What's a reasonable moving timeline for the SF Bay Area?
September 28, 2013 4:44 PM Subscribe
We're going to move from the southern part of Alameda County to somewhere between Martinez and Oakley in eastern/northern Contra Costa County. We have a few complications (of course!) and not much moving experience. Can you tell us how to plan?
We have to move because our commutes are terrible. The move will be about 50 miles away. Here are the complications:
1) We can really only move during winter break (starts around Dec 20) because we are both college teachers.
2) Our packing time is very limited, though I'll reduce my workload in Oct-Nov so that I can start on it.
3) We have huge numbers of books that we actually need to move.
4) We have stuff that we need to get rid of, including books, our lousy mattress, our accursed sofa, a terrible desk, etc. Some of these will have to be replaced, but we have a LOT of clutter to get rid of.
5) We don't have many (or any) people who will be around during that time to help us.
6) We might be able to afford a mover (parents have offered) but we sort of think we need that money for the new mattress, sofa, chairs, etc. We were thinking about a POD but you can't even park a car on our street for more than 72 hours, and our parking space does not fit POD's criteria.
7) We will have to do a ton of cleaning in the townhouse after it's empty.
8) We are terrible at moving, and we haven't done it in years, and things have changed a lot in the SF Bay Area since then (and we haven't lived in the destination county before).
9) We don't really want to leave. Our town has great weather and everything we need (within blocks of us, we have a bookstore, our doctors, our dentist, a Whole Foods, a Trader Joe's, and dozens of good, diverse restaurants). All the possible destination towns are too hot in the summer and have fewer things to do. So we're hoping to make one positive change by renting a house, not an apartment. However, we want one that comes with appliances (e.g. washer/dryer), and we don't know how long we'll stay, so we're worried about whether it's possible. (And I don't even know if rental houses come with, like, blinds or anything.)
10) We don't have any clear sense of when listings for December will appear, or when we should sign up for this or that, or ... yeah.
11) We are both working long hours right now and are often away for 14 hours or more, and really tired on the weekends. We realize that we'll have to work around this somehow, of course.
Can anyone suggest a timeline for the steps we should take?
Thank you!
We have to move because our commutes are terrible. The move will be about 50 miles away. Here are the complications:
1) We can really only move during winter break (starts around Dec 20) because we are both college teachers.
2) Our packing time is very limited, though I'll reduce my workload in Oct-Nov so that I can start on it.
3) We have huge numbers of books that we actually need to move.
4) We have stuff that we need to get rid of, including books, our lousy mattress, our accursed sofa, a terrible desk, etc. Some of these will have to be replaced, but we have a LOT of clutter to get rid of.
5) We don't have many (or any) people who will be around during that time to help us.
6) We might be able to afford a mover (parents have offered) but we sort of think we need that money for the new mattress, sofa, chairs, etc. We were thinking about a POD but you can't even park a car on our street for more than 72 hours, and our parking space does not fit POD's criteria.
7) We will have to do a ton of cleaning in the townhouse after it's empty.
8) We are terrible at moving, and we haven't done it in years, and things have changed a lot in the SF Bay Area since then (and we haven't lived in the destination county before).
9) We don't really want to leave. Our town has great weather and everything we need (within blocks of us, we have a bookstore, our doctors, our dentist, a Whole Foods, a Trader Joe's, and dozens of good, diverse restaurants). All the possible destination towns are too hot in the summer and have fewer things to do. So we're hoping to make one positive change by renting a house, not an apartment. However, we want one that comes with appliances (e.g. washer/dryer), and we don't know how long we'll stay, so we're worried about whether it's possible. (And I don't even know if rental houses come with, like, blinds or anything.)
10) We don't have any clear sense of when listings for December will appear, or when we should sign up for this or that, or ... yeah.
11) We are both working long hours right now and are often away for 14 hours or more, and really tired on the weekends. We realize that we'll have to work around this somehow, of course.
Can anyone suggest a timeline for the steps we should take?
Thank you!
Echoing quince: lots and lots of small moving boxes. I actually prefer the ones from UHaul, find them easier to manage than file boxes. Get real strapping tape and an applicator. You need very few boxes that are bigger than UHaul's 'small' (that's their designation) size. Bigger boxes are very unmanageable for a do-it-yourself move. If you can, get a hand-trucktoo. UHaul rent them out but you may find it better to buy then resell after your move is done.
There are other suppliers for the identical size boxes, but I like UHaul's because they have a neat way to hold themselves open until you want to close them. They stack well, too; we've had piles above head height.
Hiring casual day laborers from outside/near Home Depot or similar can be good, to help with schlepping boxes when time is tight and you're exhausted. I've even hired people walking by my apartment in the street - help is help.
