The Process of Moving from One Place to Another: 7 Stages of Moving

It’s not a secret that moving from one place to another is an entire process that starts as soon as the move is confirmed and ends sometime after you have arrived in the new house or apartment.

The overall duration and level of difficulty of the house-moving process will depend on a number of factors:

• the distance between the two homes,
• the time left until the move-out date,
• the number and type of things to move,
• the level of assistance you receive, either from friends or from movers,
• the way you manage your time prior to moving out, and
• the budget you have allocated to the move.

The truth is that the fundamental difference between a greatly successful move and a largely unsuccessful attempt to relocate will have to do with how well you understand the process of moving from one place to another.

Knowledge and experience are critical when moving and it’ll be up to you to prepare for your own move in the best possible way. Go through each one of these 7 stages of moving house and you’ll be quite ready for the relocation challenge ahead of you.

The whole process of moving from one place to another is explained in great detail below.

Stage 1. Deciding which way to go: movers or DIY?

A successful house move consists of a series of logical steps that you need to take in order to have things under control from Day 1. And the very first thing you need to do is to decide whether you will hire professional movers or you will try to organize a DIY move.

Now, bear in mind that this is a critical decision that will determine how you approach the entire preparation stage of the upcoming relocation.

The tricky part is that sometimes you’re just not sure which way is the right one for you since there are pluses and minuses of each house-moving scenario. So, you will have to ask yourself a number of questions in order to make the correct choice in the end.

• How far away is the destination place? When moving only a short distance away, you may consider hiring a truck and moving your items by yourself. When you’re moving across the country, however, hiring the services of a long-distance mover is the recommended way to go.
• How many household items are you moving? If you’re moving too many things with you, including specialty items such as a piano or a grandfather clock, then using professional moving services makes much more sense.
• How much time do you have until Moving day? If you’ve too little time until you have to move out of the place – let’s say a week or less to prepare, then paying experienced professionals to do the job quickly and safely is the logical thing to do. On the other hand, having at least a month before the move-out date seems like a good start for a DIY move.
• Can you rely on your friends to help you out? Ask yourself if you can depend on your good friends to give you a hand with packing and moving your stuff. If not, then it’s best to get in touch with a reputable moving company.
• Have you moved house before? Nothing beats experience and this is especially true when you’re getting ready to move out. If you’ve never had to go through a house move before, then you should be better off working together with moving professionals.

Hire Movers or Do It Yourself: 10 Questions to Help You Decide

Stage 2. Finding a good mover for your cause

The good news is that the process of moving from one home to another is highly logical. What this means is that when you make an informed decision that it’ll be best for you and your prized possessions to use the services of a professional moving company, then the next step is to find a good mover for the upcoming move.

In reality, you don’t need just a good moving company – you need the best one in your area. And the only way to find such a mover is to do some research that will definitely pay off in the end.

Securing the high-quality services of a moving company in your city or town is easier than you think. Follow these simple steps to do just that:

• Fill in our Moving Cost Calculator to get estimates from the best movers near you – licensed, insured, experienced, and reputable moving companies that can accommodate your move on your desired move-out date.
• Ask the movers that have contacted you to visit your home for a visual on-site survey. This step is critical – thanks to the in-house inspection, the moving experts will be able to supply you with a moving estimate that will reflect the final moving cost much more accurately.
• Check out customer reviews about the moving companies that are under consideration. Online reputation is important – you need a trustworthy moving company that has left most of their clients happy with their services.
• Compare the received cost estimates (pay attention to the extra services offered) to pick the offer that best satisfies your relocation needs and fits your preliminary moving budget at the same time.

How to Choose a Good Movers in 31.5 steps

Stage 3. Organizing a risk-free DIY move

Deciding to move by yourself – that is, without using the services of a professional moving company – can only be a successful endeavor when

• you’re moving locally, within a radius of about 100 miles;
• you have good friends who are willing to give you a hand when you need it the most;
• you’re not taking too much stuff with you, and definitely not moving any large and heavy furniture, and
• you feel confident that you can drive a rental truck safely to the new address.

It’s important to note that moving by yourself can save you money in some specific scenarios but there are also DIY moving risks that you should be aware of before your final decision.

• Packing. As long as you have enough time, packing by yourself will save you the money you would have to pay professional packers to do it for you. However, packing fragile items is not easy and there’s always the danger of having some of your possessions broken or ruined due to improper packing.
• Furniture. Do consider leaving behind your big and heavy furniture pieces instead of moving them to the new place. Why? Not only will you have a hard time disassembling and packing bulky furniture units, but you may end up paying more money for their transportation than they are actually worth.
• Renting a truck. You have to make sure that the moving vehicle you’re renting has the storage capacity you need. If you rent a larger truck, you’ll be paying for storage space you won’t really use. If you rent a smaller vehicle, you won’t fit all your things inside it, thus forcing you to make a tough call.
• Loading the truck. Loading a rental truck requires a bit of skill and plenty of common sense. Most importantly, no household item should be moving in the back of the truck around during transport.
• Driving the truck. Driving a moving truck may be significantly harder than you think. Still, the most important question you should ask yourself is how confident you are that you can manage a much larger and heavier vehicle than your own personal car.
• Risks. Damaged items, property damage, and personal injuries are some of the biggest risks when moving by yourself.

How to Move by Yourself (Complete Guide)

Stage 4. Packing for a move

When moving from one place to another, the task of packing up your things for the forthcoming move is one of the most important ones. Basically, packing for a move means protecting your possessions adequately so that they survive the relocation and reach the new home perfectly intact.

When it comes to packing up your stuff, you’ve got exactly three options: 1) pack your things by yourself (and maybe with the help of your best friends as well), or 2) hire professional packers to complete the task much more quickly and safely than you could ever do it on your own.

