how long to pack, and unpack in new place? (moving company, job, truck)

[RikkiTikki]

The best way to pack is to purge.

Allow 2-5 days for each room, depending on how many are living in the home. Do the kitchen and master bedroom last. Eat down the pantry while your packing. Box up bedding and towels after they're laundered.

As you're sorting through the contents, have a dispose pile, a donate pile, and one each of a small, medium and large carton to put to stuff in your want to move.

Tape and mark each box with the contents and room location as a it gets full and stack against a wall out of the way.

[inkybrown]

Thanks, it will be hard for me to get rid of things. I collect a lot of things like figurines that are very collectible and therefore I would not sell or give away. Also I have several instruments (piano, harpsichord, 2 organs) that will always be with me. How do y'all pack art? Like framed stuff? I don't know of any boxes big enough for that. I have a lot of it, my walls are covered with framed screen prints and some are quite valuable.

[Meemur]

It took me 8 months . . . that said, if I only had a few weeks, here is what I would do.

1. Grab a notebook and a pen. Make three columns: Move, Sell, Charity -- make a general list of the large items. Then go room by room. About how many 8 x 10 copy boxes will you need for the smaller things you are keeping? Make a note of that.

2. Whatever you wrote down, it's probably too much to move, but don't worry about that right now. Do you have enough to warrant a yard sale? Be honest. Can you get helpers for a yard sale? If so schedule one in two weeks.

3. An alternative might be to make a huge donation to a local charity. Some of them even do pick ups if you have enough. Research that route if it makes financial sense. You may be able to declare it on your taxes if you don't take the standard deduction, but check first.

4. Pretend that each piece of furniture will cost $80 to move and that each 8 x 10 box will cost $40 to move. See if you can cut down more.

5. Once you are at this point, start figuring how much you will have to move. Are you going to go with ABF Upack? A rental truck? Start getting quotes.

6. As soon as you can, pick an actual date to move and nail down the truck/whatever and your workers.

7. Start a notebook of chores/phone numbers and cross them off: final read for gas/electricity, and so on. Try to do a few items each day rather than at the last minute because you might be put on hold for 45 - 55 minutes at a time when calling the utilities.

8. Decide what you are doing on the other end: extended stay, whatever . . . get that nailed down. Maybe someone in the new office from HR can help.

There's a brief outline, OP. I can't stress enough: get rid of as much as you can. Don't sell Granny's china if you use it and doing so will make you cry, but if you have elderly, ripped up furniture from Cousin Bobo, try to let that go. I limited myself to one 8 x 10 box of "memories" and tossed the rest. That was a great compromise! Also, take photos of something like your mom's china cabinet that is cool but it's really too heavy and delicate to move, and then sell it.

You will thank yourself on moving and unpacking day if you do this!

[Meemur]

Originally Posted by inkybrown

Thanks, it will be hard for me to get rid of things. I collect a lot of things like figurines that are very collectible and therefore I would not sell or give away. Also I have several instruments (piano, harpsichord, 2 organs) that will always be with me. How do y'all pack art? Like framed stuff? I don't know of any boxes big enough for that. I have a lot of it, my walls are covered with framed screen prints and some are quite valuable.

You will have some hard decisions to make if you don't have a lot of money for the move. Keep in mind that stuff may be valuable to you but not as valuable as you think in today's depressed art market. I helped an elderly person downsize who thought he had several thousand in valuable art.

The whole collection was barely worth $200 (and that was for two frames) when we had it professionally appraised. We had him select several paintings to hang on his walls and sold the rest at a yard sale.

[flyonpa]

Took around 20hr over one weekend to De-Clutter pack about 40 boxes, ~ 40man hours

Took Prof Movers 4mx4h = 16ManHours to pack everything else.

Timeline:
Did Do I want to Relocate trip? 1 Long Weekend Early May
Early June Yes I want to re-loc.
Late June Housing hunting trip 4 Full Days
Late June/Early July Made offers on new home (2) 1st Home I liked fell thru, went on to 2nd one I liked, got it.
Early July Started to Prep House for Sale, Painted, Landscaping "Spruced Up"
Mid July De-Clutter Packing 40 boxes or so
Mid July Interview Realtors to Sell House
Late July House went on Market.
Early August (about two weeks on market) Accepted offer
Mid September Closed on New House in Georgia
Late September Movers Pack everything , Load truck
Late September Closed on Old house
Early October Drove to GA, Mover arrived 5 day from pack to unload .
Early October Mover Move everything into my new house
(also wound up with a kayak that was not mine, Turned out to be one of my OfficeMates who was re-locating also, and was on same truck)

Unpack Most of the boxes were done in about 7 days ~90% , Rest over the next month or so. 9.9%

But I still have few that were moved 12yrs ago that i still have not unpack'ed yet. A few of them are from move 20+ year ago that still have not been open'ed.

[inkybrown]

Wow, you bought a new house immediately? I was going to rent for a year because I don't know the city very well. Thought I'd better live there a while before I figure out what part of town I want to buy real estate in.

