Category: Moving Tips

As exciting as moving into a new place can be, many people still dread the certain moving aspects, such as packing, loading, unloading, rearranging, cleaning, and so on. But moving doesn’t have to be the stress-inducing endeavor many people believe it to be. Below, our experienced Gainesville movers share five expert tips for achieving a stress-free move.

Contact our moving company, UF Mover Guys, today to request a free quote on any of our moving services!

Stay Organized

Moving, as with many other tasks, can be made significantly easier with a bit of organization. One of the best ways to get organized is by making lists. Start by listing everything that needs to get done in the weeks leading up to the big move. Checking a few tasks off your list every day can help ensure you don’t fall behind or forget anything. Also, once the packing begins, be sure to label each box clearly. Ideally, each box should have what it contains and what room it belongs in written on top.

Declutter & Downsize

At one point or another, everyone has looked around their home and thought, “I really should toss some of this stuff out.” Lucky for you, moving is the perfect excuse to finally do so. A few weeks ahead of the move, take some time to identify anything you no longer need or use. Whether you decide to donate, discard, or sell your old belongings, just make sure it’s done before moving day. Tossing old stuff before moving saves you from having to load/unload boxes full of useless items, which is a convenience you’ll undoubtedly be thankful for come move-out day.

Don’t Wait Until The Last Minute

The sooner you start preparing for your big move, the better. If at all possible, try to give yourself at least 8 weeks to get everything done. Obviously, you can’t pack all of your belongings into a box eight weeks before your move-out date, but you can start getting smaller tasks done. Start with chores such as getting your utilities transferred, reserving a moving truck or services, packing up items you won’t need in your daily life, and throwing out anything you don’t plan on bringing. The more you can get finished early on, the less you’ll have to worry about on moving day.

Take Breaks

Moving is a physically taxing process, and we understand wanting to get it all done as soon as possible, but you’ve got to remember to take care of yourself. The night before moving, make sure to get plenty of restful sleep. On the morning of, eat a hearty breakfast. Finally, and most importantly, remember to take breaks on moving day. Lifting boxes, climbing stairs, arranging furniture — all of these activities are going to burn a lot of energy, so it’s paramount that you stop, rest, and refuel when necessary.

Ask For Help

Last but certainly not least, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Call up friends and family early on and ask if they can help you throughout the moving process. Moving house is a big project, and the more hands you have helping, the quicker it will get finished.

Want some professional help? Contact our Florida movers to book your move or learn more about our services!

With its temperate weather and months-long break from school, summertime is generally regarded as the best time to move. Unfortunately, a person’s busy schedule doesn’t always allow them the luxury of moving during the summer months. Moving in the middle of the school year is often challenging both for parents and their children. Luckily, we can help! Beyond offering affordable moving services, our team at UF Mover Guys provides helpful tips to assist people in navigating even the most difficult of moves. Check out the following tips for moving with kids during the school year!

Contact our experienced Gainesville movers today to book your move!

Discuss The Move With Your Kids

Kids need time to process their feelings and prepare for change, so don’t keep them out of the loop for too long. Shortly after making your decision to move, host a family meeting and break the news to them. Discuss the specifics of your relocation with them, tell them why you’re moving, where you’re moving, and when the move will take place. Share with them why you’re excited about moving, and once you’re done talking, take them to do something they enjoy. Also, be prepared to be met with resistance, especially if you’re moving somewhere far away. This is a perfectly normal reaction from kids, and it will pass with time. Just remember to be open and available to answer any questions they may have.

Research Schools In Your New Neighborhood

Start researching new schools for your children to attend as early as possible before your move. Review each school’s educational quality, extracurricular activities, proximity to your home, and on-site facilities. If you’re able, take a tour of the schools with your child. Have older kids? Include them in the process! Parents should be sure to factor in their children’s unique needs and specific preferences when making a final decision regarding education. Once you’ve decided on a new school, contact your kid’s current school and have them transfer over any transcripts, health information, report cards, and credits.

