What goes into an Estimate for Moving?

When you get an online estimate or an in-person estimate for moving from one place to another, it's nice to know what goes into it. There are several factors used to determine the total cost for your move. Here's a look at some of the major factors used in a moving estimate.

Your New and Old Addresses

The address you will have your belongings picked up at and the address where they will be dropped off is where the moving estimate starts. Good moving companies will ask for this information before they move forward with anything else. The more details you provider, the more accurate your quote will be, as well.

For example, if you're just moving from one apartment to another, the addresses are great, but knowing what floor the apartments are on is even more helpful. You may also need to inform the moving company if you have things at a second address needing picked up along the way.

The Amount/Size of the Things Needing Moved

Along with the location your stuff is going from and to, the amount of things and the size of the things you have will also be factored into the moving estimate. If you have a grand piano and a large pool table needing moved, along with regular household belongings, your moving estimate will likely be higher due to those large items. Again, the more details you can give a moving company about the things you want moved, the more accurate your quote will be.

The Time of Year You Want to Move

In Chicago, moving in the winter may have a different cost compared to moving in the summer. Just like any industry, moving has peak times and off-peak times. If you move during a peak time of year, it will likely cost you more because many others are also moving during this time of year.

Often, in Chicago, the peak moving times are in the spring and fall when school is starting and ending. However, you may run into other peak times, depending on what is going on and when you plan to move.

Factors Making Your Move Less or More Expensive

While the main three things going into your estimate are the locations, your things and the time of year you move, there are other factors that will affect the price. Here are a few things you should understand when it comes to a moving estimate.

Labor

The number of actual movers required to get your belongings from point A to point B is a huge factor in how much it will cost for your overall move. For example, if you have a heavy piano needing moved, it may require a third mover for safety reasons. Without a heavy item, the moving may be able to be done by two movers, which won't cost as much.

Time

The number of hours spent on the actual job also factors into the overall cost. If the move is estimated to take only 3 hours, it won't cost as much as a move estimated to take 6 hours.

Distance

Long distance moves cost more than in-town moves. If you're just moving a few miles across town, it won't cost as much as moving the same belongings outside of the city.

Understanding what goes into a moving estimate is necessary. Not only will the estimate make more sense to you, but it will also help you compare one company to another.

Long Distance Moving

7 Tips to Help with Unpacking After a Big Move

You've already spent time packing everything up and the moving company has taken all of your belonging away. They are in transit and on the way to your new home in Chicago. Have you considered the best way to unpack when you arrive in your new home or will you just wing it? If you were organized during the packing process or you had the professional moving company take care of the packing for you, then you'll already be ahead of the game. However, you can still make unpacking much harder on yourself than it needs to be. The easiest way to handle unpacking is to allow your moving company to take care of it for you. However, if you plan to do it yourself, here are a few tips to make it much easier.

Find the Time

Before you do anything else, make sure you have the time to unpack. There's nothing more annoying about moving than getting so busy you never seem to get unpacked in your new home. You don't want to be unpacking boxes for weeks or even months.

Take a day or two off from work, if necessary, and make sure you have the time to unpack. If this isn't possible, carve out a few hours and enlist help of family and friends to get the job done quickly. Of course, if you're strapped for time and don't have much help, your moving company will do the unpacking for you.

Unpack Your Rooms in the Right Order

It's easy to think you're going to unpack an entire home worth of stuff in just one shot. While this may happen, it's not always the case. Moving day is draining and so is unpacking. If you unpack your rooms in the right order, you will have the most important things ready for you even if you don't make it to the end.

Start with the bedroom. This is where you sleep, so you want to make sure your bed is set up, made and ready to go for a good night's sleep in your new home.

The bathroom comes second and shouldn't take very long to unpack. Obviously, you need to be able to use the facilities, so unpacking your bathroom and shower items is a must.

Next, you will want to get the kitchen unpacked. This will ensure you have a place to make food when you're hungry. It's often a larger job, but it needs to be operational as soon as possible. You don't have to make the kitchen fully operational, however. Just make sure you have the things you need to get you by until you have the time to unpack everything.

Plastic Moving Totes

After the kitchen, the order isn't as important. You've taken care of the essentials, so you're set up for success with the rest of your unpacking.

Other things you should do to make your unpacking easier include:

• Inspect all boxes before picking them up

• Sort your boxes or have the movers deliver them into the right rooms

• Unpack any essentials boxes first

• Set up any large furniture items early in the process

• Clean up throughout the process

If you follow these simple tips unpacking will become much easier. Of course, if you want to make it hassle-free and super easy, hire your moving company to do the unpacking for you.

Local Chicago Moving Company

How to Handle Moving in Chicago When You're Sick

Making a plan to move never involves getting sick, but it does happen. You can set dates for moving, but you can't exactly set dates for when you will get sick. If you've become sick and you need to move, there are some things you should know. If possible, postpone or cancel the move until you're feeling better. However, this isn't always possible and sometimes you have to move regardless of your health. This isn't the time to freak out. Here are some tips to help you with an emergency move when you're sick.

