In 2020, the population in Gainesville, FL increased by 1.09%, growing from 323,799 in 2019 to 327,329. Young people are moving to this college town for its beautiful parks and lakes where one can lounge, swim, and canoe in the pristine waters.
One can never get bored in Gainesville. The place is surrounded by numerous outdoor recreation opportunities. The city is also popular with retirees who choose to spend their twilight years in Gainesville largely because of its exceptional healthcare facilities and technologically advanced healthcare treatments. UF Health (formerly known as UF Shands Healthcare) in Gainesville is one of the most recognized and comprehensive health systems in the Southeast.
Whether you are planning to relocate to Gainesville, Florida, home of the Florida Gators, to grow your small family or to enjoy the good life after retirement, to open your new office headquarters or to sample, you need to search for cheap movers in Gainesville FL that will guarantee quality service and a stress-free move while considering your relocation needs without breaking the bank.
Given the fast-paced life in this location, lack of preparation for your upcoming move, especially in last minute moves, can sometimes have lasting effects on your career or home life.
Do your research if you are looking for a moving team. Situated in Alachua County, moving to this city is perfect for young professionals and for those who want to start a business or run their own company.
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How to look for the best cheap moving companies in Gainesville FL
We all know that moving can be complicated and overwhelming. From deciding which of your belongings you need to bring to your new home to looking for a new apartment or office in town, the moving experience can easily turn into a nightmare. If you have kids, you need to look for a new school that can address their educational needs.
You also need to be mindful of your timeline and moving date. It can be harder to move and more expensive to relocate during peak moving season.
For most states, this is during the season of opening of classes. Since Gainesville is the home of the University of Florida, you may want to steer clear of this season.
To add to this, relocating is also expensive. Aside from upfront fees, one can easily incur additional charges and expenses.
Sometimes this can be addressed by careful planning. However, there are instances when no matter how much you have carefully planned your move, there are unforeseen and unexpected challenges you need to overcome. Of course, this would take money.
Why moving companies charge high rates
Most moving companies charge high premium fees and for good reason. Owners have invested time, money and effort in setting up the company.
Selecting and hiring people who can provide excellent customer service, is in itself a big investment. Since the moving industry is a customer-centric field, continuous improvement in service quality is also expected and one of the ways to do this is through training.
Some moving companies also invest in moving trucks and equipment. Their movers will bring all their own supplies, including dollies, hand trucks, moving blankets, door stops, and tools for disassembling furniture but expect this to come at a cost. Forklifts and two-wheel or four-wheel dollies are not cheap.
For budget conscious customers who are looking to cut back on expenses, the moving company if they can supply the tools instead of availing of what the company can provide.
No matter how securely you have packed your boxes of belongings, moving can be unpredictable. There is still a possibility that your things might sustain damage or get lost while in transit when you are moving to a new state or coming from a long-distance move.
This is where Safeload protection comes in. Ask also if your moving company has Safeload protection. However, note that this can easily increase the rates charged by a moving company. You can also purchase this coverage separately on your own.
Review your moving budget and determine if you really need Safeload. We recommend availing of this coverage especially when you have expensive and fragile valuables like antiques, paintings, and heirloom pieces. Although this can help reduce anxiety on your part, be ready to accept the unexpected when it happens.
Moving costs are not that easy to predict. While rates for labor are usually fixed, other expenses such as rent for moving trucks and fuel prices are harder to predict. If you want the cheapest way to move, you have to carefully strategize weeks and even months prior to your moving day.
You can still find the best cheap moving companies for your long distance or local moves
It is crucial to work with a Gainesville moving company to help you identify the best approach. Whether you are looking to engage local moving companies or long distance moving companies in Gainesville FL, it is important to identify which services to avail of depending on your moving needs.
If saving money is your main priority or if you do not have a lot of budget to allocate for moving services but you have to efficiently relocate within the month, the best option is to look for a moving company that can offer hourly rates. Some people even have to move within the same day or same week.
You can evaluate your options of moving companies that fit your budget using the following criteria:
Look for online reviews to gauge if the moving company is reliable
Another crucial factor is reliability. There is nothing worse than finding out there is no help coming on moving day. Although this can only be ascertained when you have worked with the mover for multiple times, try to check online and offline resources about the company’s track record. Ask for recommendations from family and friends who have gone through the moving process.
Ask the moving company for its past experience
Nothing beats real life experience. Ask your movers how they plan to handle the moving process and how they have handled problems encountered by previous customers. It also pays to check what will be the weather on your moving date especially if you will be moving long distance. If there is an expected snowstorm on that day you might have to pay an additional cost to ensure everything will go as planned.
Ask if the moving company has liability coverage
Not all moving companies have insurance coverage. Be warned that this might cause the fees to skyrocket. However, if you have expensive household belongings and you are preparing for a long distance move, these additional fees are crucial. Piano moving within the same city is already challenging. How much more if you need to move your piano out of state or out of the country?
Why should one engage moving labor companies and professional movers?
