Moving/New House budgeting help

[bekkiz]

We're planning an out-of-state move in June, and are in the process of house-hunting.

I'm wondering if anyone could shed some light on the costs asociated with moving to a new house. We're trying to plan ahead so we don't spend ALL of our money on the loan and closing costs

1. How much does it cost to move to a new state (it's about 850 miles or so)? We'd probably pack all of our own stuff, but need them to put it in the truck, drive it up there and unload it. We live in a 1200 sf house, but don't have THAT much furniture.

2. What was your budget for prepping the house to move into? For example, paint, window coverings/treatments, assorted rugs, lighting and maybe a few pieces of new furniture (like a guest bedroom or something).

I know a lot of these costs vary greatly, but I'd love you hear what other people have been through to kind of get a sense of things!

tia!

 

[Mishetta]

I could never estimate what your costs would be but we packed up an 800 sq ft condo all on our own but then hired a prof moving company to get our things (about 200 boxes) & all our furniture from CA to MI & that cost us about $10,000 (I've also added in the price of having our cars moved by another company who does only that ~ car transports.)

Unfortunately, then we had to store about half of our boxes & furniture because we moved into an apartment for a year while we found our house & had it built. That was $100 a month for a one car garage sized storage unit. Our apartment was also used mostly as storage as we had boxes stored from floor to ceiling. We say that we lived in a storage unit for a year while our house was being built!

The real expenses started once we closed on our house loan though! We're still putting money out updating already (with granite & prof landscaping, etc...) after 10 years! So your expenses are only just beginning!

Good Luck!

 

[barkley]

there's a great book "the insiders guide to relocation" that can give good insight on all that a major move entails (and how to locate fair, reputable moving companies-that is the issue that scares me, i've heard so many horror stories).

as for paint and the like-you have to consider weather you will have to do wall patching, primer (if the prior owner used strong dark colors), wallpaper removal-i always figure 25% more than you expect. on window coverings it depends on if you can buy off the shelf or will have to do custom (some homes do not have standard sized windows so for shades and blinds custom is the only way you can go). as far as furniture goes-i think this varies regionaly. here in california most places order from manufacturers in the midwest-so our price is adjusted up for shipping. in the midwest you might see the same item for much less.

our house was move in ready (brand new) when we bought it-and i opted to use 3 day blinds for the windows. i chose their 100% measured guarantee-they charged like $10 per window and if they measured it wrong they replaced the item free of charge (and they did measure wrong on one window resulting in their having to replace one shade at around $150). for area rugs-unless you want a fancy pattern, one option is to go to a carpet store and see what end-rolls and remnants they have. i bought some HIGH END carpet from an end roll at about 70% less the normal cost and had the carpet store cut it into the shape i wanted and bind it (some have binding machines that turn a pc. of carpet into an area rug). it held up much better than the more expensive area rugs i saw, and had the added stain protection treatment.

remember-moving also entails new utility deposits and the like-so they have to be considered in as well.

we hope to be moving out of state in the next year-and i know when shopping for a moving company i am going to find one that offers a good damage insurance policy i can pay for-the basic coverage the offer per pound is worthless.

 

[icebrat001]

We're planning an out-of-state move in June, and are in the process of house-hunting.

I'm wondering if anyone could shed some light on the costs asociated with moving to a new house. We're trying to plan ahead so we don't spend ALL of our money on the loan and closing costs

1. How much does it cost to move to a new state (it's about 850 miles or so)? We'd probably pack all of our own stuff, but need them to put it in the truck, drive it up there and unload it. We live in a 1200 sf house, but don't have THAT much furniture.

2. What was your budget for prepping the house to move into? For example, paint, window coverings/treatments, assorted rugs, lighting and maybe a few pieces of new furniture (like a guest bedroom or something).

I know a lot of these costs vary greatly, but I'd love you hear what other people have been through to kind of get a sense of things!

tia!

Great questions, would love to hear answers as well!

Dear SO and I are moving from California to Florida (3000 miles) we currently live in a 500 sqft condo and we are moving to a 1400 square foot townhouse. We've been getting quotes of $3,000 - $6,000 for the move (move only, no packing, the lowest quote you load and unload yourself) and an additional $2,000 to move two cars.

We haven't even dreamed up a budget for "prepping the house".

 

[SplshMtn99]

One tip: don't buy anything ahead of time that you'll have to pay to pack up & move.

 

[ducklite]

We moved outselves in two "waves", both consisting of stuffed to the gills 28 foot Hertz Penske's (we have a lot of stuff). Truck rental (unlimited milage) was about $3000 one way each time. Gas & tolls for 1100 miles was around $300.

