Moving out of state is going to be in your near future because of work, lifestyle change or family needs and you need to find the best mover to accommodate this. However, before choosing the best movers, you want to know upfront the amount you would be spending for the overall move. This is one of the main things that can determine whether the move goes satisfactory for you.
How to Calculate Your Moving Costs
Once you start contacting movers, or better yet have them contacting you, it's important that you go into this informed. We pride ourselves in providing very accurate quotes by many different means. Either an in-home estimate, a virtual walk-through, pictures of your belongings as well as discussing all of this over the phone. By using all of these means, we are able to calculate the total volume of your move as well as be able to determine any specialty services (packing, crating, etc.) that your move may require.
Do More Research
During the quoting process you will talk to several different moving companies. It is important to choose a company you feel like you can communicate with and has a good reputation. Unfortunately in the moving industry there is a lot of misinformation on the internet that can mislead and coerce customers into making a bad decision. i.e. fake reviews, small companies with 500 five star reviews (multiple posted in a day) and also fake names that employees may use.
When getting quotes, you want to make sure that you are informed as to how they are quoting you - either by weight, cubic foot or hourly (local companies). The DOT and FMCSA recommend that moving companies provide estimates based on the cubic foot or total volume of your move. This is the most accurate way to price and estimate.
Therefore, listed below are the key things you will be looking for in a moving company before asking them for their moving cost estimates.
Ensure that the moving company is registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) when you are looking for a long-distance mover. This means that they are federally licensed, bonded and insured per the FMCSA's guidelines and have the ability to coordinate out of state moves.
Ask the moving companies to provide you with the different packages that they have and the cost of each. This can be asking a company to include a "Full Service Pack" or just packing certain items. This will give you an idea of the cost of each of the different services that are provided.
Make sure that the moving company you choose has a good customer experience, offering top quality services to its customers.
When asking for quotes, ask the company to give you a direct point of contact or a reference number in order to get back in touch with the same representative. When you build a good rapport with a certain person it makes you feel more comfortable and trusting in the whole moving process. You will also have someone that you can contact directly with any questions or concerns you may have.
There are different factors that can influence the overall cost of your move. Once you understand these things you will be able to make a more informed decision about the course of your move.
The factors you need to be aware of include:
Moving Date/Time of Year
The cost of moving does differ, depending on the date and time of year. Although the pricing really only fluctuates about 10% throughout the entire year for some moves that can be substantial. "Moving season" is peak time for the moving industry and it includes May, June, July, August, and September.
Distance Covered
When moving, you will expect the distance between your old home to your new home to affect the cost. Therefore, if you are moving to a new destination that is far away, you will expect higher long distance moving quotes. Also the pick-up and delivery locations can affect the overall cost of your move. If you are moving from a remote or not so common area to a similar area, it can cause the cost of your move to be a bit higher than normal.
Size of Items
Since we do our pricing based on the total volume of your move (cubic footage), the size of the individual items will affect the price. Even if you are concerned about the price being higher, it is very important that you give an accurate description of the items being moved. It is always better to know the worst case scenario pricing up front. You can send us pictures or measurements of certain items to ensure that you are being quoted adequately.
Home Size
Although each home can vary from family to family, as far as the amount of items that are being moved, the size of the home does correlate with pricing. You are not quoted on the square footage or number of bedrooms your home has but you are quoted based on cubic footage of the actual items being moved. Typically larger houses = larger furniture.
Costs Related to Labor and Packing
A moving company can pack all the items in your home or just a certain few. We offer things such as "Full and Partial Packing Services". With either of these you will let your representative know exactly what needs to be packed so that she will be able to determine the amount of packing materials the job will require. We find a lot of times that customers prefer to have us pack fragile or sentimental items - TVs, china/dishware, mirrors, framed art, sculptures, etc. We can price the packing out individually based on the customers needs, and you will never pay for any packing or materials that are not used.
Storage Charges
With all of our moves we do offer 30 days of free storage with re-delivery included. With larger moves there may be a "loading and unloading fee" associated with actually transferring the items to storage - this is something that you should inquire about ahead of time. If you need storage for longer than the free 30 days, the pricing is prorated by the week. Therefore, you won't pay for a full month of storage if you only utilize one week.
Differentiating Instant Ballpark Quotes and Moving Estimates
There are ways of providing customers ballpark quotes. Most of the time we will do this for customers if they are contemplating a move or their move is far out. We do this by asking the number of bedrooms, number of adults and kids moving and the square footage of the house. We have a tool that will aggregate the average size of their move and we can give them a price range.
Sometimes when you fill out for moving quotes online it will generate an instant quote. 9 times out of 10 those quotes are way off from what they should be. This is why we have our representatives call and go through an entire inventory with you to get the most accurate quote possible. We do this numerous different ways - virtual or in-home walk-throughs, pictures of items, listing photos of your home of via phone call.
You don’t need to worry because at Express Moving Consultants we are equipped and informed to provide you with a BINDING NOT TO EXCEED PRICE BASED ON THE CUSTOMER PROVIDED INVENTORY.
Procedure for Online Moving Quote
Since you want to calculate your online moving estimates, you will need the below steps to complete the process:
1. Ask for an Online Quote
You will reach out to the moving company to provide you with their moving estimates. You need to fill out details to make the process complete, like; moving date, zip code from both old and new destination, type/size of home, and contact information.
2. Plan for Survey
The moving company should reach out to verify the moving details. At Express Moving we would call you to clarify more information like your needs and schedule, and survey the items to be moved to come up with an accurate moving quote.
3. Survey Your Items
A moving company will help you survey your items and establish an accurate moving quote you will need.
4. Plan for Move
Once you have determined and chosen us as the best moving company, we will ensure that we take you through the whole process. We will provide you with a moving consultant who will ensure that you understand the process, tips, tools, and resources you will need for the move.