We know that most people are always on the lookout for the cheapest way to move. For this reason, they may attempt to complete the moving process all by themselves. Actually, this might work if you have few belongings, or you are moving from the same city.
However, if you have a tight relocation schedule, you should let professionals handle the difficult and tedious parts. Doing a trial and error-based strategy can be costly in the long run.
A moving company offers helpers and a team of experts who can do the labor on your behalf. Surprisingly, if you plan it carefully, hiring moving services can even save you money in the long run.
Here are the top reasons why people engage the services of professional movers:
Benefit from professional movers’ skill, expertise, and experience
Leave it to the pro movers who by now have a tried and tested system for relocation. Organization and logistics are important if you want a successful moving process. By hiring a professional moving help, you will not need to start from scratch. They know which insurance will be best for securing your valuables. This is especially important for out-of-state moves.
Prioritize your mental and physical wellbeing
The moving process can be overwhelming. You need to look for a new house which should be near or reasonably accessible from your office. You also need to familiarize yourself with the drive or commute from your new house to your new office. If you have kids, you also need to look for a new school and help them adjust to an environment that is strange to them.
If you are juggling a lot of responsibilities already, like most people are, you can protect your mental health and energy by hiring professionals. Do not let moves affect your health. Ask for help and hire moving help.
It is cost effective and time efficient in the long run
Since relocation, even for local moves, will involve a lot of things to do, it is easy to rack up charges you did not anticipate. This may be due to lack of necessary equipment or readily available advanced technology and know-how. Imagine needing a mini forklift to load and haul a large item to moving trucks. Will you spend a lot for something you are most likely never to use ever again?
Surprise costs can also be due to lack of available manpower. If you need someone who can load and unload your television and your building does not have an elevator, you have no choice but to look for help at the last minute. Attempting to lift heavy furniture when you are not used to physically strenuous activities may pose a safety hazard.
Choose to spend the time with family and friends
The number of things you need to do for your relocation will eat up time for your family. On the average, it takes 3 to 5 days for a 3-bedroom apartment. These are full days dedicated to packing, not just 2 to 4 hours per day. This can affect relationships and lead to what could otherwise be avoidable conflict. If you hire helpers to take care of the tedious and seemingly endless errands, you can relax in your new home while movers take care of loading and unloading the heavy boxes you will bring.
Focus on your job
Do not endanger your job security and work performance just to save on costs. If you are a junior employee in your company or a newly hired employee, you cannot afford to appear to slack off and fail in your deliverables.
No need to purchase or budget for incidental expenses
Most professional movers offer packing services which already include furniture pads. They can properly pack your fragile items so these will survive in one piece while in transit.
Unlike these companies who not only invested in relevant training and equipment for their movers, you do not have the full capacity and know how to carry out the tasks essential for your relocation. This is true even for experienced movers. Seek professional help even weeks or months before moving day.
Packing services even for long distance moves
One of the first considerations when moving is how to downsize in preparation to packing of belongings. You have to decide what you will bring to your new house.
It is helpful to identify early on what to discard and what to keep. You would not want to bring unnecessary things to a new office or clutter your new apartment when you can easily buy supplies at a local store in your new town.
While a lot of moving companies in Gainesville can pack your belongings, not all movers offer this professional service at the most affordable price. Ask your moving company of choice if they include full-service packing in their rates.
Do not expect that there will be free moving boxes available or cardboard boxes lying around in your house. Although packing materials are not expensive, the cost of bubble wrap, furniture pads and shrink wrap can easily add up.
If you have a very limited budget and saving money is a priority, you can actually use your wardrobes, cabinets and suitcases as containers for your belongings for reduced cost.
Heavy Lifting, Loading, Unloading and Unpacking services by your moving company
Bulky items such as an heirloom piano, fine art, sculptures, dresser, sofa set, cabinets and other furniture can be hard to transport. You can hire piano movers and day laborers in Gainesville FL to help you load and unload these items from trucks.
Look for movers who will handle your furniture and valuables with great care. Ask movers if they have experience in handling specialty items and give clear instructions. Good communication with your movers is crucial in making relocation a success.
By availing of other incidental moving services like loading, unloading and unpacking services, you can have time to focus on getting acquainted with the local community and experiencing new adventures in town. Enjoy the parks and trails of Gainesville without worrying about unpacking.
Setting Up and Organizing your new space
After your move in Gainesville and once your belongings are out of storage containers, getting the house ready to entertain guests will be your next concern. Local moving and long distance moving can both be stressful.
Look for a moving company that offers general cleaning services, furniture assembly and setting up of simple appliances. You do not need to worry about looking for the box where you packed your coffee machine or waste time looking for missing bolts and screws for your bookshelf.
What is the most inexpensive way to move?
Undeniably, if cheap moving is your main goal or if you do not have the budget to use for relocation, you have no choice but to do a DIY move.
You can time your move to avoid peak season when everyone is relocating. This way the roads are not too crowded, and it would be easy to look for accommodation in case the electricity or heat in your new house is not yet installed and accessible and you need to stay in a hotel for the night.
