Moving from West Coast to East Coast !!

[JayJar Binks]

I am moving from Cali to NC in Late August and wanted to see if there is anyone who recently did this and what service was used and what types of costs were involved. ie, Pods, Upack, Rent big truck and drive yourself, hire big rig driver...etc

 

I have a 1600sf house full of stuff. 3 bed, 2 bath, garage items that need to move.

[bigred90gt]

I haven’t done it, but did consider moving from Texas to Cali. My plan was to rent the biggest Uhaul I could and cram everything in it (I was single and didn’t have a 3 bedroom house though). I was going to tow my truck behind the uhaul, then fly back to Texas and drive my mustang back out to Cali.

 

I would do it myself and use it as an opportunity to take a road trip you would not usually take, and see the sights of the country you normally wouldn’t see. But I enjoy that kind of thing. Some folks worry more about the destination than the journey.

[golf.suLLy]

Liquidate and move only your keepsakes, dogs and golf clubs. We've got a couple of half-way across the country moves in our past,TX-->NE-->NV--> TX-->WI-->NV and it's ridiculously expensive. Even after reducing our clutter there's still so much. It's all so freaking heavy and my back is as crooked as a politician, so there's no MeHauling anything in my playbook. Fortunately a majority of the tab (thousands) has been picked up by employers, but the for the next long distance move, which we'll most likely be footing the bill for, Mrs. GS and I have agreed sell "everything" and we'll start fresh at the new pad. We might not be able to replace everything which is fine, but I will finally get that Sleep Number mattress.

 

Anyways, the one thing all the moves have been is exciting so good luck with yours and enjoy your cross country journey.

 

-GS

[devinh821]

What part of NC are you gonna end up in?

[ohioglfr]

The last move I did (Charleston SC to Dayton OH) I rented a large Penske truck from WalMart. The Penske trucks are clean, newer and have automatics and A/C.

I like U-Haul for small stuff, but I’ve rented some real beaters as their large trucks go.

[JayJar Binks]

What part of NC are you gonna end up in?

 

Mooresville

[JayJar Binks]

The last move I did (Charleston SC to Dayton OH) I rented a large Penske truck from WalMart. The Penske trucks are clean, newer and have automatics and A/C.

I like U-Haul for small stuff, but I’ve rented some real beaters as their large trucks go.

 

Hi,

 

Did you just drive the truck to Ohio and drop it off and pay there I assume for mileage and gas?

[Mych]

My last move, I used a Mayflower 16 foot container. I think Pack Rat offers a 16 footer also. Nothing better than packing it carefully over a few days in your driveway, then being able to unpack the same way. Instead of dumping everything in then feeling like I was on the clock to transport it and get it all unloaded, I took my time and set up each room as I took the stuff out. By the time they picked the unit up, the house was completely set up. Every time I used a moving truck, the house was still a complete mess when I returned the moving truck and it took weeks to get set up.

 

I de-cluttered a bit, but the 16 footer still fit a refrigerator, chest freezer, washer/dryer, 2 couches, 2 loveseats, queen bedroom suite, 2 kids rooms (twin bunk beds, wardrobes), small entertainment center tv's, tools, bicycles, etc.

[JayJar Binks]

Liquidate and move only your keepsakes, dogs and golf clubs. We've got a couple of half-way across the country moves in our past,TX-->NE-->NV--> TX-->WI-->NV and it's ridiculously expensive. Even after reducing our clutter there's still so much. It's all so freaking heavy and my back is as crooked as a politician, so there's no MeHauling anything in my playbook. Fortunately a majority of the tab (thousands) has been picked up by employers, but the for the next long distance move, which we'll most likely be footing the bill for, Mrs. GS and I have agreed sell "everything" and we'll start fresh at the new pad. We might not be able to replace everything which is fine, but I will finally get that Sleep Number mattress.

 

Anyways, the one thing all the moves have been is exciting so good luck with yours and enjoy your cross country journey.

 

-GS

 

Hello,

 

I have been geting rid of stuff since Feb and we are already boxed up with the stuff we can box up. I already have the 8k bed so that will have to go. I know this is not cheap to do the move but taking this cost into account of about 5k in my budget. I dont mind doing the packing myself, I'll have plenty of help on both ends.

 

 

Thanks

[JayJar Binks]

I haven't done it, but did consider moving from Texas to Cali. My plan was to rent the biggest Uhaul I could and cram everything in it (I was single and didn't have a 3 bedroom house though). I was going to tow my truck behind the uhaul, then fly back to Texas and drive my mustang back out to Cali.

 

I would do it myself and use it as an opportunity to take a road trip you would not usually take, and see the sights of the country you normally wouldn't see. But I enjoy that kind of thing. Some folks worry more about the destination than the journey.