Luckily, you have a third option that can work great for you in some cases – 3) pack up whatever you can by yourself and leave the tough ones (furniture, breakable items, specialty items, etc.) to the pros.

Keep in mind that different household items require different packing techniques – after all, there’s a huge difference whether you’re protecting your clothes and shoes or whether you’re packing up your fragile kitchen items such as glasses, plates, and so on.

Nevertheless, there are set packing rules that will help you handle the most time-consuming task on your own instead of requesting that extra service from your moving company:

• Start packing as soon as possible. It’s a fact that the job of packing for a move takes a long, long time to complete.
• Declutter your things before you start transferring them into boxes. Moving all household items rarely makes sense.
• Prepare the necessary packing materials in advance so that you don’t have to interrupt the packing process in search of additional materials.
• Begin packing up your possessions from the storage rooms because they tend to be the most laborious to sort and pack due to the large number of things in them.
• Use plenty of padding materials when packing easily breakable items such as ones made of glass or porcelain.
• Ask your good friends to help you with packing if you notice that you’re falling behind your personal packing timeline.

Packing Timeline: What to Pack When for Moving

Stage 5. Taking care of the details

Stage 5 of the process of relocating from one place to another is all about tackling even the smallest details that will determine just how successful your move proves to be in the end.

As you keep packing up your things, there will be a score of other tasks that you just have to find time to complete as well. Your best bet is to follow a detailed MOVING CHECKLIST that will surely help you organize your pre-move time in the most efficient way possible.

• Change your address. It’s better to change your address prior to moving out so that you don’t lose any important pieces of mail in meantime. You can do it in person at the nearest post office, online by visiting the USPS’s website, over the phone, or by mail.
• Transfer the utilities. Contact the current utility companies and arrange for the timely disconnection of the house utilities you’re enjoying at the moment – electricity, water, gas, phone, Internet, etc. Also, schedule their reconnection at the place you’re moving into soon.
• Obtain school records. When moving with school-age children, you’re going to have to register them with another school in the new city or town. So, remember to arrange the transfer of their school records between the two educational institutions.
• Get medical documents. Get in touch with your family physician and dentist and request the necessary documents that will enable you to register with other healthcare providers in the destination area.
• Take your pet to the vet. If you own a pet – a dog, a cat, a bird, or another type of pet animal, then it’s a good idea to take your animal friend to the vet’s office for a routine checkup prior to the actual relocation trip.
• Cancel subscriptions. Check to see if there are any memberships to gyms, clubs, hobby groups, organizations, and so on that you need to cancel before you move out. Any home-delivery services should be canceled as well.

Moving Checklist: The Greatest Moving Checklist of All Time

Stage 6. Surviving Moving day

Now that you have a pretty good idea about how to plan a move, the logical steps to moving will take you to the move-out day. Hopefully, you will have finished all tasks by then and will be completely ready to move out of your current place.

Keep in mind that your number one priority on Moving day must be your own safety and the safety of your family members and any friends you have asked to give you a hand.

Without a doubt, the day of your move is going to be the most dangerous period due to the fact that tens and tens of heavy boxes, as well as bulky furniture pieces or even some large household appliances, will need to be taken out of the home and loaded securely onto the moving vehicle.

Follow this brief Moving Day Checklist to keep things under control when you’re moving without the assistance of professional movers:

• Get up early. There’s so much stuff to do on the day of your move that sleeping in should be viewed as a big mistake. So, get up really early to give yourself more time for some last-minute jobs.
• Dress up for the occasion. Wear your most comfortable pair of closed shoes, preferably with rubber soles. Also, your clothes for the day should be made of breathable material and should not restrict your movements in any way.
• Keep children and pets safe. Keep young children and pets in a room that’s away from the packing and moving action. Ask somebody you trust to look after your loved ones while you’re busy taking your stuff out of the home.
• Greet your movers. Greet your team of moving specialists, show them around your place, and let them do what they do best. By then, the movers should know perfectly well what is expected of them on the day of the move.
• Keep valuables with you. Always keep small valuable items such as jewelry and electronic gadgets with you. When moving valuable items that are too big to move by yourself, consider purchasing extra insurance for those prized possessions.

What to Do on Moving Day: Moving Day Checklist

Stage 7. Finding yourself in the new place

As you can guess, the process of moving from one place to another ends with the final Stage 7 – the time when you’ve just walked into the new apartment or house and you’re expected to take care of several super-important tasks without delay.

Finding yourself in the new home means that you’ve managed to survive the stressful intensity of Moving day and that alone calls for a proper celebration. However, it’s not the time to relax yet because you do have a few urgent jobs to take care of before you can breathe a sigh of relief.

• Inspect the delivered boxes. Check the delivered boxes against your household inventory sheet to make sure all containers are present. If there’s something missing or damaged, then inform the moving company right away so that the issue can be resolved quickly.
• Check if all utilities are running OK. All major utilities in the new place should be up and running properly. If not, then call up your landlord or property manager (when you’re renting) or contact the corresponding utility company to sort out the issue.
• Unpack your essentials boxes. Open up your Open-First boxes that contain the most essential items. Also, prepare the bathroom and bedroom for occupation – you will need a hot shower and a warm bed to recharge your battery after an exhausting, both physically and mentally, Moving day.
• Come up with an unpacking plan. Even though the unpacking task has no concrete deadline, you still need to prepare an unpacking checklist simply because you wouldn’t enjoy it too much to live among piles of unopened cardboard boxes.
• Register your personal vehicle. If you just moved to another state, you will have to register your car in that new state and even update your driver’s license. You shouldn’t postpone the car registration task since you only have a limited window in which you are allowed to do it. Contact your local DMV office for further details.

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