Have you made the big decision to move out of your house, possibly hometown, or even a country? Congrats on such a big step! Moving is always followed by a lot of excitement, but also stress. Many people choose to hire moving labor and get the estimated price by moving quotes. It may sound overwhelming, but it really isn’t when you know what to focus on.

What are the moving labor services?

It’s pretty transparent, for a start. There are companies with trained, experienced professionals who offer moving labor. This can include several things or stages of the very move:

• Packing & unpacking
• Disassembling & reassembling
• Loading & unloading the moving truck
• Transportation

Moving quotes include all of the services provided.

The good thing about moving labor is that you can calculate and decide what exactly is what you want to be done. This can be only packing, only loading the truck, etc. You can really save some cash here if you’re moving on a tight budget.

So, this means that you can pack yourself, and let the crew do the rest, for example. In any case, you should consider finding moving professionals in your area that can assist you whit all the relocation tasks.

What are the moving quotes?

Now that you understand everything about moving labor itself, you should learn what moving quotes are.

When you decide you need professional help with the move, you’ll go to a local moving website, or call their number, and you’ll answer some questions. The questions can be: how big is your home, how many things you plan to pack/load/transport, are their stairs or an elevator, how many services do you expect, where are you moving (locally or long distance) and such. Moving quotes are good to know in advance, especially if you’re moving on a tight schedule.

Then, the company will contact you with an estimated amount of money you’ll pay them after the job is done. There are several things to think about here.

How to calculate moving quotas?

Moving quotes are the estimated price you get beforehand, as we already said. The way they are calculated depends on the moving company and the way they charge. Some will charge you by the hour, some by the weight of your items. Note that there are things which are charged extra: carrying packages up or down the stairs can be one, while the distance from the house to the moving truck is also included in the price.

Moving quotes often include additional charges such as carrying items or shuttle service.

Depending on your street and the accessibility, it might happen that they need to come with a van, and later transfer your things to a bigger truck. This will happen if your street is too narrow and the truck can’t access your door.

Most reliable moving companies will tell you about all this beforehand, such as Moving Kings Van Lines FL, and you’ll have nothing to worry about.

A tip to follow is definitely not to sign any blank papers. Be very careful with these quotes, because it might happen that you become the victim of a scam.

What’s there to think about?

You might think that when you’re doing it is irrelevant. However, you’ll be wrong if you think so. Most of these companies charge more in the summer, so if it’s possible, adjust your move so you can save some much-needed cash.

Feel free to ask the company whether your quote will be different if you change the moving date. Also, don’t forget to check for how long is the quote you got valid. These tips are important if you want to learn how to move like a pro.

Types of moving quotes

There are three types of moving quotes:

• Binding estimate
• Non-binding estimate
• Binding-not-to-exceed estimate

Let’s break them down.

Binding estimate

This one’s probably the safest one – no surprises. As long as you don’t change anything, the quote will match the price you pay after the job is done.

Non-binding estimate

This one’s tricky because it doesn’t count for the weight of your items, which is calculated and added later. Be careful with these, because it can happen that the price rises as much as 110%, but not more. There are some states where the law forbids this.

Binding-not-to-exceed estimate.

This one’s as safe as the first one – if not safer. Basically, it gives you a quote that can change only so that you pay less than stated, which will happen if they determine that your things are actually lighter than they estimated. For example, if you check quotes with movers in Florida and Boca Raton, you might even get a pleasant surprise of paying less than you were already prepared for.

Are moving quotes really free?

Short answer: yes. Long answer: yes, unless…

Unfortunately, as always in life, you need to be quite careful when hiring movers and their services. While calculating moving quotes is free on its own, there certainly are scammers who will find a way to calculate more after the job is done, or even add the price for the service of the calculation to the quote itself.

There are ways to prevent this. As we said, never sign blank documents, make sure there’s an in-home estimate so they can’t simply add more, hire those who charge by weight, and by all means make an inventory list.

Be careful with moving quotes – sometimes they’ll calculate over the price.

Also, it’s smart to check their tipping standard (it’s usually 20-40$ per day) beforehand.

Last but not least, check with the company what’s their insurance policy, so you don’t find yourself in a situation where an item is damaged and you get a miserable reimbursement.

We hope that you’ve learned all you need to know about moving quotes. Be smart and measure everything twice!