Tips for Overseeing a Move In or Move Out

When you're moving, you will likely be overseeing both a move in and a move-out. Hiring The Professional Moving Specialists will go a long way to making the move in and move out easier, but you will still need to be in charge of overseeing both. 

You want to do everything within your power to remain in control and ensure efficiency during your move. Proper planning will help and here are some of the best tips you can use for overseeing a move in or a move-out.

1. Arrive Early and Prepared

If you're not currently living in your old home, you want to arrive for the move out before the movers do. It's good to arrive prepared and ready to start the day when the movers arrive. 

You'll want to be there to start planning everything, help direct the mover to the correct parking spot, and avoid getting charged for movers waiting for you.

2. Know What You’re Taking With You

When moving out, you want to know what you'll be taking in your vehicle. Valuables, paperwork, and other items you don't want the movers packing should be separated to help you remember what you plan to move in your own vehicle.

You can block off a corner of a room or dedicate a specific room to the items you plan to move yourself. Make sure you pack these items ahead of time and you know what's going with you and what's going with the movers.

3. Have a Furniture Floor Plan Ready

During a move in, you want to have a furniture floor plan ready for the movers. This will help them bring in heavy furniture items, put them in the right place, and leave them there. If they have to rearrange furniture, you could get charged extra for their time. 

In fact, some moving companies will only arrange furniture once. If you want to avoid having to arrange the furniture yourself, create a floor plan ahead of time for the movers to follow.

4. Inform Movers of All Fragile Items

While fragile items should be well marked, it's also a good idea to separate these items and inform movers they are fragile. The more you communicate with the movers, the easier it will be for them to ensure your things are properly packed into their truck.

5. Be Prepared with Waters

Movers appreciate the small gesture of offering them water or sports drink. They work hard and need to stay hydrated. Especially in the summer, have a few bottles of water or sports drinks ready for the movers when they arrive. 

Let them know where they are and that they can help themselves when they are thirsty. This will help save a little bit of time, as well, as they won't have to ask or go to the truck in search of their own drink. 

When you're moving into a new home and/or out of an old home, you want to stay on top of the moving process. With these five tips, you'll be better prepared to oversee moving in and moving out when hiring movers for a residential move.

What it Means to be a Full Service Moving Company

When you start searching for the right moving company for your needs, you may encounter different types of movers. Some moving companies specialize in moving very heavy items, such as pianos, while others are known as full service moving companies.

Understanding what a full-service moving company is will help you to make the right decision for your needs. Let's look at what a full service moving company provides.

Is Full Service Really Full Service?

As the name implies, a full service moving company will handle everything you need from the beginning to the end of the move. If you don't want to take on the physical tasks of moving or you simply cannot handle it, hiring a full service moving company makes sense. Some of the things a full service moving company will handle include:

• Packing

• Loading

• Driving the truck

• Unloading

• Unpacking

In addition, your full service moving company will help with planning, ensuring you get an accurate estimate and more.

Packing and Unpacking

Not all moving companies offer packing and unpacking services. However, a full service moving company will offer both services to ensure you don't have to do much of anything during the move. 

Your full service moving company in Chicago will supply all the necessary packing materials and supplies. They will pack up all the items you ask them to pack and use the proper boxes and materials to ensure everything is fully protected. Once the items arrive at the new location, they will take the boxes to the specified rooms and unpack them for you.

Loading and Unloading

Most moving companies, whether full service or not, will load the truck and unload it for you. Full service moving companies gain a bit of an edge because they packed everything, so they know exactly how to load it into the truck in the best possible manner. 

Furniture Disassembly and Assembly

If you have any furniture items that come apart, your full service moving company in Chicago will disassemble and reassemble the furniture for you. This is a service you may not find with all moving companies and even some full-service companies don't provide disassembly and assembly of furniture.

Transportation, Disposal, and More!

Along with packing, unpacking, loading, unloading and handling your furniture disassembly and assembly, a full service moving company will provide all the transportation, dispose of materials, and handle even more. 

A professional driver will take the truck from point A to point B. Once everything is unloaded and has been unpacked, any materials needing to be disposed of will be handled by the movers. Your full-service movers may also provide additional services, depending on your specific needs.

Hiring full-service movers for your residential move or commercial move in Chicago means you won't have to lift a finger. From the planning to the estimate to final delivery, The Professional Moving Specialists will handle everything for you. Even if you need storage, we will provide the right facilities for your specific needs.

How to Best Utilize Your Time During a Full-Service Move

When you hire movers to do your packing and unpacking, along with loading and transporting your items, it's known as a full-service move. This type of move will save you time, but what do you do with all that time?

There are still several tasks that must be done. From making sure your utilities are turned on at your new home to cleaning up your old home before turning in your keys, you have plenty to do.

If you're planning to hire The Professional Moving Specialists for a full-service move, here are some of the ways you can utilize the time you will gain back.

Create a Moving Inventory

Before the movers arrive to pack up your belongings, you'll want to create a moving inventory. This is a great way to see what you own and to make sure all your items make it to your new home.

An itemized checklist will ensure you know what was packed and what gets unpacked. You want to be very specific with this inventory and consider taking pictures of anything expensive.

Figure Out What You want to Pack

You may not want movers packing every single item you own. Whether you want to pack your most expensive items or you prefer to pack your clothing on your own, make sure you figure this out ahead of time.

If you're moving a long distance, make sure you set aside a change of clothes and other items you may need. Also, consider packing important documents yourself instead of having movers handle these items.

If possible, designate a room or an area clearly marked for the items you will pack. This area can also be designated as the items you will take in your vehicle with you.

