You might be reading this as the first step in your research after looking for long distance movers in Austin so you can coordinate long-distance movers to help your folks move out of the home they have lived in for decades. If you are the daughter or son of a really great parent that’s having a tough time dealing with the logistics of a stressful move, this article is certainly for you. If your folks are finally moving out of the home they raised you in and have lived in for decades, uprooting their lives might be one of the most intimidating tasks ever. If you are helping a parent or parents move to their forever home, this article will help act as a guide to figure out what the very best way forward may be.
We all want to help our folks get through this emotionally challenging time and make the stress of moving out of the home they are currently in a stress free process. Our team of long-distance movers at Sarver Movers has worked up this article of 10 of the best tips we could come up with that cater to someone planning out a long-distance move for their parents.
Determine Where Your Long-Distance Movers Will Move You?
So you’re looking to start getting quotes for mom or dad, but where do you start? The best place to start your fact finding mission is by dialing in where exactly they are going to be moving to. If they are going to join one of the many senior living communities, there are a plethora of online resources on finding housing for seniors. You’ll need to ask yourself some tough questions as you go through this process of finding their forever home.
For example, you will want to ask yourself if they should be moved to a facility near you so that you will be able to visit them frequently. Or maybe that is not the objective and you know that they’d be happier if they lived in a place that is close to where they were originally living. Whichever route you decide to take, finding a home for them that is best for you and your financial situation is usually the best thing to do. Afterall, if it is not in your budget, they won’t have a place to stay at all which would defeat the purpose of them moving out in the first place.
Find the Most Cost Effective Long-Distance Moving Company
This is where we get into the “you get what you pay for” conversation about long-distance movers and long-distance moving companies in Austin. When customers call in and ask about how they can pay the lowest possible option and I always ask them how they want to pay? If they want to pay monetarily or with scratches and scuffs on their parents' furniture. You can certainly get suckered into thinking you’re getting the cheapest move of your entire life, but the truth is that you are going to pay the appropriate amount one way or another. That is why it is crucial to find good movers who don’t promise the lowest rate in town, but are still cost effective.
You will want to call at least four or five different moving companies who have a great reputation and go with the middle quote. When you get quotes, the lower end of the spectrum would usually be a broker which we will cover in the next section. The highest quote may be a good company with a great reputation, but there is usually a long-distance mover out there who can do just as good of a job for a little bit less. Really, you’ll need to determine if you or your parents are paying for this and how important their things are to them. Sentimental value is a very real thing and “it got broken during the move” can be the toughest thing about a move and one of the only things that you’ll remember about your moving experience.
Avoid Brokers at All Costs
A long-distance mover should be a trained mover, not a middle man. Brokers will definitely get you the lowest price for your move, but don’t forget how you will get what you pay for. A broker will do the work of finding the lowest quality and cheapest movers and pair them up with the cheapest truck driver. They might even have to find a warehouse and have your items offloaded there for a truck driver to wait until multiple shipments arrive at that warehouse so it makes financial sense for them to take ten loads together going in one direction as opposed to just yours.
Lock in a Binding Rate or Flat Rate Quote
This tip should probably be at the top of the list in terms of making sure you have safeguarded yourself by locking a price in. The concept of locking in a set rate that will not change, applies to almost anything you would want to get an estimate for in the home services world. You will always benefit by knowing that you will not have to worry about a scrupulous long-distance moving company in Austin taking advantage of you. The old bait and switch is unfortunately all too common these days in the moving industry. It starts out by seeming like a deal that is too good to be true and those scenarios usually are.
By locking in a flat rate move you will have the peace of mind knowing that you are completely taken care of and there will be absolutely no surprises when it comes time to pull out your, or your parents, wallet to pay for the move. Remember, the only way this is actually set in stone is if there is a signed, sealed and delivered contract stating that certain services will be provided for a set amount of money. No paperwork, no safety net! For more information on cases of a breached moving contract, check out this link to see some examples of long-distance movers breaking the rules so you can spot exactly what to look out for.
Provide Your Long-Distance Movers With an Accurate Inventory
The inventory process is vital for making sure that your move goes well. There are mistakes that could be made on both your end, the shipper, as well as the moving companies end, the carrier. These mistakes are often completely avoidable and are usually a result of some minor miscommunications. A set inventory list is used to determine the volume of items that a company will be moving and is almost always measured in cubic feet. For example, a typical one bedroom apartment worth of items would include one mattress, box spring, a dresser, tv, tv stand, two nightstands, coffee table, couch and maybe 15 boxes. We can have these items clearly written down on a list and can agree to move them for you from point A in a first floor apartment in Austin, Tx to point B in a 2nd floor apartment in New York City, NY for $3,500.
in a first floor apartment in Austin, Tx to point B in a 2nd floor apartment in New York City, NY for $3,500. We know exactly what is going, how long it will take to move, how long it will take to drive and what size truck to bring. This means we have systems in place to ensure everything goes smoothly and we, as the carrier and moving company, can honor our agreed upon price on this move. Now, if you were to change something on your end such as add an additional dresser you weren’t able to sell and 10 extra boxes to the work order, it might not seem like a big deal to you. Afterall, it should only take an extra 20 minutes or so after wrapping the dresser and loading packing things into the truck. It’s all going to the same dropoff location, so what’s the big deal right?