Since you have to scrimp on costs, try to ask establishments and groceries if they have free moving boxes or cardboard boxes for recycling that you can use.
If you are going the DIY route, ask family and friends for support. Perhaps you have friends who can help you pack your entire home in exchange for pizza or a nice dinner. Inquire if friends who previously relocated have free moving boxes, they can give you.
You can even try to schedule deep cleaning of your apartment, loading and unloading boxes to moving trucks as bonding time with your friends. Be sure to treat them afterwards. A cup of nice coffee or game tickets can be cheaper than paying for full-service packing or moving companies.
Now that you have labor covered, you can try if everything can fit in your car. Even if it will take multiple trips if it is the only choice you’ve got, it is still better than nothing. If you are moving from another state, your old beat-up car might not survive the trip.
Consider canvassing for costs of renting moving trucks. This will significantly cut back the number of times you will have to go back and forth. Since fuel prices are high and are always on the rise, this may prove more economical in the long run.
Another option is to rent a moving container. On the average, this is more expensive than renting a moving truck, but it is also more convenient. Look for a service provider that can ship your belongings from wherever you will be coming from to your new location.
Ask if they also offer door to door delivery. This way you will no longer have to worry if your friends are available to load things into trucks. Just make sure you have already packed your belongings in the containers before pick up of the service provider is scheduled.
Before deciding on this option, do an inventory of your household goods and valuables.
Do you have a lot of expensive items like electronics and house appliances? These can get lost in transit. Do you have fragile items which can break while in transit? You might want to personally bring these things on moving day and not include them in the moving containers.
Remember that once you hand over your belongings to someone else, you do not have any control on how these will be handled.
While you can expect that they know how to handle things with care and you can label the boxes as fragile, vigilance will not be able to save your favorite stemware or sculpture from the perils present in a long journey. Better to keep things with sentimental value safe by bringing them to your new house yourself.
How much do local movers usually cost?
On the average, expect to pay at least $1,000, with the average cost of a local household move at $1,250, and the average cost for long distance moves at $4,890. Naturally, moving costs are affected by the effort the movers will need to exert to satisfy your expectations.
Simply put, if you have a lot of belongings to bring and you need to transport specialty items which require special packaging to avoid breakage or theft, this can get expensive.
Also, if you will be coming from a state far away from your destination and you need to cross the country to get there, expect your bill to include a significant amount in fuel prices and rental rates for the moving trucks.
What day is cheapest to hire movers?
On the average, weekdays are the cheapest days to hire movers because most people schedule their move on the weekends. Look for moving companies with rates that are the same whether you want to move on a weekday or a weekend. Avoid peak season by researching the exact dates of school opening in your new city.
Check recent statistics on the preferred dates and time slots of most people who relocate to your new city. When the demand for movers is high, the prices also tend to go up and moving costs can get unbelievably expensive due to availability concerns.
How do I make movers cheaper?
How much you will spend during your move usually depends on the distance to be covered by your relocation and the number of movers you will need to help you. It may also increase depending on additional services you will avail of such as packing, deep cleaning, furniture assembly and handyman services.
If you are on a tight budget and cannot afford any additional costs, you can better monitor your moving expenses if you hire movers who charge on an hourly rate. Be sure to ask which services are included in the fees to avoid getting surprised later on.
Another option is by enlisting friends and relatives to do easy tasks and even labor-intensive tasks. Careful planning before shopping for furniture or appliances can also help you save on moving costs.
If you are moving to an apartment on the 4th floor and your building does not have an elevator, you might want to rethink before buying that bulky sofa set or that flat screen TV.
Maybe a compact projector can work better for your home entertainment needs? This way you do not need to hire someone to bring it to your apartment or risk your life and limb trying to lift it on your own. Being intentional with your purchases and rethinking if you really need the item will help you avoid these worries.
Conclusion
In summary, when deciding on which among the many moving companies you will engage, and you have a limited budget, careful planning and intentional strategizing are crucial. If you can spare some cash and hire helpers, look for the following:
- Great customer reviews and testimonials
- Skilled, experienced, and reliable professional team
- Price rates that can work within your budget
- Service offerings that will cover your moving needs
After all, the process will cost you money. Might as well choose a reliable and trustworthy service provider. Moving costs can be reduced if you take time to rethink your needs and expectations. Sometimes we get so used to our current living situation that we fail to recognize things as non-essentials.
The beauty of moving is that it forces you to reevaluate your life and refine your choices. Aside from giving you a clean slate, you have an opportunity to explore creative ways of doing things when you have financial constraints and monetary restrictions.
You do not need to incur debt to relocate. Although of course you will need to set aside money not only for basic expenses like packing materials and fuel for your car.
Save up in advance for these expenses. Look at other resources you have at your disposal. Do not hesitate to ask for help from family and friends. They might be able to help you manage moving costs by recommending the best cheap moving companies they have worked with in the past or you can make the relocation journey a memorable bonding experience.
