SFO to MSP: A (hopefully) Painless Move

May 15, 2012 9:43 PM

Moving from San Francisco to Minneapolis: Best way to schlep our stuff?

We're moving to Minneapolis from San Francisco at the end of June, and we're not sure how best to move our 1 bedroom + a little bit in storage worth of stuff.

We don't mind packing, but we don't have a lot of time for it, either. There is some furniture that we'd definitely need help getting into a truck or Pod if we went that route.

Has anyone made this move, or one similar? And what made it an unmitigated success, so we can do the same?

posted by heliostatic to home & garden (6 answers total)

I've used ABF uPack to go the other way. It was relatively cheap and easy. They drop off a giant truck trailer, you put your crap in it, nail a bulkhead in place, and then they drop it off at the other end.
posted by aubilenon at 9:56 PM on May 15, 2012 [3 favorites]

pay the money.. have movers help. It will be worth it with all the other headaches. leave as much as you can, travel light.
posted by specialk420 at 10:02 PM on May 15, 2012

Professional packers and movers. But seriously be ruthless in deciding what to take. The Twin Cities has whatever you need including an IKEA. Hell, when you reach Minneapolis do a meet up with the local Mefites in the area so you can get the inside scoop on everything.
posted by jadepearl at 10:49 PM on May 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

What I did is presumably not an option for you. I had one room's worth of stuff and very little in the way of dishes. I sold all the furniture, dumped what I could. Everything else either went with me on the plane or got mailed to either my mother in Chicago or a cousin in Minneapolis (mostly books going media mail, save for maybe two boxes). I found most of my furniture either in my mother's garage (she and her partner moved in together and stashed the duplicate furniture in the garage) or on Craigslist. We drove it all to Minneapolis in a rented van and picked up the other odd bits of furniture at Ikea.

One consideration is that it seems like a good chunk of apartment buildings in Minneapolis don't have elevators. This may be a point in favour of movers if you don't have two strong people or have a small kid or whatever. (And, uh, good luck if you need a place that can be accessed without steps.)
posted by hoyland at 5:33 AM on May 16, 2012

I second ABF uPack. You may also want to check out Rentacrate instead of cardboard boxes.

We used Rentacrate for an office move and it was such a delight! No gathering or building boxes, no taping. Just put stuff in crate, close lid, stack on other crate, which is on a small dolly, and keep on packing. Cuts packing time by 50%. Let's not forget that it is sustainable and they drop them off at one end, can pick them up at the other.

Rentacrate also helps with loading and unloading as everything just rolls into the Pod/Truck and right back off again.

I too advocate being ruthless with your crap. Don't move what you can easily re-buy.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:32 AM on May 16, 2012

I've done half way around the country round trip, and you really want to get quotes from movers. I was shocked at the amount I paid moving myself (renting a truck) the first time and the cost (sorry but I don't remember costs) we paid using movers - it was almost the same especially factoring in the pain/stress involved with moving, and all of the other travel costs you'll incur.

Find a yellow pages (think, printed Google search for local services that were usually colored yellow) and call the local "national" movers verses going online. The big national movers contract to local guys (who are affiliates of the big names) so you'd might as well just start local.

Good Luck!
posted by doorsfan at 7:49 AM on May 16, 2012