Professional Moving

Monday, August 24, 2015

4 Weeks Before Your Move

Book your move online or by calling the moving company directly to reserve a slot before someone else does.
Notify the utility services that you are currently enrolled with, as well as your future location.

Electric, water, gas, telephone, cell phone, cable/satellite TV, internet, sewer, and trash.

Make travel arrangements for your pets, whether it’s finding them a pet-sitter for the day of your move or to find them a new home.
Host the garage sale to help with the organization around the house: to help assemble the donation pile.

3 Weeks Before Your Move

Plan to talk to your moving company to see if they transport plants, as some moving companies have a protocol to disallow certain items in the truck.
Dispose of any items that are not to be moved to your new house.
Plan to be busy next week.

2 Weeks Before Your Move

Notify these professional services prior to your move:

Accountant
Attorney
Doctor
Dentist
Financial Planner
Health Insurance Provider
Insurance Agent
Schools

Notify these accounts and services to adjust new personal information prior to your move:

Auto Finance Company
Bank/Credit Union/Finance Companies
Credit Card Companies
Exterminator
Health Club
Home care service providers (lawn, exterminator, snow removal etc.)
Laundry service
Magazines
Monthly memberships (Nexflix, book of the month, etc.)
Newsletters
Newspapers
Pharmacy
Store/Gas Charge Accounts

Notify these government offices prior to your move:

City/County Tax Assessor
State Vehicle Registration
Social Security Administration
State/Federal Tax Bureau (IRS)
Veterans Administration

Confirm travel arrangements for your pets and family members.
Confirm any parking permits for the moving companies moving container/truck/trailer/POD.
Plan to use up any frozen foods that remain.
Keep all important documents and important belongings in a safe yet easy to access spot.

1 Week Before Your Move

Review your moving plans with your moving company. Email or call with questions.
Contact your bank or Credit Card Company if you are planning to pay for your move by debit or credit card.
Print two copies of your bill of lading (BOL) to keep in your move file.
Notify friends and family of your new address and phone number
Pack an essentials box to keep with you during the move.
Drain gas and oil from lawn equipment, gas grills, heaters, etc.
Drain water hoses and waterbeds.
Measure furniture and doorways to determine if larger pieces will fit through the door.
Empty and defrost refrigerator at least 24 hours before the move.
Fill any prescriptions you will need during the move.

Moving Day

Review your moving plans with your moving company. Email or call with questions.
Be familiar with our packing and loading tips and personally supervise hired labor.
Place carpet, floor and door frame protectors throughout your home.
Load goods in a pre-designated order, saving "last load" items for the rear of your shipment.
Check every room and closet one last time to make sure nothing is left behind.

8 Weeks Before Your Move

Start planning your venture with a moving company and get an estimate for how much your move will cost.

This could be a good opportunity to ask the moving company on the phone how to prepare for your move. They will provide you with some guidance – some guidance you can compare with to this list.

Once you get an estimate on your move, create a budget plan for your moving expenses:

Plan for box packing
Wrapping fragile items with bubble wrap.
Parking reservations for the day of your move

Create an Excel Spreadsheet to help document receipts and other important information (maybe even an inventory list).
Plan a visit with your new community, and start building your presence – get to know everyone around the block.

7 Weeks Before Your Move

Start collecting all your medical, dental and prescription records and place them into an easy accessible spot just in case.
Ask your current doctors for referrals around your new city/location.
If you are moving across school zones, arrange to have school records and vaccination shot documentation ready prior to moving.
Gather and hold onto all copies of legal and financial records.
Call your insurance company to adjust your new policy.
Plan to transfer or cancel memberships at any gym, health club, organization or group.

6 Weeks Before Your Move

Start planning out what items you wish to keep/discard. Separate items into those you will

Keep
Donate
Discard

Plan to make a trip to Goodwill or plan a Garage Sale
Take a look at all your fragile items and keep in mind which items need to be thoroughly wrapped/protected.
Decide if you will need to purchase movers insurance

Sometimes having delicate items/furniture, it could be wise to have the insurance (it’s mostly common for long distance moves, but not so much for local moves)

Start using up items that cannot be transported in the truck

Frozen foods, bleach, cleaning supplies, aerosols, paint, carpet freshener.

Call your insurance company to adjust your new policy.
Plan to transfer or cancel memberships at any gym, health club, organization or group.

5 Weeks Before Your Move

Order Boxes and moving supplies

Call your moving company and asking for packing material.

Begin packing items you do not use often
Label your boxes clearly, and keep them organized by room.
Pinpoint your move date and plan a date to call the postal company to file an address change.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Making sure you prepare for your movers can be a confusing mission. Especially without a checklist. Before you prepare your boxes you should consider reading my previous article "Make Moving A Breeze" to download a checklist for your move.

A lot of the time people think the bigger the boxes, the heavier it can be but that's not always the best way to pack. In fact, if you cannot move the box after you pack it, it may be a sign that its over packed. As a professional mover I always tell my customers to pack the bigger boxes with lighter items and fill the smaller boxes with the heavier (and fragile) items.