Visit The New Home With Your Children

Nothing is scarier than the unknown, and to your kids, their new home is likely just a big question mark. That said, taking your children to visit their new home, town, and school can help lessen any anxieties they have about moving. If possible, bring your kids with you to tour their new school, and then take them out to do something fun around their new town. Bring them up to see their new house and encourage them to think about how they’re going to decorate their new room. Familiarizing your kids with their new town before the big move can make the transition significantly less daunting.

Host A Farewell Party For Your Kids

Saying goodbye to your friends is never easy, especially when you’re a kid and they’re the only friends you’ve ever known. This is one of the primary reasons moving is so challenging for kids. Help them say goodbye the right way by hosting a farewell party and inviting all of their closest friends. Also, help them understand that just because they’re moving doesn’t mean they can’t stay in touch with their friends. Exchange contact information with other parents, set up online games to play with friends, and do whatever you can to ensure your children don’t have to end relationships that bring them comfort. Rest assured that your kids will make plenty more friends in their new town.

After the snow of winter has melted and the spring flowers begin to bloom comes the perfect time of year to pack up your house and relocate to another city or town. Cleaning and packing might seem like an overwhelming task, but you can look at it as just another year of the spring cleaning tradition. The only difference is that you will be cleaning a little deeper and cover more areas than usual. To avoid any unnecessary stress, our Gainesville movers at UF Mover Guys have you covered with tips and tricks that will make spring cleaning before a move manageable!

Contact us today to request a moving quote and to schedule moving services for your upcoming move! We also offer junk removal and storage services!

Cleaning To Do Before Packing

Purge The Old

Being on the verge of a spring move is an excellent time to get rid of some of those older winter clothes in your wardrobe. Clothes falling apart at the seams or tattered can either be thrown away or donated, depending on their condition. Getting rid of any bulky winter sweaters and clothing can help save some space in your boxes and make your move lighter. Thanks to moving in spring, you will have a whole year to get some new winter clothing!

Declutter

During your process of cleaning and packing, you might find that you have too much stuff to shove into your new place. Nobody wants to move into a new home just for it to be filled with clutter. While it is tempting just to shove all your belongings into a box and sort it out at your new location, this would waste both time and money on both packing it up and moving it. Consider some affordable storage for any items that are too big or too much for you to take with you.

Deep Clean The Home

There are some things in your house that you might clean pretty regularly, despite spring cleaning, but for this step, you will have to clean all the areas you might not normally think about, such as the walls and behind any appliances. When a new family moves into a clean space, they will be given a fresh slate. Make sure to scrub any grout, wash your windows, and clean all the lights, fans, and any tight nooks and crannies. 

Post-Packing Cleaning

Don’t Leave The Cleaning To The Last Minute

Before your big moving day, we recommend doing some cleaning a few weeks before your planned move-out day. This will save you some moving stress, and the last thing that you would want is to wait until the day of your planned move out to find out that you don’t have all the correct tools and cleaning products. While you should try to clean as much as possible before the day, it is a good idea to allow some time for any last-minute cleaning.

Clean High To Low

When you start to clean a room, try your best to clean it from the highest point of a room to the lowest. This will make sure that any first or dust that was on the upper levels will fall to the next level and so on. When you work from the lowest point to the highest, it is easy to make a mess of an area that you have already cleaned. After dusting, dust tends to fall, and it could fall onto a surface that has already been cleaned as well.

Don’t Forget The Details

While spring cleaning, it is easy to skip past some tasks, but no matter how much you hate to do them, now is the time when they have to be done. Don’t forget to clean things like refrigerator shelves or the inside of your oven. Also, make sure that you clean out all your cabinets and ensure that you clean and polish any wood flooring or furniture that you have. When moving out, the devil is truly in the details. 

Work In Stages 

The same principle applies to cleaning as it does to eating an elephant; take it one step at a time. It can be pretty overwhelming to try to tackle the entire house in one go, but breaking the cleaning into chunks and spacing it out throughout a longer period can help to relieve some stress. Take your time to clean each section of your house or apartment thoroughly.

Get Rid Of Any Old Appliances

When going through spring cleaning, you usually wouldn’t have to sort through any junk drawers or any old appliances. But before a move, doing some sorting is a great way to get rid of unnecessary bulk — more than likely, you will find several small and useless kitchen appliances. If these are appliances you can live without, it is probably a good idea to part ways with them. 

