Every year, about 40 million Americans pick up everything they own and move somewhere new. Some move right across town, while others move halfway across the country.
But no matter how far you plan on moving, there’s a good chance that it’s going to be a stressful experience. One recent survey revealed that moving causes so much stress that almost 25% of people would rather go to jail for a week than take part in a move.
Hiring professional movers can make the moving process less stressful. But it can also leave you wondering, “How much do moving companies charge?” The last thing you want to do is spend a small fortune to make a move.
If you’re worried about hiring a moving company due to cost concerns, you should learn about the different factors that can affect the price associated with doing it. There is no substitute for simply getting a few moving quotes, but this guide breaks down the factors that will impact how much moving will cost you.
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How Far Are You Moving?
Are you going to be moving into a new home that’s located right down the street from your current one? Or are you going to be moving to a different city that’s located two hours away or maybe even a different state that could take a day full of driving to get to?
The distance of your move is going to determine the answer to the question, “How much do moving companies charge?”, to some degree. You can obviously expect to pay more money to make a long-distance move than you would have to pay to move to a house located a few miles away from your existing one.
You should be prepared to provide a moving company
with the approximate distance between the home you live in now and the home that you’re moving to. It’ll help them figure out if you’re making a local move or a long-distance move, which could affect the overall price of your move.
How Much Do You Have to Move?
“How far are you moving?” is often the first question that you’ll hear when you contact moving companies about their moving services. But they’ll quickly follow that question up with another one about the size of your existing home.
There is a good reason for this. Once they know how large your current home is, they’ll have a rough idea of how much stuff you’re going to need them to move.
It would be impossible for you to determine exactly how much everything in your home weighs. But movers can come up with an estimate when they know how many bedrooms your current home has.
This estimate will help them create a moving quote for you. Their quote will be based on the estimated weight of your possessions and the number of hours that they believe it would take their movers to help you make a successful move.
What Do You Need to Move?
Do you have items outside of the ordinary that you’ll need a moving company to move for you?
Moving companies are prepared to move most types of furniture for people. From couches and coffee tables to dining room tables and bedroom sets, these things come with the territory.
They also expect that they’ll be asked to move a lot of cardboard boxes and rubber totes filled with everything from clothing to small appliances. But if you have anything outside of those things, you might be looking at additional charges for moving services. Many Omaha movers such as King’s Moving will give you an accurate quote based on the items you’re moving.
For example, most moving companies would be more than happy to help you move a piano that you have in your living room right now to your new home. But they’re going to have to be extra careful with it, which could mean moving it separately from your other things.
This will drive the price of your move up and force you to pay a little extra. The price might also go up if you need to move things like gym equipment, a hot tub, or something like a motorcycle.
Make sure you let a moving company know if you plan on asking them to move these things. It’ll allow them to provide you with a more accurate quote on their moving services.
Will You Be Moving Everything to One Location?
When most people make a move, they ask a moving company to pick their things up at their old home and take them right to their new home. There aren’t any other stops that need to be made along the way.
But there are some instances when you might want to ask your moving company to make an extra stop or two before arriving at your final destination. For instance, people will sometimes request that a moving company stop at a storage facility so that they can store certain items that they won’t be bringing to their new home.
Moving companies won’t have any problem making a stop at this location for you. But they are going to charge you more than they would otherwise if you need to make multiple stops.
You may want to consider moving things into storage yourself to save a few bucks. It’ll make your main move go a lot smoother and prevent you from spending more than you want to on moving services.
So, How Much Do Moving Companies Charge? It Depends on the Situation
On average, the American Moving & Storage Association has found that Americans spend almost $1,200 on intrastate moves and more than $5,600 on interstate moves.
But as we’ve mentioned several times now, you could pay a lot more or a lot less than that when you move, depending on your answers to the questions listed here. It makes it tough to answer the question, “How much do moving companies charge?”, definitively since each of these factors will be different for every household.
Do you want to find out ways to make your next move as stress-free as it can be? Check out the articles on our blog to learn the latest moving tips and tricks.
