ᐅ Long-Distance Domestic Move – How to Find a Moving Company?

guckuck2 schrieb:

I won’t be moving by myself again in this lifetime.

Hopefully not for me either, since I plan to stay here.

But my best achievement was moving a two-room apartment.

With the first flight from St to Berlin. My wife and mother-in-law packed the entire apartment except for the built-in kitchen and living room couch. On the second floor without an elevator... Everything was loaded into a long van and driven back to us. Then friends waited to help unload.

Well, it wasn’t a problem back then… nowadays I’d probably be in pain everywhere halfway through.

By the way, Herz was the only company offering unlimited kilometers; all the others had a maximum of 500 km (311 miles).

tomtom79 schrieb:

Hopefully not for me either, since I want to stay here.

But my best experience was with a two-room apartment.

With the first move from St to Berlin. There, my wife and mother-in-law packed the entire apartment, except for the fitted kitchen and the living room couch. On the 2nd floor without an elevator... Everything was packed into a long van and brought back to us. Friends were waiting to help unload.

And well, it wasn’t a problem. Nowadays, I’d probably be in pain all over after half the time.

By the way, Herz was back then the only one offering unlimited kilometers; all others had a maximum of 500 km (310 miles).

I’ve moved quite often, mostly doing it myself without a moving company. The last two moves, however, were with a company because I simply didn’t want to deal with the physical strain anymore. I also don’t want to involve friends anymore; you could consider the favor to be paid back when they move someday, but I’m done with that. And when you have small children, progress is just slow.

We always pack ourselves. It’s faster, you know exactly where everything is and where it belongs, it’s more discreet, and it’s not a difficult task. Boxes are very cheap online or secondhand from classifieds (and can be passed on easily without much loss). You can pack something every day for 3–4 days, then finish the rest the day before moving day.

Then on moving day, at least 50% is unpacked by the evening, and by the next day, at least 90%. The boxes are then sold as a complete set on classifieds about a week later. Done.

You use the time to provide refreshments for the movers and to tidy up the old property. This is probably also an issue for Kati, because if the household goods are moving to Saarland, she probably doesn’t want to stay there to clean the old place properly, let alone drive back to the old house to sort out small tasks. Most likely, the place will be emptied, cleaned for a couple of hours, and then handed over to the new buyer, so she doesn’t have to make two 600 km (370 miles) trips.

The last move, from a single-family house to a newly built single-family house, cost around €1300 (about $1,400). The distance was short, around 20 meters (20 km (12 miles)). Anyone moving 600 km (370 miles) of course pays more, but €8000 (about $8,600)... never.

Thank you all for the numerous insights.
I think I can forget about basing the move on work since the position is 100% remote. But I can still claim moving costs for service providers as household-related services if I find someone who can issue me an invoice.

I definitely wouldn’t do the entire move fully self-organized. I will request quotes for full-service moves and use them if they are affordable. But to be honest, if it costs more than €5000 (about $5400) it will probably be too expensive for me.

Yesterday, based on the feedback from the first thread, I started listing our belongings and thinking about what I want to take with me. I’ve moved several times in my life and know how quickly you underestimate the volume. In the end, there’s usually more than you expect. You can list furniture by room, but boxes… from experience, I’m estimating around 200 boxes.

Over the weekend, I’ll try to take photos of the furniture and sell some of it. I still have an old Ikea sofa bed here, many Besta cabinets in outdated designs that I’m tired of, and more Kallax shelves than I can handle. Some of the older Kallax units have to go. We also have new solid oak furniture in the living room that I don’t like as much in person as it looked in the photos online. I’m considering writing that off as a loss and selling it on classified ads, since it’s incredibly heavy to transport (the display cabinet weighs around 200kg (440 lbs)). The same goes for the old Pax wardrobe—an enormous closet with two huge glass sliding doors. I would never buy sliding doors for a wardrobe again; they are incredibly annoying. I think I might still get some money for it, but I definitely don’t want to move it again. Oh, that reminds me: do the current Pax doors still fit on systems from 10 years ago?

Anyway, if we decide to go with "driving ourselves," I would try to ask family from the south if they can come up to help with the move and drive one of the cars, plus help overall. Then, here at the moving location, I would hire a moving company just to handle the heavy lifting.

I prefer to pack the boxes myself. I’m a bit of a perfectionist: every box must be labeled with the room and contents; anything else is a nightmare for me. But I would hire a company to dismantle and load the furniture.

At the destination, I might do the same. Maybe load some things the day before, then load the rest (beds and so on) early in the morning, drive down, and only unload the essentials in the evening (again, the beds) so I can manage the first night with just a travel bag. The next morning, unload everything — ideally with help again. We have more private helpers down there, or we could pay someone again, or do both.

If you have quality furniture that you care about, you shouldn’t choose the cheapest providers.

During our last move, we hired a company recommended on MyHammer with good reviews and prices in the upper mid-range. What we didn’t know was that the company was subcontracting part of the work to other firms.
The movers in the truck wedged the furniture together and sealed all doors and drawers with packing tape or straps. This was despite us having provided shrink wrap and plenty of moving blankets—neither of which were used. I wasn’t present when the truck was being loaded because I was heavily pregnant and already in the new city with a toddler.
It was a miracle that I didn’t go into labor prematurely when I saw the damages. Not a single piece of furniture was left unscathed. And the money from the insurance offers only limited consolation.

To all the Sprinter mowers: There isn’t just one size. I specifically mentioned a 4.2 m (14 ft) flatbed. The load volume is roughly half of what a 7.5-ton truck can carry.
That would have been the advice for doing it yourself, especially since it was explicitly pointed out that no one has a truck driver’s license. This way, it would work.

We moved back to Bavaria from East Frisia last year and hired a moving company from Berlin, which was significantly more affordable than all the local companies we contacted. We were really very satisfied. Am I allowed to mention them here? Sorry, I’m still not familiar with the rules on this forum.

By the way, when we moved from Bavaria to East Frisia, we did it ourselves with the help of my parents. Although it was cheaper than using a moving company, even with a police fine for overloading the van, it was also much more exhausting.

(By the way, I once had email contact with you when we wanted to build a house in Westerstede.)