Staging Your House

Once you are done removing all the dirt and dust from your home and decluttering your home, the only thing left to do is properly stage your home. This means taking any items that aren’t personal to the family, such as seating areas and decorative pieces, and setting them up in a way that will make the home look fresh. This will help any potential buyers imagine their lives there and create an interesting space for them to discover.

What Not To Spring Clean

Old bed linens and old towels may seem like items that you can throw away, but they can be useful no matter how tattered or torn they may be. These can be used as dust covers, protective wrappings for furniture, or for covering any carpets if you need any painting. If you do not have any bubble wrap or newspaper, you can use towels and bed linens to protect any fragile items, such as any glassware or dishes that you are scared to break. 

While packing and throwing things away, you might find some old belongings that might still have some resale value. Instead of tossing everything, you should consider a garage sale or selling them on a good online marketplace to advertise them after you are done with spring cleaning.

Not only is leaving your house or apartment in good condition after you move the right thing to do, but it can also help you reclaim a security deposit. But, finding the time and energy to fix and clean everything just isn’t reasonable. To help you prioritize what’s most important to address, UF Mover Guys has compiled this list of four things you should repair before moving out.

When it’s time to actually hit the road, depend on professional movers that will treat your possessions with the utmost care. Contact our Gainesville moving company to request a free quote!

Little Things

Before the first box is even packed, you should start considering all of the little repairs that you’ve left untended. A few months before moving can be a great time to start wrapping up little projects. It may be something that you feel comfortable fixing on your own, such as a leaky faucet, or it may be something that you’d rather put a work order in for. Since you’re still a tenant, the landlord should fix most problems without any issue. They might even appreciate your forward planning for preparing the unit for the next tenant.

Drywall

Whether from hanging art, family photos, or seasonal decorations, your wall has likely incurred some damage throughout the years. While a hole here and there may not seem like much to you, these little damages add up because they all must be spackled before a fresh coat of paint can be applied. It’s easy to repair these little holes yourself and can help you recover your security deposit when completed alongside the other items on this list. You can pick up spackling tools online or at a local tool store. Be sure to read the directions and try to cover holes as you remove items so that you don’t end up missing any.

Carpet

Just as with the walls, the carpets throughout your home have probably seen a lot of action over time. While it can be difficult to fully clean your carpet when furniture is still unpacked, you can do a thorough examination of the carpet and try to spot treat the worst areas. Once the moving truck is packed, a quick once over with a vacuum and carpet cleaner can make the unit look brand new. Most grocery stores provide carpet cleaner rentals, but if that’s out of the question, don’t skip on vacuuming and spot treatment. Even if you’re unable to get up every little stain, the effort of making the whole carpet look better will pay off.

Deep Clean

Obviously, you want to leave your apartment as clean as when you moved in, but it’s easy to miss spots unless you do a deep clean. If you’re short on time, hiring a professional cleaning service can be helpful, but otherwise, deep cleaning doesn’t have to be an overwhelming chore. Be sure to dust and clean blinds and window ledges, baseboards, appliances, and general plumbing fixtures. To help get you started before the first box is packed, consider purging some possessions that you no longer need. A junk removal service can help make getting rid of things a breeze. 

Spring is the season of rebirth and renewal, so what better time is there to move into a new house? Due to the temperate weather and competitive rates among moving companies, many consider spring to be one of the best times of year to move. However, no season is without its fair share of moving challenges. Unpredictable afternoon showers and difficulty securing a moving truck are only a couple of the difficulties one may face during the busy spring moving season. Nevertheless, with a bit of preparation and the proper knowledge, any moving challenge can be overcome. Lucky for you, we at UF Mover Guys are all about making big moves as easy and convenient as possible. Check out our tips for moving in the spring below!

Contact our moving company today to request a free quote on our moving services!

Reserve Moving Equipment Well In Advance

Spring is one of the busiest seasons for the real estate industry, meaning droves of people will \ reserve moving trucks for their own moves around that time. That’s why, if you’re hoping to move in the spring, then it’s best to book your truck and equipment well in advance of your move-out date. Plus, booking moving services in late fall could end up saving you money, as rates among moving companies tend to be lower around that time than they are in spring.

