Prepping for your next (or first) move in the Bay Area? Here are some handy moving tips to help make the moving process a little bit easier.
1. Moving boxes. If you’ve moved before, you know that moving boxes come in quite handy – and that you need a TON of them. You can purchase boxes from your local hardware store, or else look on Craigslist for people getting rid of their old moving boxes for free. It also doesn’t hurt to ask your local grocery store if they have some cardboard boxes that you can use for your move since they get hundreds in with each of their shipments.
2. A moving app. There are a variety of moving apps on the market now for Android and iPhone platforms – many of them for free. For Android, you can try MoveMatch or Moving Planner, which help you to plan what items to pack, how much it will cost to ship them and even notify your contacts of your new address. Moving Day, MyMove, and iMoving are all free Apple apps that help you to find a professional moving company, get moving quotes, and even create customized barcodes for your boxes that allow you to see their contents when scanned.
3. All-purpose cleaner. Especially if you are moving from a rented home, apartment, or other residential building, its important to have an all-purpose cleaner handy for cleaning your bathroom, kitchen, and other rooms before leaving your old place.
4. A broom and a mop. Along the same lines as the above item, you’ll want to clean up the rooms of your old home in order to avoid nasty cleaning fees or other charges from your landlord if you are moving from a rented building. Even if you are moving from a home that you owned, it’s still nice to leave the house clean for the next family to move into.
5. Paint. Have some spare paint on hand to touch up wall corners that might have gotten scuffed over the years – or even during your move as you took big furniture items in and out of the house.
6. Packing tape. Duct tape is a good choice because aside from using it to seal your moving boxes, you can also use it for packing labels. A sharpie comes in handy here, too!
7. Suitcases. There’s going to be a transition period where you want to pack things up but also need to set aside some items for everyday use. Set aside a suitcase or other piece of luggage with a week’s worth of clothes and toiletries. You can use these items for the few weeks that you spend packing without having to worry about opening and re-taping packed boxes to get new clothes every day.
8. A moving dolly. This is a great item to help you with the heavier, larger boxes.
9. A place to put your stuff for storage. Okay, so you’ve packed everything up nice and clean, but where are you going to put it in order to get it to your new home? Consider using our portable moving and storage devices from UNITS in Livermore. You load up your stuff, and we transport it for you!
10. A change of address form. Last but definitely not least, don’t forget to officially change your address so that your mail is forwarded to your new home.
Our team at UNITS East Bay offers portable storage in Orinda, portable storage in Pleasanton and wish you the best of luck with your future move!