Hiring a Last Minute Moving Company

Maybe you planned on handling the move yourself and you already have everything, or most of everything packed up. It may be a better decision to hire a last minute moving company at this point. They will come take all of your items from your old location to your new location and all you will have to do is be there.

With a trusted emergency moving company, you won't have anything to worry about. You can get moved into your new location without overexerting yourself and making the illness worse.

last minute moving company

Keep the Fluids Flowing

Even though you won't have to do any heavy lifting after hiring a moving company last minute, you still need to be there. Make sure you're drinking plenty of water to help get the toxins out of your system and keep you hydrated. This can help you get through the process a bit easier. Other fluids, such as chicken broth, tea and juice can also help. However, avoid anything with caffeine in it as this can interrupt the sleep you desperately need.

Have Someone Stand in For You

If you're too ill to even be there when they move your things, you can have a proxy stand in. You will still need to sign the paperwork and make sure the moving company you hired will allow you to have a proxy when you're sick. However, your proxy can handle everything else necessary so that you can get your rest and you won't have to worry about the move.

Get a Hotel Room for the Day

While your proxy is handling the move, you should be resting. However, this isn't really possible if your bed is going from your old home to your new home on a truck. It's not like the movers will be able to pick the bed up with you in it and let you sleep in the back of the moving truck.

Instead of being a part of all the commotion, rent a hotel room for the day and get some sleep. Your proxy can handle everything necessary for the move and you can get the rest you need in the comfort of a hotel room until the move it over with or you're feeling better.

Moving while you’re sick isn't fun, but there are steps you can take to make it less stressful. Some moving companies in Chicago offer emergency moving services and will help you even if you don't hire them until the last minute. Hiring a professional moving company will help take the stress off of you, while you’re sick and it's the best option to make sure the move goes smoothly without making you feel worse.

Here's a photo our friends at Paws Chicago shared with us to make you feel better -

Paws Chicago | The Professionals

5 ways to keep your sense of humor when moving

 

(by Diane Laney Fitzpatrick)

Everyone agrees that moving isn’t easy. Studies say moving is one of the hardest things we have to go through in life. And while some people seem to take it in stride and even shine at relocating, I’ve talked to more than a few people who seem to have barely survived a move.

I’ve moved so many times that I’ve mastered the art of the move, particularly the part where you hang onto your sense of humor and learn to laugh instead of cry at the moving madness.

Here are five tactics you can use and abuse during your next move, to keep a smile on your face and a laugh on your lips when the boxes and bubble wrap become too much.

1. Every move needs a jester. It may as well be you.

Your neighbors are draping your front porch in black, your kids are threatening to run away from home because you’re ruining their lives, and it’s up to you to convince everyone that moving is awesome! This is an adventure! “Lucky you!” I’d yell after my kids, ignoring the daggers coming from their eyes.

When things get tough, start laughing and your family will follow suit.

When the box with the entire contents of their bedroom closet would go MIA, when we’d unpack to discover that the 72-ounce bottle of conditioner had broken open and saturated nine sets of sheets, when the first day of school arrives and you don’t have any shoes, if you don’t lead the laughter, no one will.

2. The Law of Opposites: Because if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry

During my most traumatic moves, I made up my own Law of Opposites. The more stressful my move got, the more goofy I’d get. Until, when Comcast tells me they need a 72-hour window to get us nine channels, instead of busting a vein, I’d make myself take a breath and just laugh. Forcing yourself to laugh through a tense moment will get you through the roughest spots and before you know it, you’ve come out on the other side - watching your favorite sitcom.

3. Hang with the happy people

Staying positive and keeping your sense of humor during a move requires a flat-out refusal to let others bring you down. When your move starts to get edgy, be careful who surrounds you. Avoid people with negative attitudes, neighbors who start to tear up every time you talk about your move date, and anyone who doesn’t have a sense of humor.

Keep farewells and going-away parties positive affairs, and if anyone starts to drone on about all the things you’ll miss, pop his helium balloon.

4. Mantras and maxims

Moving is much like a competitive sport. So take a tip from athletes and others who need a jolt of inspiration and find cartoons, funny YouTube videos, quotes, and anything that will lift your spirits and improve your mood.

Keep a reminder on your desktop, put a sign on your nightstand or headboard, whatever it takes. However you choose to remind yourself that “this, too, shall pass” and “we’ll laugh about this someday,” keep reminding yourself that you’ll get through this move intact.

5. The old standby: Picture everyone naked

Not much explanation needed, here. It works for public speaking anxiety, it could work for moving stress. Note: Don’t tell your realtor. We could get into trouble.

Diane Laney Fitzpatrick is the author of “Home Sweet Homes: How Bundt Cakes, Bubble Wrap, and My Accent Helped Me Survive Nine Moves,” a collection of wit and wisdom from her cross-country relocations. She lives in San Francisco, where she’s working on her second book and continues to write her humor blog “Just Humor Me” on her website at www.DianeLaneyFitzpatrick.com.