sabato 28 luglio 2007
moving help
the boy and i want to move from minneapolis, minnesota to phoenix, arizona, hopefully by the end of the summer or fall of this year. [before it gets cold again, at any rate.] whenever either of us have moved drastically, we've always had friends in our destination place to crash with until finding our own places to live. however, this time around, the one person we know in phoenix is currently living in minneapolis, teaching at the U of M for a bit. if you've ever moved cross country and can offer advice/experience, i'd really really appreciate it! 1. how much $$ did you save up for the move? i have no idea how much i should set aside. $2000? $6000? more?2. did you have a job in advance and moved to it or did you find one once you got there? i want to transfer in my company so i don't have to bother with IRA's and lose stock options and accrued vacation time and benefits and all that. if i quit, i have a 6 month window to get re-hired within my company and all of my benefits and stuff are instantly locked back into place as if i never left. but, i have a brand new car that i'm paying a loan off for, so i don't want to be unemployed for longer than possible. i like buying stuff too much! 3. did you rent a moving truck [like u-haul] or a moving company or ??? what did it cost?4. how did you find an apartment? since we don't know anyone there, we're kinda on our own. i know north phoenix is nice and south is the ghetto so we're going from there. [though this is the least of my worries, since i can easily look online at rent.com and find lots of nice swanky places within 'gated communities' and all that rot for half the price i'm paying here.] anything else i'm missing?
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2. did you have a job in advance and moved to it or did you find one once you got there?I will answer this one first because it sets the stage for the rest. No, we didn't have jobs, and it took me two months to find one and Dave a year and a half. Dave collected unemployment for this time, but we both stressed out hardcore.I hate to recommend having a job in advance, but it reduces stress so very much.1. how much $$ did you save up for the move? i have no idea how much i should set aside. $2000? $6000? more?We each had about 4000 saved, which is good, because ... 3. did you rent a moving truck [like u-haul] or a moving company or ??? what did it cost?We hired a moving company that jacked us for 3500 bucks. Fuckers. They quoted us a supremely unrealistic price and then destroyed most of our belongings. I'd rent a truck next time around.4. how did you find an apartment?Ah, finally a question that has a positive answer! We looked in the local entertainment weekly and drove around.We didn't like the area of our first apartment, but moved after a year into our current very nifty location (at a friend's recommendation). So, it was hit or miss, but a good starter apartment in Portland. Good luck! I'll link over to you in my journal...
I've moved from Minnesota to Indiana and back. Both times I did it, I moved myself.1. I was poor at the time, so I didn't save much at all. Three of us were moving to the same place, so we all chipped in on the moving truck and gas. I seem to remember it costing just under $1000 to take the truck one-way from Minneapolis to rural Indiana. (That's not including gas.) You can get exact numbers from places if you tell them roughly where you're going to from here and they can give you estimated gas prices, as well. I would say $6000 is overkill, but $2000 definitely is not.2. I didn't have a job when I moved to Indiana, but I did have one beforehand when I moved back home. The way I went about getting one before moving back to Minnesota was to talk to recruiters and just start sending my resume out to places in advance of moving back. I was eventually hired at a company strictly through phone interviews and didn't actually meet my boss in-person until my first day on the job. Internal job transfers are the way to go, though, if you have the option.3. I rented a truck through Ryder, since they had better prices at the time than u-haul and the others. It was around $950 for the 15' truck we had, I think. The cost differs depending on teh size of truck, whether you're taking it in-town or out of town, and whether or not your trip is one-way. The cost of the truck almost never figures in the cost of gas, so that will be an additional cost you'll have to figure into the mix.4. The best bet is to start looking at online rental places like ApartmentSearch and local newspapers' websites (in the hopes that they have online classifieds). You may try to find something like a local CityPages, too, to see if they have a website with online classifieds. Since you don't know anybody there, the option to have local "For rent" magazines and the like sent to you ahead of time probably won't work... The way I found an apartment moving back to Minnesota was to come home for a week before moving (I was also in a wedding, so this was planned) and do a little searching ahead of time. I eventually found the initial place to live through ApartmentSearch, though.If you are going to be moving yourselves, you'll probably just want to tow your car behind the moving truck instead of actually driving it. It'll save on the headaches of getting separated during the long drive, and it'll keep the mileage down on your new car. That will cost extra to do, though, and it can be a little tricky to maneuver (sp?) the truck if the person driving it isn't familiar with doing so. (I almost got stuck in a parking lot while doing that, because the only way to get out was to back the truck up a little -- this is not an easy task when you have a car on an uncooperative trailer behind you.)I hope this helps. If you want to talk more about it, let me know. I've learned all kinds of misc. things from moves and helping friends move over the years. ;)
For apartments:http://phoenix.craigslist.org/http://phoenix.citysearch.com/
