The actual moving part. (Portland: fit in, sales, apartment)

[SephStrom]

Hey guys, so its looking more and more like for sure we are headed up to Portland. Actually were probably headed that way at the end of the year so the wife can start school in that spring semester. But Im racking my brain on something and was hoping you guys can help out. So were coming from the Dallas, TX area. Were moving out of a one bedroom apartment and were probably leaving most of the furniture here and just bringing all the electronics and a few boxes. We have two cars as well, both kind of falling apart and in need of an upgrade. Im trying to figure out the best (and cheapest) way to move up there. Im thinking at the moment of selling off both cars and getting a new nicer 4 door car, cramming all our stuff into the car and hitting the road. Dont really have enough stuff to bring that would make renting a moving truck worth it. Anyway what do you guys think?

[Elcarim]

I would load my clothes and hit the road! Nice, that you don't have a lot of excess baggage. Maybe a Hybrid SUV - give your more room and good gas mileage.

We're moving up from the Houston area as soon as our house sells (soonsoonsoon!) and we've priced it all out. We're renting a Penske truck.

Good luck to you! I'm wishing we were in an apartment right now!

[umograd83]

You are so smart not to bring your furniture with you. I had a friend who moved from Maine to California and he said he wished he hadn't moved the furniture because he could have bought new furniture for what he paid to move the old furniture. I think your idea of selling the two cars and getting a four-door to replace them is a good idea. If you find that you can't load the car up, you can go to U-Haul and rent a roof-top carrier, or you could go to Sears and buy one.

[Zymer]

A newer vehicle, maybe with a hitch to pull a U-Haul trailer if everything won't fit in the car might be an idea...or, if you don't have a *lot* of stuff you could UPS some or all of it.

Just consider that the newer (and more expensive) the vehicle, the more excise tax you will have to pay on it.

Also to consider- if you buy the vehicle in your current state, and have to pay a Title fee, when you re-register in ME you will have to pay *another* Title fee for a new Title (I think this is stupid and just another way of screwing people, a Title should be valid no matter what state issued it).

Another point- I'm not completely sure (and 15 minutes of hunting didn't answer the question) but it is possible that if you paid no sales tax in your current state and have owned the vehicle for less than a year, you may have to pay ME sales tax on it.

[Tarastomsgirl]

I'm moving from NH back down to Fla next weekend and we dumped everything except the bed and tv's and computer. You'll find though you got lots of other stuff, dishes, electronics, clothes etc etc. So we rented a a trailer to pull behind the car cost us ($200) from u-haul and we're gonna cram everything into that.. That way we have room to move in the car and we can still see out the windows. Its worth the 200 bucks have our stuff locked up and not in the car so when we sleep in a hotel our car isn't broken into.

The guy above makes a good point also about all the taxes.. Be prepared to be taxed to death. And I live in NH where there is "less" tax burden than other states.. Yeah right, try just higher taxes on the ones you do get. I'm not sure how it works in Maine so check it out before you go but to register we had to pay a state tax, and a city tax on the car.. It cost us over $200 to register our 02 vehicle.. The newer the car, the higher the tax, we know some that are paying upwards of $400 everytime they renew the car. I'm not sure if Maine has to have their car inspected, but tack on an extra $40 if they do.. NE is extreamly exepensive and its one of the reasons we're moving out. .No amount of autumn or snow or anything else could make me live here again with how expensive everything is.

[Zymer]

ME cars need a safety inspection, $12 I think. Cumberland County also requires an emissions inspection, since I don't live in Cumberland I don't know if that costs extra.

[mollysmiles]

$12 here too! I didn't know that about an emissions inspection for Cumberland County.

[Elcarim]

We have a house full of furniture, 3 kids and a dog the size of a small pony! We also have quite a few antique pieces from my grandparents that I would never part with. So, dumping everything is not an option for us. I can move it WAY less than it would cost to replace it all - and the family heirlooms are irreplaceable.

[lovemaine]

I would just rent a small trailer if I could get away with it. We've made 2 long-distance moves in the last several years. Both times we got U-Haul trucks. The car that was hitched to the moving truck was also filled with stuff. I followed the truck with my small SUV, filled with our kids, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and a fish. Very much looking forward to doing it all over again when we move to Maine! (Seriously!) (Although if we can swing it, I'd rather leave most of the furniture behind too and buy new stuff when we arrive. Moving furniture is not my favorite activity!)

[Tarastomsgirl]

Originally Posted by mollysmiles

$12 here too! I didn't know that about an emissions inspection for Cumberland County.

like I said we don't have the "tax burden" but they just raise the prices of everything. They're fools if they think its the least expensive state to live in shoulda moved to Maine