City to City Moving Costs Checklist

Moving and settling into a new city is less stressful if you get organized and create a plan of all the activities you need to accomplish before your relocation.

Remember to prioritize those tasks to obtain the best results...

• If possible, visit the new city before your moving day and experience the place like if you were a resident. Ask yourself if this is truly a location where you'd like to live.
• Research about your new city: the true cost of living there, the real state market, type of climate, good and bad neighborhoods, school system, job market, traffic, and the city's crime statistics, among other information.

If you can not go directly to the area before you move there, look for all that information on the Internet. There are plenty of tools you can use to research a city through and through.

Today, the majority of neighborhoods, apartment complexes, schools, transportation facilities and other services have their own Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and websites specially designed to provide information to locals and visitors. Forums are also an extraordinary resource to help you decide where you'd like to move in the city, and you can find opinions and useful information about schools, places to shop, dine, attractions, and much more.

• Research on the Internet for houses or apartments by area, price, type of dwelling, and amenities (among other criteria). Know what your price range is, what you're looking for, how many bedrooms you need, how far you are willing to commute.
• Create a budget worksheet of anticipated income and monthly living costs in your future city. Your living expenses may be higher there.
• For better planning, it's also important to create a master spreadsheet of all your moving-related expenses. Make sure your worksheet includes: moving company costs, self-moving expenses, vehicle transportation costs, gas, hotel, meals and insurance costs, immediate post-relocation costs (rent, mortgage payment, deposits, groceries, cleaning supplies and other essentials, car registration, insurance, paperwork) and unexpected expenses.
• Find professional Los Angeles movers in your area. Ask for a quote and compare prices.

Note: Having a moving estimate is useful to set up your budget.

• In case you prefer to move out on your own, your budget should include these essential self-moving expenses: packing materials, truck rental, moving equipment, hidden costs, risk of injury, and lost time.
• Consider renting for at least six months before buying a new house or signing a 12-month lease.