How Much Does It Cost to Move?
Moving is always a thrilling, frustrating, and engaging experience that may transform your life forever and bring you new and exciting places. Moving across town to a new apartment or house changes your living experience dramatically. However, knowing how much you're likely to pay before relocating is essential. Doing so can help you better plan this process and avoid issues.
In this article, we'll answer the question “how much does it cost to move?” for you. First, we'll break down how much it costs to do short and long moves. Then, we'll examine various factors that may affect your move, break down your moving costs agreements, give you tips on how to cut back on your costs, and discuss how working with Goalry can help you save money or fund your new moving experience.
Your Moving Costs: A Quick Answer
It can be tricky to calculate just how much money you're spending when moving. However, companies like Forbes also provide a free moving calculator that makes this estimation easier.
You can use one of these calculators when planning a move, though we can also state that you're likely to pay $80 to $100 per hour for local or intrastate moves of 100 miles or less and $2,000 to $5,000 per move for interstate or cross-country moves that stretch out over 100 miles from your starting point.
You may also pay up to $25 to $50 per hour for extra movers beyond the initial moving team and up to $0.50 per pound in long-distance moves. These additional costs can add up considerably while you're moving and can be challenging to plan. For example, you might have an initial $2,000 cross-country move expense. The moving team may charge $0.50 per pound, and since you're moving about 2,000 pounds of items, they tack on an extra $1,000 beyond your initial movement fee.
As for short-distance moves, these expenses may start going up quickly too. For example, let's say your movers charge $100 per hour for your move. They take one hour packing your items, a half-hour traveling to your new destination, and one hour unpacking your things. That's 2.5 hours, which would be about $250. However, they may also bring along two extra movers because of your increased load size, charging $50 per hour more for each. That adds another $125 per mover or $250 total to your move.
While it's true that you can minimize and mitigate many of these costs by handling moving steps yourself, you're going to put wear and tear on your vehicle, potentially hurt yourself, and spend a lot of time moving yourself. However, it's completely doable and is worth trying if you want to save money. Before making this decision, pay attention to the different factors that may affect your moving costs.
Factors That Affect a Short Move
Even a short move across town or to another city in the same state may cost you as much as $1,200 or more, depending on many factors. Some of these factors include the number of items you own. As you can imagine, packing up, moving, and unloading more goods will increase your moving costs by taking more time and work hours to finish and execute properly.
As significantly, your moving experience can be affected by things like the workers used in your move, their work quality, each worker's experience, any insurance you purchase, fragile items that need to be handled carefully, etc. Let's break down the average prices for short moves based on your home size. Doing so can give you a better idea of what to expect here.
Packing up, hauling, and unloading even a small, one-bedroom apartment can take 3-5 hours or more, depending on your moving team and how much you help them. Expect average prices of $240 to $500 per move! The costs only go up from here.
The more extensive your home gets, the more items you will pack the most your moving fees will increase. With a two-bedroom apartment or house, your move can take 4-7 hours and will likely cost $320 to $700 or more, depending on how far you move and insurance options.
A three-bedroom home will increase your moving time to about 6-8 hours and cost at least $480 to $800. A home of this size will have many items and multiple rooms that require careful packing, sorting, and labeling.
By the time you get to four-to-five-bedroom homes, you're looking at a pretty long moving experience. It could take 8-12 hours or more, which jumps your price to $640 to $1,200 or more. In addition, your team may earn overtime hours after eight hours, increasing your costs.
Anything that increases your moving time will affect your overall cost and make this process more costly. Nothing adds to your moving time like more goods, so the most significant factor that affects your moving costs is your home size and how many items you own. The same things can affect your long-distance moves, though other factors also affect these moving types.
Factors That Affect Longer Moves
Long-distance moving companies don't charge by the hour because their rates would be too high and variable. Instead, they often charge a shipping cost based on the move's length and may add varying factors that affect how much your moving situation costs. Let's break down a few of the most critical elements to ensure that you understand what to expect here:
Your mover will give an “empty weight” receipt that lets you know how much their trucks weigh before packing. They then weigh the truck again to gauge your overall weight costs. They'll then assess how much your move costs based on this weight before moving on to other factors.
Your moving company is likely to charge you per mile and the weight charges. As you can expect, longer distances translate into costly moving experiences. They may also charge some compensation for things like hotel stays during the move.
When planning your move, your moving team will create a route along which you travel. They will try to keep the path as short as possible to minimize expenses. However, they expect to be compensated for fuel and toll expenses, so consider that fact before planning.
A skilled long-distance moving team goes through many logistics when planning your move. For example, they may have multiple trucks that all need to get to the same spot simultaneously. This process may involve following each other, communicating via CB radio or cell phones, and ensuring that nobody gets lost. While rare, this problem may affect you during your travels.
You typically won't have to pay for any miles your moving team wastes while riding around lost. They created a contract with you and usually have to stick to the mileage you agreed to pay. Getting compensated for lost work hours due to their mistakes may also be possible, depending on whether you can prove you lost any money.
You're probably going to get your goods later than expected. Thankfully, the days of GPS make this error quite rare, and if any movers get lost, they typically only get temporarily dislocated not far from your home. They may also easily contact others to streamline their delivery.
