Nov 15, 2024 Residential Home Moving

Four Great Money-Saving Tips for Residential Home Moving

Posted by: Mcmmanager

Moving into a new home is a lot of things; it’s exciting, it’s stressful, and it can also be expensive. Between the packing supplies and hiring the right company the costs of residential home moving can add up fast. The good news is that there are simple ways to save on moving expenses without sacrificing quality services.

Budget for Residential Home Moving Costs

Preparation is key to all things related to moving —and that includes knowing roughly how much you should budget for movers, supplies, and other essentials.

For local moves, most residential moving companies change by the hour. This rate can vary quite significantly based on your vendor and options such as packing and unpacking services, distance, as well as factors like the size of the home, how easy it is to access, and how many flights of stairs the movers will have to navigate. However, as a starting point, you can expect to pay anywhere from $120-$150 per hour for 2 movers and a truck, with additional charges for extra movers plus travel time.

For example, hiring a moving company to move a 3-bedroom home from Vancouver to Burnaby could cost between $800 and $1,500+, assuming 3 movers work between 4 and 8 hours.

The best way to get an accurate estimate of your moving costs is to have a few companies provide quotes.

Purge or Sell Things You No Longer Need

Decluttering is a double win when it comes to saving on residential home moving costs. First, the less stuff you have to move, the less time your move will take, which will reduce the number of hours you’re paying for. Secondly, selling items like furniture, clothing, or other household items is an easy way to make money and offset your moving costs.

Local markets like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace are great resources for selling individual items. However, if you are simply looking to purge there are many local charities (like Habitat for Humanity) that will pick up good condition furniture, appliances, and clothing.

Source Your Packing Supplies

Now, packing materials are not somewhere you want to skimp, but you can save money by finding preowned or leftover supplies. Start with friends, family, and neighbours. The odds are good someone has a garage full of forgotten moving boxes they would love to pass on (probably for free!). You can also look for moving supplies on your local marketplace. As long as these items are in good condition, there is no reason to buy new.

Just avoid the temptation to save on moving costs by packing up your home in a random assortment of Amazon or grocery store boxes. Not only were these boxes not built to transport heavy items securely, but the mismatched sizing makes the movers’ job more complicated, which could ultimately end up costing you more as they try to Tetris the moving truck with oddly shaped boxes.

Avoid Weekends and Peak Moving Periods

If you have any flexibility in the time and date of your move, you can save money by avoiding the times and days of the month.

Summer is by far the busiest time for movers as families with children look to get established in their new homes before the start of the school year. Demand for residential home moving tends to peak and the beginning and end of the month as this often coincides with lease renewals and rental turnover.

Weekends are also typically more expensive than weekdays due to higher demand. If you can swing it, you might be able to save on costs by simply picking a weekday move over a Saturday or Sunday.