My family and I moved out to Tucson, AZ (howdy soon-to-be neighbor! :D) last August.1. We sold our house. So we had 20k for the trip. It did not cost that much.2. We own our own company.3. This is the big one. We got a moving company. We regretted this immensely. There are lots of horror tales online about moving companies and what they do to screw you, etc. We got one that didn't, but it was NOT fun. Because it took longer than we thought (we drove out the day the truck left, my brother and father left a week ahead via plane.) If you can avoid it, rent a U-Haul. It may be scary to drive the truck all the way... but at least you know you have your stuff. (Just observe safety where you park on the trip, etc.)4. The advanced team had secured housing before we went. Phx is a nice place, plenty to rent. Tucson has dozens and dozens of apartment buildings with "Move in for $99!" and the like. It's a good market for real estate.5. Cars? If you have cars. Drive them out. Do not have them shipped. Tow them, do anything. Do not ship them.That's about it, really.August is a good time to move to AZ. You get the feel for the Monsoon Season (July+August) but just a taste as September and October come in with milder weather (and you'll be walking around going "wow! it's snowing back where we are and here I am sunbathing in 75 degree weather in december!)There is a definately in-season out-season of people in AZ. Summer they leave (both old people and college kids) and that's a good time to get yourself a good deal on housing. Winter they come. But overall the pricing is reasonable.One last thing. Arizona is a community property state. If you are married and ever get divorced, you and your ex will split everything. Including debt. (And if he/you should die before the debt is paid off, it transfers back to you.)Hope that helps
1. I was/am in a much different financial situation than you (I think) so my answers may not help much but...I only had about $1200-$1600 saved, and I basically just moved myself and all my belongings in my one car. Gas from NH-CA was around $400, two nights in a hotel was around $100 and then the other two nights were with friends...the rest of the money was to put towards an apartment upon arrival.2. I had a job the third time I did the move, the other two times I temped until I found a job. 3. Nope, just me and my car. :)4. One of the best resources is craigslist which I think has a site for many major cities. The Phoenix one should be here. I found my apartment the first time in San Francisco that way - there's also tons of resources there for just about anything, jobs, furniture, stuff to sell/buy, people to meet, activities, etc.
Lessee. I did have some friends and family in the area I moved to. I still had to end up doing a lot of stuff myself.1. how much $$ did you save up for the move? about $2000.2. did you have a job in advance and moved to it or did you find one once you got there? nope, didn't have a job. I temped. which is not a terrible way to learn a new jobmarket and city. however, you're in a different career phase -- both of you are probably headhuntable. I'd say start early. You're marketable.Also, if you have a job offer before you search for an apartment, you will be able to look for one that's not on the other side of town.3. did you rent a moving truck [like u-haul] or a moving company or ??? what did it cost?packed my explorer and rented a u-haul trailer. In order to get away with that little I had been paring down what I own for two years before, and had very little furniture that didn't fold. took a good friend with me for company on the road. it was a good roadtrip, actually. Consider shipping your library bookrate. Insure it first, though.4. how did you find an apartment? that really sucked in Minneapolis at that time, since I was sure I wanted to be near Uptown (near friends & family.) the market was very tight. I had tried looking through internet searches first and found nothing I wanted, partly because cost of living is noticeably higher here than in Albuquerque.anything else i'm missing?Pets: how will you move them? talk to a vet.neighborhoods: once you have some idea of where you might want to live, this can show you what crime was like in specific neighborhoods in the last year or more.speaking of missing, we'll miss you. foo.
I lived in Phoenix, so I can help you with areas. Scotsdale is nice, but parts are really pricey and full of retirees. I liked the Camelback area, just north of the city. Tempe is a younger crowd, near the college, with a bit more to do. There are also some neat places pretty close in. It is mostly the west side of town that is pretty ghetto and some south. apartments are pretty reasonable, I would recommend visiting and driving around to get a feel for the areas. There are some nice areas further out of town also, but then you'd have a commute to deal with and you can live close to town for not much more money. There are also some decent furnished short term apartments you can stay in while you find something more permanent if you can't visit ahead of time. Since it is so nice and warm there I recommend finding a place with a pool and such, most complexes have them. When I was there a couple of years ago, there were always apartments available and the deposits were pretty low. I just moved from Atlanta to New York, If you can afford it, use a reputable moving company. You can get estimates online. It can save alot of hassle, and it can usually take at least a couple of weeks for stuff to be in transit, giving you a little time to settle in before the bulk of you stuff arrives. And drive down, you can see some really cool stuff on the trip. I would also recommend looking for jobs there, you can see listings online and often apply online. Depending on what you do, you may be able to get in somewhere before you move. Good luck, it is a quiet, but nice area to live in with tons of nice day trips nearby. The desert is wonderful, don't miss Sedona, about an hour north of Phoenix, it is beautiful!
1. $30002. had job and apt waiting3. I drove my van, and Dad drove out van of rest of stuff. I reccomend a u-haul. buy an unemployed friend a return flight and have someone help drive if you're bringing two cars and the u-haul.4. Had a friend with a room opening up.
gah!! move to the uk instead.. ^_~
My only addition to the above points is this: My experience says renting a truck will end up costing the best part of a thousand dollars. You may do better if you can buy one, use it, then sell it.
I have answers to these questions and I am writing myself a note to write a comment when I get home from work. :)
you can try one of those companies that rent you space, its actually cheaper than renting a uhaul. try ABF or something. if i were you i'd try to go out there for a weekend to check everything out before you move. you don't want to be stuck in the ghetto. check out the police department and ask them about crime in the areas you're looking at. you'll need a lot of cash in case something happens...you never know.
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