If you’re getting ready for a cross-country or long-distance move, you’re not the only one. Roughly 10% of Americans move every year, and even more families are hitting the road this year in search of lower living costs and more space. From packing your home to hiring movers to getting to your new place and settling in, long distance moves require a big commitment from everyone involved. 

At Verified Movers, we regularly work with businesses and clients who have truly seen it all. Thankfully, we’ve been able to take lessons learned from the many mishaps that accompany moving to put together a guide to help you prepare for your long-distance move –– and coming out the other side with your sanity intact.

Declutter

A couple of months before you move, start decluttering as many items as possible from around your home. This will make the packing and moving process easier for you and for your movers. It might save you some money with a moving company, too.

One way or another, you should get rid of:

• Broken or outdated items
• Duplicates of tools, electronics or anything that’s hard to transport safely
• Rarely used items

While tossing out items with these characteristics isn’t the end-all be-all to any pack rat woes, it goes a long way in eliminating stress and cost! Some items can be recycled or donated to a thrift store. Others will need to be thrown away. Make it a goal to move as little as possible — you’ll thank yourself later. 

Plan Your Budget

Moving long-distance is an expensive process. Between hiring movers, purchasing packing supplies, and travel fees, you could be looking at a cost of thousands of dollars just to get your stuff moved from one house to another. That’s why the next step in the moving process should be to define your budget. 

Sit down and think about how much money you’re prepared to invest in this move and where you’d be willing to cut corners to lower the cost without sacrificing anything essential. Keep an eye out for hidden costs of moving, such as:

• Moving insurance
• Boarding your pets
• Renting storage space
• Gas money, food, and potential hotels while you’re traveling
• Parking fees
• Extra costs from the moving company, such as stair fees for buildings with no elevator or large item fees for big pieces of furniture
• Tips for the movers
• Replacing items for your new home
• Groceries and lawn care

Ultimately, it’s up to you to identify where your spending priorities are, and make the right choices based on those limits. This is one of the more taxing elements of moving, but it’s also the most vital to your success.

Find Professional Moving Services

Once you’ve defined your budget and figured out how much you want to spend on a moving company, it’s time to find a moving services solution to help the process go quickly and easily. A platform like Verified Movers makes it easy to search for the best moving company near you.

Your best bet is to find reliable platforms where customers post their reviews and testimonials of the companies they’ve worked with, since you can use the site to find and vet any moving company you’re considering. Just enter the details of your next move, view a list of recommended companies, and get a quote from each one before making your final decision. Start researching movers about two months before your planned move to make sure you’ll have plenty of time. 

Complete All Necessary Paperwork  

Let your bank or credit card company, insurance companies, and utility companies know that you’re going to be moving. Have any subscriptions switched to your new address, too. Your local post office can help you make your change of address to forward your mail. You should also get any medical records that you’ll need your new medical providers to have, as well as transferring your children’s school records to their new district. Finally, if you have a landlord or rental company, notify them of your move. Most places require at least a one month notice. 

Start Packing

The best time to start packing up your home is about one month before your moving date. Begin by packing away items you aren’t currently using on a regular basis, such as out-of-season clothes or outdoor toys. Put valuable items in a special box and pack any items you’ll need right away, like toiletries or kitchen supplies, in a box labeled “Essentials.” Other boxes should be labeled according to the room where they belong. 

Make Travel Arrangements

As the date of your move draws closer, you’ll need to figure out your travel arrangements. Are you flying or driving to your new home? Will you need to stay overnight at a hotel along the way? It’s also helpful to research your new town, writing down a list of addresses to keep on hand (such as the grocery store closest to your new home). 

Moving long-distance can seem like an intimidating task, even if you know a new, exciting life awaits you at the end of your journey. But with plenty of research ahead of time – and a bit of elbow grease – you can set yourself up for success as you make the move to your new home. 

About Verified Movers:

Verified Movers is a trusted review platform that publishes reviews, customer testimonials and experiences with moving companies. Verified Movers is dedicated to helping people find the best moving services solutions for their needs. Whether people plan to move down the street or across the globe, Verified Movers is here to provide them with the best choice of professional moving companies to get them there. The platform offers the option to both research and share reviews for different professional movers country-wide. In addition to this, it also provides the options for those same moving companies to create their own profiles and promote the services they offer to clients. To learn more, please visit: https://verifiedmovers.com/.