OMG How do you organize moving to another state??

[KMRa]

Originally Posted by Meenie

My husband has accepted a job in another state.
SOOO we have to get the house ready to sell, but he'll have to leave soon...
How will he find somewhere temporary to live while we try to sell...
Should we sell or rent??
How expensive are movers?
How can we find another home with me here and him there...
Yikes, I don't even know what else I need to ask?
How do you do this?
Sigh

Ask your employer for suggestions/answers/tips. If they are a big enough firm they have an HR dept that is geared to assist. Ask them for a referral for a competent full rounded Real Estate professional (or three, so you can interview over the phone and get a feel for who you like). Get a referral for a competent REAL ESTATE ATTORNEY. Pay them to look over all legal documents and to handle all problems. Don't be cheap. Get the best Realtor and the best REAL ESTATE Attorney. Do not use an attorney who specializes in any other law.

Make a list of Need and Want for the new house - including floor plan preferences (W&D in basement or upstairs?), location, size of lot, etc.
Give all of this to the Realtor. Most will provide apartment finder service for a fee or a guarantee of shot at your business on the home purchase.

Look at homes on-line. Your Realtor can provide all the photos you need, if the listing agent hasn't provided enough detail. Have your husband look at them in person. Insist on a home inspection by someone who has multiple references and make sure the home inspection and attorney review clauses are checked on your contract. If the area is subject to pests, have a pest inspection clause in the contract. Check to insure you aren't buying in a flood plain.

Hire a mover to pack and move everything for you, unless you need to tighten the budget. If so, pack everything yourself; label every box with either an A (need to open when we move in) or B (don't need to open until we need it - put it in the basement or garage). Number every box. In a notebook write down what is in the box #1 etc.
The advantage of packing it yourself and numbering every box is that it is likely you will not be a victim of robbery by the movers. You'd be surprised how many things are stolen by movers, especially if they pack the box. Moving companies don't normally bond their people and if you are fresh out of prison what work can you qualify for?
Wrap all mattresses in heavy gauge plastic.
Don't be cheap on packing materials. Pack it to protect. Use cardboard and heavey plastic to wrap all wood finishes and legs. Use picture boxes for art. Spend the money for the moving blankets and use them.
DO NOT WRITE ON THE BOX WHAT IS IN THE BOX.

Have a very responsible friend or relative watch every box that goes into the truck, as you watch every box going out of the house. Do the same in reverse at the new place. Don't hesitate to inspect the inside of the moving truck before and after it's "emptied" I repeat, do not hesitate. You'd be surprised how many people don't do that and then wonder "where that box is?".

Padlock the back of the truck and keep the key with your person.

I just moved from one state to another in May 2009. Everything went pretty smoothly. I had learned all of the above from experience. I rented a 24' truck from Penske (UHaul will tell you they won't guarantee the vehicle you need) and hired movers at each end. That way, I knew who they were. Be careful and get references for every person you deal with...every single one.

Best of luck! Congratulations on the new job!

[Meenie]

Thank you all SOO much for all your good advice! I'm sorry it's taken me awhile to reply, but we've been going crazy trying to paint rooms and take loads of stuff from the garage to the dump! His new job starts the 3rd week in January so we're working like slaves to get stuff done that I just can't do alone. Whew... We've gotten the attic cleared out and most of the garage - thrown out or donated a TON of stuff. Painted one room - walls and ceiling, and a first coat on the shutters (two story house, eek) - have to wait for it to warm up for the 2nd coat.
I'm ready to sell the house with everything in it, lol.
We have an appointment with a Real Estate company that also does Property Management so they'll talk to us about selling AND renting.
Then will come the movers - don't know about that yet. There's one that advertises a lot - Harrison's - that seems to offer a lot, but they're probably very expensive
I can't wait til this is all over!
Thanks again for all the great advice.

[Meenie]

Originally Posted by RikkiTikki

How to Find a Reputable Mover: A Professional Guide

the link doesn't work It says "error finding database"
I tried searching on reloroundtable and a link comes up in the search, but when I click it I get the same message.

[crazyme4878]

We moved ourselves everytime until my husband's job started paying for it. (So far, Movers:1, Ourselves: 8) It is a lot cheaper. It is also more work. However, you may be able to pay some people to help you load the items into the truck. I don't know how much you have to move, nor your personal situation, but I did most of the packing by myself while 1) Pregnant 1st Time; 2) Toddler in tow, working fulltime, husband out of the country; 3) Pregnant 2nd Time with preschooler in tow, working fulltime, husband across the country; 4) Kindergartener and infant in tow, husband working on the road constantly. And that is just some of the moves.

