If you’re preparing for a move across the country and researching what it costs, prepare for a lot of dollars to move out of your bank account.
It’s impossible to say what your final bill will look like, given all the factors that go into a long-distance move. But it’s a good bet that the cost will be much higher than you think.
We’ll give you some numbers — and then we’ll explain the reasoning behind the numbers and offer some tips for bringing those numbers down.
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How Much Does It Cost to Move Across the Country?
The cost of a cross-country move depends on a number of factors, but be prepared to spend up to $5,000. According to Nancy Zafrani, general manager of Oz Moving & Storage in New York City, says it depends on “what you are moving, how far and how remote … An average cross-country move will cost around $2,500 to $5,000.”
Nick Valentino, vice president of market operations at Bellhop, a moving service company, agrees with that estimate. Much of the price depends on whether you opt for a full-service move, which means the moving company handles everything from start to finish, including packing and unpacking your belongings.
But moving costs can significantly increase if you have more family members with more things to move. Jeff House, a real estate agent in Dayton, Ohio, and strategic real estate advisor at Real Estate Bees, says he and his family have moved 18 times in the last 36 years.
House’s last move, from Florida to Ohio, with his wife, Ann, and their poodle, cost just over $14,000. While their two kids were off at college and graduate school, most of their stuff was involved in the big move.
House concedes that the $14,000 moving bill was so high due to hiring not just movers but movers that provide packing services (accounting for $2,260 of the $14,000). He also insured everything in the move with no deductible.
Still, in general, the more things you have to move, the more you’re going to pay.
What You’re Paying For When You Move Across the Country
Professional moving companies all handle things differently, but generally, the cost to move cross-country will stem from these four factors:
— Labor. You may pay more based on the number of movers, Valentino says, but it depends on the company. You also will pay more if you have the professional movers pack and unpack your belongings.
— Time. Some moving companies charge by the hour.
— Mileage. Many professional moving companies charge by the mile. “Just about any long-distance mover is going to charge based on both labor and mileage,” Valentino says.
— Space. Not every mover focuses labor and gas. Zafrani says, “Oz Moving does not charge per mile or for labor. We have a straight cost based on volume, cubic footage or property being moved.”
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Paying for Insurance When You Move
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a government agency within the Department of Transportation, interstate movers must provide two different kinds of liability insurance options referred to as valuation coverage: full value protection and released value protection.
Full value protection significantly increases your moving bill. To provide this insurance, professional movers charge around 1% to 2% of the estimated value of your belongings. The price may go up or down depending on your deductible. So, check the fine print of your contract, especially the deductible.
As you can imagine, if the move doesn’t go well, you will be pretty ticked off if you have to pay a $1,000 deductible before your mover replaces the value of your lost or damaged belongings.
On the other hand, insurance is a game of risk, so you may be willing to chance it with a high deductible.
“I always select packing services and full replacement insurance with no deductible. That adds considerably to the cost. However, from previous personal experience, it is worth it,” House says.
During his many moves, House says that he hasn’t had a slew of broken items — just a handful that sustained damage — but he feels that it’s worth the peace of mind knowing that his stuff is protected.
“Reputable, national movers are almost always licensed, bonded and insured. If you are moving and the moving company doesn’t automatically provide you with the certificates for all of this, ask. However, they should automatically provide you with this upfront,” he says.
Still, if you don’t want to pay for full value protection, you can opt of it. But tell your mover.
You will be offered, no matter what, a free form of insurance called released value. In this case, the mover has to pay no more than 60 cents per pound, per item that is being moved. So if you have a refrigerator that weighs 400 pounds and the movers drop and break it, you’ll get $270 toward a replacement.
To Pay for Packing or Not?
According to Move.org, professional packers typically cost around $60 an hour, and you can expect to pay $300 to $800 on average. Still, if you’re frugal, you will pack your stuff.
That may be the right call, especially if 90% of your belongings are clothes and bedding and stuff that simply isn’t worth a lot. But if you have expensive dishes, a lot of sentimental knickknacks, electronics, appliances and other fragile or irreplaceable items, a professional packer might be worth the cost.
Nicole Gabai, a professional organizer, favors paying for packing and unpacking.
“I found that with many of the moves I’ve done, the upcharge was minimal compared to the cost of the overall move — and totally worth it to remove all the boxes and packing material all at once,” says Gabai, who is based in East Falmouth, Massachusetts, and founded B. Organized, a virtual professional organizing service.
She adds that you could have someone other than professional movers pack and unpack your stuff. “I recently hired some college kids, and they unpacked about 15 to 20 boxes for $20 per hour. It took three guys about one hour,” Gabai says.
House also advises that you may want to make a few exceptions and move a few items yourself. “Anything that is of extremely high value or extremely high sentimental value that can fit in your car with you when you drive to the next location, take it with you,” House says. “Yes, if they pack it and you have insurance it will get paid for, but there are items that we all have that mean more to us than the price tag.”
[Read: The Best Places to Buy Furniture on a Budget]
Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Moving Across the Country
If you want to save money on a cross-country move, keep the following tips in mind:
Plan where things will go in your new home. If you’re packing items, it’s wise to mark each box with a note designating which room they belong in.
“A big step toward helping make a move more cost-effective and go more smoothly is pre-planning where everything will go before you reach your destination,” Gabai says.
“It definitely drives up costs if you’re making decisions on the fly at the moment while the movers are standing there, waiting to place a sofa or bring the correct box to the right room.” That’s especially true if you are paying movers by the hour, she adds.
Get blueprints of your new home. This will help you plan where to direct the movers with your belongings.
“Blueprints of the layout exist with approximate dimensions of the house, and that will help you pre-plan your move. This is key, especially when moving across the country,” Gabai says.
Don’t underestimate how much you have to move. If you tell the movers you have three rooms of furniture and it turns out to be six, “some companies will have a premium cost for additional property being moved that was unexpected,” Zafrani says.
Plan to arrive before the movers. “People don’t always anticipate the cost of being without their things for an extended period, they may need to pay for food and lodging until the shipment is delivered,” Zafrani says.
Planning for your move should bring your costs down, but moving across the country isn’t cheap and it never will be. So before you look at the final moving bill, somewhere in all of your packing, you may want to include a stress ball and smelling salts.
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This Is How Much It Costs to Move Across the Country originally appeared on usnews.com
