How much did moving cost you? (Austin, Detroit: consignment, townhouse, movies) - Texas (TX) - Page 3 - City-Data Forum

tanyagail · 08-19-2007, 12:49 PM

Along with using the PODS, we drove down ourselves in a little Pontiac vibe with my mom, 2 kids, and myself (husband still working in Wisconsin). After hearing that we would be driving in that small car straight through for 1700 miles with the luggage strapped up top and our Bernese Mountain dog in the back, a friend offered to take a road trip down with her friend and our dog if I could pay for the roundtrip gas. Thank god she did. It would have been a rough 22 hours with all of us crammed in that little car. My vote: find a friend or relative to help! Offer to pay for gas or flight back.

readymade · 08-19-2007, 01:28 PM

I've been doing a little research and the whole "U-Pack" thing seems like the way to go. Both financially and for convenience.

You can hire movers in your city to pack up the truck. Then U-Pack will drive it to your destination. And then you can hire movers there to unload it for you.

Regular movers/relocators will get you your stuff in up to 3 weeks. That's a long time go go without your things/furniture/etc. U-Pack said it would take 4 days to get from SoCal to Austin. PLUS, even factoring in hiring movers, we'll save quite a bit of money. I was really shocked by how much we'd save, actually. I was quoted $2400 by U-Pack and $5000+ by various other movers. Add around $800 (I'm being generous) to the U-Pack quote for the movers, and that saves $1800!

So, anyway, that's another option. Hee hee, I sound like a commercial, but I swear I'm not. I've never used U-Pack. For all I know they're awful.

mimimomx3 · 08-19-2007, 07:14 PM

The last time we moved (within Austin) we packed up one POD with all the stuff that wasn't essential so we could 'stage' our house for sale. About 2/3 of our stuff was packed. They took it away...and then when we sold our house, we packed up the last 1/3. We got to the new house (had to stay in a hotel for a while while we changed the carpet, painted etc.) then had the 1/3 pod delivered and unpacked it. Discovered we didn't really need the other 2/3!!!! But we did have it delivered back anyway to the new house about 3 months later. I highly reccoment PODS...but if you have big trees, be careful with them when they deliver the PODS and remove them.

TonyBinCO · 08-20-2007, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by readymade

Who did you use? Why did they only do a little unpacking?

I've never had anyone pack & unpack my stuff before but I'm very very tempted because it usually takes me about a year for me to unpack. Seriously. I live out of boxes for about a year after moving.

Did you like the company?

Thanks.

We used Paul Arpin and would recommend them. We had a very short time frame (2 weeks) to find a house here, pack up CO, and move here. It was a corporate move. I only had them do a little unpacking because I had no idea where everything was going in the house. I think next time, I'll have them unpack everything as I'm swimming in packing material right now.

xsloane · 08-20-2007, 03:44 PM

A very good place for the transportation is: selfmoves usa. Research it. It is a u-pack we haul deal. They moved our belongings from NoCA to Round Rock for $1375 including all taxes and fees. Full services are a lot more expensive. We had things from a 2/2 condo. If your cars are in very good shape it is worth driving / hauling one (or both) but otherwise I would recomend selling one and driving the other since hauling a car is very expensive.

xsloane · 08-20-2007, 03:48 PM

And something else. What we did was: Our 2 girls and I flew here and husband drove our car from NoCA. He was in charge of the loading and origin details for the transportation with selfmoves usa. I do not recommend traveling for more than 5 hours with small children by car. I have done long trips (17 hours) with them by plane, and that was ok, they can move and walk, etc, but being strapped to your seat for 2000 miles is no fun for anyone

justanothercalifornian · 08-21-2007, 11:32 PM

that is my biggest fear! the dreaded drive with a toddler! I wonder if anyone has been brave enough to do that and lived to tell about it

statefan · 08-22-2007, 07:39 AM

We do it all the time! Our kids have been traveling since they were infants. Heck, I would pile them both in the van and head from Nashville to Charlotte by myself. That is only 6.5 hours one way, so not a marathon. The kids and I drove from Nashville to Austin in April before we moved to visit my husband, about 900 miles one way. We do have a DVD player in our van, and spend time before the trip "planning" our playlist. We stop a lot, especially when they were potty training! I usually plan a picnic and let them decide where to stop. They usually do really well!

xsloane · 08-22-2007, 05:05 PM

I guess if you have to do it by car, get a portable dvd. Tons of books. And NOTHING that talks or plays music by itself!! I now that for us, with our 4 and 2 girls right now, anything beyond 5 hours is just too much, but look forward to the longer road trips in a couple of years or so.

ryanrands · 10-18-2007, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xsloane

A very good place for the transportation is: selfmoves usa. Research it. It is a u-pack we haul deal. They moved our belongings from NoCA to Round Rock for $1375 including all taxes and fees. Full services are a lot more expensive. We had things from a 2/2 condo. If your cars are in very good shape it is worth driving / hauling one (or both) but otherwise I would recomend selling one and driving the other since hauling a car is very expensive.

We are relocating and have received a quote from Selfmoves. The rate is much lower than other services and I want to make sure that the service is good. Did you have any unexpected surprises? Were your goods delivered exactly on time?

Feel free to contact me directly if you want to share you experience. Thanks!