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2 of us moving from Fl to CO. We each have a car so we will drive those.
Currently live in a 1 bedroom 900 Square foot apt. Moving to a 2200 square foot home with 3 bedrooms that I bought.
So I am trying to figure out if selling as much as I can and leaving the rest that wont fit in the car would even make sense. With our clothes along we'd fill up one car easily I think.
Got a quote for almost $4,000 from a moving company. Im just looking for opinions from people in my position - does it make sense to pay this much to move? Im not sure if I can get rid of my beds,sofa, TV..etc. I only have 6 weeks. Plus we'd still have a full kitchen and other things to box up and move.
I know I could ship via Amtrak so I'm debating my options there as well. Any advice appreciated.
In August we moved from WA to back to TX (long boring story). we had a 26 foot Uhaul and a small covered trailer. Husband drove that, I drove the car.
I do wish we had just sold a lot of our furniture, some of it just months old. BUT husband would not hear of it. Lighten up where you can. I donated bags of clothing and miscellaneous items to step-daughter for her to sell in her garage sale - she was appreciative as she could use the money. Got here and further donated 9 huge Costco bags of clothes to the Goodwill. Dumb of me not to give her those, too.
Worked fine. If you do the Uhaul get a Chock-lock (Amazon) for the truck. We had one tire go out on the trailer when we reached our destination - great luck there.
Getting rid of stuff is fast if you have a town dump. Replacing all those things at the other end costs both money and time.
Some municipalities are now charging to discard large items like furniture if they pick the items up at your house. There are many charities that would love to have furniture in good condition, either to sell in their thrift shops or for the people they serve.
We recently moved from the southwest to the southeast (2,000 miles) and it cost over $5,000 even though we moved less than half of our furnishings from a 2200 sf house. I wish I had donated more of our stuff before the move - not because of the cost, but because much of the furniture just doesn't feel right in this house and I'll most likely replace it anyway.
Since you are moving from Florida to my former state of Colorado, consider what you have that makes no sense to pack and take with you is the first thing to consider. A lot of the year in Colorado, snow is a big factor! I lived in the Denver area for 3 years. You may need a snow blower there or some shovels! (But you know that)
Depends on many factors, on how you want to move! Of course cost is a big decision in how you move but you don't want to make it harder than it needs to be. You have 900 sq. ft. to move, so it should not be that tough if you can pack properly. Seems you want to be able to do it with just 2 cars. With the bigger items it's kind of hard to do unless one of the cars is a large SUV or Truck. Plus with mattresses and furniture the smallest U-Haul might be an option.
U-Haul has options for different sized hitches though so that is something to consider. The hitch I used on my truck worked more than adequately for a full bed, 2 bookshelves, dresser and all my boxes and items from a 1-bedroom apartment set-up. I'm surprised no one mentioned the hitch option yet. I paid about $150 plus the gas it took me from Denver to California once (and a different move) California to Louisiana once. Checkout that option if you can.
Last edited by FierceKaia; 10-08-2020 at 02:14 AM..
Reason: spacing issues
I moved from Miami to Denver and we did a Uhaul and a trailer. If you have AAA, check into Penske-Much better trucks and it will give you a discount.
Also, look into PODS. I know you said your condo doesn't allow it but they legally can't stop it. The turn around time can be a day if you book it correctly.
You can always do a firesale and ship clothes, kitchen stuff, etc via Fed Ex, UPS. They both will vary a lot via pricing so match them up. I've done that several times.
Since you are moving from Florida to my former state of Colorado, consider what you have that makes no sense to pack and take with you is the first thing to consider. A lot of the year in Colorado, snow is a big factor! I lived in the Denver area for 3 years. You may need a snow blower there or some shovels! (But you know that)
Depends on many factors, on how you want to move! Of course cost is a big decision in how you move but you don't want to make it harder than it needs to be. You have 900 sq. ft. to move, so it should not be that tough if you can pack properly. Seems you want to be able to do it with just 2 cars. With the bigger items it's kind of hard to do unless one of the cars is a large SUV or Truck. Plus with mattresses and furniture the smallest U-Haul might be an option.
U-Haul has options for different sized hitches though so that is something to consider. The hitch I used on my truck worked more than adequately for a full bed, 2 bookshelves, dresser and all my boxes and items from a 1-bedroom apartment set-up. I'm surprised no one mentioned the hitch option yet. I paid about $150 plus the gas it took me from Denver to California once (and a different move) California to Louisiana once. Checkout that option if you can.
Thanks!
I hear so many mixed stories about the snow there. It's wild. Some say that the snow melts by noon and people drive in it with no issues. There are a few heavy storms each year but it's not like the Northeast where it doesnt melt and just piles up over time. Then I heard last year the snow was really bad and people really hated it.
I honestly dont even know what to believe anymore. lol. Im just hoping I can do outdoor activities most of the year. Down here in FL, the constant rain and strong heat really makes exercising more challenging then you would think from living in the "sunshine state".
