There may be no such thing as a worry-free move, but Canadian moving company Tippet-Richardson's Toronto assistant branch manager, Anita Fower, says that planning will go a long way toward easing the process. Here are some of Anita's tips.
• Choose an established moving company with bonded, trained, full-time employees. Although anyone with a van can call him- or herself a mover and offer cut-rate prices, everyone's heard a few horror stories about moving-day disasters!
• Try to schedule your move for the day after you take possession of your new house; that way you can avoid having to wait around for delivery of the house keys.
• If you want to save money, move midmonth, or off-season, between mid-September and mid-May.
• Expect to pay about $100 to $120 per hour for local off-season moves (see above), and $130 to $150 per hour in the high season. An average three-bedroom house will take about seven to nine hours. Long-distance rates are charged on a sliding scale based on poundage per mile – generally, the heavier the move, the lower the poundage rate per mile will be.
• Take delicates and valuables, including legal documents like wills and deeds, with you in your car.
• Consider taking out valuation coverage, which covers the actual repair or replacement value of items in your home, rather than the standard sixty cents per pound liability. The cost averages $3 to $5 per thousand dollars coverage.