The point is not to brag, but to illustrate that it can be done and it isn't always as daunting as one may think. The savings can be substantial, so it deserves some thought.

Congratulations on the job and good luck!

[fallingwater]

We made our move almost 3 years ago. It was a bit overwhelming, stressful and exciting. My husband only had a week to start his job so it was pretty quick! My husband ended up renting a room from our realtor's son. It worked out but came with a lot of hassles. I wont go into it. But renting a room from someone is pretty common, more so than I ever imagined. A guy started at my husband's work a while back and that is what he did too. He answered an ad on craigs list. But I am sure there are more reputable sources. His wife and children stayed behind until they found a rental home. I have to admit my husband renting a room somewhere felt weird.

My husband's company referred us to this realtor but when it came down to buying a house we couldn't get a mortgage approval. My husband's job title changed slightly and it seemed everyone wanted him to be at his new job for 6 months first. I was disappointed because I did not want to move twice. I think our realtor did not want to miss out on a sale and offered that her son was looking for a temporary roommate. I am so glad we had to wait because where I was looking for homes had a poor school district. It looked good on paper but what they neglected to advertise was they did a lot of busing. The school district moved kids around according to their economic status and ethnic status. Not cool in my eyes. The kids from the township got shipped into the city and vice versa. I didn't think that was legal so that is another thing too, it takes a while to get used to how other states do things. Sooo glad we did not immediately buy a home!

This is what we did to make our move happen....

Hubby took our son's twin bed and small dresser. It fit in our SUV which he took. I stayed behind and packed up the house. We were renting a home from my mother (we had made plans to relocate just didn't know where yet) so I did not have to worry about selling it BUT I did have to find another tenant. I packed everything myself. Years ago when we moved finding boxes was super easy but now the stores get credit for cardboard and do not easily give them away. I did find some smaller stores that did let me have some boxes but it was not enough to complete my move. I had to purchase some. I found ordering them online was the cheapest way. Just google moving boxes and you will find lots of companies. Home Depot also sells a "moving kit" which is a array of different sizes boxes. Also if you look on Craigs list, people sell the boxes they used during their moves. I think out of everything involved in my move, the darn boxes were a headache!

So I packed the house up bit by bit. I packed things I would not need such as books and so forth. I then rented a storage unit to put everything in because I had to empty the house out for a new tenant. I moved everything myself except for the furniture. I gave away a lot of stuff. I weighed the value of the items vs replacing them. Our worn out sofa in the basement did not come with us, etc. I then moved in with my mother. My son had 2 more months of school. I couldn't see pulling him out for such a small remainder of time.

As it turned out, our realtor's son offered to rent us his house. That really helped us out because we had 2 dogs and 2 cats which made us very unappealing in most landlords eyes. Once we got our living arrangements down, my husband came back and we loaded the Uhaul. I then followed him in our SUV.

I spent hours researching areas, school districts, coming on this forum to ask questions. 9 months later we found the house we wanted and by the time we closed we had been in our new locale for a year. Another mistake we almost made was buying a home by a toxic superfund site! So I strongly urge you to get to know your new locale before buying another house. Moving twice sucked but well worth it!

[Meenie]

We're an older couple - kids all grown up so don't have to worry about school districts. But we aren't planning to move ourselves, just too much for us. We are working on painting the house and staging; all that good stuff
I guess the big issue is where my husband will stay while I'm here trying to sell the house and how to choose a mover that's good and won't charge an arm and a leg.
We live on the east coast now and moving to the midwest, so it's a long haul.

[librarySue]

By all means, go to the city-data forum for your new area and ask lots of questions. You will get lots of advice and info!

Good for you for cleaning out the garage and basement!

[DanBev]

OMG,we planned a Oct 2010 move and decided not to after packing over 200 boxes,we are still trying to figure out how to undo this mess.We spent Sept to Dec 25 in CT,left on xmas,beat the storm returning to FL.On Nov 8th had heart surgery,need I say more.Excellent doctor,s and hospital.

[Meenie]

Oh my, DanBev, that sounds like a nightmare!!! I hope you have it all unraveled now!