use or the box of clothes you swore you were going to fit into one of these days. Cleaning and decluttering well before your moving date can not only lighten the load on the moving truck but also make unpacking much faster and easier.

Pack Carefully

Even if the moving company will be doing the packing for you, you may still want to pack and transport fragile or valuable items yourself. Follow these guidelines if you expect to do any packing or unpacking:

• Choose medium or small packing boxes. You can definitely fit more in large boxes, but bigger boxes can be very heavy when they’re full. Small or medium boxes are less likely to strain your neck and back muscles.

• Use the proper packing material. Wedging dish towels around your grandmother’s china isn’t the best way to protect plates and bowls. Wrap each plate, bowl or glass in a double layer of paper and place it a dishpack, a box that’s specially designed to hold breakables. Your mover can supply you with dishpacks for your fragile kitchen items. Add a few inches of crumpled paper to the bottom and top of each box to help prevent your dishes from shifting too much.

• Label each box. Labeling only takes a few seconds and can prevent an hour-long search for the TV remote once you reach your new home.

• Use Care When Handling TVs. Thin flat screen televisions can be easily damaged during the moving process. Before you pack your TV, clean it to remove dust and debris, then wrap it in a soft blanket secured with packing tape. Place the TV in a moving box made just for televisions and close the box with more packing tape. Keeping the TV upright at all times will help prevent damage to the screen.

• Create a color-coded system for wires. Hooking up your TV and router can be time consuming when you don’t remember which cord goes where. Wrap colored tape masking or electrical tape around wires and cords, then place a small piece of the colored tape on the corresponding port on your router or cable box.

• Pack a box of necessities. Plan to pack and transport a box of the things you’ll need immediately after arriving at your new home. Include toilet paper, soap, a hand towel, prescription medications, paper cups and plates, a few small toys for the kids, a pen and paper and other items, such as your coffeemaker, that will make the day less feel less hectic.

Make a Few Calls or Clicks

In the weeks leading up to your moving date, take care of several important details, including:

• Utility Service: Contact your Internet, cable, satellite, telephone and electricity providers and make arrangements to turn off service at your old home and start it at your new house.

• Insurance: Arrange for property insurance for your new home and inform your automobile insurance company that you’ll be moving.

• Address Change: Remember when forwarding your mail used to involve a trip to the Post Office for a change of address card? These days, you can change your address online on the S. Post Office’s website. In addition to arranging for your mail to be forwarded, make sure you let credit card companies, other businesses and your employer’s human resources and payroll departments know that you have a new address.

• School Changes: If your children will be transferring to new schools, call each school and find out what information will be needed to complete the transfer or enrollment process.

Check Off Items on Your Move-In Checklist

Before moving day arrives, you’ll want to visit your newly built home to ensure that there are no problems. After all, you wouldn’t want to move in to your home in December only to discover that the heat doesn’t work.

During your inspection, you’ll want to pay attention to potentially major issues, such as areas that haven’t been finished properly or non-working systems or appliances. Before you step inside the home, make sure that there are no gaps between the siding and the wall or the roof and the gutters. If your home has been painted, there shouldn’t be any bare spots or noticeable drips.

Once you’re inside the house, turn on light switches, faucets and the heating and air-conditioning system. Make sure doors and windows operate smoothly and that flooring is correctly installed. Carefully inspect kitchen and bathroom cabinets and counter tops to ensure that there is no damage and that these items have been installed correctly. Want more details on conducting a pre-move-in tour of your new home? Visit the Country Classics website and download the Move-In Checklist.

Ease Moving Day Jitters

A plan can help you keep moving day from becoming more stressful than necessary. If your move can be completed in the same day, consider asking friends or relatives to care for your children and pets during the busiest hours of the day. If that’s not possible, put pets in an empty room with food and water and put a sign on the door noting that it must be kept closed.

Keep your kids out of the way of the movers by asking them to help you with simple jobs, such as wiping down the kitchen cabinets and counter tops after the contents have been removed or making sure that your pets don’t feel too lonely. If all else fails, there’s nothing wrong with letting them watch Frozen on your laptop for the 40^th time.

When the movers arrive, let them know which rooms you would like to be packed first. Even if you’ve already gone over the details with a representative of the company, it’s a good idea to review the plans with the people who will actually be moving your belongings. If you want certain boxes, such as those that contain dishes or bedding, to be removed from the truck first, let the moving team know.

Are you ready to move, but just haven’t found the perfect new home? Country Classics offers spacious new construction homes with expansive living spaces and gourmet kitchens in the Central New Jersey area. Contact us today to learn more about our current availability.

Sources:

Consumer Reports: Finding a Moving Company You Can Count On

https://www.consumerreports.org/consumer-protection/find-a-moving-company-you-can-count-on/

HGTV: Moving Day Tips

http://www.hgtv.com/design/real-estate/how-to-pack-for-a-move