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How to Find the Best Plano, Texas, Moving Company

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As you prepare to move into a new home, you’ve likely developed a list that includes many must-do items like securing new utility providers, gathering moving boxes, and determining your moving timeline. Have you also given thought to the item that should be at the top of your list: how to find the best Plano, Texas moving company? As a part of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, new and current Plano residents have access to a wide variety of service professionals in the moving industry. That doesn’t mean that all movers are created equally, however. So as you are preparing for your upcoming move, use this guide to know what to look for in a Plano, TX moving company.

Reliability

The number one factor you’ll want to consider when choosing which movers to hire is their reliability. But how to gauge this reliability can be difficult to figure out. After all, every mover you talk to will tell you that they are the most reliable in their field. So to determine how reliable a mover might be, you need to combine your observation skills with some research. Follow these steps:

  1. When you make an appointment to discuss the scope of your upcoming move with a moving company, pay attention to what time they arrive in relation to your appointment time and how long they spend evaluating the totality of the items they’ll need to move. Are they running very late without a good reason or rushing to leave just as soon as they’ve arrived? They may be in the habit of overbooking or double booking, and that will cut down on their reliability with your specific move.
  2. Ask your potential mover for at least three references, but don’t be shy about asking for more if you have the time to follow up with additional people. Speak with those references and ask questions about all aspects of their move, until you feel comfortable with what you are hearing about the moving company’s professionalism and reliability.
  3. Perform an internet search about the services you’re considering when working out how to find the best Plano, Texas moving company. Specifically read the accolades and complaints various companies have received. Be realistic about the postings you read; some may be outliers where situations have gone wrong through circumstances outside of the moving company’s control, or may have been posted by people with an agenda or an outlandish gripe. Pay careful attention to oversight organizations like the North Central Texas Better Business Bureau.

Availability

When you’re researching how to find the best Plano, Texas moving company, look carefully into their availability and how that meshes with your needs. Some companies, particularly small organizations that have limited trucks and staffing, may only operate certain days of the week or hours of the day. That may not give you the flexibility you need to complete your move. Other companies may book many weeks or months in advance, especially for more complicated or long distance moves.

Before you speak with potential moving companies, write up your exact needs and expectations for the timing of your move. Do you need to be out of your current home by a very specific date, or do you have a window of time you can move within? Will you need the moving company to hold over your belongings for a period of time between when you need to be out of your old home and when your new home is available? What days and times are you or another adult in your household available to be onsite with the movers, supervising their work and responding to questions and needs as they arise?

Remember, also, to be realistic with your move timing expectations. For moves that come about and must be completed quickly, you may simply not have as many options as moves that can be planned out and scheduled a long time in advance. And movers do have other customers besides. So while they should absolutely schedule and devote adequate time to your move, certain scheduling issues or glitches may be out of their control. Any flexibility you can provide will only make your move a smoother process.

Affordability

According to Census research, around 12 percent of the population moves annually. That’s a lot of people and that means that moving is a big business by volume. That volume can play a role in the affordability of your move – how busy a certain company is can raise or lower their rates based on the principles of supply and demand. But when determining how to find the best Plano, Texas moving company, you can also evaluate affordability based on these additional factors:

  • Time of year of your move
  • Distance of your move
  • Size of your residence
  • Ease of accessing your current and new residence

Obtaining multiple quotes before choosing your mover can help to ensure that you find the most affordable option. Do remember this, however: the least expensive is not always the best. Affordability has to be balanced against reliability and availability.

After all of your preparation and research into how to find the best Plano, Texas moving company, you’ll be ready to move on to your next two important steps: putting expert moving tips to good use so you and your home are both well-prepared, and choosing which mover to hire. By beginning your process as soon as possible and employing diligent research, your next move can be your best move.

