4 Reasons You Need to Hire Professionals for Your Next Move

Moving is tough. There’s no way around it. Moving all of your belongings from one apartment to the next is a grueling task. And if you’re envisioning a move in your near future, you might want to think about the benefits to hiring the professionals this time around.

So, why would you pay extra money to have the professionals move your stuff? Well, let’s just say you’re moving from your current Cincinnati apartment where rent prices are on the decline  to a more expensive city like Chicago. In this case, you’ll want to save money and skip the Chicago movers, right!? Wrong.

You have to account for the time you’ll spend packing, driving, unloading — potentially injuring yourself in the process — and storing your stuff in Chicago if things go wrong. Plus, you’ll likely end up paying extra fees for rental trucks, storage and the pizzas you buy for your helpful friends and family members will add up quick.

Here are the four main reasons you’ll want to hire movers for your next move:

Reliability

Professional moving companies are professionals because they know how to get the job done. If they didn’t, the company would not be in business. Rather than depending on your friends and family on your move out date, book a moving company and give yourself some peace of mind. Professional movers are specifically trained for moments like your move. They learn the best techniques to keep your belongings intact and safe, unlike your Uncle John who just tosses your things into the back of a truck on his way out of the apartment. You can’t afford to break items during your move, so let the pros handle it.

Speed

Moving companies are trained to work at an extremely fast pace. This isn’t because they want to simply get done with your move and onto the next for a quick buck. The pros work at a fast pace, because they know you don’t have much time and they’re going to provide you with the best customer service and moving experience possible. Chicago movers, specifically, have a ton of experience working within the atmosphere of a busy city; this is something you cannot prepare for yourself. Most companies pride themselves on prompt and professional service, and by finding a great moving company, you can ensure a speedy move. It’s worth every penny.

Heavy Lifting

Ok, we know some of you have had dreams of becoming a professional weightlifter; or maybe you played football back in college. Times have changed. Without proper training to lift household items, heavy lifting can lead to major injuries to the back and legs — something you need to avoid at all costs. Hire the pros for this. They’ll bring a team of strong, qualified moving professionals and will handle the heavy lifting in an efficient manner. You and your friends might think saving a few bucks on moving costs might be worth it until you get your first medical bill from blowing out your back trying to lift that couch. Leave this to the experts!

Inventory

Kitchenware. Glasses. Shoes. Dressers. TVs. Pots. Pans. We all have much more stuff than we actually imagine. When prepping for a move it can be daunting to take inventory on all of your materials. And packing them is even more of a pain and lengthy process.

For this, hire the experts. Moving professionals understand what size boxes they need, how to pack those boxes and how to transport them as well. The pros are trained in organizing a move efficiently and this starts with the packing and inventory process. Think about wrapping glassware, lamps and your mattress; these are extremely tough tasks for all of us. To reduce the amount of damage you cause to your items, hire the experts.

Overall, we all know that moving is a time-consuming and difficult task. And you already have a ton to worry about when planning your next move; perhaps you’re weighing the rent vs. own options for your future and how much money that might cost you. That said, there are amazing companies that help to make this process easier on all of us. From taking inventory to lifting heavy items, you don’t have to do any of that yourself. Hire the moving professionals and you will not regret it!

How to Avoid Moving Day Theft

One thing you may not have put much thought into when it comes to your upcoming move is how to avoid moving day theft. You’ve spent so much time planning the move, hiring professional movers, packing the house, and throwing a moving party with your friends that it didn’t even cross your mind that theft can take place on this important day.

This is because you are more distracted than usual and some people may take this opportunity to take advantage of your busy mind. Take a look at these tips to keep in mind to make sure you aren’t dealing with moving day theft.

Handling so many people coming and going

One of the biggest problems with moving day is that you are dealing with so many different people coming and going in your home, how could you possibly notice if a burglar came in and left with one of your items? You’ll have friends and family helping you with the move, the professional movers, landlords or old tenants, the cable guy, and more showing up at the door. This means that a thief could easily walk in pretending to be one of these workers and head out the door with a valuable item.

One way to avoid this dilemma is to set up a room in the old house and new house where no one can go but your family. This room can hold all of the valuable items and have a way to be locked up. Be sure it doesn’t have windows and that only you know who is going into that room. It’s a great way to protect valuables like jewelry, money, family heirlooms, and photos from getting stolen.

The most common stolen item on moving day

Surprisingly, the most common item stolen on moving day is prescription medicine and designer items like your perfumes. While it may seem strange that people would go after your toiletry bag, they look at these pills and designer belongings as things that are easy to sell on the street.

Don’t pack your important toiletries like these that are hard to replace in your regular toiletry bag or box. Instead, put them in a small piece of luggage that you can easily identify and keep track of at all times. You’ll feel more secure knowing that these important items are in a small suitcase that thieves wouldn’t look at for medications.

Guarding your personal records

Since you’ve been gathering important and sensitive personal records before the move, you’re carrying these things around during your moving day. You don’t want someone getting your personal paperwork and trying to sell it on the street for a great deal of money.

Instead, keep these papers on you at all times to ensure they are constantly being guarded. This would be everything from bank statements to investments, social security numbers to birth certificates. Keep them in your secured room

Have extra eyes working on your behalf

Lastly, it can be really beneficial to have extra eyes working on your behalf that day. Hiring a professional moving service allows you to feel a peace of mind knowing that all of these crew members are watching your things during the move.

