Moving Company (Houston, Katy: sale, apartment, transporting)

[yo-mama]

We are looking to move to Katy this summer and are looking into having a company move us. We currently live in East Tennessee and have a vehicle to be moved as well. I've recieved a quote from Katy Movers and it is going to be around $4000 or so for the move. If I move myself I'm probably looking around $2000 for a truck and the gas when all is said and done. It seems like a no brainer to just let someone else deal with it but I don't want half of my stuff broke by the time it gets there.

[Houston_2010]

get some companies to come out to your house and give you estimates. They will be responsible for breaking things. I have used Allied in the past and more recently Graebel. I like Graebel - I had a crew doing the packing one day, and movers the next day (totally worth the money especially if you have kids!). They created wood crates to carry the LCD TV and a desk glasstop. THey even quoted for transporting our cars. A few days later, the same driver who picked up my things was the one to deliver them (moved from Seattle-Houston).

Also check with your employer to see if they have some sort of negotiated rates with moving companies. A lot of times, part of the employee benefits is to get discounts with moving, cell phone, etc.

[yo-mama]

Thanks for the info. That is the way we are looking is to have someone to pack us up and move us. We have a teenage girl and preteen so we have amassed some junk. We are just trying to figure out if we pay to be moved or just sell a bunch of our stuff we have now, move ourselves, and then buy some new stuff after we get to Katy. I'm actually a consultant so no negotiated rates with the small firm I work for but they may pick up my moving expenses none the less.

[Houston_2010]

I hear you. When we did our move to Seattle - we gave away a bunch of furniture b/c we knew we were moving to an apartment 1/2 the size of our townhome. We had to pay for the move ourselves. Then once settled in Seattle we actually bought Ikea furniture for what we needed anticipating getting rid of it and not having to pay all that money to movers (we knew we were going to be there only a year). It turned out that my husband's new employer in Houston was going to pay all the relocation expenses so we decided to move everything (moving to a much bigger house) and then take our time with furniture shopping once we got here. That helped b/c at the time my daughter was 6 weeks old...so we did our furniture shopping trips whenever we could.

I would say if there is something dear to you, and you know will be used in the new place, keep it and have the movers pack it and move it. If there is something that you don't care for and you know it may break - try to host a garage sale or give it to charity (tax deductible). They will have good use for those items. Same thing goes with clothes...often times we carry a lot of stuff in our closet that we haven't used in years...get rid of it before getting to Katy. Your daughters are old enough that they may even go through their own things and decide to clear up and get rid or sell what they don't want.

Good luck!!!

[yo-mama]

Thanks for the info. It's much appreciated and I'm sure I'll think of a couple other hundred things that I'm curious about.