It’s the 21st century and thank your lucky stars you aren’t moving home from New York to California in 1857. The journey by rail took over four weeks and was seen at the time as a vast improvement (it took over four weeks to get less than half way across the U.S continent in 1800). Today, moving home is a breeze. Sure, it’s sweaty work and some things get lost and some things get broken but at least all your family members haven’t been eaten by bears by the time you start loading furniture off the truck.
Assuming you aren’t using a plane, ship or train to move home, what are the options for you, a modern-day nomad, and what are the costs?
DIY: moving home yourself
Once the sole prerogative of penniless students and those who owned their own utes, DIY moving is an increasingly popular option as the proportion of renters in Australia continues to increase and the frequency at which people move increases with it.
The costs of moving can be a strong incentive for people to seek cheaper options, doing as much of the move themselves as they can. But all the small considerations, such as where to find moving boxes, can quickly start to do your head in.
The cheapest option is to obviously handle the relocation without the need to hire a van/truck of any sort, but use the goodwill of your family and/or friends who may own a trailer/van or truck. Hop on Facebook and see who you can’t bribe to lend you their van or get creative and create your own self-styled crowdfunding campaign: a donation of moving boxes gets people a personalised t-shirt with your face on it, a helper on the day gets a slab and the donator of a van gets a restaurant-quality home cooked meal and a conversation about global politics with you.
The typical costs of the more realistic option, hiring a van, vary slightly. Some of the larger businesses (Thrifty, Europcar, Budget) aren’t as available on the weekends for a single day hire, but you can hire a trailer for between $60-$80 overnight, a van for between $100-$120 overnight or a truck for somewhere between $190-$210 overnight. For those who have a car that can transport much of their small belongings, a simple trailer can do the job for your large furnishings. If you’re willing to do the work yourself, a move can cost as little as $100 once you factor in fuel.
Moving home with a little or a lot of help
It is hard to accurately convey the costs of hiring removalists as they vary significantly from company to company. There are plenty of stories involving tables getting scratched during furniture removal, trucks never showing up or charging through the roof for unseen costs. For this reason, ask around and do your research before you spend the money. Word of mouth is a big driver of business within this industry.
For a typical three-bedroom home, expect to spend up to $1000 on hiring a removalist. This is a significant difference in cost compared to DIY moves, but many will attest to the benefits of using removalists.
If you are living in a share house and all you are in need of is some furniture removal and a handful of boxes, then DIY makes sense (especially if you are young and have the strength to spend a day lifting boxes and beds). However, for families and anyone with an entire house to move (multiple beds, countless boxes, furniture for multiple rooms) it just isn’t realistic to expect a DIY move to be feasible. The cost of hiring good removalists is well worth it if you want your back intact at the end of the move.
The middle option are smaller operators, such as Man With A Van, Jim’s Removalists or Move My Stuff. Some of these operators will allow you to help with the move, saving you on the cost of an extra man. Some won’t, however.
Typical costs for these relocation operators average between $100-$150 per hour and can be a good option for those who sit somewhere between moving a limited number of items and an entire house. They also offer traditional removalist services, at much the same cost (up to and above $1000 for an entire day or between $170-$200 per hour).
Finally, and with little actual expectation for you to go down this path, have you considered investing in transportable homes and relocatable homes? Be a modern day nomad!
