Moving is one of life’s most stressful events, and we are here to help. As with all great stressors in life, the earlier you start the more manageable it becomes. With our detailed moving guide, there will never be a question as to what your next steps are or should be. We will discuss all the steps you will need to take in order to prepare for your move. In this portion, we will discuss the earliest steps you should take before a move to make it as smooth as possible.

8 Weeks Before Your Move

6 Weeks Before Your Move

8 WEEKS BEFORE YOUR MOVE

Learn Your Lease Terms

If you are renting an apartment or a house, know how much notice you need to give. What things will need to be cleaned prior to your move, and what things need to be returned to their factory default settings? If you painted the walls of your apartment, you will likely need to paint them back to their old boring eggshell color instead of the totally awesome crimson you had. ​​​​​

The most important thing you will want to take care of is knowing your notice period. While true, you signed a set term lease, many rental companies will put you on a month-to-month lease after the set term is up. Without giving appropriate notice, you would be on the hook for additional rent and potentially any other closing fees that may exist. 

Restore Your House 

This is a pretty simple concept: make sure everything in your home is the way you found it when you moved in. Landlords always fight tooth and nail to keep the security deposit. It is your job to make that as difficult as possible. Make sure to start painting walls back to their original color and get a steam clean for any carpets.

Tell Everyone That Needs to Know

From landlords to yard crews, make sure everyone who needs to know is made aware well in advance. Most of these notices can be handled in a brief five-minute phone call. Depending on your lease, alerting your landlord of your intention to vacate might be able to be put off a little, but for others this might be the deadline.

Make Copies of Everything

By this point you should be an expert of your old lease, but even the world’s leading expert would do well to be able to pull out all the necessary documents when they’re needed. Whether that be to contest charges your old landlord is trying to levy or things you need to know about your new home, there is no harm in having hard copies ready to go for any situation. If you are a real pro, get some binders to keep track of all your move related documents. 

6 WEEKS BEFORE YOUR MOVE 

Where Are You Moving?

Before we talk about how to pack or what moving company you should use, we need an answer to the obvious question: where are you moving? The moving needs are different for each move, whether you are moving across the street or across the country, there are different things we need to consider. 

Research Storage Options    

If you are moving into some transitional housing, it may be necessary to get some moving storage. Click here to find storage near where you’re moving. This is especially important for longer distance moves but can also be a relief in large local moves.

Get Your Home Listed

For homeowners, this will involve getting in touch with a local real estate agency. Depending on your situation, selling your house might be necessary before house hunting can really begin.  

Start Concocting Your Move Strategy

Moving is hard, moving without a plan is much worse. The very first thing you will want to decide when planning your move is what is your move budget? Maybe having a dedicated team of movers isn't attainable if you can barely afford dinner from a nice restaurant.

Take an honest inventory of what you can afford to spend on the move. You may only be able to afford a truck instead of a full-service move team. Some of this cost might be deferred depending on the offer you get for your new home. Do not set the firmest budget but be reasonable and do the necessary research to determine what is right for you. 

Get a Supply List 

While you aren’t likely to forget things like moving boxes, it is not unheard of to forget to buy a tape-gun or markers for your move. Heaven forbid you forget bubble-wrap or other protective materials for your fragile items. Upside – if you do forget bubble wrap, bunched up plastic grocery store bags will do. 

Rent Your Moving Truck

This is necessary if you aren’t going with a full-service moving company, as renting the truck yourself is a much cheaper option than a full-service move could offer. There are a lot of different truck sizes available for rental, and the bigger they are the more expensive they get. When possible, error on the side of a larger truck – this will allow you to make sure that everything is packed with the utmost care and consideration. Below general guideline for the minimum space requirements for different moves: 

• 12’ Truck: Good for about 1-2 rooms or a one-bedroom apartment. Fits roughly 100 medium moving boxes. 1-5 medium furniture items. Will not comfortably fit a king-sized bed 

• 16’ Truck: Good for 3-4 rooms, or a 2-bedroom apartment. Fits 250 medium moving boxes. Fits up to 10 medium furniture items. 
• 22’ Truck: Good for 4-6 rooms, or a 2.5-bedroom apartment. Fits 350 medium moving boxes and up to 12 medium pieces of furniture. 

• 26’ Truck: Good for 5-8 rooms, or a 3-bedroom home. Fits 500 medium moving boxes and up to 15 medium pieces of furniture.

Line Up Your Movers

Lining up movers at the last minute can add undue stress to an already stressful situation. It is a good practice to get in touch with a move team as soon as you know all the details of the move. In this case, where you are moving from, and where you are moving to. There are a couple of additional considerations to take before selecting a moving company. 

• Are you moving heavy or bulky things like refrigerators, laundry machines, or pianos? 
• Will the movers need to travel up multiple flights of stairs for the move? 
• How many rooms are the movers going to need to load and unload? 
• Will the movers drive the truck, or is that your responsibility? 
• Will you need to make any additional stops during the move like at a significant other’s house or storage unit?
• Making sure that you know the answers to all these questions will dramatically expedite your search for the right moving team. Be sure to handle this as much in advance as possible, moving teams get booked very quickly, and the alternative might be an additional month’s rent.

In our next section, we will discuss getting your next home ready for children and how to pack strategically for as little life interruption as possible.