I have at least 12 hours (probably more) between the end of my current lease and the start of my new one. What do I do with my stuff?
March 21, 2012 1:40 PM Subscribe
I have at least 12 hours (probably more) between the end of my current lease and the start of my new one. What do I do with my stuff?
I just got approved to lease a new apartment that's located about 5 miles from my current one. The lease for my current apartment expires at noon on May 31. The lease for the new one technically starts on June 1, but my landlord has asked for some time to freshly paint the walls, etc.
I had been planning to hire movers to take care of all of the moving because I don't have a car or drive, but this throws a big wrench into things. I can stay with my mom or boyfriend for as long as I need to, but I still have to get all of my stuff out of the current place and put it somewhere before I can move into the new one. Unfortunately both mom and boyfriend live in small apartments in the city, so I can't really keep anything with them. The biggest pieces will be a queen bed and a dining set.
I did speak to my current management company and, as anticipated, they told me that the 12pm May 31 expiration is not flexible.
What do I do now? I thought about renting a U-Haul, packing everything up, and parking it in a secure place, but then I'd need to find someone to drive it and stick with me the whole time I have it, plus people to help me physically move things.
I just got approved to lease a new apartment that's located about 5 miles from my current one. The lease for my current apartment expires at noon on May 31. The lease for the new one technically starts on June 1, but my landlord has asked for some time to freshly paint the walls, etc.
I had been planning to hire movers to take care of all of the moving because I don't have a car or drive, but this throws a big wrench into things. I can stay with my mom or boyfriend for as long as I need to, but I still have to get all of my stuff out of the current place and put it somewhere before I can move into the new one. Unfortunately both mom and boyfriend live in small apartments in the city, so I can't really keep anything with them. The biggest pieces will be a queen bed and a dining set.
I did speak to my current management company and, as anticipated, they told me that the 12pm May 31 expiration is not flexible.
What do I do now? I thought about renting a U-Haul, packing everything up, and parking it in a secure place, but then I'd need to find someone to drive it and stick with me the whole time I have it, plus people to help me physically move things.
Can you talk to your new landlord about at least putting your STUFF in the apartment? I know they have to paint, but can it all be put in a big pile under a tarp or something?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:44 PM on March 21, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:44 PM on March 21, 2012 [5 favorites]
You can rent a pod -- they drop a storage container at your locker, you fill it, and they pick it up at a later date and move it. There are several companies that do this sort of thing. If you don't have a parking space, you can usually ask your city to reserve a spot for you on the street. Note that this particular company offers packing services, so that you don't have to wrangle your friends.
posted by cider at 1:46 PM on March 21, 2012
posted by cider at 1:46 PM on March 21, 2012
Why did I write "locker"? I meant "apartment".
posted by cider at 1:47 PM on March 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by cider at 1:47 PM on March 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
how about uhaul ubox or pods? i prefer ubox, but both good options...
pack it a few days ahead of time, have them take it away and bring it after the new place is ready.
here is a comparison.
posted by chasles at 1:47 PM on March 21, 2012
pack it a few days ahead of time, have them take it away and bring it after the new place is ready.
here is a comparison.
posted by chasles at 1:47 PM on March 21, 2012
What's the problem with locking the truck and parking it outside your new place until it's time for you to move in? And telling the movers to come back then to move the stuff into your new place? Movers are used to having to work around various constraints.
posted by jayder at 1:51 PM on March 21, 2012
posted by jayder at 1:51 PM on March 21, 2012
One thing to keep in mind with respect to cost: if you can't move in to your new place on June 1 then you should negotiate to pro-rate rent for the first month for the actual number of days you can occupy the new space. So the storage solutions might be pricier than you were budgeting, but hopefully the fact you are not paying rent for the 1-2 days they are needed will help offset that.
posted by handful of rain at 1:52 PM on March 21, 2012
posted by handful of rain at 1:52 PM on March 21, 2012
Use FlatRate for the move (recommended by me and many other Mefites). Ask them to store it. They do this for no extra charge for up to 30 days.
posted by John Cohen at 1:55 PM on March 21, 2012
posted by John Cohen at 1:55 PM on March 21, 2012
Response by poster: Thanks, all, these are some great ideas.
