Long-distance move—approximately one million questions.

[CurlyQ284]

I have moved from DC area to Memphis and back. We moved ourselves and got a Penske truck for $800-$1000 (cheaper than uhaul) and we drove it ourselves. It would probably be a little more than that since youre moving a longer distance. No idea on movers if you want to use those.

No idea on selling a house, but you should definitely rent for at least a year to get to know the area before you buy. I haven't been able to sell my house that's not in a great location because i rushed into it.

I would start looking for a job now. Put in the cover letter that you will be moving to the area on x date or month if you dont have the date nailed down exactly.

La Quinta allows dogs, its not super nice but we had our 65 lb dog there with no issue. Baby....I dont know, it depends on the age and your kid. How old? Plan for lots of breaks.

I'm mobile so i don't know if i missed one lol.

[DotAndBuzz]

Mar 6, 2014 16:17:50 GMT -5 googled said:

So. My H and I are going to be moving halfway across the country within the next year so he can start working with his dad. I have so many questions. Feel free to answer any that you have experience with!


We should rent first and THEN search for a house, correct? It feels impossible to attempt to buy a house from this distance. All the times I've rented, I've never come across a month-by-month or even 6-month leasing option. Is that a rare find? I don't want to get trapped into a lease.  YES, rent, then buy.  A one year lease isn't all that bad, to be honest.  You'll want at least that amount of time to get a good feel for the area, and market, to decide where you want to be, as well as to make sure this move was a good decision and the job will work out.

How much money does it usually cost to hire a moving truck? For our entire house. SE PA to SE TX.  Get some quotes from national moving companies with local affiliates (not Joe Smith Moving and Storage), they should be "Not To Exceed" quotes based on an in home estimate of the contents of your house, in terms of weight.  This protects you 2 ways - if they overestimate the weight of your belongings, you get the difference back (make sure that clause is in the contract).  If they underestimate it, they eat the cost (this only works if they get a detailed estimate, and you don't suddenly decide you want to add on the contents of a storage room or something that you previously told them to exclude in the estimate).  We've had both circumstances happen on our cross country move, and for the latter, they under estimated by about 1500 lbs, but the estimate was extremely thorough, so we actually saved a lot that way.  We had full packs both times, and total cost was around $5-6k.  Although, for the one they underestimated, it should have been around $7500 for a 1300 sq ft house and 1 car garage that was packed to the gills.


We are crazy, right? eh, not necessarily 

What is it like to make a 25 hour drive with a baby and 2 dogs?  I traveled with 2 kids, and it was.....not fun.  Godspeed.


I have every intention of coming back to visit often (3-4 times a year)…how can I do this the least expensively? Credit cards with frequent file miles? 3-4x/year seems like a lot, especially once you get settled.  But if you're absolutely set on it, I'd get a credit card for whatever airline has the best flights to and from your destinations (for us, it was Delta, so we went w/ the Amex), and put all major expenses on that card.  Moving, furniture, etc.  You'll rack up points super fast that way.

There are more, I'm sure, but I can't think of them at the moment. TIA!

I answered what I could.     I've done long distance moves a number of times, and am happy to answer any questions you have.

[CurlyQ284]

Oh the visiting. My DH had a job with a regional airline that flew for Northwest so I flew back to my hometown for free every few months. Get a job with an airline? Lol

[iamali]

Would it be possible for relatives/friends to keep your dogs until you actually get into a house and them you can fly them back?

[marylennox]

I have done long distance moves a few times. Many of your questions I haven't had to deal with, but I always start looking, applying, and even interviewing or setting up interviews for jobs well before I am in the new location. Job searching and hiring processes can take months so it's always good to start ASAP in my opinion.

I've stayed in many hotels that allow dogs. Some might have a pet fee but it's usually pretty reasonable. Just call and ask.

I don't have experience with buying a home, but I would not buy one long distance. It is possible to find apartments with short term or monthly leasing options.

Besides that I'm not much help. Oh and no, you're not crazy, people do this all the time. Moving long distance is a pain but you guys will be fine. Good luck!

[circa1978]

We moved across the country several years ago. My H had a job, I freelanced until I found one. (This was 2009, so that took a hell of a lot longer than it should have.) We stayed with my parents until we bought and closed on a house (about 8 weeks). We used a POD to move and downsized a ton before we left Florida.

[hocus2]

Mar 6, 2014 16:17:50 GMT -5 googled said:

I will probably need to find a job there. Should I start interviewing before I get there? After? 


Will *need* a job? Like no food need a job or you'll have 6 months of cushion? I probably start looking 3 months before your move unless you have to have a job ASAP.


We should rent first and THEN search for a house, correct? It feels impossible to attempt to buy a house from this distance. All the times I've rented, I've never come across a month-by-month or even 6-month leasing option. Is that a rare find? I don't want to get trapped into a lease.

I would rent first. You could try to find something with 6 months, but chances are you'll rent for a year which seems fine to me.


How much money does it usually cost to hire a moving truck? For our entire house. 

So you are you taking about DYI move or getting people to pack and drive a truck for you? I think a DIY move would run about $1000 and up + gas for the truck. Movers will run $5000 and up depending on the size of your house.


How much money does it cost to sell a house?