Triple Check Everything

Once the movers start to pack up your items and load them into the truck, you can start triple checking everything. Check cabinets, corners, closets, and other areas to ensure you don't leave anything behind. 

Remove Flammable Items from Your Home

Movers will likely not touch anything flammable, hazardous, or corrosive. You want to remove these items and pack them yourself. These items include:

• Batteries

• Cleaning Fluids

• Gasoline

• Kerosene

• Fireworks

• Firearms

• Nail Polish

• Aerosol Cans

• Propane Tanks

• Fertilizer

Make sure these items are separated or disposed of properly before your movers arrive.

Keep the Kids and Pets Busy

While movers are at your home packing up, you want to keep the kids and pets out of their way. You can keep them busy in the back yard or have one parent take the kids and pets to a local playground. 

Not only will keeping them out of the way help movers work faster, but it will also keep your pets and kids safe. If necessary, you can even consider hiring a sitter for the pets or kids during the time the movers are packing up.

Disassemble Ahead of Time

Some movers will disassemble furniture, while others may not. It can save you a little bit of money if you disassemble items before the movers arrive. This is a good use of your time when you hire full-service movers.

There are many things you will still need to do, even when you hire full-service movers. Make sure you fully understand what your residential movers are willing to do for you and what you will still need to handle on your own.

5 Apps to Help You Sell Unwanted Goods During a Move

Residential moving can be stressful, but unloading some of your unwanted items can make the move a bit easier. There's an app for that, of course. In fact, there are several apps with the ability to help you sell your unwanted items. Let's look at five of the top choices.

LetGo

An app with the ability to save you time and help you sell items locally, LetGo provides an excellent platform for selling things. In fact, The Balance Everyday published a list of their 7 Best Local Selling Apps and LetGo was the top choice.

You'll have the ability to list your items in one of many categories ranging from clothing to games to furniture. In addition, you'll get to tag your items and make it easy for buyers to find what you're selling.

The LetGo App is free and can be downloaded for both iPhone and Android.

Facebook Marketplace

Another good app for selling locally is the Facebook Marketplace. Buyers can find your items and you can schedule a time to meet up together for the sale. The app is completely free and can be used on all platforms.

Carousell

According to MoneyPantry, Carousell is the top choice for selling your unwanted items locally before moving. This app is a bit newer than some of the others on the list and it's completely free to list your items. You can join special groups to help sell your items within your community, as well.

Once you've listed your item with the Carousell app, you can easily share the listing through social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The app is available for both iPhone and Android.

eBay

According to Techlicious, eBay is the bestselling app. With eBay, you can expect to get top dollar for your items, but you should expect to ship your items to the seller once they have completed the purchase.

The eBay app isn't as good for selling items locally as some of the others, but it can be great for selling higher-priced items. With this app, you're likely to get top dollar, but you will need to be willing to ship your items to the buyer.

OffferUp

Another great app for selling your item, OfferUp allows you to easily list and sell just about anything. It's available for both Android and iPhone and it's all about selling locally.

You won't have to ship anything with the OfferUp app and communicating with buyers is really easy. You can even bump your item back to the top of the listings at any time for a fee.

Along with these top five apps to help you sell your unwanted items before a move, there are several other options including:

• Mercari

• CPlus for Craigslist

• VarageSale

• Tradesy

• ThredUP

• Poshmark

• Decluttr

All of these apps offer the ability to sell your items before you move. Whether you're looking to unload a piece of furniture or sell a video game collection, you can use one of these apps to find the right buyer.

What Should I Do Before My Packers Arrive?

You've decided to make moving day much easier and you hired professional packers. Maybe you've never hire someone to pack up your home before and you're not sure how to prepare. There are several things you may want to do before your packers arrive.

Let's look at some of the most important things you should do before packers arrive to box up your home.

Purge

The first thing you should do, and if possible before you hire packers, is purge anything you don't need, want, or desire. Go through all your belongings and get rid of anything you won't need or simply don't want at your new home.

Moving is a great time to take an inventory of what you own and donate, dispose of, recycle, or sell unwanted items. Along with helping you minimize your items and see what you have, purging will also help you save money as you'll have less to pack and move.

Take Out Anything You Prefer to Pack Yourself

You probably have items you don't want someone else handling. Maybe you don't want packers touching your prized jewelry or personal effects. Now is the time to separate all the valuables, mementos, paperwork, and other items you want to pack on your own.

Separate the Fragile

Maybe you have antiques, artwork, or other fragile items you want packers to know about. Before they arrive, separate these items to ensure they understand which items needs to be handled with extra care.

You can place all of these items into one room and label the room as fragile items or you can put them into to corner with a label. However you go about it, make sure you communicate to the packing crew which items are fragile and require special handling.

Create an Item Inventory

An inventory of all your possessions helps to protect you if something is damaged or lost. It will also help you to see what you own and what you may need in your new home. Make sure you take an inventory of all your possessions before the packing crew arrives.

Handle the Items Professional Packers Won't

There are some items professional packers won't pack for you. It's your responsibility to pack up these items or dispose of them and you should do this before the packing crew arrives.

Some of the items you will likely need to handle on your own include:

• Hazardous item - Paint, flammable materials, weapons, chemicals, corrosive items, ammunition, chemicals, oils, etc.

• Perishable Food

• Plants

• Anything else the packers have specifically said they won't pack

There are several things you may want to do before the packing crew arrives. Make sure you speak with them to find out if they require you to do anything specific before they arrive.

In addition to the list above, you may want to clean your home. Often, this is required at move out, anyway, so it may be a good idea to have the home clean when the packing crew arrives. Also, make sure you're a good host to your packers and movers.