If you live on a budget, it’s easy to think a self-move will save you money, but there is more to it than meets the eye. Moving house is not only about packing your belongings into boxes and transporting them from one point to the next. Much thought must go into the process, safety, convenience, timing, and cost. With 15.3 million households moving yearly, getting things right is essential. Here are some errors that many people make and how to avoid them.
- Underestimating the time and effort required
The average time it takes to move ranges from five to seven weeks. It begins when you start packing to reserving movers, right through to when you unpack at the new location. You will likely underestimate the time and effort needed to complete the process if you don’t properly access the scope of your move. If you’re moving by yourself, you may be tempted to relax even more. That is because you may think the absence of a pre-scheduled moving company means more time for yourself. However, you risk wasting time and getting overwhelmed with the enormity of work to be done. Packing, loading, unloading, and unpacking are labor-intensive tasks that can take days if you embark on a self-move. It is advisable to have an effective plan you can easily stick to.
- Using the wrong or inappropriate moving equipment
The major things you will need for a moving process involve more than packing tape and boxes. You will require a furniture dolly, moving blankets, straps or ropes, protective gloves, a sizable van, and more. Having all these can make a self-move smooth and convenient. Meanwhile, the risk of injury and damage to your valuables will sharply increase without the right moving equipment. It is also not recommended to improvise your moving equipment as that could cause more harm and further delay the process. Some households rely on improvisation when they cannot afford to hire or purchase essential moving equipment. However, it may not always be advisable. Do you live in a modular home? You might be compelled to move the manufactured house with an improvised van to reduce costs. The latter is not the ideal equipment needed for such a move because it increases the risk of damage and compromises your safety and other road users. It’s why you’re better off using local specialists such as Top Notch Mobile Home Services or others with licenses to move manufactured homes. Besides, the cost of repairing damages caused to your mobile home in a self-move will be higher than if you hired an experienced company.
- Overloading your vehicle
Safety is the primary reason why every vehicle has a loading capacity. That is why overloading your vehicle increases the risk of tipping over in motion. Surveys have shown that many people want to make a single trip for a self-move, which accounts for overloading. Others also fail to check for the weight limits of the vehicle they’re packing things into. In the United States, you will find this on the tire and loading label, which is usually on the edge of the driver’s door. If you want to know how this affects driving, monitor how the car feels when in motion. You will find it difficult to steer the vehicle in a straight line because of the excess load’s impact on tire traction and control.
Additionally, it will take longer for the truck or van to stop when you hit the brakes. The point, therefore, is to avoid the compulsion to make a single trip if your moving vehicle is below the needed loading capacity. Making two trips is better than compromising your safety and that of others on the road.
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