How to move to another state?

[Monkeyleg]

My wife and I are a year away from moving from WI to a southern state yet to be determined, but I'm thinking about the logistics now, and my head is spinning.

I'd rather not pay thousands of dollars for a mover. If it takes a couple of runs with a rental truck, I'll do that to save money.

But what about guns? Are they best left here in WI, or taken to the new home, or left at a gun store somewhere? It's the same thing with vehicles, especially my Harley and my Mustang. How does one drive a truck and move those?

My guess is that we're not going to be able to time the sale of our current house and the purchase of the new one perfectly, and we won't qualify for a bridge loan. Therefore I'm assuming that we'll have to find a house to rent down south while we look for a house to buy.

If anyone has some advice gleaned from real life, I'd love to hear it.

[gunsmith]

A storage unit?
APS moving party? ( looks like we got us a convoy )

[Standing Wolf]

If you pay a so-called "professional mover," you'll regret it. Everything possible going wrong isn't just the norm, but the overwhelming probability. I've had good success hiring guys to load a rented truck the day of departure, another crew to unload it the day of arrival. They need to be watched closely, but supervision is your responsibility.

Moving guns is very simple: exercise complete control at all times. I keep all mine in sturdy cardboard boxes in my car, which goes on a trailer. When I stop driving every night, I carry them into the motel room, and that's exactly where both they and I stay until I leave in the morning. If you don't make any exceptions, you won't have to worry about your guns.

Here's a freebie: whenever you deal with rental truck companies, make sure you write down the name of every person you speak with at every point. Sooner or later, you're going to need to talk to a supervisor. "That guy I talked with a couple weeks ago" doesn't help.

I think you're going to like it in America.

[PTK]

APS moving party? ( looks like we got us a convoy )

I may have to get a bunch of people together if/when I move out of where I am in Colorado. Party + moving + APS and THR members = fun. 

[Mike]

Don't know if they have them out there but 1-800-packrat is a company that brings a module out to your house that you pack and then they deliver it to your new home where you unpack it. That way you can drive your other cars, etc. to your new home. You could use a car to tow your motorcycle using a rental trailer. I think there are other companys that do this also so I would check out the yellow pages and good luck! It's much cheaper that a moving company.

[Jamisjockey]

My wife and I are a year away from moving from WI to a southern state yet to be determined, but I'm thinking about the logistics now, and my head is spinning.

I'd rather not pay thousands of dollars for a mover. If it takes a couple of runs with a rental truck, I'll do that to save money.

But what about guns? Are they best left here in WI, or taken to the new home, or left at a gun store somewhere? It's the same thing with vehicles, especially my Harley and my Mustang. How does one drive a truck and move those?

My guess is that we're not going to be able to time the sale of our current house and the purchase of the new one perfectly, and we won't qualify for a bridge loan. Therefore I'm assuming that we'll have to find a house to rent down south while we look for a house to buy.

If anyone has some advice gleaned from real life, I'd love to hear it.

BTDT, let me break it down for you. As a married couple, my wife and I have moved
Yuma, AZ to Brownsville, TX
Brownsville TX to Beaumont, TX
Beaumont TX to SLC, UT
SLC, UT to Woodbridge, VA (DC suburbs)
A year out you say?  Start getting an idea of where you want to go....you've got to narrow it down to a city asap!

