So you’re about to jump into the adventure of moving to your next home in Florida. What an exciting time! But we know it can be stressful too.
So we’ve put together a complete guide to moving within Florida, to help you stay on top of things, and enjoy your move as opposed to being stressed about it.
Preparing For Your Next Florida Move
Get Started Early
This is the key to ensuring a smooth move. As soon as you know you are going to be moving, start planning your timeline. Plan backward from your actual moving day to today, allocating days to secure packing materials and days to pack.
The more days you give yourself to pack, the less stressful and rushed this will be. Pack one room a day, or one room over two days.
It also helps to create a checklist of things to do as well as a room-by-room inventory of each room so that you can keep track of all your belongings.
Pick Your Moving Day
Trying to book your moving day over a weekend or public holiday will be difficult, as most people try to make use of these days for moving. So, you want to either book as early as possible or preferably book mid-week. Mid-week moves tend to cost less and there is also more availability on these days.
Admin
A straightforward move can take about 8 weeks. Make sure that the practical side of your move is taken care of:
- If you own your home, ensure that transfer details are sorted, and your mortgage is in place.
- If you rent your home, confirm your moving date with the landlord, and secure the return of your deposit.
- Alert your insurers and bank/s of your pending change in location.
- If you have children at school, alert the school of your upcoming address change.
- Alert any utility providers, such as gas, electricity, water, and other accounts of the upcoming address change.
Packing Materials
As tempting as it is to raid your local grocer’s leftover boxes, rather invest in good quality boxes and packing materials. This helps to avoid the possibility of boxes breaking mid-move.
We recommend using a color-coded labeling system to pack, seal and color each packed box by room. This will help make it easier to unpack your belongings in the right rooms.
Build Your Budget
Once you have all your facts and figures researched, you can build your budget so you know how much to put away for your move.
Remember to include some cash tips to have on hand to tip your moving team.
Make Sure Your New Home Is Clean Before Moving In
You don’t want to move into a dirty home. So, before moving day, ensure that your new home gets a thorough deep clean. If you have the budget available and are strapped for time, hire a professional cleaning service.
Choose The Right Moving Company for You
It is possible to do a complete house move on your own, but it gets tricky when you have to hire a van or truck that’s big enough for your furniture. Then you have to have enough people available to help you carry that piano or old French-style wardrobe without damaging it!
So, choosing a professional moving company that is trustworthy and that has years of experience in moving makes sense. And it’s all about good references, reviews, and that “right feeling” when making your choice.
Here are some benefits of hiring a moving company to help you transport your furniture and belongings:
- Your items being moved are safe due to movers knowing how to handle different types and shapes of items.
- Saves you time and effort.
- Less stress.
- Can save you money in the long run, when considering having to rent a truck, buying the equipment needed to move items, fuel costs, road tolls, etc.
How to Pack the Right Way
There are clever tricks to packing that ensure that your items stay secure and are directed to the correct rooms on arrival at their new destination.
- Before you pack anything, declutter your whole home. Donate items you don’t need any longer or throw away old items that have no use.
- Use items you already have to buffer more fragile things. You can use items like dish towels, socks, ties, bath towels, and face cloths to secure your breakables.
- Use smaller boxes for heavy items, and bigger boxes for lighter items.
- If you disassemble furniture, put all the screws into a Ziplock bag and tape it to that piece of furniture.
- Color-code your boxes with different colored tape for each room. Or use a different color marker.
- Tackle one room at a time.
- When packing your electronics, take photos of the back of devices that will need reconfiguration in your new home.
- Pack a box of essentials, such as a change of clothing, toiletries, toilet paper, soap, and bed linen. If you have pets, ensure you have food and bowls packed for them. You don’t want to be hunting for these things on the first night in your new home when you’re exhausted!
- Don’t overpack your boxes. This increases the chance that they will break while moving.
What To Do On Moving Day
- Have a game plan! Enlist someone to be your moving director, and take charge of what should be moved in what order.
- If you have kids and/or pets, call on a family member or friend to look after them for the day.
- Always accept help! Extra hands and vehicles for moving smaller boxes and items that you don’t want to send with the movers will make the move go faster and with less stress.
- Remember to stay hydrated and fuelled during your move. Have bottles with water and/or juice available, and a picnic-style basket with snacks.
- Pack a moving day survival kit, including phone chargers, extra masks, sanitizer, headache tablets, plasters, etc.
The Best Way to Unpack
Don’t rush into unpacking.
Your box of essentials will have all you need to take a shower, make the beds, and hop in for a good night’s sleep after your exhausting day. You should also enjoy your first night and celebrate this big step.
You also don’t have to unpack everything in one day.
Start with the rooms that are most functional in your home: kitchen, bathroom/s, and bedrooms. Unpack one room at a time.
Here’s Our Moving Checklist
8 Weeks Before Your Move
- Create a binder where you can file all your moving documents: checklists, contact information, moving quotes, furniture measurements, receipts, and your inventory. You can also do this online in a Google Doc, or in an Excel workbook, with tabs separating your moving timelines.
- Create your moving checklist and add it to your binder.
- Work out your moving budget.
- Research and select your moving company. Book your moving day with them as soon as possible.
- Create an inventory list of everything in your home, by room.
- Start selling or donating unwanted items.
- Start doing a deep clean of your home.
4 – 6 Weeks Before Your Move
- Purchase your good-quality boxes, tape, labels, and markers.
- Make a list of which rooms will be packed up in what order, starting with your least-used room.
- Book your storage unit if you are going to be using one.
2 Weeks Before Your Move
- Alert utilities or service providers that your address will be changing, or cancel subscriptions and set up new ones for your new address.
- Confirm your moving date with your selected moving company.
- Start packing.
1 Week Before Your Move
- Start disassembling furniture items.
- Prepare cash tips for your movers.
- Ensure that your new home is ready for you to move into.
- Confirm with your child/pet minder and your moving director.
- Ensure that your movers will have somewhere to park at your new home.
- Finish packing your belongings.
Moving Day
- Be available for when the movers arrive and check the paperwork.
- When everything has been moved, take a walk through your old home to make sure that nothing has been left behind.
- Set up the basics in your new home. This includes setting up your bed, buying some groceries, and putting your essential toiletries in the bathroom.
Conclusion