Having friends and family around will also help to have everyone keeping an eye on everything and having enough people to remember seeing each box go on the moving truck and come off. You don’t have to try to keep track of everything yourself.

Moving day theft isn’t too common of a problem, but when it does happen, these are the most common problems. Protect your identity, your valuables, and your hard-to-replace items by keeping these tips in mind before your upcoming move.

How to best be helpful to your professional movers

You’ve hired a moving crew with a great reputation and a great deal of experience in moving household goods. Now it’s time for your upcoming move and you want to be sure everything goes as well for you as it has for other moves. What can you do on your part to help ensure the move is a great one?

While your movers will be doing the heavy lifting and the stuff that isn’t so fun, you can do some things in preparation for the move to make sure they can do their job more efficiently. Start emptying out dresser drawers and getting some labels ready, along with these other tips, so that you can be extra helpful to your movers while they do their best to take care of you too.

Get beverages for the crew

One easy place to start is to have cold beverages ready for the team on moving day. Your movers are going to work hard and they are going to work up a sweat. Offering refreshments to your crew and anyone else you have helping you out will show appreciation for the hard work and keep everyone feeling good for the duration of the project. Having snacks like fruit and granola bars is also a great way to keep everyone fueled for the hard work taking place.

Make labels for the right rooms

If you are the one doing the packing, make sure to have everything packed and ready to go for moving day. Have a space set aside for anything you don’t want them to touch, such as an extra bedroom that they won’t go in.

If you have a packing crew, make sure to start making labels ahead of time for things like “kitchen,” “dishes,” “kid’s toys,” so that you can slap those on the boxes quickly and efficiently. If you are packing yourself, make sure everything is labeled with the items and rooms they go in before the movers arrive.

Empty desks and drawers

The movers aren’t going to move your dresser, desks, and armoires with stuff full in the drawers. Instead, you should empty them out ahead of time to ensure the furniture can be moved and nothing is damaged. Emptying any cabinets, desks, and other furniture and packing them into boxes with everything else will allow your movers to focus on the piece of furniture and the best protection for it without extra weight inside.

Disconnect electronics and appliances

One thing you may not have thought to do is to disconnect anything plugged into the wall. This means that you’ll want to unplug lamps, TVs, DVD players, hairdryers, air fresheners, and more. Have everything unplugged and wiped free of dust so that it’s easy and fast for the movers. Otherwise, you may be paying for extra time while your movers attempt to figure out how to detangle them.

Take everything off the walls

Your walls are full of art, photographs, shelves, mirrors, and more. This is the time to start taking everything down. Your movers can appropriately pack these fragile items in the right boxes, but having them down off the wall ahead of time will make it much more efficient. Anything on the wall can be taken down and set on the floor below where it was hanging including paintings, mirrors, clocks, and pictures. Then put all of the hanging hardware and nails in a bag for your new home.

Pack valuable items in your car

Another tip to help your movers is to put anything small, fragile, or very important in your own car. While it’s not required, your professional movers will appreciate not being responsible for your family heirlooms, jewelry, or small electronics. Then you can keep some of these extremely valuable items with you the whole day.

The most important thing to do to help your professional movers is to let them do what they do best. Taking steps to make the day smoother ahead of time will be appreciated, but trusting them to handle your goods with care is the best thing you can do.

How to properly label your moving boxes

When it's time to move, you want to make sure your move is a success. Part of a good move is organization, which includes labeling your moving boxes. There are ways to label your boxes that will make it much easier when you arrive at your new place.

Before you get out the markers and start writing all over your boxes, it's important to have a plan. Here are some tips to help you properly label your moving boxes.

Top 5 Tips for Labeling Your Moving Boxes

1. Get All the Right Supplies

The first thing you need to do is gather your supplies. You want reliable markers that are permanent, waterproof, and come in multiple colors. You might also want to get actual labels for the boxes, but this is optional. It's possible to write directly on the boxes you are moving.

2. Use a Color-Coded System

The reason you want multiple colors for your markers is so you can use a color-coded system. Of course, if you're just moving a studio apartment, this might not be necessary. However, when you have multiple areas in your home, assigning a color for each area can make unpacking easier.

For example, you might assign the color red for your kitchen boxes. This means when you arrive at your new home, every box with red writing can go directly to the kitchen and you don't even have to read the writing. Using a color-coded system will likely save you time when it comes to unpacking.

3. Don't Wait to Label

Make sure you label your moving boxes as you are packing. It's too easy to forget what you packed and once you seal the box with tape, you don't want to open it back up. As you pack up things, just label each box with the proper color and you will be in better shape.

4. Label in Multiple Places

If you are using packing labels, you can place them on the top of each box and on two sides of the box. When you're writing directly on the box, you might have to write in specific areas, but you always want to place your labels in multiple places. This will make it easier to see the label when boxes are stacked.

5. Write Out the Items in Important Boxes

While you don't need to write out every single item in the box, it's good to include general categories, such as silverware, cooking utensils, frying pans, etc. You should also make sure you are specific when it's very important items or items you might need very soon after you move.

It's common for people to take their time unpacking in a new place. If you label your moving boxes properly, you will be able to find the most important items fast, even if you're not all the way unpacked yet.

Use these tips to properly label your moving boxes for your next local move in Chicago.