We just moved CA to Maine and used a U-Pack trailer. I highly recommend it! They do allow a "live load" option if your condo won't allow a trailer to stay overnight - this means you would load it all at once, totally doable if you have friends/not a lot of stuff. The other nice thing is that if you end up needing a little more space, it's basically pay-by-the-foot. It's not cheap but for us, the peace of mind of not wrestling with a U-Haul on top of everything else was really worth it. Plus I hear U-Hauls are in high demand these days!
Good luck to you, I'm originally from CO and love it, I'm sure you will too.
As others have said, it's a balance between what you want to bring and what you want to pay.
Our budget was substantial so we had a dedicated full-size moving van and we only owned enough stuff to fill it 70%. We brought every stick of furniture, every lamp, every painting, every area rug, every set of linens, etc. we had because we were going from 2 BR / 900 sq.ft to 4 BR / 3000 sq.ft. They finished unloading the truck and the new house was still empty. We also brought a lot of household stuff like flour and spices, dish/laundry soap, mops/brooms, etc. It was nice to minimize the amount of shopping to replace stuff at the other end. No point saving $1000 on the move by leaving behind $2000 of stuff you'll need to replace.
We did clear out all the bric-a-brac before the move. We were short on time and energy so we just called a "we clean out your basement" hauler. You point, they take it away. Much cheaper than we thought. The company we used charged by the pound. They took it somewhere and sorted for landfill, recycle, re-use. They donated a few clothing items to charity and sent us a tax receipt. They also have a thrift shop and sold a few of our items and cut us a check for half of what they got.
I hear so many mixed stories about the snow there. It's wild. Some say that the snow melts by noon and people drive in it with no issues. There are a few heavy storms each year but it's not like the Northeast where it doesnt melt and just piles up over time. Then I heard last year the snow was really bad and people really hated it.
I honestly dont even know what to believe anymore. lol. Im just hoping I can do outdoor activities most of the year. Down here in FL, the constant rain and strong heat really makes exercising more challenging then you would think from living in the "sunshine state".
Where in CO are you moving to? CO is geographically diverse and so is the weather. West of the Rockies? Front range? Eastern plains? Southwest? Intermountain? What the snow may be like is going to depend on where you live and what month it happens to be. SOME snow might melt by noon and SOME snow won't. A quick moving storm in November might drop a few inches that will melt quickly because there tends to be less moisture in those storms and the temperatures rise back to above freezing fairly fast. Snow is mostly air. Snow from a slower moving, wetter storm hitting in March may not melt nearly as fast and if storms hit in quick succession it will build up. Heavier snowstorms tend to hit after January. Those storm systems carry more moisture. April can see some heavier dumps but the temperatures are also relatively warm which means that wetter snow will melt faster. Don't forget...every year is different. There is a lot of information about CO precipitation patterns.
2 of us moving from Fl to CO. We each have a car so we will drive those.
Currently live in a 1 bedroom 900 Square foot apt. Moving to a 2200 square foot home with 3 bedrooms that I bought.
So I am trying to figure out if selling as much as I can and leaving the rest that wont fit in the car would even make sense. With our clothes along we'd fill up one car easily I think.
Got a quote for almost $4,000 from a moving company. Im just looking for opinions from people in my position - does it make sense to pay this much to move? Im not sure if I can get rid of my beds,sofa, TV..etc. I only have 6 weeks. Plus we'd still have a full kitchen and other things to box up and move.
I know I could ship via Amtrak so I'm debating my options there as well. Any advice appreciated.
I used a broker company to ship my stuff and car from one coast to almost another. Similarly, a pod wasn't feasible, so truck was a must.
I culled possessions from a 1200sf townhouse, leaving all large furniture, except a bedset and one bookcase. You can get furniture cheap at your new spot- I'd keep the sentimental stuff, the immediate stuff you use regularly and pricey items. It's hard to get rid of stuff, but things can be replaces at your new spot.
The broker company, they basically get a large tractor trailer and ship 4-6 households at once, stopping off from state to state to unload/p-up at each point & they charged by the cubic foot. It was ~$3'ish per cubic foot (as much stuff to pack into something like a 10'x8'x8' space, about the same size as a medium uhaul truck.) This included full service moving- 3 guys carrying all the stuff at both ends even up/down stairs. The cost was around $2300 for ~2500 miles.
Similarly, my car shipped thru a broker on a huge truck with 9 other cars, was $1300, 2500 miles. (I have a cat and no way was a cat going to ride in a car or truck for 4-5 days. Plane ticket is way cheaper than 3-4 nights in hotels and gas/food/time.)
This is very cheap compared to regular moving companies, whose quotes were in the $5000-6000 range, not including the car (think Mayflower).
If you want to do it all yourself, then a Uhaul truck with a car tow would be another option.
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