« Baker Brothers Blog

Posted on: February 7, 2019
By: Baker Brothers
Posted in: Helpful Tips

Moving. Most people dread the thought of it, and everyone faces it at least a couple times during their lives. If you’ve done it before, at least you know what your major mistakes were, and you can work hard to avoid them when your next move is necessary. If you’re a first-timer, we’ve compiled five great ways to help you make that move more efficient and cost effective.

Get Rid of Stuff Early

If you’re going away to school, for example, you’ve moving into a new place in Athens, Georgia, you can leave a lot of things at your parents’ house, so you don’t face the same issues that someone that has lived in a place for thirty years does. If you are downsizing and/or finally selling the family home, you know that you have accumulated a lot of items, and the time for unemotionally deciding what to keep and what to dispose of is now. Frankly, you don’t need five barely working computer monitors, and since music is now streamed, your CDs don’t have much value—although old vinyl might!

You don’t need an over-abundance of garden tools—especially if you are moving to a condo where you won’t need to do any lawn work. Yes, we know you love your assortment of rakes, but the more stuff you want to keep, the more expensive your move will be.

Sell It

Once you have decided what is staying and what is going, get a disposal strategy. If you have expensive stuff, an estate sale might be a good first step, but be careful of large potential commissions due to any third party you contract with. Also consider a more informal rummage or garage sale, and you can put items on Craigslist. Finally, if you still have a lot of things that have to go, think Goodwill, and as a last resort, pay a hauler to take everything you don’t want.

Packing

Be meticulous and do one room at a time. Don’t box things randomly, or you will have an equally random unpacking experience. You might even have to end up paying someone to re-do all your laundry, if you’re a mess when unpacking. Of course, start with rooms that are used least, like your spare bedroom or guestroom. And leave the kitchen until the end; that way, you’ll still be able to use it and will avoid a month-long fast food diet.

Moving Method

There are a lot of choices here, and you should do your diligence to make sure you are comfortable with the alternatives available to you. These include container moves, self-moves, truck rental, and old-school moving van companies. Movers have had great success with all of these options, and while you may be concerned about negative online reviews, if you carefully analyze your needs and vet the vendors, you should have a great outcome.

Be Organized

Whether you’re a first time home buyer or a renter, look at your move as a project manager would. Get a plan, stick to the plan, and make sure all aspects of the plan are executed. If you follow these five suggestions, you will have a better moving experience.