Top 9 NYC Moving Tips From an Apartment Move Management Consultant
Moving apartments can bring about a range of emotions: excitement, stress, relief, worry, and everything in between.
While you may look forward to living in your new space, the moving process in itself probably sounds overwhelming and tiring. Even worse, moving in NYC brings about its own set of challenges, such as finding a parking spot on moving day and determining whether your new apartment can hold all your current belongings.
However, planning out your move ahead of time can significantly reduce your stress on moving day. Read ahead to learn nine top tips from moving guru Jeanie Engelbach, founder of apartmentjeanie.com, to make your move as smooth and stress-free as possible.
1. Review the Moving Requirements for Your Current and New Apartment
Before you start planning your move, you should spend time reading through your old and new leases' moving requirements. Some landlords require that you provide 30 to 60 days' notice before moving out, while others have more generous lease terms. Either way, not following an apartment's moving requirements could be costly.
If you have any questions or are unsure of any policies, you can always reach out to your property management company or landlord for clarification.
2. Create a Checklist
Thinking about your move probably leaves you with dozens of different thoughts swirling through your head. The best way to organize these thoughts and make sure you do not overlook anything during the move is to create a thorough moving checklist.
Your moving checklist should include all of the items you need to remember before you move. We recommend including everything from the cleaning supplies you want to purchase to the day your security deposit is due to reminders about buying bubble wrap, box cutters, and packing tape.
Creating a moving list can help you put your thoughts on paper and ensure that you accomplish everything you need to before your moving day.
3. Inspect Your New Apartment—and Invite the Property Manager to Join
Before you move to your new place, we recommend scheduling an apartment inspection with the property manager or landlord.
Most apartment companies require renters to note any flaws, damage, or malfunctions in their apartment within a few weeks of move-in day. Accounting for these issues at the beginning of your lease can provide evidence that you did not cause them, giving you a better chance of getting your deposit back.
You may even be able to pick up your keys during the inspection, saving you an extra trip to your new place.
4. Call the Utility Company and Forward Your Mail
As you get closer to move-in day, you'll want to start checking some logistical details off your list. Transferring your utilities, forwarding your mail with the U.S. Postal Service, updating your driver's license, and changing your billing address are all steps you will need to take before you move.
The sooner you can check these items off your list, the less stress you will have leading up to your move.
5. Sell or Donate Any Belongings You Can Part With
One of the most time-consuming aspects of any move is packing up all of your clothes, furniture, books, kitchen items, and toiletries. You've probably accumulated a few things since you moved into your current home, and packing everything into boxes will take a good several hours of hard work to complete.
Getting rid of a few of your possessions before move-in day will ease your moving process significantly. Moving to a new home is a prime time to sort through your things, sell what you can, and donate the rest.
6. Clean Your Current Apartment From Top to Bottom
No one wants to get stuck paying fees after they move out of their current place. Many apartment companies implement policies about the condition in which you need to leave your apartment when you move out, including how clean your walls, floors, bathrooms, and kitchen should be. Not adhering to these policies could leave you with a sizable fee or prevent you from getting your deposit back.
The best way to avoid fees is to clean your apartment from top to bottom before you leave. Unfortunately, the most reasonable time to clean is after you have moved all of your boxes out, so you may need to wait until you have begun moving some of your possession to start the cleaning process.
7. Fix Any Damage or Changes to Your Current Place
Along with cleaning your old apartment or house, you will also need to fix any damage, repaint the walls to a neutral color, and reattach the original fixtures. Basically, you should restore the apartment to its earlier condition.
You may feel tempted to skip this step in the interest of time, but leaving any damage behind could leave you with hundreds of dollars in fees.
8. Measure Doorways and Entryways
New York City apartments come in all shapes and sizes. While your oversized dining table may fit in your current apartment, the doors and entryways in your new space may not be wide enough to accommodate your large furniture pieces. The last thing you want on move-in day is to discover that your valued furniture items cannot make it through the door.
To save yourself hassle and stress on moving day, we recommend measuring the doorways and entryways in your new apartment ahead of time. If you find that some of your furniture will not fit, you may want to sell it and purchase a smaller version instead.
9. Hire a Move Management Company
If you still feel overwhelmed after reviewing our previous tips, don't worry. Moving properties is a time-consuming, stressful process that many people would prefer to avoid.
Thankfully, our move management team loves moving, and we are ready to help you manage every aspect of your move. We offer a wide range of packing, sorting, and supervising services to reduce your stress on move-in day. A few of our most popular services include:
Sorting through and eliminating your possessions
Pre-packing your clothes in boxes
Providing tried-and-true moving and packing tips
Creating a design plan for your new space
Scheduling movers and preparing a moving truck
Working with the moving company to transport your items
Move-in day supervision
Post-move unpacking and organizing
Additionally, we have a list of the best professional movers and design experts on call to ensure that your move is smooth and efficient.
Our team can guide you through every step of your move and handle all communications with the movers for you, creating the most stress-free moving experience possible. Contact Jeanie Engelbach at apartmentjeanie.com today to learn more about our move management services.