A) Advance party.  Always send someone down to check out areas and find the place to rent.  Subscribe to the local newspaper and have it delivered to your home so you start recognizing area names and pricing.  You want to land in a rental, buying a house is always a bad idea until you know you want to stick around.  (We made that mistake moving to NoVA.)  You're also going to need to get utilities turned on, some of which will need to be done in person.  Plan on looking for a rental 45-35 days before the move.  You can always rent small and store the stuff you don't need right away, or leave some of it in the house until it sells.  You might want to leave it staged with furniture anyways.
B) ABF will drop a 28' trailer off at your home, you pack it, they move it.  We found a different company for our move to VA, though, and they sent a 53' air ride moving truck.  We loaded 1/2 of the truck, then put my Hyundai Elantra in it (required a flatbed tow truck....) it was quite the operation.  Considering your toys, that might more of an option for you.  I wish I could remember the name of the company. They were based out of florida but the driver was an independant.  If you don't rent the whole trailer they will stop somewhere else and load the remaining space with someone else's stuff.  It was about $4500 for the entire load from UT to VA.  You might consider two DIY uhaul (okay Uhaul sucks, use Penske) trips.  They will give you pricing in advance (once you know where in the hell you're going)
I'm guessing its just you and the wife?  No reason you shouldn't be able to move everything in a large Uhaul.  No reason to leave your guns.  Oh you can hire a moving company at the recieving end to help you unload, usually for a couple hundred bucks.  You never know what you're getting, though....the three guys we hired here for that....two worked hard and were worth it, the thrid did nothing but complain and I thought he was going to get fired on the spot....
C)  Do not move into a rental house sight unseen.  The south has roaches, mice, and other nefarious critters.  Even with the advent of online listings and what not, you're running a serious risk....We looked at a place in SLC that had been thouroughly trashed.  With just a newspaper listing and long distance, that would have been a bad day.
D) Cops!!  Find the local cop station.  Go in with the a list of the rentals you're looking at, maybe some donughts and a smile.  They'll tell you if you're moving into a warzone or not.
Hope that helps.

[geronimotwo]

for our last move, we leased a motel room while we located a rental house. then we rented that for 18 months while we located the best home to buy. this gave us time to know the area, and not make a hasty decision that we might regret.

when we moved from ca to ny (big improvement there, lol) we used a van pack crate (they are about 7'h x 4'w x 7'l), and one loaded pallet.  it was by far the cheapest way to move, and we were able to pack it ourselves, at our leisure. then the company we hired came and picked it up, held it at their "hub" until we got settled, and then delivered it to us. they "stored" it for us for about four months, as we wanted to find a permanent rental before unloading the crate. it was only around $700.00 total. it was amazing the amount of stuff we put in that thing (over 2200#s). of course we didn't have any large furniture that we felt worth moving.

when moving from fl to ca we hired a moving co. we had our stuff in a 5' x 10' storage unit, and had a number of tool boxes which we were upfront about. they assured us that if it fit in that storage unit, they would pick it up, move it to ca, and unload for $850. after picking it up, and moving it to their hub, they informed us that they charge by the pound, and it would be more than double what their verbal quote had been. we contacted various authorities, and they all told us that without a written contract we had to pay, or would probably never see our stuff again.

[Thor]

I just moved to Texas (my place of birth and youth), from Minnesota last March. I brought my guns in the gun safe, protected by clothes stuffed in and around the guns. I rented two UHaul trailers and a friend of mine from Minnesota drove my second truck with trailer and we convoyed to Texas down I-35. The trailers were loaded a with a few pieces of furniture, some family heirloom possessions and my tools. Everything except one item, a pressure washer, arrived in the same condition as before they were loaded into the trailers. I found a place to store some of my stuff, like my gun safe and tools and the rest went into my temporary housing. I did have help loading and unloading everything as my back is pretty torn up. IF you can afford it, a professional mover would be OK, but they lose stuff. The Navy has moved me across country a few times (Professional movers) and every single time, some of my items  came up missing or broken. Of course, each time, stuff was in storage for anywhere from a month to four months. If you are going directly from point A to point B, then the move SHOULD be ok, if done by professional movers

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

u haul places can get you strong backs for loading unloading.  i also check with preachers for workers. they know who needs work and can usually steer you pretty well. No one wants to tick off the sky pilot at a church where you and/or mom go.

[Jamisjockey]

u haul places can get you strong backs for loading unloading.  i also check with preachers for workers. they know who needs work and can usually steer you pretty well. No one wants to tick off the sky pilot at a church where you and/or mom go.

I gotta say, maybe I'm paranoid, but I'd never pick up random labor from the local uahul joint.


As a side note, I'm not a fan of Uhaul.  Junked equipment, crappy locations, etc.  I've had the best luck with Penske so far.

[coppertales]

When I moved back to TX from the UP of MI, I just threw all my guns and ammo in the back of the truck and hit the road.  I had a cap on the truck.  Just don't drive stupid and the cops won't have any reason to pull you over.  I made the trip three times, three cars, and everything went well.  The company was moving us so movers were involved.  Nothing turned up missing.  The three cats did not think much of the road trip but after the first day, they settled down and did not sing, meow, to me.  We rented an apt for a year while we scoped out the area and did the house hunt thingie.  Worked out quite well.  When we moved out of the apt, I was loading my guns in the car, at night so not to advertise the deed, a teen aged girl walked out of the apt across the hall, saw the two rifles in my hands, screamed "a gun" and passed out cold.  geeeezzzzz......chris3

[Thor]

Coppertales, you must be in the Austin area .....