Wrong, this will push your cubic feet over what we originally planned for causing us to need a bigger truck than what we originally reserved. Also, we will need to schedule for more labor time to move the additional items which costs our moving company in Austin more money in labor. These long-distance moves run on tight schedules and tight budgets to remain competitive, there is no reason a mover would be doing extra work for free. You benefit from this inventory list as well if you think about it. You can keep your mover honest and make sure that they don’t change the price around on you at the last minute, if it’s on the inventory list and you have a signed contract, it is set in stone.
Will Your Mom or Dad Want Moving and Packing Services?
This is an important one to figure out for your parents, but more importantly for you! There is something to be said for going through the attic and looking at all the old memories with your parents and reliving your youth as you pack things up. There is also something to be said for having to crawl up into a dusty old attic and taking days off of work in order to pack dusty old keepsakes into boxes for free!
We get both sides of it, you can save a buck if you do the packing yourself. You can save weeks of your life, that you’ll never get back, by hiring your movers to take care of this extra step for you. Packing can be exhausting, but also a very sentimental and rewarding process.
What Size Moving Truck Will Your Long-Distance Movers Need?
Segwaying from the inventory list to determining the right size truck is a perfect transfer, it’s almost like it was done on purpose! This step should be determined by the movers that you hire, they should plug your items into a software that determines which size truck they will need to use and that is the end of that. If you choose to rent your own truck, that is where things get really tricky. If you think you are going to save mom and dad some money by renting the moving truck yourself and you get a size too small, not only is it embarrassing, but you may have to pay double what your movers would have charged you.
Plus you’ll have to find another driver for that extra truck you’ll need to rent, good luck with that! This can be a costly mistake, also when was the last time you drove a 26 foot box truck? These trucks can be incredibly dangerous to operate with severe financial and life consequences if you get in a wreck. I’d rather pay a couple extra thousand dollars to have a trained professional drive the truck, than pay extra tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars if I got into a wreck. Luckily our movers do this for a living and go through extensive training before they head out onto the road. You can check our article on finding the right sized truck for your long-distance move for more infomration.
Check Your Moving Companies Online Reputation
This has some of the most hidden value out of all of the steps since it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it can save you so much time and money. The quoting process alone is usually a 15 minute phone call paired with a 20 minute in-house estimate where the moving company sends out a rep to make sure the inventory is correctly listed. If you were to do this four times over, it would cost you hours of your time which could all be saved by checking online reviews on platforms like Google before you even pick up the phone. Check reviews often and find out what people in your local area have to say about their company and service before you waste your time. This step could be all that you do before you pass their contact off to your parents who may not be the best with the internet or checking online reviews.
Find Out if Your Long-Distance Movers are Licensed and Insured
This is becoming more and more important each and every day now. If you hire rogue movers who don;t have a going concern in business, they might take your deposit and run. Or worse, they may take the deposit, load up their truck with all of your family's household goods and drive off never to be seen again. It happens, so make sure you have an apple air tag hidden in there so you can keep a close eye on the physical location of your parents' things. Wouldn’t it feel awful to be responsible for your parents getting robbed of all of their earthly possessions? I’ll pass on that one, no thanks! We’ve written a comprehensive guide on how to avoid scammers and Choose the right moving company so check it out!
Find What Works for You
This article isn’t going to determine which long-distance moving company will be the right one for you, of course we hope you choose Sarver Movers, it’s to help guide you towards the best solution for your unique situation. Take your unique situation and run it through the previous 9 steps outlined above so you can decide how to best help mom or dad when it’s time for them to move out of the palace they’ve called home for so long. This is going to be a tough time for them emotionally and it really would help them if you were able to bear the burden of coordinating with the long-distance movers for them.
Afterall, it’s up to you to decide how involved you want to be. You can do all the packing yourself, rent a uhaul and move every single item into the truck and unload it on the other end. If you’re up for that, more power to you! More realistically, you can determine who will do the best job for mom and dad by taking extra special care of the items they’ve had in their home for generations. If you’ve read along this far, you might as well get a quote form the best movers in Austin to get the accurate info your move!
