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One more thought, if moving south to north or vice versa, the style of furniture you have probably will not fit in with the new home decor. When we looked into moving, a friend that works for Mayflower moving told us to dump our northern furniture and buy when we moved. She said the difference in cost of being able to use an ABF container or POD vs a van would pay for it. She said our furniture from the north would look out of place in a FL home. She was right.
It depends on what style you have going, Danish modern would fit either place, but there is a difference in styles from one place to the other.
Here in FL, the consignment shops and Craigslist are full of furniture that is too heavy, dark, colonial or early american from people that moved here from the north. They realized their furniture just doesn't look right in the houses here.
Not exactly budget busters, but it's worth remembering that there are lots of little fees when you move. They can add up, and you'll pay them for everything from getting a new drivers license to paying getting a copy of your medical records to your new doctor. C'est la vie, it's annoying but in the long run it's worth it.
We've been researching a part-time move to another state (several candidates) and this is one that's caught our attention - primarily auto registration, inspection, title, insurance, and drivers license fees.
We're still working our way through the bureaucratic complexities that come with maintaining residency in 2 states. May be a deal breaker.
Little fees are a PITA, but I wouldn't let them be a deal breaker. Moving is expensive and an ordeal, but you know what, it really isn't that bad. Sometimes it's easy to blow it all out of proportion.
This is one of my pet peeves with internet forums--I see a fair number of people scaring themselves from doing things, when the truth is most things really aren't as difficult as we build them up to be. What they say about "paralysis from too much analysis" is true.
I do it, too. I was the same way before having my first child. It's good to get as much information as you can, but I kind of overdid it and got freaked out by those people who just love telling you every little thing that can possibly go wrong. Also had something like that happen before applying to college--I had friends who didn't want me to go, and who told me a lot of scary things about how difficult it would be, and how I wouldn't fit in and I'd have no friends, and how freshmen get drunk and get raped all the time. I would have missed out on a wonderful experience if I had let all that talk get to me.
So, if you really want to move don't let little annoyances turn into deal breakers. (Unless the truth is you secretly want little reasons to keep you from moving. Which is ok.)
When I moved I made the decision to get rid of several pieces of heavy furniture. I replaced my bedroom set with Ikea and absolutely love it. It breaks down flat and the mattress rolls up ! I never figured that 5 inches of the right type of foam was more comfortable than the old styled mattress/box spring.
My goal is to replace the rest with Ikea furniture as well. After 3 years there is no problems with the bedroom set, it's light enough to move when cleaning and it breaks down flat for actual moving.
Reading this thread, and thinking about my post retirement move, I agree with Caladium. Moving is always an expense, but I didn't find any real shockers or anything I couldn't handle. Some things were a pleasant surprise. New plates for my truck were $125.00 cheaper. No wheel tax here.
I sold most of my furniture before the move and tried not to move any junk. I haven't replaced everything. I really don't need a living or dining room suite. I spend most of my time on the porch or in the den.
I think the lesson is to do your research before you move. I would think that if you are buying a house, a good realtor could answer many questions.
Along with the people on city-data
Its probably harder to not worry about unforeseen things happening if it's your first move.
Sounds easy enough but not with a VA loan when the values of the appliances can't, nor should they be, financed by that loan. The loan is for the structure and out-buildings only.
That's a complete non sequitur. How does that relate in any way to what we were discussing?
I think that MOVING was just our biggest expense. It costs a ton, even if you do it yourself as we did. Pods, trucks, it's all expensive when you factor in the gas and mileage, plus hotels and food en route. If I do it again, I'll just bite the bullet and hire a moving company to do it. We were pleasantly surprised by the lower costs in our retirement area. We had done our research to a certain extent, but some things you can only find out when you get where you are going. Things I wouldn't have imagined...people here get their homes and driveways pressure washed yearly because of mildew, cleaning the gutters on a 2 story home requires hiring someone with a REALLY tall ladder, appliance installation may cost more than the appliance itself if modifications are needed, it costs almost half as much to move a pool table as to buy a new one, extra fees like parking and storage might be necessary.
Flood plains and flood insurance would be something I would recommend folks check out, as a home might not be IN a flood plane but it could be close to one, and topography can change if one of those "100 year" floods hit. Most people are not going to buy flood insurance unless they are required to (or feel there is a high certainty it could be needed). However, events such as fires can affect topography and water runoff.
For example, in the Boulder area, I understand there had been warnings from various government agencies that with all the fires and changes in water run off, there was a possibility of flooding in areas not previously prone to flooding. Sadly, the worst case scenario did occur and from what I have heard -- most folks did not have flood insurance.
I know this was mentioned by the OP, but I wanted to mention it again b/c areas not traditionally thought of as being flood prone could still become a problem if conditions are right, even when not in a flood plain.
Never read how much it would have cost those people to buy flood insurance. Certainly less than it costs us here in Florida (and it doesn't cost much even in Florida - we live on a barrier island and pay about $400/year for maximum property/contents coverage). Because federal flood insurance is still heavily subsidized by taxpayers (it's not like our windstorm insurance - which isn't subsidized - and is rather costly). I honestly am not shedding tears for people who lived near water/possible flood areas who wouldn't spend a hundred or two hundred dollars a year to buy flood insurance. That's probably a lot less than what lots of people spend a month on cell phone/internet/cable service. And - the fewer the people who pay into the system - and the greater the losses - the sooner the system will go belly-up (from a political POV - it's already gone belly-up from a dollar and cents POV). Robyn
Never read how much it would have cost those people to buy flood insurance. Certainly less than it costs us here in Florida (and it doesn't cost much even in Florida - we live on a barrier island and pay about $400/year for maximum property/contents coverage). Because federal flood insurance is still heavily subsidized by taxpayers (it's not like our windstorm insurance - which isn't subsidized - and is rather costly). I honestly am not shedding tears for people who lived near water/possible flood areas who wouldn't spend a hundred or two hundred dollars a year to buy flood insurance. That's probably a lot less than what lots of people spend a month on cell phone/internet/cable service. And - the fewer the people who pay into the system - and the greater the losses - the sooner the system will go belly-up (from a political POV - it's already gone belly-up from a dollar and cents POV). Robyn
My thoughts, too, Robyn (in re: to both the low cost and the decision to forego flood insurance). I have several friends in and around Boulder and they all report that they were aware of the notices the area was vulnerable to flooding after the fires, but they all say they simply didn't think about following through on purchasing the insurance. They just "forgot" about it . . . it hadn't flooded in 100 years (from what I understand).
I feel the same way about umbrella insurance on my homes. Best to be insured; the cost is negligible in the longrun. Stuff happens!
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I rarely check the nuts and bolts on public toilets. The discussion was about things you do when you move to a new place.
