Relocating advice

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mchop
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Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 11:42 am

Relocating advice

Post by mchop »

Hi All,

I just accepted a position on the other side of the country. I have been a consultant my entire 18 yr work career and am about to become an employee for the first time. Although not a "requirement" that i relocate, i am someone who dives into challenges 100% and I therefore see us moving. It will not be a rush to move as I will be able to commute and work remotely in the interim.

Does anyone have any names of companies and approx costs (or how estimate the cost) of moving a 2 bed house from the coast to the coast. Just my wife and I

I appreciate i could potentially save money by doing a lot of this myself (uhaul etc..), but I really dont want to introduce unnecessary stress and am trying to determine a 'stress premium' that i might pay to have a company do this for us. E.g. I would be willing to pay a premium of say $2K - $3K more to a company than hiring a truck and doing the drive myself.

Any other thoughts / experiences appreciated.
ieee488
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by ieee488 »

They charge based on weight and distance.

Just for a local move, I paid nearly $1K.
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BerkeleyChris
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by BerkeleyChris »

I moved from the east coast to the west coast recently, on my own dime, and had a great experience with a company called ABF http://www.upack.com/. How it works: they drop off an empty semi trailer at your house and you load the trailer at your own pace. You pay only for the space you use, as measured from the front of the trailer to the point where they can put up a floor to ceiling divider to close off your shipment. When you are finished packing, they come to pick up the trailer and use the unused space for a commercial shipment, which offsets the cost to you. I went in on the move with a family who was relocating at the same time, and I wound up paying less than $700 to get stuff from my 2br condo from DC to the west, although I did shed a few possessions first that I preferred to replace. I felt that was a really low price...

I packed my own boxes last time and loaded everything on to the trailer myself and with friends. I think next time I'd still box the contents of the home myself, but would definitely hire folks (not from the moving company) to help with the loading process to get it done quickly.
Niko
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by Niko »

BerkeleyChris wrote:I moved from the east coast to the west coast recently, on my own dime, and had a great experience with a company called ABF http://www.upack.com/. How it works: they drop off an empty semi trailer at your house and you load the trailer at your own pace. You pay only for the space you use, as measured from the front of the trailer to the point where they can put up a floor to ceiling divider to close off your shipment. When you are finished packing, they come to pick up the trailer and use the unused space for a commercial shipment, which offsets the cost to you. I went in on the move with a family who was relocating at the same time, and I wound up paying less than $700 to get stuff from my 2br condo from DC to the west, although I did shed a few possessions first that I preferred to replace. I felt that was a really low price...

I packed my own boxes last time and loaded everything on to the trailer myself and with friends. I think next time I'd still box the contents of the home myself, but would definitely hire folks (not from the moving company) to help with the loading process to get it done quickly.
You're right -- that was an exceptionally low price for getting your stuff from coast to coast. Several years ago I moved a two-bedroom house about 130 miles with a traditional all-inclusive moving service. They boxed, loaded, and transported everything. The bill was about $2700. Seemed steep, but I didn't fight it because my employer reimbursed me for it. I can't imagine what that same company would have charged for cross-country travel.

I don't have any planned moves coming up (at least none on my own dime), but I'll keep this company and their business model in mind should I know anyone who might need them.
lawman3966
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by lawman3966 »

I don't have any specific company recommendations, but do have some warnings of things to be careful about.

First, I'd extensively check out any moving company you intend to use. There are some bad characters in that business for some reason, including some who've jacked up prices after the move was under way, and then held the the customer's possessions "for ransom" so to speak until the higher price is paid. There are some sites like ripoffreport among others that can be used for this purpose.

One common approach is to invite you to estimate your move online, by filling out web forms listing all of your possessions. They then quote you a price. However, most people forget things, and underestimate the number of boxes, amount of packing material and tape etc that will be needed. The company then sets very high prices for any work over and above the work promised in the initial estimate.

Another thing to check for is insurance. I think this may be more of an issue for local moves. Some fly-by-night operations (sometimes no more than private persons who may rent a van for a day) advertise themselves as movers, but have no real company incorporation, bonding, or insurance. If they damage property or injure a person while working for you, you could face liability for the damage.

In general, even though it may seem un-Boglehead-like, based on my experiences, I'd lean towards a slightly higher-priced "brand name" company over a lower-priced, unknown entity. The risks impose a need to ensure all the downsides are covered.

Good luck.
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norookie
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by norookie »

:D Banana and apple boxes are readily found if you make the effort. They both hold about 40lbs too, they are the best free boxes you'll find. :happy Good Luck!
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pryan
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by pryan »

Why would you put your possessions in a box that has been contaminated with all sorts of yucky things?
Topic Author
mchop
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by mchop »

Thanks for the responses. Awesome to read some feedback re: ABF - we had found them on our first web search and their offering looked good. You can get a container and use a portion of the container or request 1 - 3 or more mini PODS. Also have the option of full service (door to door) or 'depot to depot' which saves money but adds hassle on either end.
leonard
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by leonard »

mchop wrote:Although not a "requirement" that i relocate, i am someone who dives into challenges 100% and I therefore see us moving. It will not be a rush to move as I will be able to commute and work remotely in the interim.
Just one thing I would recommend - make sure you ask your manager about their expectations for having you onsite. Then, observe company culture and find out if other people are working remotely AND how they are perceived by management.

