Would You Ever Let Someone Else Pack Your Home for a Move?

This week I did something I haven’t done in over 14 years: I moved.

That’s right, I bought my condo when I was 24, and now at 38 I have a new place with my girlfriend, a place I hope we call home for a long time.

One of the big reasons I lived in the same place for so long–as odd of a reason as it is–is that I strongly dislike the idea of moving. It’s the epitome of monotony and repetition to me. All of my stuff is already in Place A–why would I take the time to pack it all up, drive it to Place B, unpack it, and put it back pretty much the same way?

For this reason, I decided to indulge a little bit and hire the type of movers who pack up all your stuff for you and then move it for you to the new place. I thought that would make the move more palatable.

So, long story short, that’s what I did. BEK Movers were recommended to me, and I think they did a great job. Two guys showed up at my condo on Monday with a stack of boxes to find all of my things removed from cabinets and closets. I had spent the last few days prepping my place and moving certain items that I didn’t think would pack well.

They took just over 2 hours to pack everything. I stayed busy during that time, loading more fragile items into my car. They used several different box sizes, and they wrapped some of my portable cabinets in moving shrink wrap so I wouldn’t have to remove everything from the drawers just to put it back in. They were also very careful–almost too careful–with all of the dishes and glasses, wrapping each one in paper.

Then a different team of 3 people from the same company arrived the next day to move all of my stuff (and making a detour to my girlfriend’s place to pick up her stuff) before unloading it into our new condo. I helped the entire time too. As grueling as it was, I justified it by telling myself repeatedly that it was good exercise and I was saving myself money on their hourly rate.

I’ll share some photos of our new place next week; for now, here are photos from the packing day:

Have you ever used this method of moving? If not, would you? In my opinion, it was very much worth the expense.

10 thoughts on “Would You Ever Let Someone Else Pack Your Home for a Move?”

  1. I would absolutely love to have someone else do all the packing. However, this would be predicated on me doing a massive purge first. I’d also have to pit the cost of moving all my stuff vs. buying it new when I got to my destination. The movers will wrap and pack EVERYTHING, including the garbage left in your trashcans. I thought that was a bit much.

    Did you sell your old condo, or are you going to rent it out?

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  2. My wife and I just moved cross country, using professional movers. We were in our house (and raised 3 kids there) for the last 23 years. So, we had 23 years of stuff. We used professional movers and it took them 3+ days.

    The stressful part was dealing with our 2 cats. Three strange men making loud noises (packing tape and stretch wrap) while they dismantled our cats’ home. My wife and I of course knew what was happening and why, but it was stressful for the cats. I felt bad for them because they couldn’t understand what was happening.

    Jamey, how did your cats deal with it?

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  3. In the military, if you don’t want to move yourself when it’s time to change duty stations, you HAVE to let the government provided movers pack everything for you for liability reasons. You’re not really allowed to help, either, and if you do pack some boxes, if they’re taking them, they have to open and repack them.

    That’s how we just moved, and it feels so strange sitting and watching people pack your life up around you and move it out.

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  4. I absolutely have and and would do it again, Jamey. As long as I’ve had a chance to vet the company/get referrals, it makes life much simpler. For my last few moves, I did all of the pre-cleaning and prep, and then let them do the pack and move. And, in one case, I let them do the unpacking as well. I think we have to be realistic with ourselves when it comes to the busy lives we lead and how much we actually need to take on, versus managing up/out/down to simplify (this is, of course, true in other areas of our lives, as well).

    I wish you, Megan, Biddy, and Walter a smooth and happy transition into your new space! (Don’t forget the Feliway! 😉 )

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  5. We moved into our current house on Mother’s Day, 2015. We went cheap and rented a giant van, and after 4 ridiculous trips with that thing full to nearly full in the pouring rain, I can safely say it was one of the most arduous things I’ve done as an adult. I will 100% pay someone else to do the packaging, moving, and unloading if we ever move again. Every so often I reassure myself of that when Laura and I talk about moving after the kids graduate. I’ll say things like, “If we downsize to a 1-story in retirement…” “If we buy a tiny house in the mountains of Idaho…” “If we get rid of that lamp…” All of these statements are followed by, “we’re hiring someone to move everything for us.” I’m even thinking that I may pay for movers when the kids move out.

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  6. I’m glad your move went well. I haven’t used packers, just movers for the furniture, but I would consider packers for things that weren’t too valuable, breakable, or personal. There is a labour shortage where I live, so getting a responsible mover is a little dicey.

    Overall, I think for things like moving, one really has to consider the cost of personal time, stress, and maybe an injury, versus what it costs to hire someone. Also, it’s not an expense that comes up frequently for most people, so the extra money isn’t really that much when spread over years.

    I wouldn’t let a dislike of moving keep you in one place; you might miss opportunities. Where I live, real estate has gone up a lot in recent years, so people have made a lot of money by moving up the property ladder. As well, condos get old and develop problems that can be trickier to fix than in an individual home. It’s always good to assess things in your life periodically to see if they are still the right choice for present circumstances.

    Reply

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