Other Cost Factors You May Experience
When answering the question “how much does it cost to move?” it is essential to gauge a few other factors that may affect short- and long-distance moves. These items can include multiple factors that can vary depending on your activity. Depending on your moving situation, you may experience some or none of these situations. These elements include:
Rental truck costs, which may be around $20 per day
Loading and unloading costs, from $200 to $1,000 per day
Full-service options, which cost as much as $5,000 per move
Temporary storage, which can cost $50 to $400 per month
Moving supplies, which can cost between $50 to $200
Insurance, which costs about $0.60 per pound
Vehicle moving charges, which may be as high as $400
Fragile transportation coverage, which may include $200 charges
Please pay attention to your moving cost agreement and its detailed, line-by-line estimate. Also, make sure you shop around for a satisfying cost agreement that suits your specific needs. These agreements fall into two different types, one of which is preferable if you can find a mover who offers it.
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Moving Cost Agreement Options
Let's briefly discuss the two major moving cost agreement options available from moving companies.
Non-binding estimates
These include non-binding estimates, which are the industry standard. These estimates are a company's best guess and maybe more, depending on the move.
Unfortunately, movers usually exceed this estimate, and there's not much you can do about it.
not-to-exceed estimate
A not-to-exceed estimate is a quote that a company must not exceed during a move. Though rare, some companies offer them. Get them when you can! Even if a move costs a team more money than their agreement, they cannot exceed this estimate cost and have to charge you what they initially estimated.
Tips For Cutting Back On These Costs
If you're feeling a bit overwhelmed by your moving costs and uncertain of whether you can afford them, it is essential to take a few tips to help streamline this process. Understanding these options can make this process a lot easier and cut back on many extra expenses. You'll have to take many moving steps yourself, mind you, but you can still work with a moving team to handle these steps:
Pack Your Goods Yourself
Yes, your moving team can pack up your items and haul them between different areas with relative ease. However, they'll charge you for this process, which can add quite a bit to your service costs. So instead, pack up your items yourself to ensure that you save money and sort and pack them in meaningful ways, including putting things in the correct spots.
Use Strong and High-Quality Storage Bins
Trying to pack up your goods in weak boxes is a poor decision. Yes, you might save a little money on leftover cardboard boxes. However, they're more likely to break, and your items are more likely to get smashed. Instead, buy high-quality plastic lids with sealable covers when moving. These should last longer and avoid cracks while keeping your goods safe.
Haul Items Yourself, When Possible
While you can use a moving company to haul heavy items, like your furniture, why not pack your car up with most of the small things? You can probably put down your back seats and turn your little vehicle into a surprisingly roomy moving option. Doing so can help you minimize excessive trunk rental and keep your moving situation streamlined.
Hire Movers Only When Necessary
While moving businesses are an excellent investment, if you're hauling many items and don't want to do it yourself, you can probably handle some short-distance moves yourself. Find friends and family members willing to help, load up their vehicles, and pay them a little money for helping. Some might even want a nice pizza dinner for their help.
Label Your Boxes Before the Move
Many moving companies work by the hours when doing smaller or shorter moves. As a result, you need to do what you can to streamline their operation when they unload your goods. First, label your boxes with obvious messages telling them where to unload. Doing this can help streamline the process and better understand the movers.
Unload the Items Yourself
Many movers will unload your items for you when they get to your destination. You can save some money by doing this yourself and with friends and family members. While this process may wear you out at the end of the day, it can save you on unloading expenses. However, note that you'll still probably have to pay moving insurance even if you load these items.
As you can see, some of these tips put the onus of moving on you a bit. You'll not only have to pack up your goods and do a little hauling but also unload your items at the same time. Some people may find this process a little frustrating and may prefer paying haulers to do everything for them. However, that decision does drive up your moving costs, so be prepared to pay more for this service.
Thankfully, you can also consider a small, short-term loan that may help cover some of these expenses. There are many lenders who'll cover costs as low as $2,000 to $5,000, though you may have to pay back the loan faster than you would with more significant, longer-term options. If this idea sounds wise to you, it is crucial to understand the ways that our app can help you find lending options.
Ways We Can Help You
If you don't think you can pay for your move and need help finding financing options, we can help. Goalry is a unique financing app that enables you to identify lenders that may provide you with cash. We are not a lender ourselves and cannot guarantee that you'll find funding. However, we can streamline your search by providing a unique and easy-to-use platform that can cut back on your search time.
You start by creating a profile and searching for different lender options. Our app lets you sort through your options, identify a lender's application process, find contact information that helps streamline your application, and apply for your loan. In this way, you may be more likely to find a lender who suits your purposes and feels comfortable with the unique benefits that they provide you.
So please consider downloading our app and signing up for your profile. It should be easier to finance your next big move when you set up the proper search parameters and identify a lender who can help you. Just as importantly, you can find a lender with repayment terms that work for you, as these terms may be quite diverse. You can even find a short-term loan to cover your expenses without putting yourself in heavy debt.
Get Planning Your Next Big Adventure!
As you can see, many elements may affect your moving costs. It would help if you understood the answer to the question “how much does it cost to move?” and should feel comfortable planning your move. You might even feel comfortable working with a high-quality moving company that can help you pack up and ship your goods smoothly and efficiently to your new home.
Make sure that you spend a little extra time planning each of these steps and talk with your family about your move before you go. Doing so can help to minimize their confusion, make this experience more enjoyable, and give everyone a better feel for what to expect. After all, you're all in this move together, and taking care of their needs can make it a much better time for everyone.