Keep An Eye On The Weather

After the chilly winter months, the sunny warmth of springtime is a welcome change. However, spring’s weather is also infamous for unpredictability. There could be bright blue skies one minute, then rainclouds the next, and that’s not necessarily ideal for moving. Dealing with erratic weather is equal parts vigilance and luck, which is why it’s always good to have a backup plan in case the weather suddenly turns on you. Also, be sure to have furniture covers handy and try to park your truck under cover if possible.

Handle Your Utilities Early

Heat, electrical, water, internet, and cable are all utilities you’ll probably want to have at your next place, and the sooner you get them set up, the better. Go ahead and have your utility company transfer service to your new address so that you don’t have to deal with the hectic days leading up to the big move. A little bit of proactivity can go a long way during a move, and transferring your utilities early on is a perfect start. 

Remember To Take Breaks

Moving is a tiresome ordeal that demands much of your physical and mental (and sometimes emotional) strength. Unfortunately, all the hustle and bustle of moving day can make it easy to forget about basic self-care, such as eating and staying hydrated. Put simply, don’t forget to take breaks. Without stopping for a breather every once in a while, you’ll only make the move harder than it needs to be and yourself more miserable. Whether it’s chilly or warm outside, set some time aside during moving day to sit down somewhere with AC and enjoy a nutritious meal.

Scoring the perfect house should be at the top of your list when moving, but don’t forget about the importance of the neighborhood it’s located in. After all, you could be living there a long time and will want to feel safe and happy among your neighbors. Also, if the neighborhood turns out to be bad, it can be difficult to sell later down the road when you’re ready to move. Doing ample research about the neighborhood is a must, and be sure to keep your eyes peeled for any of these neighborhood red flags.

When you’ve decided on the right place in the right neighborhood, schedule moving services with our professional moving company in Gainesville, FL.

It’s Too Good To Be True

A beautiful house in a seemingly good neighborhood for the ideal price? There may be a reason for your good luck that isn’t obvious on the surface. Check out the neighborhood for more “for sale” signs that aren’t just on the property you’re eyeing. If there’s a lot, it could be an indication that people are trying to leave that neighborhood. And if the home you’re looking at is listed for a price below expectation, it could mean that they’re desperately trying to repopulate. The reason could be anything from underlying economic reasons to local environmental issues that make it difficult to maintain the home, such as flooding. It’s also important to look at surrounding neighborhoods to see if rising crime rates could be causing the exodus.

Poorly Maintained

Beyond just a single house, a neighborhood should be a well-functioning hub of neighbors, roads, sidewalks, and yards. While the occasional crack in the sidewalk or pothole in the road isn’t a sign to run, multiple points of degradation are an indication that public services are lacking. Additionally, look at the state of the neighbors’ homes and yards. Are they well-kept and maintained or are they in a state of disrepair? Crumbling home exteriors and weedy lawns with junk piled high can speak in volumes about the character of both the occupant and the neighborhood. While pristine homes and lawns don’t necessarily mean the best neighborhood, poorly maintained ones can be a reflection of the issues you might face should you become an owner there.

Check Nearby Schools

Even if you don’t have children, the state of schools in the area can be an indicator of the quality of the neighborhood that you’re considering. Do some research on the population of the school and its overall rating. This can give you insight into whether the local population is aging or if parents are potentially opting for private or homeschooling because of the quality of the public schools. While an aging population isn’t necessarily bad, it could point to decreased economic security in the area. Also, if you do have children, that means that your child will have fewer people around their age. 

No One’s Around

Not seeing people on the sidewalks or in their yards isn’t necessarily a red flag. After all, there could be inclement weather the day you visit or they’re opting to relax in the more spacious backyard. However, not seeing children playing outside or even neighbors doing lawn work could point to concerns for safety. Even in areas that seem nice, growing worries about crime could be keeping your neighbors inside. Of course, you should always check crime statistics for any area you’re considering moving to. You should also check out local news to see if the area around your neighborhood is becoming a hotspot for crime.