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Advice on moving out of state?

Kat

Kat

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Okay, I officially got my job offer today from my new job in Texas. Now we are facing the moving process. Our problem is that we have nowhere to move yet and we are moving with 4 cocker spaniels and 5 cats. That complicates anything we do really.

So I am looking for any and all tips on moving out of state, organizing, buying a house, anything you have to share. I am looking at a start date of April 2nd or April 9th (I hope)... and I am nowhere near started packing or anything and our biggest worry is where to keep the animals temporarily. :/

Many of you know, we are moving from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Plano, Texas. My husband started working at Hewlett Packard in January. :happydance
 
No advice here but good luck with the move. And Plano, TX will be a BIG change from Fayetteville, AR but there's lots to do in the big D!
 
We have done it twice (Richmond, VA to Florida) and used ABF (http://www.abfs.com/default.asp). It was nice because it's a huge 18 wheeler, they come and drop it off in front of your house, then you have 2-3 days to load it. They'll come and pick it up and drive it to where you want. It was much more affordable then using a Pod or someone else. Good luck to you!
 
Wow... that is going to be a heckuva job. I can't even imagine because I've never lived more than ten minutes from where I grew up. :blush I hope you are able to do it smoothly. Keep us posted.
 
we moved from Boston to Houston and yeah had the big ol trucks move all our stuff and cars. We didn't have pets at the time, so didn't have to deal w/ that part.

good luck!!!
 
Brandi, that's a huge help, thank you!

Lauren, Kimberlee... yes, huge job... we will move our jeep too, we don't want to drive it because it's nearly 20 years old.

My sister has made a possible offer that she could live at our townhouse we have now temporarily and keep the dogs/care for them. That's not a bad idea actually, she'd also do packing and cleaning for us, if we paid her. It might be worth the extra money and they'd be at home til we moved.

Finding the right house is our top priority though. I sent the realtor some very specific information today.

Melanie, Plano is a huge change... we have 80,000 people here and there are 300,000 in Plano ALONE... but I am looking forward to being near Dallas. It's silly, I love zoos and Dallas has a few I can go visit! I wonder how long it will take to get tired of that, lol!!
 
alb52 said:
http://www.gosmartmove.com/ is another great option. you can do whatever combo you want as far as stuff goes - you pack, they pack, you load, they load, etc.

good luck with the adventure!
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ty ty!

These links are just what I need, I have to start researching tonight.

I am officially accepting the job tomorrow... they agreed to my counter offer, well, they upped it and then in 6 months they match my request. I wasn't sure they would so it's a sign to me that I accept and get moving.
 
Congrats on the job offer. good luck with the move. sorry i live 4 minutes from my childhood home so i've never done a big move.
 
I just finished another big cross country move (just did one from Michigan to Texas less than 2 years ago). I'm not a lot of help on who to use since my husband's company has moved us both times. However, a couple of tips come to mind. Pets - be sure to check for code in Plano to be sure you can have the number of pets you do before you buy or lease. Many places restrict you to a certain number of pets (often 2 total). Boxes - craigslist is a good place to find people getting rid of moving boxes. (If I were you, I think I would be taking yoru sister up on her offer!)
 
pianomom said:
I just finished another big cross country move (just did one from Michigan to Texas less than 2 years ago). I'm not a lot of help on who to use since my husband's company has moved us both times. However, a couple of tips come to mind. Pets - be sure to check for code in Plano to be sure you can have the number of pets you do before you buy or lease. Many places restrict you to a certain number of pets (often 2 total). Boxes - craigslist is a good place to find people getting rid of moving boxes. (If I were you, I think I would be taking yoru sister up on her offer!)
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We have checked city codes... We have 9 total pets (I know, it's alot but surprisingly easier than you'd think).... Plano allows 10 per household and we'll never have this many again so we'd be good there, but Frisco only allows 6 and are sticklers, apparently they fine you right and left. We have never run into that before.

