apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I've always done it myself but I'm a recently graduated student so A. I don't have much stuff and B. I can't afford to hire people.

I've only moved twice in my life and both times I didn't have to lift a single box! I'm lucky enough to work for a moving company so I literally have a team of guys at my disposal (for free!)

Although I haven't moved in 15 years, the last major move was when the movers contracted by the US Military delivered my goods from storage and Japan and all moves previous to that were via Military contractors...

...and at this stage in life, there's no way I would even consider doing it myself.

Until recently, I've always moved myself and have done so often.

My girlfriend and I live in NYC and for the last move we found a moving company on a "Priceline" type website and only paid $350 for the entire move -- two walk-up apartments to one elevator apt.

It was phenomenal. I'll never move myself again.

We're moving this weekend and doing it ourselves. We sold a few things via Craigslist before hand to make it easier, but also picked up a couch at a consignment shop, so it'll probably end up being about the same. C'est la vie...

Family often did have movers, especially when my Dad was in the military, my parent's last several moves were done w/ pickup trucks, strong arms and backs of family and friends - and at that point, fully furnished homes w/ many heavy antiques were involved.

All of my moves have been the same, but after this past move where I moved into a 4th floor sunny 1 bedroom walkup w/ my best friend, an parishioner from church and me, no more. My best friend ended up with a chest infection and swears off helping me move anything of substance anymore. :-)

And quite frankly, I am inclined to agree, moving heavy stuff is the least fun and I'd reather hire out the poor starving student movers to help w/ that stuff. My last move was 5.5 years ago so for at least another year, I aint moving ANYWHERE.

We bribe our friends with pizza, beer, music and lots of laughs, and that usually does the trick!

After 4 DIY moves in as many years, I finally hired movers the last two times. No more blood, sweat and tears for me.

I've always done it myself until I moved to NYC and I was car-less for the first time in my life, as were all my friends. When I moved from one side of Brooklyn to the other, I briefly entertained the idea of doing it myself, but the super small streets in my new 'hood tipped the scale in favor of hiring professionals. Best decision ever!

I used to do it myself but as soon as I could afford it started hiring movers. I loathe moving, even though I end up doing it often...

depends on who's paying. We've had movers and packers when it was part of our work relocation packages. Frankly it was weird having someone else boxing up my belongings and while having professionals move the stuff was great and they even reassembled the beds for us, I think in the future I will do all the packing myself and just have pros do the move.

For intercity moves we've just rented a truck and hire a couple of day labours to help along with a few friends.

Bay Area people, if you are planning on moving you MUST call Got2Move. Check out Yelp for reviews. I used them for the first time 2 years ago. I finally got the the age (39) where I thought I deserved to hire someone. They're affordable, prompt, very respectful of your possessions and not bad to look at!

We just ditched San Francisco a couple months ago and went back to Chicago, thank God. I hired movers (I contemplated selling everything, but I don't have the money to buy things over and over again). Moving cost about $2000. The problem was, I'd lived in SF a full year longer than I'd planned, simply because I couldn't afford to live there or move out of it.

When I first moved to SF, it was a combination of two car trips (from Chicago) and one moving company, plus renting a storage space. (We might have been more DIY and driven ourselves back to Chicago again, except that my car was stolen the first month in San Francisco, right out of a Nob Hill parking garage. It was found two years later.)

When I moved from a one-storey ranch to a four-storey townhouse (from which I don't see myself moving any time soon), I hired movers, but brought some things myself. It was a GREAT investment. When I've moved from small apartments to small apartments, I have often gotten rid of nearly everything then moved small stuff myself. I guess it's situational for me!

I pack myself, but once you've spent a couple hundred bucks to get a couple of guys to move everything into a truck, drive it to the new place, and unload it, you'll never go back.

Most all of my moves have been done with friends. I did one move within Miami three years ago with movers and it was a miserable experience.

They looked at my stuff and quoted me a $300 price, which wasn't bad. On the day of the move, there was a delivery truck blocking the entryway to my new apartment's loading dock. It sat there for over an hour while my moving guys just sat in their truck and watched their pay go up. Once we finally got to my new apartment, they brought one load up and then told me that I had to pay before they would do anymore work.

