How much did you pay to relocate to CO? (2015, hotels)

[R2F]

Originally Posted by md21722

You can't put your car on the semi, so you'd need to do that separately. I would figure roughly $1200-2000, possibly more, for moving a car in this day and age. Keep in mind if you go furniture shopping when you get here it doesn't usually arrive the day you pick it out. So it may be wise to bring minimal furniture, like a bed..

Personally I would just drive the car to Colorado with some of your most important possessions like birth certificates, bank paperwork, etc.

Thefts can and do occur with moving trucks.

Good advice. We will be getting newer, smaller bedroom furniture before we move (current furniture is massive and older) and will plan to bring that with us. It will be our furniture in the rental and eventually guest furniture once we get a house. I do not think we will bring our mattress though so we may need to coordinate with a company there. I believe most of the mattress specialty stores have same day delivery these days. If not, we will figure it out.

I've thought about driving and keep going back and forth, but I'm just not sure it's worth it. The gas and wear/tear will be brutal, plus we have 2 large dogs. I think any sensitive docs or expensive jewelry will fly in my carry-on. I also need to transport quite a few firearms so I'll plan to check those instead of leaving it to the movers.

One thing I forgot to ask... for those that traveled from extreme distances, how long did it take for your stuff to arrive? And were you able to purchase additional insurance for the trip?

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by md21722

You can't put your car on the semi, so you'd need to do that separately. I would figure roughly $1200-2000, possibly more, for moving a car in this day and age. Keep in mind if you go furniture shopping when you get here it doesn't usually arrive the day you pick it out. So it may be wise to bring minimal furniture, like a bed..

Personally I would just drive the car to Colorado with some of your most important possessions like birth certificates, bank paperwork, etc.

Thefts can and do occur with moving trucks.

We drove our Grand Cherokee across and it held the important papers, computer and jewelry, all of which went with us into the hotel room each night we were on the road.

[md21722]

There is not much wear and tear on a car when all its doing is cruising at 80 MPH for hours on end. Starting it up on a cold winter day to drive 2 miles to Starbucks and back is where you wear out the car.

[Willy702]

Long distance moves are priced on weight and what weighs the most is furniture. All the clothes and shoes you have dont match the weight of most couches or expensive mattresses. If you can get rid of all furniture it should not cost you an arm and a leg to move. I learned this the hard way in my move. If you really need the furniture go with a U-Haul.

[bluescreen73]

We hired movers when we moved from Dallas back to Denver last summer, and depending on where you are in FL that's anywhere from 1/2 to 1/3 of the distance your belongings will travel.

Our move cost us close to $8000. The actual move itself was around $6000, but unless you're clearing out your old house and immediately moving into a new one with no lag time in between, you also need to consider potential storage of your belongings. We sold our house there in July but didn't move into our new home here until late October. We had our stuff in storage for 4 months at a cost of about $450/mo.

You can save a crapload of money moving yourself. That being said, I personally wouldn't recommend doing it if you can't fit all your belongings into a 20 foot or smaller truck.

[CosmicWizard]

The numbers below are estimates based on memory from my cross country ( Virginia Beach to Grand Junction ) move almost 6 years ago, so take it with a grain of salt. Ballpark numbers at best.

* 3 months storage in Virginia Beach.....$360
* fee to a friend who loaded up the moving truck.....$300
* fee to the moving truck.....$2700
* gasoline for 2 cars and scouting trip.....$500 ( gas was about $2.60 per gallon in the summer of '06 )
* hotels.....$1000
* plus car registration and other fees....$500 to $1000
* I took a $10,000 paycut annually ( 6yrs * 10,000 = $60,000 )
* my wife took a $12,000 paycut annually ( 6 yrs * 12,000 = $72,000 )
* bought a home just 18 months before the housing bubble burst.....loss of equity $70,000

[jacoby23]

Just paid $2700 for a pod (800 Pack Rat) from Connecticut to Denver. Will probably spend about $300+ in gas on the trip out there. Plus another $300-400 for hotels and food.

Close to $4000 total.

[R2F]

Originally Posted by jacoby23

Just paid $2700 for a pod (800 Pack Rat) from Connecticut to Denver. Will probably spend about $300+ in gas on the trip out there. Plus another $300-400 for hotels and food.

Close to $4000 total.

Thanks for posting about the pod. How was that experience? I've definitely thought about doing that. Any noticeable pros/cons?

[R2F]

Originally Posted by CosmicWizard

The numbers below are estimates based on memory from my cross country ( Virginia Beach to Grand Junction ) move almost 6 years ago, so take it with a grain of salt. Ballpark numbers at best.

* 3 months storage in Virginia Beach.....$360
* fee to a friend who loaded up the moving truck.....$300
* fee to the moving truck.....$2700
* gasoline for 2 cars and scouting trip.....$500 ( gas was about $2.60 per gallon in the summer of '06 )
* hotels.....$1000
* plus car registration and other fees....$500 to $1000
* I took a $10,000 paycut annually ( 6yrs * 10,000 = $60,000 )
* my wife took a $12,000 paycut annually ( 6 yrs * 12,000 = $72,000 )
* bought a home just 18 months before the housing bubble burst.....loss of equity $70,000

Not bad numbers until the income change and the housing bubble. Luckily my job is virtual so my pay will stay the same. Oddly enough my wife will make more there it seems (education system in FL is jacked). Sorry the bubble burst on you. We didn't get hit that bad, but are still digging out, thus the few years before we can make it out there.

I am interested to know though... was it worth it?

[CosmicWizard]

R2F wrote:

Sorry the bubble burst on you. We didn't get hit that bad, but are still digging out, thus the few years before we can make it out there.

I am interested to know though... was it worth it?

We're still ahead of the game because we sold our Virginia home at the TOP of the bubble there. It tripled in value during the 15 years we paid mortgage on it, so we walked away with lots of equity. BUT, if I'd have been more tuned in to the inflating bubble, I would have rented and waited to buy and could have paid CASH for a similar house in Grand Junction at amuch lower purchase price. You can't win em all. Even Vince Lombardi and the Packers would lose a few games.

Even with the lower wages locally, I've noticed no decline in our standard of living because the cost of living is less costly here.

Was it worth it you ask? You bet it was. I'd do it again, but much sooner. The longer you wait, the older you will be.