You’ve sold your house and you need to be out by 5:00 pm today, but the movers don’t show up as promised. You call to inquire why and they let you know they’re running a couple days behind. You call your Realtor to see if the buyers can wait a couple days, but find out their movers are on the way with two big trucks full of everything the buyers own, and they’re on schedule to arrive promptly at 5:00 pm, when you no longer own the house, according to your sales contract.
To avoid this and similarly dreadful moving scenarios, it’s best to plan ahead as much as you can. Then, all you can do is take a deep breath and hope for the best.
Carefully manage the packing process.
Whether you pack your own belongings or have professional packers do it for you, head to the hardware store and purchase about eight different colors of duct tape. Use yellow on boxes for the master bedroom, blue for the kitchen, and so on. When you arrive at your new home, put a little duct tape of the corresponding color on the doorway to each room so movers can put boxes in the right rooms.
If you pack your own things, use small and medium-sized boxes (ones you can lift when they’re full). If you hire movers to pack your things, I recommend keeping a close eye on the process by letting them know you’ll label boxes as they pack.
Choose a reputable moving company.
Many people try to save money by moving themselves. If you can afford professional movers, I recommend you do so. While your brother-in-law and your Great Uncle Ned might be fun at family barbecues, their knowledge about how to transport Grandma’s heirloom china might not be too impressive.
To find a good moving company, ask your friends, family, or Realtor for a referral and then check out the reviews online. Make sure whoever you hire has liability insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, and content coverage. And for specifics about what is included in their fees and what is extra.
Review Your Homeowner’s Insurance.
According to Rob McAsey at Mark Davis Insurance, you should review your homeowner’s insurance before you move so you know what’s covered. Let’s say you own a home worth $500,000. Contents coverage is usually set at 70 percent of that value, or $350,000. The coverage for contents that leave the home is often 10 percent of that, so $35,000. If all your belongings in that truck would cost more than $35,000 to replace, you might consider purchasing more insurance.
I recently heard a horror story about a family moving to Ukiah whose mover stopped en route to visit someone. During the stopover, the moving truck was stolen. Unfortunately, although the client had confirmed that the moving company had insurance, he had not checked how much. The moving company’s insurance carrier paid $50,000 for $130,000 worth of losses, leaving our new Ukiah resident $80,000 in the hole.
Schedule Utilities Activation Early.
It’s Friday at 6:00 pm. Your belongings have been transported to your new home and almost all the boxes have miraculously been placed in the right rooms. The sun is setting. It’s time to order pizza and celebrate. You reach for the light switch to turn on the lights when you realize no one has alerted the utility companies that you’ve arrived. You have no electricity, no water, and no gas.
Avoid this situation by contacting utility companies early.
Be Clear About What’s Included and What’s Extra.
Next week, I’ll write about all the services that are typically included when you hire movers, and those for which you must pay extra.
If you have questions about real estate or property management, please contact me at rselzer@selzerrealty.com or visit www.realtyworldselzer.com. If I use your suggestion in a column, I’ll send you a $5.00 gift card to Schat’s Bakery. If you’d like to read previous articles, visit my blog at www.richardselzer.com. Dick Selzer is a real estate broker who has been in the business for more than 40 years.