I can't do a move without carrot juice; somehow it's the best restorative during and after the physical labor of moving stuff.
Sorry, I have no advice on timelines except echoing quince again: get started on packing as soon as you can. You could get some books packed this weekend! Don't stress, you have plenty of time.
posted by anadem at 5:54 PM on September 28, 2013
There are other suppliers for the identical size boxes, but I like UHaul's because they have a neat way to hold themselves open until you want to close them. They stack well, too; we've had piles above head height.
Hiring casual day laborers from outside/near Home Depot or similar can be good, to help with schlepping boxes when time is tight and you're exhausted. I've even hired people walking by my apartment in the street - help is help.
I can't do a move without carrot juice; somehow it's the best restorative during and after the physical labor of moving stuff.
Sorry, I have no advice on timelines except echoing quince again: get started on packing as soon as you can. You could get some books packed this weekend! Don't stress, you have plenty of time.
posted by anadem at 5:54 PM on September 28, 2013
Best answer: I have a lot of books as well, and the truth is that these will be the easiest to pack. It is the rest of the stuff-- the clutter, etc. -- that will take up most of your packing time. For clutter-oriented people like us, we don't "see" all of the stuff that has been lying in a random spot, so even after you're "done packing", you are still going to have a LOT of stuff left over that will have to be packed up and moved.
I have seen estimates that it takes about 40-50 hours to pack up a 1-2 bedroom apartment, and that seems reasonably accurate in my experience. I would add a 20-30% premium on top of that to account for the extra clutter and miscellaneous items you will have to pack and find a place for. Honestly, if you don't throw it out, be merciless about throwing it all in a box. You are going to have a bunch of things with which you will say to yourself,
"I need access to this for the next few weeks and don't want to seal it up in a box." You really don't need access to it.
Even afterwards I predict you will still have a lot "left over" once you move all of your packed things. So expect to make a couple of trips back and forth between you old place and your new place after you "move" to pick up a few last things.
posted by deanc at 5:59 PM on September 28, 2013
I have seen estimates that it takes about 40-50 hours to pack up a 1-2 bedroom apartment, and that seems reasonably accurate in my experience. I would add a 20-30% premium on top of that to account for the extra clutter and miscellaneous items you will have to pack and find a place for. Honestly, if you don't throw it out, be merciless about throwing it all in a box. You are going to have a bunch of things with which you will say to yourself,
"I need access to this for the next few weeks and don't want to seal it up in a box." You really don't need access to it.
Even afterwards I predict you will still have a lot "left over" once you move all of your packed things. So expect to make a couple of trips back and forth between you old place and your new place after you "move" to pick up a few last things.
posted by deanc at 5:59 PM on September 28, 2013
Best answer: It's never too early to start packing.
Get rid of as much stuff as possible. That includes books, too. Be ruthless. Sell anything usable on Craigslist for cheap. If there anything seriously bulky and non-sellable, have the movers leave it behind and then hire junk haulers when you are cleaning out.
Rentals are going be varied in terms of furnishings. (But most will have blinds.) You're just going to have to hunt on Craigslist and see what you can find.
I can recommend Delancey St. Movers in the Bay Area. They did a great job on our previous moves and they are a good organization that is worth supporting.
Don't fuck with PODS or any of that move-it-yourself bullshit. It's not much cheaper than real movers. (On my last cross country move, all the DIY movers were way more expensive than real moving companies.)
So hire real movers, it makes things a thousand times faster and easier, they will take care of your stuff and it will be insured. You will thank yourself afterwards.
posted by gnutron at 6:29 PM on September 28, 2013
Get rid of as much stuff as possible. That includes books, too. Be ruthless. Sell anything usable on Craigslist for cheap. If there anything seriously bulky and non-sellable, have the movers leave it behind and then hire junk haulers when you are cleaning out.
Rentals are going be varied in terms of furnishings. (But most will have blinds.) You're just going to have to hunt on Craigslist and see what you can find.
I can recommend Delancey St. Movers in the Bay Area. They did a great job on our previous moves and they are a good organization that is worth supporting.
Don't fuck with PODS or any of that move-it-yourself bullshit. It's not much cheaper than real movers. (On my last cross country move, all the DIY movers were way more expensive than real moving companies.)
So hire real movers, it makes things a thousand times faster and easier, they will take care of your stuff and it will be insured. You will thank yourself afterwards.
posted by gnutron at 6:29 PM on September 28, 2013
I agree with everyone above: start going through your stuff and getting rid of things now.