[brook2ga]

When I moved, large pieces of art and mirrors were packed by the movers. They had the necessary supplies.

[NOLA2SGF]

Originally Posted by brookdaleresident

When I moved, large pieces of art and mirrors were packed by the movers. They had the necessary supplies.

Good advice.

I am just moving across town (3 miles away), so I plan to take my large paintings in my SUV and not pack them at all. I did box up the mirrors, and sculptures, for the movers to take. I used a LOT Of towels and/or bedding around the sculptures to protect them.

But moving across town like I am doing, is a lot easier than moving farther away.

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

Originally Posted by Gabbythecat

Start packing now. Start with stuff that you don't expect to use for a while - Christmas decorations, etc. Label the boxes clearly. By the time you are ready to move, you should be down to just the minimal amount of stuff. When you move, those final boxes that you packed should be the first that you unpack. That way, you'll have clothes for work, basic kitchen things, etc. and can go right to your new job. As you have time after that, you can unpack the rest.

Also, pack a few boxes of supplies that you take with you in your car or whatever. The "can't survive without it" stuff like a few rolls of TP, a complete change of clothes, a set of towels and sheets, and supplies for your pets. That will get you through the first few days in your new home without an emergency run to the store for TP!

Originally Posted by kab0906

I packed most of a 2500 sqft house myself. I took many loads to goodwill and had a big yard sale, plus all the stuff we threw or gave away. It took more than two months but I was very thorough.

If the company won't pay all your moving expenses, ask that they at least fly you out for an extended weekend to look for a place to live. A plane ticket and four nights at a hotel is a small price to pay to get a valued employee, regardless of how long it takes to get there.

Finding a rental that takes pets, has a yard, is in an acceptable area, works in your budget, has the space you need inside... may not be easy. If you've lined up a number of viewings ahead of time, you may luck out and find the perfect spot. Tenants usually have to give at least 30 days notice and that's when landlords start to advertise. Which is perfect for your time frame, even if you end up paying an extra month's rent this is way easier than moving with pets to temporary lodging.

Sign the lease, get some photos and measurements and head home.

Take a good long look at what you love and want to keep. If it gives you joy, if it will make your heart light up in your new home, pack it up. If you possibly can, arrange for a UPack moving pod/trailer. Look at how much you want to move, what you can afford and decide on a size. If it doesn't fit, it doesn't go.

This is a good time to replace mattresses that are not as comfortable as you'd like. (Give me an Original Mattress Factory Eurotop any day.) The sofa that isn't quite the one. Make sure that whatever you plan to ship is worth the cost of shipping and storage. Decide if it will fit in your new home.

Now you have several choices:

If you have quite a number of things that are worth something, you may want to call those that do estate sales. Sometimes they will combine your stuff with someone else's estate sale. If they decide to take you on as a client, they take it from there. They pack, price, advertise, sell, haul off what doesn't sell... you get a percentage of the take.

If you haven't accumulated enough flotsam and jetsam for an estate sale, give your stuff away--friends, the crisis shelter, your favorite pet rescue thrift shop... and call it good. For it is.

If there are things you can't bear to part with unless you get some money in return, list it on Craigslist and meet at a neutral location. I've only bought things on CL. Sellers tell me it's a lot of fuss and bother to sell. Lot of goofy people. I imagine there are businesses that sell on CL on commission. Might be worth asking around.

Set your stuff on the curb with a free sign. Store it at your Mom and Dad's.

Unless you hold it with the neighbors as a farewell gathering, I would suggest skipping the garage sale. You're wasting valuable time arranging, pricing, haggling over dimes. Life is short enough as it is.

Once you have signed that lease on your new home, then you need to figure out how long it will take you to pack that pod/trailer.

Some need two months. Some two years. I used to be able to do it two days. (Disabled American Veterans' thrift shops often pick up. )

Your stuff can be stored right in the pod/trailer by the month until you are able to move in. We have moved countless times, by all different methods, this is absolutely the easiest, and often the most cost effect, way. Plus, it is is the only time all our stuff arrives, all of it in decent shape.

You can shorten the time by hiring help to move boxes, furniture, etc. into the pod/trailer or off to the crisis shelter. Hire a housekeeping service to clean up after the place is empty.

Walk through your rooms and write down what you want to keep. Remember, you can ship boxes of books media rate if you decide to forgo the whole pod/trailer/moving van route and just throw your clothes in the trunk of your car and head out.

Whatever you decide you are going to move, get it packed up and going. How long it takes is up to you and how much stuff you are taking, how much help you are willing to hire, and how long it takes you to make decisions.

I would recommend that you tell the company a week later than you actually plan to arrive. It will help keep you on schedule if you know you are going to have a little bit of time to settle, find a good grocery store, a decent restaurant.

You could likely do it all in a month. Week to find a place. Week to pack the pod/trailer.. Week to travel. Week to move in. It would be worth the rush to me to have a training month with the person who is leaving the job.

Good luck.

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

You can also hire people to pack fragile items or you can take them the local FedEx or UPS store and they will place them for you.