How Long Does it Take to Move?

If you’re preparing for a big move this year, you may be overwhelmed by the timeline to be expected. The good news is that if you have a timeline in advance, you can plan your life around that much easier.

It’s not only important to know the important deadlines for the move, but it’s good to know if you’ll need any time away from work or if you’ll need to say no to any opportunities that come up this year. While the speed will vary for everyone, you can base your timeline on the typical timeframes it takes to move while remaining flexible if things change. Here is a look at the typical time it takes to move.

Finding your new home and selling your current

The first part of determining your timeline is to look at how long it will take you to sell your home and find your new one. This is likely to be the longest part of your move because it’s determined on when the perfect home becomes available and when you can find a buyer.

Finding the appropriate home for your family could be as quick as a week or could last a couple of months, depending on what you’re looking for and what the market is like in your area. You’ll need time to determine what you’re looking for and what your budget is, as well as finding a realtor to help you through the process and getting a pre-approval for your mortgage. Once you’ve found the home, you’ll need around 10 weeks to transfer ownership, between the negotiations, surveys, and closing.

When it comes to selling your home, you’ll have to factor about two months, if everything goes smoothly, to list the home with cleaning, staging, surveys, and showings before closing with the right offer.

Getting paperwork

Next, you’ll need to take some time to get all of your paperwork in order. You’ll need school records to take to the kid’s new schools. You’ll need to transfer your driver’s license and register your car in your new state. You’ll need to obtain your medical records and pet records, as well as gather records related to your property, financial documents, and any other personal documents. Don’t forget about changing your address with the USPS and transferring utilities. Give yourself a month to do all of these tasks.

Hiring movers and packing

Once you know when you’re going to move, you can hire movers and get packed. Give yourself a week to secure a moving crew, another week to organize and purge unwanted items, and up to a week to pack the house. You’ll only need a couple of days for a smaller space and a week for a 4-bedroom home. If your residential movers are packing the home, they can have even a 4-bedroom home packed in a day.

Moving day and unpacking

Lastly, give yourself a week for final moving preparations, up to a day to move, the length of time you’ll need to travel to your new home, and as long as you’d like to get unpacked. A move into an apartment will look much different than one into a large home, while a move across town will look much different than a move out of state.

How long does it take to move?

All in all, your moving process will average about 3 months but could happen as quick as 2 months depending on what areas move more quickly than normal. Try to give your family a break for the approximate 3 months it takes to move by saying no to things that come up, taking time off work, and allowing yourself plenty of time to take care of each task that needs completed. This is an exciting change and one that can occupy an entire season of the year!

How to Safely Pack All Your Electronics

Moving some of the more delicate items in your home can be worrisome for a family, but one area you may not have looked into is the moving of your electronics. Unless you’ve shipped electronics to someone in the past or had electronics shipped to you, you may not have thought about how fragile these items can be and how much protection they should have.

The last thing you need for your upcoming move are broken laptops or printers, or missing cords and pieces when you go to reassemble something at your new home. Take a look at the ways that you can safely pack your electronics so that you can have a worry-free move to Chicago.

How did you receive it originally?

Something to consider first is how you received the electronic originally. If you happened to have saved the original packing materials, you can just repack it into its original box for the best protection. If not, you can use your product manual to get advice on the best way to pack and store the electronics. The product manuals can often be found online. If you don’t have the original box, simply make sure you have all of the essentials. This includes sturdy cartons, paper wrapping such as a newspaper, packing tape, and labels with markers to mark all of your boxes.

Organize cords

You can also stay organized by taking some precautions before taping up the box. While you are packing, use color labels for your cords to make sure you know what goes to what. Your computer or stereo may have several cords involved and it may get confusing trying to remember which goes to which device. Use color coding to know that all orange cords go to one device while all green tags go to another.

Don’t be shy about extra protective materials

It’s more than alright to go overboard on your protective materials. Don’t be shy about getting extra protection such as by adding blankets or moving pads to your electronics for the move. You’ll be glad that you were safe rather than sorry.

Think about the temperature

You may not have realized the importance of temperature when it comes to electronics safety. Computers and TVs are more sensitive to temperature and may fare better in a climate-controlled storage facility. Be sure to find out from the manufacturer if the temperature is a consideration before moving electronics.

Keep track of the inventory

You’ll want to keep track of everything using an inventory. Make sure to write down what is in each box, as well as the components in each box so that you don’t forget. You’ll also be able to see if something is missing at the destination.

Wrap and tape

Lastly, be sure to wrap your electronics with clean paper or linen to prevent dust. You’ll also find it easier to prevent dust from getting to your devices when you use proper packing tape for sealing the box.

You can safely pack and move your electronics by taking extra precautions ahead of time. Use these tips before moving your valuable devices.

Simple Holiday Moving Guide

The holidays are here and it’s time… to move? This is one of the least popular times of the year to move, but once it’s done, you’ll get to spend the holidays at your brand new home! It may be one of the most exciting times to move since everyone is already available to celebrate the holidays, help you pack, and give you an extra special sendoff.