What houses come with depends on the house. I've rented houses with and without washer and dryer, with and without window coverings. You'll just need to look for one with the things you want. Start looking now so you can learn the market, learn how fast things get rented, &c.
Hire real movers. It's worth having a crappy couch a while longer. It is seriously so much easier and faster. You're forced to be packed and organized, and then they move everything and you have the energy to actually start unpacking.
Also hire someone to clean, so once you move you never have to go back.
Be methodical, start early, and pay for as many people to do work as possible.
posted by oneirodynia at 8:45 PM on September 28, 2013
What houses come with depends on the house. I've rented houses with and without washer and dryer, with and without window coverings. You'll just need to look for one with the things you want. Start looking now so you can learn the market, learn how fast things get rented, &c.
Hire real movers. It's worth having a crappy couch a while longer. It is seriously so much easier and faster. You're forced to be packed and organized, and then they move everything and you have the energy to actually start unpacking.
Also hire someone to clean, so once you move you never have to go back.
Be methodical, start early, and pay for as many people to do work as possible.
posted by oneirodynia at 8:45 PM on September 28, 2013
I would recommend moving folks called The Handy Movers. Tell them you saw them on Yelp for a discount. They were my second experience using movers and the best one so far, really fast. This was a Walnut Creek to Redwood City move. Hiring movers with their own truck is seriously, seriously worth it, but figure on spending, I dunno 400-800 on it? It's money I have gladly and will gladly spend. In the past I would rent a huge uhaul for maybe like $200 when you factor insurance, fuel, and mileage (never believe the $29.99 or whatever they advertise). Movers have these closet boxes, you literally just empty your closet into them and they take it away with everything else. They wrap your mattress, couch, etc. They'll wrap a chestful of drawers full of stuff and take it away. Honestly, I guess it's a luxury but I'd never want to DIY ever again.
I would skip day laborers unless you are really desperate and aren't moving anything big. I've seen real movers handtruck washers and dryers down flights of stairs by themselves. They have the experience, when you hire people that don't you'll lose lots of time. I hired these movers that were kind of new to it and didn't have a truck- that was a mistake. Didn't really save anything.
That said, Dec 20 might be a tough time for movers. You probably have until the end of January right? I think Dec 20 is probably a good day to start getting organized but I would probably skew later for the actual moving day.
Any books/media just take to libraries. You could try half price books if you have some time to kill but I would expect very little (I'd rather spend that time doing other stuff and just donate things).
posted by tremspeed at 3:11 AM on September 29, 2013
I would skip day laborers unless you are really desperate and aren't moving anything big. I've seen real movers handtruck washers and dryers down flights of stairs by themselves. They have the experience, when you hire people that don't you'll lose lots of time. I hired these movers that were kind of new to it and didn't have a truck- that was a mistake. Didn't really save anything.
That said, Dec 20 might be a tough time for movers. You probably have until the end of January right? I think Dec 20 is probably a good day to start getting organized but I would probably skew later for the actual moving day.
Any books/media just take to libraries. You could try half price books if you have some time to kill but I would expect very little (I'd rather spend that time doing other stuff and just donate things).
posted by tremspeed at 3:11 AM on September 29, 2013
Response by poster: (Alas, no, don't have till the end of January. Classes start back up promptly after New Year's Day. :/ )
posted by wintersweet at 1:23 PM on October 29, 2013
posted by wintersweet at 1:23 PM on October 29, 2013
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1) buy lots of cardboard file storage boxes. The kind you fold together and have lids. They stack and label well because they're uniform size. They also don't get overly heavy, even if you pack them with super heavy items. They have handles already and after the move, they can be unfolded and stored flat for future needs. Tape the lids to the box after they're filled.
2) be merciless in getting rid of stuff. Get rid of books, clothes you haven't worn in a year, unused kitchen gadgets, old stuff that's been in the back of the closet, etc. Charities will pick-up and if you don't have a dumpster available, consider collecting stuff to be picked up by a junk hauler.
Start throwing out/donating stuff now. Make small projects. One set of drawers, one cabinet, 1/2 a closet. Have a start and end point. I love the concept of 1 CD cleanup. Find a CD that you both like and tackle a project while the CD plays. When it's done, you're done.
Start packing now. Make a small goal of 2-3 boxes on work days and larger projects on days when you have more time.
If you're going to do the bulk of the move starting Dec 20, you'll probably have several weeks of the new place being available for moving small stuff as the chance of a lease starting on Dec 20 is unlikely. Use those paid weeks to move a few boxes in every work day.
Moving is never fun, but not leaving it all to the last minute takes a lot of pain out of it. Start now.
posted by quince at 5:16 PM on September 28, 2013 [1 favorite]