Avoid Moving Day Disasters: Learn What Not To Do {Guest Post}

Broken mirrors, flat tires, crazy prices and in an unlucky person's world, a runaway mattress on the freeway – it's the epitome of a horrific moving day. But unless it's happened to us, we tend to share our condolences or roll our eyes and move on with our lives. If it's your turn to move and you want to avoid any of those experiences, skip these pitfalls and you should be all right.

Hastily Pack Up on Your Own

Nothing is more stressed than putting off packing until the weekend you plan to move. With so many other things take care of, there undoubtedly isn't time for color coding boxes or triple wrapping breakables. Throwing your belongings in a box with a bit of tissue paper ensures only one thing: items are bound to be lost, damaged or destroyed during your move. Take your time to pack up or hire someone to do it for you.

Don't Research Your Moving Company

Not all moving companies are created equal. According to Smartmoney.com, the Council of Better Business Bureaus reported complaints about movers has multiplied from nearly 3,800 in 1997 to more than 9,200 in 2007. Seemingly legitimate companies are hiring illegitimate drivers who are mishandling items and overcharging customers. Put in the extra effort before you make a deal. The Better Business Bureau is a good place to start.

Forget the Weather Forecast

Packing and planning aren't a guarantee everything will work out great; something unexpected will happen. In this case, the weather could be your biggest downfall when moving. Even if you don't generally check the weather forecast, do it before you move. Even if there isn't a chance of rain, have plastic sheeting, old towels and tarps handy to protect furniture, wood and other items that would be ruined if wet.

No Inventory? No Problem!

Without proof, debating the conditions of items with a moving company will be an unsuccessful battle of "he said, she said." If you don't want the responsibility of replacing broken belongings, create an inventory sheet and fill out a condition report with the mover. Take photos of your items and require a receipt signed by you and the mover listing the condition your items were in before the move.

Let Your Animals (and Kids) Roam Free

You know that sinking feeling when you feel like you are forgetting something but can't remember what it is? On moving day, you don't want the answer – Fluffy – to come to you when you are 300 miles away. Keep pets and kids away during the moving process. Hire a baby or pet sitter and not just to keep them out of the way. Cats, especially, like to explore and the inside of a moving van might be extra enticing. Even if your kids and pets are safely secured, give the truck a once over before packing up for good. Stray animals or neighborhood kids could have let their curiosity get the best of them and wound up in the back in between the mattresses and kitchen table.

Written by:

Jyoti Gupta New to the world of real estate, Jyoti is excited to make the transition from writing about real estate and providing helpful tips to first time buyers and renters, since she was a property lawyer before she decided to change her career.

Moving Tips

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Moving can be stressful...especially if it's your first time or if it's been awhile since your last move. None of us want to be pros at moving. The only thing I like about it is the chance to totally clean out my entire home. I'm able to get rid of things I truly do not want. Who wants to move anything they don't need to?

Many readers seem to be moving soon or have just completed a move. Many have just bought a house (congratulations!) and others are relocating for jobs. It's something that we all do at one point or another in our life. So why not make things easier?

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Lucky for you, I've been collecting tips from readers over the last few weeks. (Thank you to everyone who contributed!) I have a moving checklist, moving tips, and some box labels for you.

Overwhelmingly, many readers suggested color coding and labeling boxes. I couldn't agree more. Many ideas were given (view them all in the moving tips document), but I really love the color coding idea. On the box labels I created, there's a spot for a sticker. The stickers you could use are garage sale stickers (the .75" diameter colored stickers that are blank). Each room gets it's own color sticker.

Here's a preview of the labels I created.

The first set can be printed on regular paper and taped to each box. Below is a sample of what it may look like when you write on it. (None of the labels have "The Nest Effect" printed directly on the label.)

two labels per sheet
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two labels per sheet
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The next label can be printed as is and cut up into 6 labels, but it's made for use with Avery Shipping Labels #8164. It may be easier to print 6 labels per sheet on stickers so you don't have to tape each label on each box.

6 labels per sheet
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Another tip suggested by several readers is to create a moving binder/notebook. Keep track of account numbers, important moving info, quotes, change of address requests, etc. all in one place. I think this is such a good idea, especially if organization isn't your strong point. This is one way you can make your move a little more organized and a bit less stressful.

You can download the moving checklist here and the moving tips list here. Both are in black and white to save you ink on something that (hopefully) won't be long term. After all, once you move, the boxes are going to be history anyways.

I hope this post has been helpful. Bookmark or pin this post for future reference!

Have any tips to add? I'd be more than happy to add them to the list!

Moving Tips: Care to Share?

Thursday I'll be posting a much anticipated post about moving tips/organization! I'm compiling a list of tips from readers, and I'd love for you to share any tips you may have to make moving to a new home more manageable. Your tips can literally be anything super simple or something more in depth (what you may think is "common sense" may not come to others naturally...so please, share away)!

I can't wait to share the tips I've compiled already. If you're in need of this post, be sure to come back Thursday!