Of course, the price had then skyrocketed to $750, because "they didn't realize how much stuff I had." So I was forced to either pay that fee or they would take everything back to my old apartment and still charge me the original $300 price. Since then, I have not used any professional movers.

Friends and U-haul for budget reasons, but if I could afford to I would hire movers in a second. I would still pack all my own boxes, though, I find the full-service pack it all for your thing a bit much.

The last couple of times we've moved, we've gone to a new city and so haven't had any friends to call on for help. Each time, we have paid between $50-300 for movers, and I feel it's the best money you can spend. Honestly, I dread it when a friend asks me to help her move. I would rather give her $50 toward hiring movers than carry 20 boxes of books up and down stairs all day!

I've done both, but when my husband and I moved last year, we hired movers. TOTALLY WORTH IT.

Having your friends help you is cool when you're in your 20's, you don't have that much crap, and you'll probably be helping them out in return. But once you're a little older - and making more money - it's time to start investing in professional movers.

After weeks of friends chiming "Don't hire movers, that's ridiculous," "I have access to a truck, I won't allow you to spend that money," and "Of course we'll all help you," I finally forked over the $300 and it was over in one hour. No regrets or hard feelings. Turns out it's a long/impossible leap from best intentions to actual action. Can't DI-all-by-Yourself move a truckful of heavy furniture.

we hire movers to move all the furniture. we move boxes and other miscellany. we are currently moving from a 2400 square foot house to a 2000 square foot house and it's costing us about $700, which is worth every freaking penny.

Used to be, depended where we were moving -- across the city, or across the country. But now, I can't see us doing the moving anymore -- just not worth doing it ourselves. Guess it comes with age (and when you have young children, it is far too difficult!)

I moved to the east coast from LA a couple of years ago and I used upack.com (ABS trucking). It was the most seamless move I'd ever had and really really affordable. They deliver their container truck, you and your friends or whomever you hire puts your stuff on it, they only charge you for the space you use (they put a wall up to keep yours separate from another load), and everything went very smoothly. Unlike a friend of mine who made the same move and hired pros---she's still fighting the insurance company for lost and damaged items, plus she paid more than 10 x what I paid. (tee hee)
Katy
http://fengshuibyfishgirl.com

Having moved cross country with a large vinyl record collection ourselves in our mid 20s, we opted for "strong men" (not craiglist but landlords labor force) when we moved again within Brooklyn. We will never move ourselves again. It was great, fast and again only about $300.00. Now my boyfriend has twice as many records and we have a lot more "stuff in general". I will definitely pay someone to carry the boxes/furniture down 4 flights and to a self-driven truck next time it happens.

I've always moved myself and many times, but never again. And, maybe I just won't move again (ha!) I've been in the same place for a number of years and thank god I love it there. My body can't take another self-move.

For the last 3 moves, I have rented a truck and hired movers by the hour to load & unload it (call around to local movers; they usually have a rate for 2 guys for a few hours). It's cheaper than hiring a moving company to do the whole thing, much, much faster than doing it all myself, and I don't have to worry about my friends killing themselves hauling my sofa down the stairs.

Just moved this past weekend from a 2-bedroom apartment to a house. Got a truck and did it ourselves.

And I am so tired it hurts to stay awake. And I have about 20 bruises all over myself.

We keep saying that the next move we will hire out. I think this time, it's true. Oh, to sleep....

To the Brewer Patriot, your experience sounds horrible! But it sounds like they were charging by the hour AND by the amount of stuff? In my experience of researching for movers, they should be charging using one system or the other, but not both! I'm so sorry you got burned, but I think there might be a way to prevent this happening in the future, rather than never hiring movers again.

Normally, I'm a U-Haul kind of person, but I did hire movers once when my job covered part of the cost and I was moving out of state. Overall, a horrible experience. They told me it would take no more than a week for my stuff to arrive, but it took a month. They then charged me significantly more than the quoted estimate.

Due to the hassle and the much higher price (not covered by my job), I probably would have tried to sell most of my things had I known ahead of time. Especially since I was young and didn't really have much to begin with.

Which is not to say I won't hire professional movers again, especially since I have more "real adult" furniture now. I'll just do much more thorough research next time on companies.