I HOPE my sister will end up doing it and committing to it. That makes my life TONS easier honestly.
 
Another GREAT place for boxes is the ABC store! Been there done that... great for the smaller items :)
 
We've made a few big moves - Utah to Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania to Arizona, and now we're back in Utah. Based on my experience:

Don't use U-haul! We just had a lot of problems & they weren't easy to work with. I've heard similar stories from others who've used them.
On our second move we did it ourselves. Not sure you want to go that route, but we actually bought a new trailer (which we pulled with our Trailblazer) and then sold it for what we paid for it after the move, so the move ended up costing very little, just the cost of the gas.
It might be hard to find a rental that will let you bring the pets, but if you can that's what I would do. It's so much easier to take your time and get to know an area before jumping in and buying.

Congrats on the new jobs! And good luck with the move!
 
Good to know about Uhaul... we used them when we moved from Fort Smith to Fayetteville but it was only an hour. We aren't taking a huge amount of stuff with us... we have a couple of dressers, our bed, a recliner and a kitchen table. That's basically it and then the boxes of just stuff.

I was looking at my scrapbooking area first and thinking I need to start there but then I thought... how do I even box that stuff up? lol....
 
i hope it all goes smoothly for you Kat. when we moved to the Dallas area, my dh's company paid to move everything for us, so i'm no help in that area.

i'm excited for you! we LOVED TX and i miss it. . .especially when it's snowing where i am right now!
 
uggg. moving out of state is not the easiest thing. we did it twice in a year. we were super fortunate to have to move via a paid relocation so there were already movers provided. i'd say if you can find a good mover, that would be a lifesaver!

as for buying/selling houses... the real estate market is still not what it used to be, so don't be afraid to go low. you can always ask. they can always say no. buy you'd be surprised...

i agree with pianomom, craigslist is a good resource for finding used moving boxes. we sold a HUGE bunch of them for $50 to someone, so I'm sure that you can find them cheap.

Good luck!! Enjoy and try not to get too overwhelmed!
 
good luck with your move! we did it in 2007 and again in 2010 ... we'll be moving again this summer too. using movers is worth it to me - we have a lot of stuff (ughh) .. but i do a lot of the packing up myself (everything except fragile stuff and glassware - which i have them pack b/c they insured it that way) ... also - one thing i did on my last move which was a HUGE help was to hire some people to help me unpack the first two days in the new home - i found some ladies that have an errand/household chore type company, but you could also use high school or college students - they helped me get all my stuff into the kitchen shelves, closets, etc , hung up pictures, etc - it was so nice to get that stuff done quickly so that i didn't have boxes sitting around for months. i was just super organized in packing and got rid of stuff i didn't want beforehand. (i only had one month to move - so it was a busy month - haha - but worth it)

i hope you love dallas and plano! i grew up in dallas and still go back there for thanksgiving each year - i think it's a really great city :)
 
Congrats! It sounds really exciting! I have lived within the same 40 mile radius since birth, so I'm no help with out of state moves. :)
 
Congrats on your new job!!! When we moved to Idaho from Arizona we bought a house and later regretted it, it was a new place and the neighborhood was great, but after a few months we realized that even though it was a nice place to live it just wasn't were we wanted to be. I would suggest you rent before you buy, it gives you time to get to know the area better and decide where you like to live. Good luck!!!
 
aballen said:
Congrats on your new job!!! When we moved to Idaho from Arizona we bought a house and later regretted it, it was a new place and the neighborhood was great, but after a few months we realized that even though it was a nice place to live it just wasn't were we wanted to be. I would suggest you rent before you buy, it gives you time to get to know the area better and decide where you like to live. Good luck!!!
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oh - i will agree with this too - we had a really quick move to boston and decided to rent since we didn't really anything about the neighborhoods/different towns/etc ... it's a hassle to have to move again a year or two later, but totally worth it b/c now i am completely sure of which neighborhood i want! although you may have trouble renting with 9 pets :) LOL!
 
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