 

Erik Guinaugh
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10 Moving Hacks That Make Packing Easy

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One of the most challenging parts of a move is also one of its most fundamental tasks: packing. Corralling your life into movable parts that can be relied upon to reach your new home in one piece can seem daunting, but, luckily, some simple tricks can take the stress out of the process and give you peace of mind. Here are 10 moving hacks that make packing easy.

1. Plastic Wrap and Plastic Bags

You don’t actually have to empty out the drawers on that dresser or take those clothes off their racks. Cover the drawers with taped-down plastic wrap and put plastic bags over hanging clothes to make moving and unpacking these items hassle-free. This tip can also be used on drawers full of toiletries to prevent them from spilling during the move.

2. Protect Your Breakables With Socks and Linens

Use socks to protect breakable glassware and shirts and linens as a packing material for other fragile dishes. They provide better protection than paper and a more economical option than Bubble Wrap. Make sure you pack plates vertically inside the packing material, which makes them less prone to breaking.

3. Use Toilet Paper and Paper Towel Tubes as Organizers

Spare wires and cables can easily become a tangled mess, making it a challenge to find the one you need, and this can be even truer after they’ve gone through a move. Fortunately, someone had the ingenious idea of using empty cardboard tubes from toilet paper rolls as individual organizers.

4. Use Bags and Suitcases to Cut Down on Moving Boxes

Suitcases are specifically designed to be moved from place to place, so there’s no reason not to let them shine in that role during your move. It cuts down on time spent acquiring, assembling and securing moving boxes. Suitcases with wheels are especially useful for packing books to make moving these notoriously heavy items easier on the back.

5. Invest in Large Plastic Storage Totes

Storage totes are more expensive than cardboard moving boxes, but they’re also more spacious, easier to carry, more durable and, above all, reusable. Search your favorite retailer’s site for “storage totes.” These totes are typically designed to stack on top of one another and to be easily tied down with bungee cord. They are particularly useful if you have items that you expect to stay packed for most of the year, such as Christmas lights and decorations.

6. Color-Code and Label Your Moving Boxes

Whatever mixture of boxes, totes and suitcases you end up using, ensure you can see at a glance which box is destined for which room of the house by assigning each room’s boxes a specific color. Put together a color key and mark the boxes using the appropriate color of painter’s tape. Label each box with its contents. This makes it easier to find much-needed items after a busy moving day.

7. Cut Handles on Cardboard Boxes

The last thing you want on moving day is to find yourself struggling to get your hands under a cardboard carton. You can make your cardboard moving boxes easier to carry by using a box cutter to cut a simple triangular handle in the sides.

8. Take Pictures of Cable Setups

Snap a picture of the back of your television or entertainment system, showing clearly which cables and wires go where. When you arrive at your new home, duplicating the setup will prove to be much quicker and easier and will spare you having to figure the setup out from scratch.

9. Purge as You Pack

Use packing as an occasion to rid your life of needless clutter. Set aside items you no longer use and either donate them to charity or have a yard sale. Note that different cities have different regulations regarding yard and garage sales: if moving in Dallas, TX, for example, consult the City of Dallas guidelines on garage sale permits.

If you don’t have time for either of those solutions, pack the unneeded items in storage totes and set them aside at the new home for later disposal.

10. Keep Moving Day Necessities Accessible

While moving into your new home, you will want easy access to a supply of snacks and coffee to keep everyone going and some easy-to-prepare foods to cover mealtimes. Put these in a laundry basket and set it in the kitchen as early in the move as you can.

Seek Out More Moving Hacks That Make Packing Easy

The above list of moving hacks that make packing easy isn’t exhaustive. Plenty of other small tricks and tips can help to secure and organize your items and make moving faster, safer and less frustrating.

Using the above list of moving hacks and packing hacks for moving that make packing easy is a great way to ease the challenges of moving day. Whether you are moving yourself or hiring professional movers, you’ll find these hacks invaluable in cutting down on the stress of packing and moving.

 

Erik Guinaugh