Coast to Coast Moving: Challenges, Costs and Tips

Moving is hard no matter how far you’re going.  Still, the distance of your move is one of the biggest factors that will determine the difficulty of the process. The longer the move – the harder it will be to organize it. According to this, coast to coast moving is the biggest challenge you can face when it comes to a domestic relocation. There are so many things that you need to deal with, overcome, and handle in order to move from one coast to another. Luckily, Best Cross Country Movers prepared an article that will help you deal with all the challenges in a smooth and easy manner. Now, let’s see what awaits you and how to handle a coast-to-coast relocation.

Coast to coast moving is difficult and challenging even if you are taking the shortest route

There are thousands of miles between the two coasts. In fact, the shortest route from one coast to another is approximately 2,500 miles long. On the other hand, the longest route one can take is 3,527 miles – from West Quoddy Head in the state of Maine to Point Arena in California. Now, we are sure that you are really moving from Quoddy Head to Point Arena, but even if you are, don’t worry, we will make sure that you find the best cross country movers Maine has to offer and that you get to California in a smooth and stress-free manner.

Coast-to-coast relocation usually takes somewhere between 2 and 5 days to complete

Crossing such long distances requires time. An average coast to coast move takes 2-5 days to complete, of course, depending on the length, the number of items that need to be relocated, as well as your travel arrangements. Unfortunately, those 2-5 days refer only to the actual moving process itself. The preparation can take up to a few months.  Therefore, it’s crucial not to waste any of your time and start preparing as soon as you can.

Organizing a DIY coast to coast move is not recommended

Moving across the country is no easy task, especially if you do not have the proper means to do it safely. And by means, we mean manpower, equipment, vehicles, knowledge, and experience, necessary for handling cross country relocations. Of course, there are people that are fully equipped and capable of handling coast to coast moving processes by themselves. If, on the other hand, you are not fully equipped and do not know how to properly handle such a long move, hiring some of the best cross country moving companies is the only right way to go.

Hiring a good moving company is your primary task when relocating coast to coast

Hiring good cross country movers is necessary but not an easy task. There are many fraudulent and incompetent movers on the market so you need to be very careful when choosing your moving service provider. For example, you might find the best cross country movers Colorado has to offer, but are they ready to handle coast to coast moving? What kind of experience would Colorado movers have with this type of move? Of course, the answer in most cases is none.

You can actually find the good coast to coast movers only in the states that are located on one of the coasts. And even then, you need to be extra careful. Because, coast to coast relocations are rare and the chances are, most movers didn’t have an opportunity to handle such moves. That is why you need to do good research and make sure that you are hiring a moving company that has a lot of experience in handling such moving processes.

So how you can find a good moving company to help you with your coast to coast moving?

The process of finding movers is not simple. It requires a lot of time, energy, and knowledge in order to be completed successfully. Or you can use Best Cross Country Movers to help you out. Websites like ours gather all the best interstate movers in the country and are a great place to find what you are looking for. And they can help you find the best cross country movers California has to offer, for example. Or movers in other coastal states.

When you are choosing your movers, you need to make sure that they are reliable, that they have experience with coast to coast moving , and that they are fully equipped for handling such moves. Also, a moving company needs to offer cross country moving services in order to be hired for this move. Therefore, the process of finding reliable movers when moving across the country is nothing but easy.

When you should start searching for movers?

Hiring a moving company is one of the biggest tasks when preparing for a coast to coast move. Unfortunately, despite the fact that there are thousands of moving companies in our country, only a small number can be considered reliable. And, as you can imagine, those are the moving companies that get booked first. Therefore, when you are preparing for a move, hiring a moving company should be one of the first things that you need to do.

Of course, before that, you need to create a moving budget. You cannot hire a moving company if you do not know your finance because moving across the country is not cheap. And you do not want to end up broke after this move completes. Unfortunate, creating your moving budget is not the only thing that you need to do before hiring a mover. Here are the things that you need to handle before hiring movers.

First, you need a good plan

Making a moving plan is always the first thing that you need to do when preparing for a move, no matter how long that move is. However, making an ultimate moving checklist is especially important when relocating coast to coast. This checklist should contain all the steps that you need to take from day one until you cross your new home’s doorstep. Things like hiring movers, decluttering, packing, transferring utilities, and such.

Start with decluttering – it is the most important part of a coast to coast moving process

When preparing for a move, especially a costa to coast move, preparation is the key. If you prepare well, the whole process will have a much greater chance of success. Also, be aware that preparing for this type of move requires time. So start preparing as soon as you can. And start with decluttering. Decluttering is the most important part of the preparation process. If done properly, it can boost your moving budget and ease your entire move immensely.

Naturally, your goal here is to get rid of unnecessary items, items that you rarely use, or items that cannot or do not fit into your new home. Packing and moving those items only increases the cost of your move and creates unnecessary troubles. If, on the other hand, you get rid of them, managing your interstate moving costs will be much easier and straightforward. Now, what you will do with the items you want to get rid of is also very important. And there are many available options.

Organize a yard sale

If you gather a lot of items, organizing a yard sale is the best thing you can do. A yard sale can bring in a lot of profit, which will allow you to move long distance cheap. Unfortunately, organizing a yard sale requires a lot of items, time, energy, and some organizational skills in order to be successful. However, if you do it properly, it can be a thing that turned your expensive costa to coast move into a cheap one.

Sell your items online or to a retailer

Most people, however, do not have what it takes to organize a yard sale. Most of the time, the number of items they gathered during decluttering is not nearly enough to hold a sale. If you are among those people, do not worry, though. There are many other ways to sell your items before the move.