I have moved often in my life. Started doing so when I was a child and don't seem to want to stop. Usually the moves are within the same metro area, so I have never hired a moving company (nor have my parents). I am not opposed to hiring it out, but the process of packing up, moving and unpacking just has never seemed all that difficult or even time consuming. If I had a narrow walk up, then I would likely reconsider.

I always did it by myself. A U-Haul, a bunch of guy friends, free pizza and beer provided by myself. But this time, most of my friends were unavailable, and I didn't have the luxury of time . . . so I couldn't use just myself and one other friend.

So I bit the bullet and hired 2 Men and a Truck.

6 hours later . . . I was glad I didn't have to do it. The house I moved into was under construction, and the guys had to haul my couch up to the 2nd story by way of an alleyoop over the balcony.

My friend and I would never have been able to accomplish that on our own.

"...it was weird having someone else boxing up my belongings and while having professionals move the stuff was great and they even reassembled the beds for us, I think in the future I will do all the packing myself and just have pros do the move..."

You do realize that when you hire professional movers and do the packing yourself - you alone are liable for any breakage as renter's insurance often doesn't cover moving damage. However, when you hire a moving company to pack and move - the moving company is liable for any breakage, although it's up to you to prove the value of any such items.

Remember too that packers and movers should be bonded company employees and are not there to judge the quality of your stuff. There is always a supervisor packer/mover in the team who is your go-to person for any issues that may arise - and if there's someone on the team whose actions make you uncomfortable, you have the right to ask the supervisor to take action - which for egregious issues could include having the supervisor remove that person from your home.

Hiring movers was the best $400 I ever spent. I have an really heavy, cumbersome bed (it has drawers built in to the base), so I didn't want to put any friends through trying to move it that beast. The movers were wonderful, the whole thing took 2 hours and it was a total breeze. Plus, there ended up being a big snowstorm that morning (gotta love Chicago in April), so it would have been a mess trying to do it myself

friends & family, paid in pizza, beer & love. :)

I've done both ways. I've bribed friends - but I felt bad afterwards since it's so much work and no one really actually enjoys it... plus I've moved so many times that I'd probably have no more friends if I kept making them help me :-)

I've hired movers the past 2 times. The last time was this past weekend - and although I cringed a few times when they weren't as gentle as I would be - I sucked it up, turned my back, and did what I could to help. I also made sure everything was well packed and very well labeled (what was in the box and also what room the box should go to). I provided gatorade and carried some of my paintings to help out and not just stand around. So my moving experience wasn't too painful. Nothing broke, but a few scratches. That would probably happen anyway if my friends and I moved my stuff.

Either way works - it all depends on your situation!

Friends are fine and all that, but once you've paid movers...you'll never go the pizza and U-Haul route again.

Best money I ever spent, and a giant leap into adult-hood.

I trust professional movers with my stuff much more than my sorry-out-of-shape-arse and my slightly-less-out-of-shape husband. Pro movers are quicker, we don't hurt ourselves, and neither one of us has to deal with navigating Chicago's alleys in a huge truck.

For a studio or one bedroom, DIY may be fine. But once you have more than a couple of rooms -- or a couple of people in your household -- it's time to go with the pros.

moving is such an emotional and time consuming affair, i couldn't imagine compounding this with the physical effort of packing and moving furniture. we've always hired companies to pack & move our stuff & it's still chaotic. plus i wouldn't want to see our stuff damaged & thus rely on professional movers, who do make a big difference as we've never had anything broken. even then though there are things missing, you have to file insurance reports, etc.

I hired people once with my roommate 'cause he was willing to pay. :) But after that, I picked up a couple of those guys running about at the U-haul place to help. I only kept them long enough to carry the heavy stuff though. Then this last time; I was on my own **SOB** It's amazing how many things I was able to pile into my hatchback and how many things I tended to...uhm...leave behind...throw away...sniff...

Needless to say, I now own a hand truck...you just never know how wonderful those things can be.

moving within the city we always got a u-haul and friends that were paid with pizza and beer. Moving across the country we got a moving company, and it was worth every penny!

Always feed friends that help, always!

I moved twice in 6 months.

The first move was easy. Just my bed and the random stuff i had when I lived with my parents.

