The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked new dynamics in the real estate market. Since May 2020, more people have been packing up their belongings and moving to a new home than ever during the previous decade.
Whether you’re headed for a house in a greener area, a more spacious new flat, or even abroad, moving is always a challenge. Though it’s a challenge that you can certainly minimise if you’re organised and prepared. Another integral part of mastering the move is finding a professional, reliable moving company.
The right company will help you smoothly navigate the process and get you settled in your new home in no time. The wrong choice, though, can leave you with broken furniture, missing items, or ridiculously high bills, especially if you’re moving long-distance.
To help you, here’s a quick and easy guide to finding a professional moving company worth their money.
Get recommendations
First, start by asking around your family, friends, and acquaintances for recommendations. Neighbours who recently moved are also a goldmine of information. Recommendations are not just about well-known prestige companies, local information is more valuable. A man with a van in Luton or Ludlow can have better customer care and flexibility than a more expensive national chain.
Having someone you know point you towards a company with which they’ve had positive experiences is the best-case scenario. At the least, though, you might get clandestine advice on whom to avoid.
One thing to keep in mind: not all moving companies have the same experience with all types of move. Just because a friend had a great experience moving locally doesn’t guarantee that the same company can help you relocate overseas.
Check website and reviews
Next, widen your search to the internet. Be as specific as possible in how you phrase your searches, especially if you have speciality items to handle, or if you’re planning to move long-distance.
Once you have a list of candidates, do some background research. Vet their websites and assess how professional and transparent they are in terms of listing their services and their pricing strategies.
Then, check reviews for each company on pages like Google Reviews and Yelp. While it’s normal to have one or two disgruntled customers vent on the internet, more than that indicates either a lack of professionalism or straight-out incompetence.
Get & Vet Quotes
Finally, once you’ve narrowed your candidates down to around five, reach out in person.
E-mail or call them to ask in detail about pricing, insurance, and extra fees for long-distance transport, parking, or heavy items. Not only will this give you an additional wealth of information, but you will also get a sense about how forthcoming and courteous the company representatives are.
Next, ask for detailed quotes. Have them break the estimate down, separating factors like insurance, packing, hourly rates, storage costs, and mileage. This will make it easier to compare quotes. Ideally, companies will visit your property first and base their quote on their observations.
A final thing to keep in mind: Always pay attention to professionalism. For example, you should weigh not only the contents of the quote, but also how well-structured it is. A reliable company of movers’ should be able to answer all your questions at the drop of a hat. They should also have their own company-branded equipment, rather than showing up in a rented van.
There is obviously a lot more to moving than just hiring a removal firm. For a comprehensive guide to all the steps involved in having a successful move see the foolproof guide to moving.