Because of the current economic situation, you might be faced with the need to have to move to obtain work or maybe you are considering re-training yourself by going back to school in another state. Relocating is always a nuisance that nobody looks forward to meet. The search for the best value, the best mover, the logistics of relocating is just way too much for anyone to handle by themselves that trigger all kinds of emotional turmoil.

 

There should be quite a few items on your moving checklist that you need to get done to successfully move to your new home.  One of the initial items to consider are online moving quotes from various experienced moving companies that serve your area.

 

Moving Estimates: Provide The Best Value To A Consumer

Bottom line: Moving quotes can tell you who is the best mover for your particular move.

 

If relocating yourself is not a choice, then you next choice is to seek help. But who can you trust your belonging to help you move dependably, caring for your property while at the same time charge you a fair market price for this moving? After all, moving scams are all too real and frequent enough to make consumers think more than twice to employ a given long distance moving company.

 

When you Google the term Moving Companies you accomplish two things:

• 1.It gives you first hand experience with the relocation company without being totally committed to it.
• 2. It forces you to think and plan your move before you get any movers engaged.

 

Moving Quotes Best Practices:

For example, ask them how long the move is going to take, follow up by asking what the procedure is if for some reason it takes longer. Some seasoned moving companies will offer an incentive to do business with them in case your move takes significantly longer than planned. However, some other movers movers just ball park a day of delivery and provide no incentives at all if delivery happens outside of the estimated time frame.

 

Consider more than just price in your decision. Some national moving companies would have you list every item that is included in for shipping. This can save you some cash since you’re paying for each item. However, the time value of having to list every little thing can prove to be a significantly daunting task.

 

Another industry metric is to have you pay for how much space you take up on their moving trailers. Often times, movers, share truck space with multiple clients’ possessions in the same truck when relocating from state to state. This allows the mover to optimize its efforts and allows also the consumer to pay just for space used. Without a doubt, this could make or break your decision to hire or not hire a particular mover.

 

Under no condition the moving companyis obligated to charge you the estimated quote prior to weight of the cargo. By law, the moving companymust provide as much-as-possible accurate movingquote, you should however, expect about a ten percent differential in cost for services.

 

Keep in mind that moving estimates are either non-binding or binding estimates. The non-binding estimates are a bit more risky because the mover can always choose to charge you more than the non-binding quote.

A non-binding relocation estimate is not a bid or a contract. The mover provides such document to give you a general idea as to what the market value of your relocation is. In no case, it obligates the moving company to charge this price as the final relocation price.  You should ask your mover what price differential to expect from the estimate to the final cost.

 

Under Federal Law, the relocation company is expected to overcharge you by 110% of the non-binding estimate. Federal law requires the moving company to collect the charges in accordance to its tariffs, regardless of what your mover writes in its non-binding online moving quotes.

 

Why Compare Moving Quotes Among Well-Established Moving Van Line?

Contrasting like relocation estimates from a small group of moving firms would give you a better idea as to what is the market value of your relocation. These estimates are free of costs to you and the mover should never charge for them. If you were to build a decision matrix to evaluate the difference in service, besides price, it should also tell you the other benefits of working with each  individual mover. Roughly speaking, about  80% of your relocation budget is destined to pay movers, do take the time to research and talk to multiple moving companies before you hire anyone of them.

Trust But Verify

Don’t fall prey to unscrupulous moving companies.  Dig well into a company’s background, check with their local BBB office, do an online research to discover about the company. A well-established moving company should be associated with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA), be insured, bonded, and a registered enterprise.

If you really don’t expect to become a statistics in the movingindustry, then you must come to realize  that movingquotes serves 2 goals: one is for the mover to sell you its services, and two is for you as a consumer to test the firm’s competitiveness in the market so that you can select the best mover that fits your needs the most. Reviewother customers’ feedback by  doing an online search let’s say in Bing as in:

“moversname customer feedback”

Surround the words in quotes to zoom on the right search. You should realize what other peoplehave said about your particular movingfirm to helpyou determine who is and who is not a risk to contract for moving support.

 

The right steps in organizing can save you a great deal of three key assets: time, money, and peace of mind.  Following a few simple steps can eliminate a lot of stress later on.

1. Start Early

The biggest problem with organizing a move is not allowing enough time.It takes your average college student about 5 hours to pack up a dorm room when moving out.It's important to remember that's a single room where often only half the items belong to the student moving.Calculating those hours times the number of rooms you have in your current place, you'll quickly realize that the amount of time you'll need just for packing is substantial.

Starting early gives you a huge advantage.  While most people wait until just a few days prior to the move date for the majority of their packing hours, you can eliminate much of your moving stress by getting a jump on your moving tasks.  People who follow this advice often have much smoother moves and lower stress levels for the entire process.

2. Have a Plan For Your Move

There’s a huge temptation to just start the packing process with little or no planning.  Unfortunately, it’s also a huge mistake.  You wouldn’t start building a house without blueprints, and you shouldn’t start your move without a basic plan.  The plan doesn’t need to be complicated, but it should include the following:

• Number of days between now and your move date
• Tasks required for your move, including getting moving supplies, changing your address, and packing
• Number of rooms that need to be packed
• Amount of help you’ll have available from friends, family, and professional movers
• Quantity of items you have in each room
• Amount of time you have available each day between now and the move

If you assign tasks by day and closely monitor your progress as you go, you’re much less likely to be surprised by running out of time.

3. Use a Moving Checklist

One of the reasons moving is so stressful is the fact that there are so many details to track.Your belongings and most of your peace of mind are suddenly in chaos."  Most of the usual landmarks are about to change, from where to get groceries to what your new address and phone number are going to be.

This is where the moving checklist comes in.One of the great things about moving is that you're not alone- about 1 of every 8 American households move in any given year.  That’s more than 30 million people!Many of those folks have provided input to several moving checklists in books and on websites.  Use these checklists both as a source for your plan and a set of reminders for what needs to be done.  Some of the items may not apply to your situation, but they should give you an excellent starting point.

4. Create a Moving Kit Organizer

Moving involves a great deal of paper.  Leases and mortgages, moving estimates, new addresses and perhaps employers, checklists- it all adds up to a lot to track.  It's a good idea to have a central place for all that information.We suggest organizing your papers with a 3-ring binder with pockets, along with dividers to keep key information separate.

5. Create “Open Me First” Boxes

It’s not unusual for a move to involve over a hundred boxes.For each of the rooms of your home, there are some items that just seem more important on your first morning than others (for me, the coffee maker comes to mind).  If you reserve one or two boxes for each room as Priority Boxes (also known as "Open Me First" boxes), you'll have a much easier time on the other end of your move.Mark each of these boxes with an "Open Me First" in red on the side or with special labels that they'll be easy to find after the move.

One word of caution- don’t fall victim to the temptation of having more than two Priority Boxes per room.  If more than 2 boxes are Priority Boxes, the whole concept starts to lose its meaning, and it will end up causing more confusion instead of reducing stress.

These few steps can lead to a much more organized moving experience, and should do wonders to lower your stress level on the big day and after.

For additional, FREE moving tips, please visit us at Movers-Edge.com.  Two of the most popular articles are:

• Moving tips: 101 Best Moving Tips.
• Moving checklist: The Ultimate Moving Checklist.

Good luck with your move!