Having worked as a consultant - you probably are used to working extremely independently and probably don't give it a second thought. Also, your customers are likelly used to you not being onsite and working remotely. I have been there myself.

Even if your new manager says he or she is "fine" with working remotely - I suggest taking that with a grain of salt - and actually observe their actions with respect to others that work remotely. Sometimes managers will say what they think they should say - but the reality of what they want and how they act is much different - even the opposite.

Coming back to the relo question - your observations may drive moving up the timetable on your relo.
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kitteh
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by kitteh »

In my day, the hiring company forked out for the moving costs.
DoubleClick
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by DoubleClick »

Two thumbs up for ABF. In addition to the moving model being great, they're the single most awesome company of any kind I've dealt with in years, with regard to customer service. I called them a bunch of times to get a quote, and a few more times, and *each* time, their customer service reps were very intelligent (virtually never happens with any other company), and very helpful and nice. I was never put on hold any of those times. Their policy is to place the cube outside your place for 3 days, but when I requested an extra day, they happily agreed and did not charge me their extra fees.

The overall experience was so consistently good that I actually wrote them a letter of praise at the end of it.

Tip: their rates vary slightly depending on the day of the week, so get quotes for different days.
livesoft
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by livesoft »

My experiences with movers is that even the most reputable and most highly recommended outfit can still screw it up. Basically, expect the worst ... even from the head of HR who recommends a member of their church. It is, however, a good way to downsize and get rid of junk: The mover basically loses your whole shipment and you collect replacement value insurance that you have judiciously paid for in the contract.
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DoubleClick
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by DoubleClick »

BTW, if you use ABF, you can get cheap labor from Craigslist ($10-15 /hr) for moving stuff from your apartment to the cube and back.
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wilpat
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by wilpat »

I have used ABF twice and have been VERY happy with the results.
Be aware that many regular moving companies are crooks!
If you use one be sure to get several references.
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walkabout
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by walkabout »

redstreet wrote:BTW, if you use ABF, you can get cheap labor from Craigslist ($10-15 /hr) for moving stuff from your apartment to the cube and back.
I'm curious about this. I am not a big Craigslist user, so maybe the answer to my question is obvious. How do you find cheap labor on Craigslist? Just look for people offering "cheap labor"? Seems like an odd thing to do in your new location, hiring strangers off of Craigslist to move your belongings into your new place.

My first inclination, if using ABF (which sounds great, BTW), would be to hire someone like Two Men and a Truck to unload the trailer/pod and haul your stuff in. We have used them for a local move and also to unload/reload our downstairs while it was being remodeled.
DoubleClick
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by DoubleClick »

wageoghe wrote:I'm curious about this. I am not a big Craigslist user, so maybe the answer to my question is obvious. How do you find cheap labor on Craigslist? Just look for people offering "cheap labor"? Seems like an odd thing to do in your new location, hiring strangers off of Craigslist to move your belongings into your new place.
Good question - many years ago, I felt the same way. After the first time I hired men off of CL out of necessity, I became much more comfortable with it. I usually call at least 3-4 people who've advertised specifically for moving labor, get quotes, and ask them a few questions about how they work. Talking to 3-4 people within the span of a few hours will usually give you an excellent idea of whom not to hire (if they sound unreliable or greedy or lazy or shady) and whom to hire.
wageoghe wrote:My first inclination, if using ABF (which sounds great, BTW), would be to hire someone like Two Men and a Truck to unload the trailer/pod and haul your stuff in. We have used them for a local move and also to unload/reload our downstairs while it was being remodeled.
Two Men and a Truck essentially hires people very similar to what you'd get if you hired off Craigslist directly, except they're more expensive, in return for which you get a company you can hold responsible in case something goes wrong (which I'm not convinced about the value of).

BTW, if you live in a place like CA, you get plenty of day labor at Home Depot. They just hang out around most HDs, you go, pick them up after agreeing upon a price (usually this is simple - they don't want much, so I never try to bargain) and drop them off once done.
ieee488
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by ieee488 »

redstreet wrote:BTW, if you use ABF, you can get cheap labor from Craigslist ($10-15 /hr) for moving stuff from your apartment to the cube and back.
While you may think that moving items from an apartment to a cube is very easy, it isn't.

I have moved almost 20 times in my adult life, and I know that I want someone who knows what he is doing.
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walkabout
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Re: Relocating advice

Post by walkabout »

redstreet wrote:
wageoghe wrote:My first inclination, if using ABF (which sounds great, BTW), would be to hire someone like Two Men and a Truck to unload the trailer/pod and haul your stuff in. We have used them for a local move and also to unload/reload our downstairs while it was being remodeled.
Two Men and a Truck essentially hires people very similar to what you'd get if you hired off Craigslist directly, except they're more expensive, in return for which you get a company you can hold responsible in case something goes wrong (which I'm not convinced about the value of).
I guess I'd be willing to pay the premium to at least have the chance of having some recourse in the event of a problem. I'm sure that some problems could be of the he said-she said variety (something in a box you packed yourself is broken, something turns up missing, etc). OTOH, guys with a decent enough job (for what it is) would seem to have more incentive to do a good job than a day laborer would.
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