But when I moved again Feb 09, I had sooo much more stuff. I paid my brother and my BFF to move everything up and down the stairs. They did a fantastic and quick job.

I have always moved myself, but after this last round I will not do it again. At the end of it, I was so black and blue that it seriously looked like I'd had the crap beaten out of me.

I go with the pros for the big, heavy items (dressers, buffet, our 3 sofas) and DIY the rest to save money.

Almost all of my fully DIY moves have resulted in damaged and/or broken items. Paying someone in beer and food doesn't generate anywhere close to the care and the skills of a bonded professional moving company. The pros know how to maneuver items up and down stairs and thankfully through the skinny doorways and the tight, narrow hallway turns of our 1918 house with large items. Without them I’m not sure a few of our pieces would have made it inside.

Plus who makes their friends cough it up to replace a destroyed bookcase or repair a gouged table leg? (Granted it was a cheap, shoddy MDF bookcase, as my friend pointed out to me, but at the time it was the only bookcase I had or could afford.) With pros you don't have to feel like an ingrate when reporting any damage to your belongings or a jerk for wanting to check that an item is being handled carefully.

My family and their pick up trucks.

hire movers!!!!!

i could have saved myself physical therapy for my back and a bum knee had i been not as stubborn and just hired movers two years ago. this year i did hire movers and it was ridiculous how much more efficient they are than me while being just as careful.

I'm about to move cross country (Ohio to Arizona), and am mailing everything I can't take on the plane with me (kitchen appliances and clothing). I'm donating/selling my Ohio furniture and buying new stuff in Arizona. Given that most of my current furniture is well used and cost between $0-20 per item, it's saving me a LOT of money to just make a big Ikea trip rather than drive a U-Haul across the US.

I've always moved myself, but the move I just did this past month has convinced me that when and if I ever move again, I'm totally hiring movers. If anything, just to be able to get in done on a weekend rather than taking my entire month from me.

@ Doug: What's the Priceline-like website that you found the moving company on? I'm guessing it's local, and I don't live in NYC, but the bf and I are moving in a few weeks, and we're looking at our options! Thanks in advance!

Moving is a strange with a big helping of wonderful. I agree that when you don't have major amounts of stuff and in particular heavy items it pays to ask a few friends and that special friend with a truck.

BUT when you start to acquire stuff you value and perhaps friends you want to continue to value movers are the way to go.

The last time we moved (just under 3 years ago) we hired movers and when you hire a company have one of their staff come to estimate the total weight (if that is how they charge) and you can't find yourself seeing the bill go up. A reputable company will deduct damages from the quoted total (it helps if you point out the damage as it happens-for us during the loading at point A.

It also pays to really take at look at the amassed stuff in your physical world when it comes time to move. We purged big time. What we didn't love didn't make the trip. It was deeply freeing and a good work out.

I've moved down and up California a few times and around town several times. I've mainly moved myself, by myself, though family has helped out a couple times (LOVE!), and I've had a friend help move furniture once. But it's always just been me, so it wasn't a big deal.

If I could afford it or I was moving a lot of stuff a fair distance, I would totally hire out. But I would make sure I got an estimate in person and we had a signed agreement. "You have more stuff than we thought" is NEVER an excuse unless you didn't get an estimate in person ahead of time. I'm not saying no one will try to screw you then, but you can get your money back in small claims court.

I'm moving at the end of the month (into new construction so keep your fingers crossed.) I own only a few pieces of big furniture all of which fit in my Scion XB. I got them off craigslist. I plan on doing the move myself with help moving an armoire that I couldn't begin to lift myself.

I prefer to pack myself and move myself. I guess I'm a control freak.

All the times I've moved, it was family and friends helping. I actually remember the last move which involved moving out the back door of apartment A and into the front door of apartment B. U-Haul's been involved a few times, but several trips by car have as well.

actually bepsf, while I know you like to think you know it all, you are wrong. I checked that very thing and the company that paid for our relocation also paid for insurance regardless of who pack it.

I get you have free time and post on every damn post but at least get the fact straight before you go off on one of your replies.

For my last cross-country move, I sold and donated all of my furniture except for a table which I was able to flat pack. I shopped around for the best deal and found that for the /- 60 boxes of stuff that I had, the best value was shipping on Amtrak.