Penske doesn't rent trailers, Jamis. I had a terrible time figuring out how I was going to move everything. I really wanted a moving truck with a vehicle dolly to place my "spare" pickup on. (It's a salvage vehicle, so it's not worth much, monetarily, but it runs quite well and has been a great vehicle) Penske couldn't deliver the vehicle dolly that would fit a truck. I was forced to go with Uhaul because they were the only ones I could find to rent a trailer from. The only problem  had with UHaul was when I went to turn them in. One place wouldn't accept them because they were "remodeling" and that's the place UHaul told me to take them to. The other place took them, no problem and were quite nice about everything. There was one tire on one of the trailers that was losing air. UHaul is not my favorite, but my choices were limited. There used to be another nationwide trailer rental place, but I guess they went out of business.

[Gewehr98]

Good time to buy a house.

Bad time to sell.

Job market?  "Interesting" for lack of a better term.

Wife is pushing me to move back to Kalifornia, or Arizona, now that I've been laid off.

Knowing how much the move here cost (at mostly the DoD's expense) when I left Florida in 2006, I want to put even more money in the bank before we uproot and go.

[Harold Tuttle]

I am just finishing a move from MD/DC to State College, PA

This


has been horsetraded for this:


lets see
2, 27 foot uhauls, the first got the extra furniture & the storage unit we filled with boxes
the second got the furnature we lived with daily
Guns went first to my Dad's safe via a jeep load
then 2, 17 foot uhauls as we cleared out & staged for an empty house sale

~400 bucks for each truck rental with gas

compared to the 10,000 dollar estimate from a major moving company

we started the exodus in June
The last 17 footer was offloaded Monday

Kids are in a superior school, I have a job and there is a rifle range 10 minutes away!

I had no issues with the uhaul trucks, It maybe the market but I had newer vehicles with ~50k on the odometers

The only issue we had was that web reserving uhaul presets the pick up & destination drop locations to what is convenient for UHauls inventory

If you phone call reserve at a specific location you are in the drivers seat for the entire transaction

[Strings]

Dick, you know you can store guns and bike up here if you need, and they'll stay safe/not get messed with.

Just sayin'...

[Jamisjockey]

OH, and call me biased, but you can't get much better than Eastern NC.  My favorite place in the entire universe is the beaches of NC.  Especially the little out of the way islands.
Weather is temperate, still gets cold in the winter but nothing like where you are.....you'll be wearing shorts in Jan downeast.

[Bob F.]

Just beat me to death and leave my body in the bathtub. I hate to move!! Can you tell! At my age I've accumulated way too much crap, all of it worthless to anyone else.

Yeah, plan a BIG yard sale a couple months before departure, DON'T sell the freaking guns!! You're going South; you'll want to fit in!

Enjoy.
Bob

[Balog]

If the South wasn't a freaking sauna in the summer I'd move down there in a flash. Well, it is near the East coast, but I'd live with that.

[Cliffh]

Penske trucks are better than Budget, Budget are much better than U-Haul trucks.  Both Penske and Budget trucks will tow a U-Haul trailer.  If you do rent a U-Haul trailer, check the wheel bearings.  Had one that the wheels were way loose.  They wanted to trade out trailers, they'd have another one ready in 2 days (we were closing the next morning) and our trailer was loaded.  Instead, I adjusted them myself and drug it 800 miles to AZ.

From AZ to TX, the wife & I made 2 round trips and 1 one-way trip.  The second trip, we drug her car on a flat trailer behind the 28' rental truck.  We put everything into storage units (the car went in the back of the storage lot) in Dallas, except the clothes we needed and our guns. Bought an enclosed trailer before the last trip and put the last of the big stuff in it.  Left the trailer attached to the motorhome & spent 6 months in an RV park while we looked for the next house.

If you're traveling through persnickity states, unloaded firearms in a locked case with the ammo in seperate area of the vehicle (cased guns in trunk, ammo in locked box in passenger compartment) should comply with all laws for interstate travel.

