How to precisely calculate your moving costs?

The fact of the matter is that if you are not a professional you will rarely calculate something precisely. The best case scenario is that you can make an estimate, or a pretty well placed educated guess. But making a precise estimate, on just about anything, on your own is pretty tedious. This also goes when you try to calculate your moving costs. We are not trying to discourage you from doing it, we are just being real.

However, thankfully, you do not have to be an expert to do these things. On top of that, it is not your job to have the know-how of making a calculation of your moving cost. The moving companies are those who should calculate your moving costs, and you should keep that in mind. Of course, if you are for any reason experienced on the topic, feel free to do it on your own. Otherwise, rely on the moving company you will choose to do it for you, as they should. There are certain things you could also do on your own, but we’ll discuss it further as we progress.

The most important thing you should know from the get-go is that you should have your moving company do the calculation for you, and based on this estimate you will proceed to choose whether you will hire them or not. Call High Level Movers and see for yourself how the professional movers asses moving costs.

How to calculate your moving costs

As discussed earlier, you will want to have your moving company to help you with that. Still, they can not do absolutely everything. Basically, you need to feed them as much information as you can. The more information the moving company has, the better the calculation will be. So try not to be vague with the moving company in any way. Don’t hold back. Still, before any estimations are to take place there are certain things that you need to know and have planned. Chances of you not knowing these things are ridiculously small, yet still, we have to touch base on them.

How far away are you moving

In order to calculate your moving cost, you and your moving company need to know exactly the distance that your belongings will travel. Also, is it in another country or state? Is it accessible via the highway or do you have to go a bit of off-roading? The reason why you need to know this is the fact that not all trucks can go on all roads, especially when they are under heavy weight. Furthermore, for some sections of the move, you might need air-transport.  You need to take all of these things into consideration when you calculate your moving costs.

Did you think about the distance of the move when you decided to calculate your moving costs?
Take the distance into account when you calculate moving costs as it has a significant impact on the price

On top of it all, if it’s a 3-4 day truck drive to the new destination you might need to consider renting some storage units, given that maybe you will have to take two runs to transport everything (depending on the size of the inventory being transported).

Do a proper inventory

After you have calculated all the transport details, we get to the inventory. Inventory can be a bit dreadful, but there is one mistake people often make. You get comfortable with your belongings thinking you know all the ins and outs. But this is where the trap is. You think you have everything in your head, and once you start the process you realize just how many items you forgot to list. This can increase your moving costs given that your movers will not be well prepared for extra items added to the list.

You don't need a computer or a smartphone to make a simple checklist just grab a pen and a piece of paper
Grab a pen and paper and make a simple checklist of things you need to move

There is a simple solution, even though it takes a bit more time. Grab a notebook and start walking around the place, starting from the front door. Exclude the walls and the floor, and write down everything that you can see. Everything. You can delete excessive things afterward. And if you make your way throughout the place you will end up with a detailed list of all items that are being shipped to your new home. This will help you calculate your moving costs much better.

When are you moving

Believe it or not, the time of the move is very impactful on the price. First, there is something called the moving season, and an off-season. Logically, if you wish to move in the peak of the moving season it might end up being a tad more expensive than moving in the off-season.

Furthermore, winter or summer? Rain or dry? All of these conditions will impact the price estimation of the relocation. Early in the morning or in the middle of the day? Later evening? All of this needs to be pre-determined and presented to your future movers so that they can make their calculations as accurate as they possibly can. Make sure you read these tips for hiring last minute movers if you are moving in a hurry.

Let them compete

Lastly, you will always want to insist on having the moving company show up at the moving site. This way, they can go through everything and try to make a calculated estimation of how much the move itself would cost. The procedure is simple. Call a potential moving company and ask for a person to arrive at the site where your items currently are.

If you call only one moving company you will probably miss out on finding a deal that suits your needs the best
Call several moving companies ahead of time so you can get several offers and decide which one fits your needs the best

Even better, what we recommend, is for you to dial up a few moving companies. Once you do, ask all of them to send a person to the site to perform a calculation of the moving costs. If you were to do it this way, you might end up having several estimations, hence you could choose the cheapest one. These are the best ways you can calculate your moving costs. Of course, hoping that you have enough time to do this type of procedure. If you are short on time and need a moving quote today check out moving quotes, and you will get one fast.