To make the method more clear: There are typically three different sizes:

small
medium
and large

Small Boxes:	books, electronics, glass, kitchen ware, tools, etc.
Medium/Large Boxes:	blankets, pillows, desk items, toys, shoes, clothes, etc.

Another key point is to pack your boxes properly so that way nothing gets damaged.

Taping all your boxes appropriately will allow movers to properly carry and stack the boxes together. The more sturdy your boxes are the more easy they are to work with. HAVE ENOUGH TAPE.
Put heavier items on the bottoms of boxes whilst putting lighter items on top, without leaving gaps in the box. If you leave extra space in the box items are more prone to shifting. Pack boxes so that way they fill up and cover majority of the volume of the box. And if you’re loading the truck yourself, pack heavier boxes first, toward the front of the truck, for balance.

Pack your boxes by individual rooms so that way you can keep your belongings organized. It will help the movers disperse boxes from the truck to the appropriate rooms upon unloading. Just to be safe, I suggest carrying a black sharpie so that you can label the boxes with appropriate tags.

The key to packing your boxes is being organized from the beginning. Separate the books from the fragile items before you start packing your boxes.

San Jose Moving has a great tip page for people preparing for their moves. It's free to the public so don't hesitate to give them a visit and download professional assistance.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Make Moving A Breeze

First things first: organize an appointment with a moving company a couple weeks in advance. The biggest factor in making your move go smooth is by making sure it's organized from the beginning: most of the times moving companies will provide you with some information on how to prepare for your move. For example: San Jose Moving has done a fantastic job in providing their customers with great pointers - and it's all online! Click Here to Download a Checklist. Not to mention, most moving companies give you quick over the phone estimates to help give you an idea of how much it will cost you.

Now, moving companies vary by reputation and finding the best moving company for you can be really difficult, but through my experience I've found that Yelp Reviews make my decision making much easier. Make sure you do your research on companies before making the appointment. If you look at Yelp reviews for movers in San Jose you will notice that they have an extensive list of customer testimonials to filter through. Personally, I find it a lot easier on my body and mind to trust the hands of a Professional Movers to package and transfer my belongings. Experience does make a difference!

Keeping an inventory or documenting a timeline can be quite difficult to manage, especially with the stress of moving already. Thankful for technology and smart phones, there are a few applications that can help you manage your timeline. Take a look at this article to start downloading. If you're low on data or simply cannot download the applications for whatever reason, you can use any other types of reminders to help keep track of when your movers are going to arrive. Making sure you reserved parking for the moving truck, making sure the freight elevator is reserved for moving day, vaccumming the rug before its about to be rolled up and taken away. These small things can be hard to remember at times, so using your phone to help you keep reminded is a great idea. Downloading a checklist can make your prep-period go a lot more smooth: just check tasks off as you knock them out!

Plan what to move. It will help you organize the packing materials to purchase. If your calculations are correct, you will have the right amount and type of moving supplies. Often people have difficulties deciding what to buy and how much and many have to run to the store in the last minute, or have plenty of packing supplies left unused. Both options are time consuming. A moving company can help with those estimations.

Get the packing supplies. Do not wait till the last minute because there may not be one. Plan what sort and how much packing supplies you will need to use. Then go and get them at one time in the store. If you could avoid going several times for shopping the packing materials which you will need, you will save time. If you cannot make the calculations, again the movers could help you.

Pack well, pack smart. Label the boxes with their content and to which room they belong. In this way you will find more easily what you need instead of going through all boxes one by one and losing time in searching.

Hire The Right Movers

When choosing a moving company you should always make sure you do your research. Some companies, whether it's a moving service or any other professional services, do a lot of back end work to bring their company to the top. As an ex-professional mover I have experience in this field - getting to know how many of these companies operate. Every company has a different moto, a different way of satisfying customers: may it be by having the lowest rate, or by having the most qualitative service. How do you go about finding out which companies have the balance of both?

Yelp is probably the #1 way people find local services. Despite the rigorous algorithm Yelp has created to keep potential fake reviews off their website, they have an overall extensive list of active members that help create a some what accurate review system for local companies. A lot of times the reviews are vague and rate the overall companies service, and many other times members post a very thorough review: giving the names of the workers and supplying individual remarks for each worker versus the entirety of the company. Take a look at San Francisco Movers . A lot of their reviews include the names of the individuals part of the crew. This allows for customers to really choose which worker/foreman they would like to hire. Read through the companies reviews before making your decision. Sometimes someone else already experienced something you're trying to avoid.

Besides Yelp, there are many other review websites that could junction as an ice breaker. Lots of times a fake review will push people away immediately, despite the legitimacy behind the context. It's okay. That's why there are multiple listings websites that help find companies based off location. For example: Moving Order is a company that helps locate movers for you. They also supply people with a verbose list to follow to help prepare for your move.