While you’re singing carols and driving past holiday lights, you can still successfully move your family into your new home without missing a beat this holiday season. You’ll want to plan ahead, consider the weather, and make it a fun process being the holiday season. Take a look at this guide that will make winter moving during the holidays a little more simple and exciting.

The planning process

Start with a great game plan. While you probably won’t have time to do everything you would normally do during the holiday season, you can still do what you make time for. Keep your expectations reasonable knowing that you are going through a big life change of moving during an already busy holiday season. It’s time to make a list of the things that have to be done and what things could be missed this year.

Instead of putting up your decorations this year, pack anything that you would normally pack away to put up your holiday decorations. If you’ll be spending a decent amount of time in your original home, be sure to decorate at least one space to keep the holiday spirit alive before moving to the new house. Start purging the rest of the house to eliminate things that you don’t need anymore, and start purchasing your moving supplies to pack up right away.

Consider your budget with the move and what you can afford for holiday shopping this year. You can have presents shipped to your new home by buying online and updating your shipping address. Pack up plates and dinnerware in exchange for high-quality paper and plastic items that can make party cleanup a cinch while still looking elegant. Then be sure your professional moving crew is hired and ready for moving day.

Have a moving holiday party

This is a great time to have a holiday party that can also be thought of as a moving party. Keep out a few holiday items for the party and that can get you started in your new home. Have a holiday playlist for the party that you can also enjoy on your travels to the new home and for when you arrive. It will be a great send-off that also gives you that holiday cheer you want to enjoy right now. This is also a great time to hand out your holiday cards with your new address!

The actual move

For the moving day, be sure to have your first-week box ready for your essentials, favorite holiday items, and supplies for the actual trip. You may want to pack a picnic if you plan to drive far and try to stop somewhere fun on the way, such as a national park or landmark that the kids would love. Bring hot drinks and blankets for the winter move. Don’t forget your holiday playlist, snacks for the trip, winter supplies such as coats and ice scrapers, and preparing your driveway to get the car and moving truck in and out safely.

Of course, you should have your utilities set up in advance so that your home will be nice and heated upon arrival. Once you’ve unpacked everything, you’ll now have the convenience of boxes to use for wrapping gifts, and a new home ready to start new traditions in. Allow yourself to dine out as you get settled and enjoying community holiday events for the first time.

Try to have fun with your holiday move knowing that you’re moving during that time of year where everyone is already a little bit jollier and there’s an excitement in the air. Enjoy your new home and the new space to celebrate your family holidays every year!

Learn the lingo: Moving terms to know on moving day

When moving day is approaching, you are probably in overdrive preparing yourself and your family for the big day. Part of that preparation should be to get familiar with some of the lingo that might be tossed around during moving day conversation.

You may hear about these things during a pre-move survey, during an estimate, on moving day, or after moving day when it’s time for the final tab. The sooner you get to know these terms, the easier it will be to ask the proper questions and prepare yourself for the move. Take a look at some of the lingo you may not have heard before such as accessorial charges and operating authority.

Bill of lading

One of the terms you’ll hear mentioned is the bill of lading or contract between you and the moving company. This is the binding contract regarding the transport of your household goods.

Consignor or consignee

If they mention of consignor or consignee, you may immediately think of a co-signer on a loan. "Consignor" is actually a term for the person that at the point where you move originates that is the pick-up point person. The consignee is the one that will receive the goods at destination, which is often times the same person as the consignor.

Accessorial charges

If you hear about charges for accessorials, keep in mind that this is very normal. This is the term for any extra charges due to additional services needed outside of the standard services. This could mean that you were charged extra for the moving company supplying you with moving boxes, extra charge for needing an extra pick-up, or you had a higher than usual inventory of something like books.

These miscellaneous items that aren’t going to happen in the standard move just get charged under accessorial charges to cover the extra time, labor, or supplies provided by the movers.

Claim

You’ve probably had to file a claim with a company in the past. You’ll have the option to file a claim if you discover damage or loss of any goods. Submit claims right away to avoid missing out on reimbursement.

You’ll receive standard coverage for free on your move to cover any damaged goods, at approximately 60 cents per pound, but you can purchase additional coverage if you want to be sure your expensive TV or furniture is covered from significant damage. You’ll also want to ask about transit insurance, the insurance that covers the items during transit, to see what is covered and what you need to acquire.

Reweigh

Your movers will weigh the final product of all of your goods on their truck. They’ll go to a weigh-in station in the area to weigh the truck in order to determine what your final weight was, minus the weight of the actual truck.

Your bill will reflect the weight that was moved by getting the weight at a weigh station. They always take an estimate before the move and then the reweigh indicates the actual final weight which is tweaked on the final bill from the originally estimated weight.

Operating authority

If you hear the term “operation authority,” this refers to the certification that the state of federal government gives to authorize the move between geographical areas. This would be acquired before the bill of lading is signed.

Linehaul charges

Lastly, you might hear line haul charges mentioned on the bill. These refer to the basic charges for a long distance move. They are calculated based on your moving weight and the mileage.

When you hear lingo you don’t recognize during the move, don’t feel alone. These are the terms that are often misunderstood by families, but you can go into your move feeling more prepared by learning them here.