You give your Realtor a % of the sale price. It varies from 5% to 7% depending on region. There are also closing costs.


What is it like to make a 25 hour drive with a baby and 2 dogs?

You're going to fly with the baby right? So basically your house will be packed up and you fly directly to TX with your baby and stay some where for a few days while your stuff is in transit. Once the truck shows you unpack and set up your new home

YOU will be flying  so just your husband has to worry the dogs unless you plan on having them on the plane. I am sure he can find a dog friend hotel with enough googling.

[midnightmare81]

Mar 6, 2014 16:17:50 GMT -5 googled said:

So. My H and I are going to be moving halfway across the country within the next year so he can start working with his dad. I have so many questions. Feel free to answer any that you have experience with!

I will probably need to find a job there. Should I start interviewing before I get there? After? 

We should rent first and THEN search for a house, correct? It feels impossible to attempt to buy a house from this distance. All the times I've rented, I've never come across a month-by-month or even 6-month leasing option. Is that a rare find? I don't want to get trapped into a lease.

How much money does it usually cost to hire a moving truck? For our entire house. SE PA to SE TX. 

How much money does it cost to sell a house?

We are crazy, right?

What is it like to make a 25 hour drive with a baby and 2 dogs?

Our dogs are big—80 pounds a piece and one is a pit bull mix (although we can pass him off as Am. Bulldog). Is this going to be a problem when we stop at a hotel on the way down?

I have every intention of coming back to visit often (3-4 times a year)…how can I do this the least expensively? Credit cards with frequent file miles?

There are more, I'm sure, but I can't think of them at the moment. TIA!

I bolded the ones I can answer. We moved from NE NJ to SC TX just under a year ago.

I started applying a few weeks before the move, though depending on your industry you may need to start sooner. I knew I needed a job asap. So you may be able to wait until you get there if you have a little time. When I was called for an interview I just informed them that I was OOS at the time and would be available to interview on X date. My first interview of the 3 I had set up was the day after we arrived. DO NOT DO THIS! It was really stressful and I almost had a meltdown trying to find what I needed even though I tried to pack them in a specific box so I would find them easily. Add in that it was a new city and I had NO idea where I was going. It was WAY to much. Give yourself a day to settle and find the things you need.


Yes, your crazy. But many other people are crazy too and it is done all the time.

The drive was LONG. We came down during all those storms that took out OK last May. We took many breaks and had to stop and wait out the weather many times. We were pulling a U-haul though, so we were more cautious then we would have been just driving ourselves. I can't vouch for the kids part but we had our dog and our cat in the back of our wrangler. They did fine but I think were even more tired of being in the car then we were by the time we arrived.

We didn't have any issues with the hotel and our dog. None of them even asked what kind or saw him. We just went up, asked for a room, told them we had a dog, and that was that. I doubt you would have an issue if your just staying one night.

[Moe]

Start job hunting now.  You have no idea when hunting will turn into an interview, and I'd you get an interview, go because you don't know when that'll turn into an offer.

I've never bought a home, but yes, I'd recommend renting because you have no idea what neighbourhood you'll like once you're there.

A year lease is favorable, IMO, it gives you a sense of what a neighbourhood is like.

Both of our cross country moves were paid by our company, and they've cost anywhere from 13k$ to 17k$. 

Again, never owned a home, no idea.

Not crazy if it's a place that interests you and you feel comfortable/has amenities/culture/vibrancy that you enjoy. 

Dogs are resilient, but they need to pee all the time.  Holiday Inn Express is a good inexpensive chain that accepts dogs.  Our trip was 8 days, but we broke it up.  Coming here it was just DH and the dog, he made it 2000 miles in 2 days.  Going back, it was all of us, we took breaks, went to different national parks, sights, etc, and it took 8 days.

Our dog was <25lbs, so I don't know. Call ahead.

cc miles aren't what they used to, I wouldn't depend on them.  Scope for inexpensive flights?  

Happy moving.  Purge as much as possible.

[urbancowgirl]

We moved from the DC area to TX about 18 months ago.

I will probably need to find a job there. Should I start interviewing before I get there? After? Like pp said, I would start looking prior to your move.

We should rent first and THEN search for a house, correct? Yes, definitely rent!  We rented a townhouse for 6 months while we looked for a home to buy.  I think lots of apartments will agree to a short-term lease.

How much money does it usually cost to hire a moving truck? For our entire house. SE PA to SE TX.   DH's company paid for a full-pack move.  I think it was around 10k when all was said and done.

How much money does it cost to sell a house?  Don't know.  Haven't done this.

We are crazy, right?  No!  I like moving.  We'll probably move back east eventually.

What is it like to make a 25 hour drive with a baby and 2 dogs?  We drove with two cats and it took us 3 days.  We could have made it to TX faster, but we decided to take our time so that the cats weren't stuck in their carriers in the car for too long.

Our dogs are big—80 pounds a piece and one is a pit bull mix (although we can pass him off as Am. Bulldog). Is this going to be a problem when we stop at a hotel on the way down?  I don't know.  We had no trouble finding cat-friendly hotels, though.

I have every intention of coming back to visit often (3-4 times a year)…how can I do this the least expensively? Credit cards with frequent file miles?  Not sure!