Packing--I got all my boxes except two wardrobes boxes from the Disney Store. They were more than happy to give them to me, they just toss them, and I seved them hauling them to the dumpster. The "softlines" boxes are a uniform size, makes loading the truck easier and they are perfect for almost everything.

Packing Tape--I must have used ten rolls. I over tape. Better over than under IMHO.

My husband bought me two HUGE (4' diameter) rolls of bubble wrap from a commercial box company. I used it all. I also had not one broken dish, crystal vase, wine stem, etc. Glassware should always be packed facing up, never on it's side. Total cost of bubble wrap was about $110. I look at it as the cost of two wine glasses...

Packing blankets--we rented these with the truck, and used 8+ dozen fully each time.

We already owned a handtruck, we bought two furniture dollys--around $20 each from Home Depot.

Now onto the cost of "stuff" for the new house. We spent over $1000 at Home Depot the week we moved in. All the little stuff really adds up. Our home was custom built so all the painting was already done to our spec. We had bought all the ceiling fans in NJ as we found ones weliked and brought them down with us. Window coverings were a very high ticket item for me, as I've got a ton of windows in my house (30!). I still don't have what I "really" want for draperies/scarves on the ten foot windows in the LR & DR, but they are covered with nice blinds and inexpensive scarves which work fine for now. You can get decent "cut to fit" blinds from Home Depot which generally run under $40 for average windows, and I'd suggest this to start--down the road you can change once you've really sttled in and decided what you'd like to do.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Anne

 

[ducklite]

One tip: don't buy anything ahead of time that you'll have to pay to pack up & move.

Welllll....

I did this. But I left everything I bought packed and boxed and stored in my garage. I built a vacation home 1000+ miles away (which I subsequently moved into f/t), and was going to have limited time to shop and get things set up. So for the 18 months that the house was being built, I shopped. I bought all my housewares--small appliances, pots and pans, cutlery and flatware, dishes and glassware, lamps, ceiling fans, linens, etc. in NJ and brought it down with me. BUT--I bought it all on sale. I shopped white sales and bought at 50-75% OFF. I hit "One Day Only" sales. You name it. Buying this way far outweighed the added cost of bringing it along, and the time saved was tremendous!

So it can make sense to do so, depending on your circumstances.

Anne

 

[bekkiz]

Thanks so much for the input. I realize so much of this will depend on what condition the house is in when we get it!

I was talking to DH today, and he sugested perhaps we could hire people to do the loading and unloading, but actually drive the truck ourselves (or get my dear father in law to do it!). I imagine this would save a bit of money as well.

Any other experiances?

 

[ducklite]

We hired a couple teenage boys from the neighborhood to help with some of the really heavy stuff. They worked cheap--and I fed them which cost more than what I paid them.

We had local friends down in FL give a hand on this end.

In all honesty, with the ramp and handtruck/dollies, there was very little that we really needed the extra hands for--and we had two armoires, a curio, and a VERY heavy china cabinet. (That one piece was the wrost of all!)

Anne

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We just did this in April. Moved from Missouri to Texas. Now this includes EVERYTHING including our realtor fees for both houses....
$30,000.

We had to do 2 loads, dh drove. Hired movers to unload. We loaded ourselves. Had to rent storage shed for first load.

Our furniture is BIG. We dumped what we could but we were stuffed with 2 loads.

 

[Cyndirella]

Another thing to consider is the cost of registering your vehicles in your new state, getting drivers licenses, etc. They're probably not major costs, but something to factor in anyway.

 

[CarolA]

I moved from Nashville to Atlanta about a year ago. Moving costs were right around $7,000. That was for professional movers to pack it, move it in and set it all up. They did not unpack boxes, but did put together furniture etc. I also moved A LOT of furniture that was family heirlooms that has since been farmed out to other family members. (Yes I paid to move stuff I was NOT going to use, but I couldn't dump it!)

I also had a couple of days storage in there. That was the REAL expensive part. Moving companies charge a fortune for that, but it couldn't be helped. (I did receive a "bonus" to pay for my move so I wasn't really out any money)

Looking around here now I think that I would put 90% of the furniture in a consigment store and just move in a small U-haul. I have gotten my brother and dad to take most of the "family treasures" Having downsized from 2,400 sq feet to 1,300 I figure it can be done.

I had very few "move in costs" I was able to get away with no depoisits on any of the utilities and since the condo was older it already had plantation shutters on all the windows.

My two prior houses were local moves and the move in costs were higher as I bought new... if you buy new plan on a fortune in blinds!