It’s not easy uprooting yourself from a city where you’ve lived for a long time. Relocating to a distant place can easily stress you out. However, circumstances often make relocating inevitable.
Many people move for work-related reasons, while others want to live in a safer neighborhood. If you live in a Californian city like San Diego, unaffordability and hot and humid weather conditions may be major reasons for you to want to consider moving toward the Midlands. Rent in San Diego hit a new record of $2,424 per month in June, and these soaring prices can force one to switch cities.
This blog shares some tips for making your long-distance move comfortable and convenient. Follow the suggestions mentioned down below and move to a more affordable city outside of California easily:
1) Follow your schedule
Schedule your relocation by creating a moving timeline. This timeline should include all the tasks and chores that need your attention. Start planning your move months in advance, and don’t make last-minute schemes. Here are five crucial tasks you need to plan for when relocating:
- Make a moving budget
- Gather the necessary packing supplies
- Visit your new city and do some research
- Pick a moving date (it’s better to move off-season)
- Decide what you’re going to do with your old house
2) Hire reputable movers
A long-distance move requires professional assistance. So, you should look around the neighborhood and find a reputable, experienced moving company. San Diego’s population has declined by more than 11,000 residents between 2020 and 2021. This population drop leads to more companies springing up in the moving services industry.
If you want to find the right San Diego long distance moving company, start by asking people you trust and using Google to shortlist the best names in the business. It’s important to get quotes from different movers and choose the most suitable one. Make sure these long-distance movers are BBB-accredited and also serve your destination city.
3) Inventory your items
Create a list of all the items the movers will transport. Your belongings will travel across state lines once loaded on a moving truck. A mix-up can easily happen if you haven’t labeled your boxes clearly or if you don’t know exactly which items you’ve sent via the movers.
That’s why label all your boxes and inventory your items. Write your name clearly on these boxes and if you want to make it easier to be contacted in case something goes wrong, write your phone number on them too.
4) Get moving insurance
During a long-distance move, your belongings may easily get damaged if the movers aren’t careful. So, you need to protect yourself from unnecessary monetary damage by getting long-distance moving insurance. Many movers will provide this sort of insurance, while others may recommend getting third-party insurance.
Don’t forget to take pictures of your valuables to make a strong case against movers if they damage or lose something.
5) Declutter and downsize
Take fewer items on this long distance journey to reduce your moving expenses. Relocation can serve as an excuse to downsize, declutter, and throw away all that useless junk you’ve accumulated in your house. Here are a few ways you can get rid of your clutter and reduce your moving burden:
- Rent a self-storage for safekeeping
- Donate your stuff
- Hold a yard sale and sell your junk items to make some profit
6) Pack your belongings
A long-distance means you must reserve at least two weeks to pack everything in your house for a lengthy journey. Many people find packing the most demanding aspect of the whole moving process. However, a few simple tips can help you navigate even this stress-inducing process easily:
- Start by packing the least-used room in the house to stay organized
- Involve your whole family in this process to make packing a fun task
- Label each box with its contents (and the room it belongs to) to make unpacking easier
- Consider color-coding the labels to make it even easier to identify boxes for specific rooms
- Use bubble wrap, packing paper, or foam padding to provide cushioning to fragile items
7) Pack your essentials
Since 3 million Americans make an interstate state annually, the movers may experience a little delay. What happens if you arrive at your new home before your movers do? In such a case, prepare a bag filled with essentials when embarking on a long-distance move. This helps you settle in your new home with your family even if the movers are delayed in their journey.
This bag should contain clothes, toiletries, medications, and other stuff needed to comfortably spend the first night in the new home. Also, pack your original documents with all these essentials and your jewelry. Don’t send these valuables with long distance movers.
8) Notify important parties
You need to transfer your utilities to the new home before leaving. Cancel any newspaper or magazine subscriptions that you have. Moreover, you have to notify all important parties of the address change. It includes your banks, the post office, and government organizations. Don’t forget to inform your pals and family members. Update your address so people can easily contact you after you have moved.
If you are leaving California altogether, update your voter registration after relocating!
9) Prepare your home
Before your family can move into the new home, you must make it livable. Make your new space feel like home to ensure a smooth long distance transition. It’s not difficult to prepare your new home for your arrival. All you have to do is:
- Locate essential services in the new area, such as grocery stores, healthcare facilities, schools, and public transportation
- Change the locks on all exterior doors because you don’t know who else has a key to this residence given to them by the previous owner/s
- Deep clean your new property by wiping down surfaces, vacuuming carpets, mopping floors, and sanitizing bathrooms and kitchen areas
Conclusion
If you’re thinking about switching homes and moving to another location, follow the guidelines mentioned in this blog. You must schedule your move properly, declutter, pack your stuff smartly, and notify family and friends before moving. Look around your neighborhood to hire reliable San Diego movers to shift your things across state borders. Don’t forget about getting moving insurance and packing some essentials. That’s how you can successfully organize a long distance move out of your city without hassle.