I hadn't thought about pods, but I'm not sure how that would work. My current apartment is in a small side street with an alley behind it. City regulations say that something like that can't be in an alley, and I think the street is too narrow to have it out in front of the building. My new apartment is on a frontage road with an alley behind it. Again, the frontage road is pretty narrow, so I'm not sure if a pod or box would fit.
posted by anotheraccount at 1:56 PM on March 21, 2012
I hadn't thought about pods, but I'm not sure how that would work. My current apartment is in a small side street with an alley behind it. City regulations say that something like that can't be in an alley, and I think the street is too narrow to have it out in front of the building. My new apartment is on a frontage road with an alley behind it. Again, the frontage road is pretty narrow, so I'm not sure if a pod or box would fit.
posted by anotheraccount at 1:56 PM on March 21, 2012
I just had to do this due to an unfortunate incident regarding a flood and mold in an old apartment and a too lengthy HOA approval process on a new place. We were going to rent a Uhaul and just move, at about $170, but when the HOA process threw a wrench in our plans, we didn't know what to do. Renting a storage place for a month was cost prohibitive, and I hated the idea of moving my stuff twice. Pods are also way more expensive than I thought. I was into renting a Uhaul because I didn't have the money for movers, so letting a moving co. store my stuff was kind of out of the question too.
What we did was to rent a Budget truck with 0 mileage included at the base price (they try to throw in 99 miles "free" automatically). For some reason when you set up the reserve on line you can only do this if you choose to return the truck to the same place. We loaded up the truck, parked it at her dad's house for a week, and then moved in after we got approval. I recruited 2 friends to help load the truck, and then recruited another two to help unload it. (Free food and drinks included!). All told, it cost about $220, which is only $50 more than the Uhaul was going to cost with their "included mileage" plan.
posted by Debaser626 at 1:58 PM on March 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
What we did was to rent a Budget truck with 0 mileage included at the base price (they try to throw in 99 miles "free" automatically). For some reason when you set up the reserve on line you can only do this if you choose to return the truck to the same place. We loaded up the truck, parked it at her dad's house for a week, and then moved in after we got approval. I recruited 2 friends to help load the truck, and then recruited another two to help unload it. (Free food and drinks included!). All told, it cost about $220, which is only $50 more than the Uhaul was going to cost with their "included mileage" plan.
posted by Debaser626 at 1:58 PM on March 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you can't find movers who will store your items for a few days, look around for a storage yard with a move-in deal that does not require you to rent more than one month. I got a month's rental on a large unit at a Public Storage a few years ago for less than $40.
posted by soelo at 2:17 PM on March 21, 2012
posted by soelo at 2:17 PM on March 21, 2012
Last time we moved one of the movers we got an estimate from included as part of their estimate one month of (free) storage. We didn't end up going with them, but since they gave us that without asking, I'm sure it's not completely unheard of.
Also, if you're interested in going the Pods route, they will also store the pod for you.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 3:17 PM on March 21, 2012
Also, if you're interested in going the Pods route, they will also store the pod for you.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 3:17 PM on March 21, 2012
I too think you should just work with your movers and arrange for them to hold onto the full truck for the 12-24 hours needed.
And check your lease. If the landlord is being snotty with the move-out time, make sure he is following the lease. If he is kicking you out 1/2 a day early, then by rights, he owes you 1/60 of your last month's rent back.
posted by gjc at 3:43 PM on March 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
And check your lease. If the landlord is being snotty with the move-out time, make sure he is following the lease. If he is kicking you out 1/2 a day early, then by rights, he owes you 1/60 of your last month's rent back.
posted by gjc at 3:43 PM on March 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
Pods are incredibly expensive.
When I had the same problem, I paid for a month's worth of storage at a self-store facility... it was about $100. It ended up making the move quite a bit less stressful than it normally would have been, since I had plenty of time to get things moved into and situated in the new place, but it was also a little bit of a pain to have to load and unload everything twice.
If you go this route, it's probably a good idea to bring your own lock; I didn't, and ended up buying one of their over-priced ones.
If you're already hiring movers, then yeah, I bet they'll store your stuff for a day for much less than $100.
posted by teatime at 7:02 PM on March 21, 2012
When I had the same problem, I paid for a month's worth of storage at a self-store facility... it was about $100. It ended up making the move quite a bit less stressful than it normally would have been, since I had plenty of time to get things moved into and situated in the new place, but it was also a little bit of a pain to have to load and unload everything twice.
If you go this route, it's probably a good idea to bring your own lock; I didn't, and ended up buying one of their over-priced ones.
If you're already hiring movers, then yeah, I bet they'll store your stuff for a day for much less than $100.
posted by teatime at 7:02 PM on March 21, 2012
You can rent a uhaul and still hire movers to load/unload it. You could pack the uhaul and stay with a family member or hotel overnight and the unpack the uhaul the next day.
posted by HMSSM at 7:20 PM on March 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by HMSSM at 7:20 PM on March 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
If your new landlord cannot allow you to move in on June 1, you should not pay for June 1, and HE should be the one who pays for storage, a POD, or whatever.
posted by yclipse at 8:14 PM on March 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by yclipse at 8:14 PM on March 21, 2012 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by adamrice at 1:42 PM on March 21, 2012 [6 favorites]