 

Hi

 

Gonna be driving back for sure with the family, I have 3 boys, oldest is 12, so it will be fun and a good experience for them. We did a road trip to MN 3 years ago which was cool as we went through SD and got to see Mt Rushmore. I dont want to make this a sightseeing trip but more of a Clark Griswold drive across the country without all the antics hopefully.

[JayJar Binks]

My last move, I used a Mayflower 16 foot container. I think Pack Rat offers a 16 footer also. Nothing better than packing it carefully over a few days in your driveway, then being able to unpack the same way. Instead of dumping everything in, then feeling like I was on the clock to get it all unloaded, I took my time and set up each room as I took the stuff out. By the time they picked the unit up, the house was completely set up. Every time I used a moving truck, the house was a complete mess when I dropped off the moving truck and took weeks to get set up.

 

I de-cluttered a bit, but the 16 footer still fit a refrigerator, chest freezer, washer/dryer, 2 couches, 2 loveseats, queen bedroom suite, 2 kids rooms (twin bunk beds, wardrobes), small entertainment center tv's, tools, bicycles, etc.

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for your input. I appreciate the estimation of stuff you included. Thats the hard part of knowing how much truck or space I need even though there are estimators online. I dont think they are accurate. I like the unload at your pace thing as well.

[Mych]

My last move, I used a Mayflower 16 foot container. I think Pack Rat offers a 16 footer also. Nothing better than packing it carefully over a few days in your driveway, then being able to unpack the same way. Instead of dumping everything in, then feeling like I was on the clock to get it all unloaded, I took my time and set up each room as I took the stuff out. By the time they picked the unit up, the house was completely set up. Every time I used a moving truck, the house was a complete mess when I dropped off the moving truck and took weeks to get set up.

 

I de-cluttered a bit, but the 16 footer still fit a refrigerator, chest freezer, washer/dryer, 2 couches, 2 loveseats, queen bedroom suite, 2 kids rooms (twin bunk beds, wardrobes), small entertainment center tv's, tools, bicycles, etc.

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for your input. I appreciate the estimation of stuff you included. Thats the hard part of knowing how much truck or space I need even though there are estimators online. I dont think they are accurate. I like the unload at your pace thing as well.

 

The estimators are decent for calculating the floor space, but they're not very realistic when it comes to the way that people really pack. The key for us was to use the extra space. We defrosted the fridge/freezer and put all of the kitchen dishes, spices, cookbooks, pots/pans, etc. inside. We used the mattresses and box springs for wall-protection, flipped the loveseats upside down into the sofas, etc. I disassembled everything that could be disassembled (including our dining room table/chairs, which was a pain but saved a ton of space). The key is using the vertical space well, saving all those bags of clothes, shoes, pillows, blankets, towels, stuffed animals, etc and looking for opportunities to stuff them on top of things like the fridge saved a ton of space. My wife and I weren't very far removed from college, so we were still pretty good at stuffing an entire dorm room into a minivan.

 

The hardest thing to figure out was the TV's since we didn't have the boxes. We put a post on Craigslist for some TV boxes and found some in a day or two. Our backup plan was to sit in front of the electronics store and look for people who bought a TV that was bigger than their car and have to unpack it in the parking lot, lol. That's one time that the "pack at your own pace" thing came in handy. We had planned for a week of packing, a couple days travel time, and another week for unpacking. We had the unit for the full month, so there was plenty of time to do it the right way instead of tossing stuff in and crossing our fingers like we've done before. We did the whole thing ourselves with a dolly, but it never felt like we had moved a whole house because of the pace.

[mmoran]

We have moved 5 times in the last 13 years. 4 full service relos and 1 on my own (3 cross country and 2 of about 800 miles, so big moves). If you are going to rent a truck and drive it, hire some guys to load it for you. They will layer the load so it can actually get across the country without becoming a giant pile of boxes and they will fit twice as much into the truck as you will, especially if you have never done a big move like this. 3 or 4 guys will load a 1600 sf house in 5 or 6 hours or so. Buy some shrink wrap and get as many blankets as you can with the truck. Make sure the boxes are labeled and hire guys at your destination to unload. Moving is stressful enough. Hiring out the muscle part of the job is the best thing you will do. It's probably a $25k+ move if you hired a moving company.

[ohioglfr]

The last move I did (Charleston SC to Dayton OH) I rented a large Penske truck from WalMart. The Penske trucks are clean, newer and have automatics and A/C.

I like U-Haul for small stuff, but I’ve rented some real beaters as their large trucks go.

 

Hi,

 

Did you just drive the truck to Ohio and drop it off and pay there I assume for mileage and gas?

Yes.