If you're a good shopper, you could probably find a trailer for just about what it'd cost to rent one.  You could then sell it after you're done with the move.  Bought a camper shell in AZ & sold it for the same amount in TX after the move.

We mostly packed and loaded everything ourselves, had some help from the neighbor getting the car trailer hooked up & loaded.  The folks at the storage unit had a couple of guys available that unloaded for us, cost a $150 or so for the two of them.  The wife supervised, everything was in fine shape except for the one figurine I dropped.....

Down-side to storage units, cost of rent & renters insurance.  Up-side was we were able to move our stuff a bit at a time into the new place.  Renters insurance (through home insurance company) covered all contents against flood, theft, fire, etc.

KOA campgrounds and some RV parks have rental cabins or trailers available.  Might be an alternative if you don't need to get into a house right now.  Move in ready, no utilities to worry about getting turned on; most parks have laundry rooms, pools, social events and good folks. 

Leaving some furniture in your old place to stage it while it's on the market is a good idea.  Leave just enough to show the purpose of the room.  Get rid of the knick-knacks and anything not necessary.

If you're like me, don't give away, sell or leave anything.  You'll get where you're going and find you absolutely have to have that box of screws you left on the shelf.

After this last move, the wife informed me that we will sell everything before it's moved again :-)

[cfabe]

I've done two moves so far. First was to move my wife from her 1br apartment into my house, second was to move us from ohio to michigan.

First move we rented a Budget truck. They were the best price we could find. No problems with the truck. We had some minor damage to furniture because we didn't pack it well on the truck. We just loaded ourselves with some help from her family.

Second move we were moved by a professional mover (Allied) paid for by my new employer. Overall it went pretty smoothly. At first the moving company was pretty lackadaisical about scheduling the move, they wouldn't commit to how long it would take to pack & move the stuff. They couldn't understand that my last day at work in ohio was wednesday, and I needed to be moved in to the new house ready for work the next monday. We packed most of the small items ourselves and let them load the furniture and pack fragile stuff. They packed very well, much better than we would have. We had enough stuff to fill the entire truck. They sent a seperate company to unhook & prep appliances and glass table tops. The guys on the crew were very professional and really worked hard. We had one piece of furniture damaged but it was probably ready to break anyway. They offered to send someone to repair it but I just fixed it myself. We had one box of DVDs go missing and I was convinced they were "lost" off the truck, but we found them a year later. Overall the move went well, but I would never have paid for it if I were paying out of pocket.

[RocketMan]

Beware moving companies.  There is virtually no regulation of the industry, and no recourse when something goes wrong.  Move yourself if you can.

In 2004 we hired a moving company in Austin to move my new wife's household up to Oregon where I lived.  The moving company came out the day before she had to vacate her apartment and loaded everything she owned onto their truck, save for the few things she packed into her car.  We drove that cross country to Oregon.
The crew that came to pack her things were courteous and efficient.  I was impressed.

Midway through our drive to Oregon, the moving company called us to demand more money, $1200 over and above the contracted amount.  I told them that was unacceptable, that we had a contract, and that I did not want to negotiate this while doing 75 down the Interstate.

We called them back the next day upon our arrival at my home. They stated that they were waiting for another Oregon-bound load to piggy back with my wife's goods.  That was the last we ever heard from them.  They closed up shop and disappeared completely.  My wife lost everything she owned.  Everything.

[Balog]

People I know have had good luck with the "drop off a trailer, you load they haul" kind of outfits. It seems to combine the lower costs of renting a truck yourself with the ease of someone else driving all the crap.

[Jamisjockey]

People I know have had good luck with the "drop off a trailer, you load they haul" kind of outfits. It seems to combine the lower costs of renting a truck yourself with the ease of someone else driving all the crap.

Yep that's what we did. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the company but it was a great experience.  The driver was awesome, gave me his cell number and since he knew I was driving across in our SUV he called me a couple times and gave me weather and progress reports. 

[Balog]

Some storage places do that sort of thing as well. They drop the pod off, you load it, they hold it in storage until you find a place, then deliver it there. A little more spendy than a normal storage unit, but prolly about the same or cheaper than renting a truck, renting storage, then renting another truck. A lot less hassle too.

[Gewehr98]

P.O.D.S.

http://www.pods.com/