You can sell them online, place an ad in the local newspapers, or you can find some local used items retailers in your vicinity and offer your items there. An online sale will take more time but it can bring nice profit. Selling your items to a retailer will be quick and easy, however, do not hope to make such a good profit.

Donating to charity can also be beneficial

Removing excess items from your moving inventory is usually enough to make the coast to coast relocation process easier. So do not worry if you do not manage to sell your items, downsizing before a long distance move is already a good thing. Therefore, if you do not have time to organize sales you can donate your items to charity. There are many charity organizations that will take your stuff. And the best thing is that you do not have to bother with transport. Most charities will come to your place to pick up the donation. This move can actually prove to be financially smart as well. Some states offer tax relieves for people that donate during a move. So check your state’s regulations and see whether you fall into that category.

If you are not sure whether the move will be permanent, maybe it is better to store your items

Even though in most cases, coast to coast moving is permanent, there are people that are going down this road while not being completely sure about that decision. If you are not sure whether you will stay there forever and you just want to try, our suggestion is to find some good companies that offer reliable storage services and store your items there until you figure out what to do.

Creating a moving inventory list is one of the things that can make a difference

As we already mentioned, hiring movers is one of the most important things that you need to do during a move. And, we already said that you will have a few things to do before you actually start looking for professional moving companies. Making a plan and decluttering is one of the things. Another one is making your moving inventory list. And even though this looks like too much of a bother and a thing that will not bring many benefits, you cannot be further from the truth. A moving inventory list does take a lot of time to prepare, but it is one of the crucial parts of organizing a smooth coast to coast move.

First, the moving inventory list will allow your movers to give you a free moving quote online. This helps you to get multiple offers at the same time and easily recognize overly expensive movers. A moving inventory list will also help you to calculate the number of moving boxes that you need to get ready for the move. And you can use that list, in the end, to check your items after delivery. The process of creating a moving inventory list will also reveal another important thing.

While you are listing your items, you will be able to decide what moving services you need to hire. Every moving company has its own set of services. So if you, for example, have a piano to move, you will need to find a moving company that can do that. Therefore, you need to be aware of the fact that you need piano movers in order to be able to hire them when the time comes.

Think about your travel arrangements before you hire a moving company

So, you have decluttered and prepared a moving inventory list, now you are ready to hire movers, right? Unfortunately, that would be the case if you weren’t moving coast to coast. Since you are relocating from one coast to another, you will also have to think about your travel arrangements. Precisely, how do you plan to get to your new place, by driving on your own, or finding some other way to travel? If you are driving on your own, you should prepare for a few-day road trip. This means finding the best route, booking motels along the way, and if you want, finding attractions to visit.

If on the other hand, you are not thinking about driving after such a long and exhausting pre-move process, find some auto shippers to help you transport your car. Of course, a lot of it will depend on the costs, as costs of shipping a car out of state are not low. And in some cases, driving is a cheaper option. So make sure that you do your calculations before you make a final decision.

After decluttering and making an inventory list, you can make your moving budget

We already talked about creating a moving budget before hiring movers. Well, now that you removed all of the excess items, prepared a moving inventory list, and know what types of moving services you need, you can finally start preparing your moving budget. Of course, calculating a cross country moving cost is not easy. However, it can be crucial in making a difference between a bad and successful coast to coast move.

Hiring the best moving company is fairly easy

Hiring a good moving company is your primary task, we already mentioned that.  And we also mentioned the things that you need to pay attention to when hiring pros for a cross country move. Now it’s time to put that knowledge into action. Do your online research, read reviews, or ask for recommendations from your friends and acquaintances. Your goal is to find a few moving companies that are reliable, and capable of handling coast to coast relocations properly. Once you locate a few movers that look good, start getting their moving quotes online, you have a moving inventory list to help you with that. Once you get their moving quotes, it is just a matter of comparing their offers and services and picking the one moving company that fits your needs and budget.

Things that affect the cost of your move

The cost of your move depends on many things. Some of the most important factors, are the length of your move, the size of your moving inventory (the number and weight of your items), the number of movers that will be engaged on the job, as well as moving services you plan to hire. Depending on those factors, coast to coast move usually costs somewhere between $3,000 and $10,000. Luckily, there are many ways to lower your moving costs. Here are some of the tips.

How you can lower the cost of your coast to coast move?

Hiring a full moving service is definitely the most convenient way to move. Of course, it is the most expensive way to move as well. In this case, your movers will handle your entire move from start to finish. And you, practically, do not have to participate in the process at all. Unfortunately, hiring a full relocation service for a coast to coast move is not something that everyone can afford. So, people figured out many great ways to lower moving costs.

The most important part, naturally, is to do most of the work on your own. If you have furniture that needs to be disassembled, don’t wait for your movers to do it, disassemble it on your own. Don’t buy the most expensive packing materials that you can find. Sure, having quality packing materials is important, especially when it comes to long distance relocations. However, sometimes free moving boxes can be just as good. Who will use those boxes for packing, you or your movers?

Hiring professional packers is definitely the best way to protect your items during a move. However, do you really need pro packers for your entire inventory? Maybe you could pack your beddings, clothes, or books on your own and let pros handle only fragile and delicate items. By packing items that do not require special protection, you will lower your packing costs immensely and still provide your most delicate items with proper protection.

Relocating coast to coast requires good planning and reliable professionals

As you can see, costa to coast moving is a difficult and demanding process. However,  it can be completed in a fairly easy and smooth manner. That is if you plan your everything, make precise calculations, do not skip any steps, and find a professional moving company that has the experience and knowledge to handle coast to coast relocations. Hopefully, this article showed you how to go through the whole process properly. And we hope that you will manage to do it. Good luck!