I got a cargo van (& one helpful friend) and drove to the station and Amtrak shrink-wrapped everything on a palette. When I got to NYC I hired a service to bring the boxes from Penn Station to my new apartment.

All things considered it was pretty easy to do and very inexpensive. Note: they don't allow furniture unless it's flat packed and they don't guarantee it arriving on a specific date (usually takes a week, give or take) there has to be enough cargo space to load it onto the train. Mine arrived in about 4 days, which worked out just fine.

Our most recent move was cross country and we decided to bite the bullet and hire it out. We shopped around and got quotes from most of the major movers.

It was interesting when estimators came in to give us a price. The loft we were moving from was open plan and our furniture a mix of contemporary and mid-century. They had a hard time making everything fit in the cookie-cutter categories on their quote forms. The loft was harder to break down into rooms and they weren't used to estimating weight on these types of pieces.

The quotes were all over the place but Atlas was by far the lowest. We were locked into their estimate but the woman who had bid the move later confessed that she had underestimated by a long shot. We were pleased with the luck but a few months later a bill arrived from Atlas for an additional $3,000. When we picked our jaws up off the floor and called they explained that it was the difference between the estimate and actual weight plus the fuel surcharge. They agreed we weren't obligated to pay but encouraged us to submit it to our employer to see if they would be willing to pay it. Being that the employer had only covered about a third of the original estimate, we knew they weren't going to pick up the additional charges.

Aside from that, they were still great to work with and we couldn't have asked for a smoother move.

I am curious who has the money to pay movers after paying all the other stuff while moving (last month's rent, first month's rent, deposits, etc). I find it crazy unless you are honestly making 100k a year or more.

I move with the help of the fiance and the best of family - they get bribed with a free (homemade) dinner and weekend visit whenever they want to cash it in. Last move, there was both sets of parents, the fiance, and me. It was relatively painless.

I'm still trying to figure out how I have so much furniture at the age of 23. It's not excessive - just enough to fill up this apartment -- but according to AT, I should barely be able to fill up a studio.

I've moved nearly a dozen times in my life, some with movers, some with family. My last move was from one city in NY to another and I decided to hire movers at the last minute. They were cheap (recession special I guess) and did an expert job at packing my heavy dresser and wrapping up all of my jewelery and figurines. I know that no one in my family could have done that good of a job and none of us could even lift the dresser, let alone carry it down two flights of stairs.

@ChrisGal: I paid movers, but then we used it as a tax write off. It was definitely a worthwhile investment. But I also think it depends on how much furniture you have. I have a lot!

Whatever you do, don't use Starving Students movers. I just moved from a 1-bedroom condo to a 2-bedroom condo in Alexandria, VA, and it was a nightmare. Extreme tardiness, extortion, and banged-up furniture were just a few of the many problems I had with this company. Check out their reviews on Yelp, and you'll see how bad it can get (by the by, the people who show up at your door are definitely not students).

I think movers in general are a great way to go -- in theory, they are quick and you'll have no qualms about telling them to be careful with your things (much harder to say when you're watching your friends try to lug your giant sleeper sofa down a hallway). Just learn from my huge mistake and do your research.

I'm moving a one-bedroom from east coast to west coast. Renting a truck cost the same as you-pack-we-move movers, but you need to factor in the $1000 of gas it costs to get that truck across the country. Movers it is.

I haven't moved in a long time, but I'll gladly pay people to carry any heavy furniture (new purchases) up the 60 sixty steps to my 3rd floor flat. For a local SF move, I would rent a truck and hire the day laborers to doing the actual moving like I did when I moved into my flat years ago.

For anyone needing to move in the NYC area, I highly recommend Flat Rate Movers. Once you give them the list of items you want moved, they stick by their quote and there's no extortion for added fees, fuel surcharges, etc.

We did a little wheeling and dealing while making our list and shipped a lot of inherited bulky furniture and fragile heirlooms from CT to California for $2,400 which was almost $1,000 less than any other quotes.

I have always done it myself, with a U-Haul and much help from family and friends. However, now that I have a lot of large (and heavy) furniture/appliances, I think I'll use movers the next time around. Hopefully that won't be for a while, since I know it can be pricey! ;-)