All You Should Know Before Moving to a New State

With so much stuff you need to think about when relocating, we will show you some of the basic things to do before moving out of state and also after. If you are well organized and plan everything on time, this project doesn’t have to be complicated.

Make a Plan About Your Moving to a New State – A Date and a Checklist

Planning is the key to the success of every great project, and the same thing is with relocation. Even if you are relocating at the last minute, you will relocate without much stress with a good plan. First, you will have to stop and think about where you should move, consider your options, job opportunities, and how much it will cost you. Then comes setting a date. With that knowledge, you can inform your employer about your plans and give them notice. And once you have a date, you can start arranging everything and creating your checklist for moving out of state.

Make Moving to a New State Checklist

The best way to organize your move is to make a checklist of everything you have to do. And to be even more organized, the best solution is to put your list in a binder where you can easily put all documents and contract arrangements you have. Keep this binder close to you and follow everything you have planned, and you will have a stress-free move. Here are some of the things to do when moving to a new state that should be on your checklist:

• Sell or rent your home,
• Talk with your landlord,
• Create a relocation budget,
• Create packing strategy,
• Book long-distance moving company,
• Find a job,
• Find a place to live,
• Research your neighborhood,
• Transfer your medical records,
• Organize your important documents,
• Prepare your pets for the move,
• Transfer your children’s school records,
• Tell your parents you’re relocating,
• Transfer or cancel your utilities.

Know Your Budget

When we talk about what to do when moving to a new state, making a sound financial plan is essential. As you figure, everything will depend on your budget. So when making it, you will have to consider a couple of essential things for your move. Here they are:

• Cost of living in your city of choice,
• Housing options,
• Relocating expenses and whether you’re eligible for moving expenses deduction,
• Employment (will you have an income),
• Savings for at least three months,
• Travel arrangements,
• Booking movers.

Do a Good Research About Your New City

A big part of your budgeting and things to do when you move to a new state is researching your place of choice. If possible, go to that city and explore it firsthand, just to get a city vibe. Take some days off work and visit it for a couple of days. Your house hunting will be much easier. You will learn how to get around, and you will learn more about the costs of living there, as well as taxes and other things. On the other hand, if you can not afford to visit in person, hit the web. Join some local forums or social media groups, and see other people’s experiences when they moved there.

Find Home in a Right Neighborhood

If you buy a home before you relocate, your anxiety about relocating will be lessened. But if this is not the case, you will have to research neighborhoods in your place of choice. You will have to decide whether to rent an apartment or buy a house. Whatever your decision is, you will have to make time in your schedule for either of these things. You will need a minimum of one month to get the paperwork and everything else in order. Whether you can visit the area beforehand or not, it would be best to rely on a real estate agency to handle the deal.

When searching for an ideal residence, you should consider a couple of factors. First, how far is your work from your neighborhood of choice? And if it’s far, are there traffic jams every day? Next, if you’re relocating with kids, is there a good school nearby? And finally, if you are relocating with pets, and especially with a dog, see if the neighborhood is pet-friendly.

For the cost of living and housing options, you can visit the Niche website or Numbeo to get some idea of how much money you need to put aside for this relocation.

Check Out Job Market in Your City of Choice

Maybe one of your reasons to move is because you have a job that requires relocation. If this is the case, then your move will be mostly stress-free, and you will have more time and energy to do other things.

But if you’re relocating without work, you will have to learn how to find a job when moving to another state. It’s not even that challenging. Just start the search right away – read the local news and see who are the biggest employers there. Or go online again, and you will undoubtedly get a lot of websites with employers’ reviews. Update your resume and start sending it together with your cover letter to every potential employer you find. There are numerous websites where you can create your profile and apply for jobs. Also, make usage of your social media as well. Inform everybody you know that you are relocating to that particular town and maybe they can give you some recommendations about employment. Check out this video for more tips on how to get work.

Search for Best Moving Company

When we talk about how to move to a different state or what to do before moving to another state, you can do very little without a cross-country moving company. Ask your friends if they can give you recommendations for relocation companies. If not, the internet is once again your best friend. When searching for the best long-distance moving services, pick at least three companies and ask them to give you a free quote. Once you get these quotes, you can pick the one that suits your budget best. When hiring cross-country movers, ask them all the questions you have. Do they provide auto shipping services? How will they make their price? And most important of all – make sure you check if your company is legit. You’re likely wondering what is the cheapest way to move from state to state, and you might be open to the idea of going with long-distance movers that offer the lowest price. But if you wish to avoid relocating scams, never choose movers that ask for too low a price. They are most likely a fraud.

Pack Your Home Like a Pro

If you’re moving out of state alone, this part will be easy, but you will have to create a packing plan if you are relocating with your family. When relocating your entire house to a different location, the best option would be if you could hire long-distance movers for a packing service. But if you have enough time and energy to do this alone, start your packing at least a week before your move. Also, it would be good if you could get rid of some items you don’t need. You can organize a yard sale or donate unwanted items.

Get Right Supplies

The next step is to get the right packing materials, especially if you have to pack fragile items. You will have to learn how to use bubble wrap as well as packing paper and plastic wraps. And here are some of the other supplies you need to acquire:

• Blankets and sheets,
• Duct tape and duct tape gun,
• Best-sized boxes,
• Cushioning.

Best Method for Fast Home Packing

The best packing method is to go room by room and decide what you will bring with you and what not from each area. Before this, you should clean one room in your house to pack your stuff there. So clear your garage, basement, or the room you don’t go to that frequently. Once you have cleared the chosen space, bring all the stuff you wish to pack there and start with packing. And don’t forget to label your boxes appropriately. You may even write a household inventory list and mark which items are in which box. This will help a lot with unpacking.

Moving Out of State With Child

If you wonder how to move to a new state with a child, the answer will be extra planning. As we mentioned above, you will have to find a good school for your kids and arrange a transfer in advance. Also, you should find a pediatrician in your city of choice and ask the current one to send all medical records there when your big day arrives.

If you have small children, the best tip is to hire a babysitter. On the other hand, if you have older kids, you should put them in charge of some tasks during relocation. Do that, and they will be occupied and will adjust to change in a better way.

Also, prepare a bag of relocating essentials for everybody, especially for your kids. Put clothes for a couple of days inside, some toys and hygiene products. Because you don’t wanna go through each box once your truck is unloaded and search for pajamas and other essentials.

How Much Should You Save to Move Out of State?

Now that you know how to relocate to a different place, you probably want to know what is the average cost of moving to another state. As you can figure by now, the price will depend on many factors and your choices. But the general rule will be to put aside enough money for at least three months. This means you will have to put aside money for rent, or credit, food, gas, utilities, and other living expenses.

When it comes to long-distance moving company expenditures, this will depend on the type of services you picked. For example, your price will be higher if you take packing and storage services alongside basic relocation services. The best way to find out how much money you will need is to contact a long-distance moving company to give you a quote. This will help you a lot with your budgeting and decision-making. Either way, no matter how much money you have, you will have to hire professionals to help you move. Some things like packing and unpacking you can do alone, but some are more reasonable to be done by professional movers.