You might think that local moving is a lot easier than a long-distance move in terms of planning, preparation, and overall experience. In some instances, for example, travel and planning to make the small details of your move work out, you’d be right – local moving is often a little easier to pull off than long-distance moves due to the easier travel experience and fewer variables at play in the process. However, small move planning is just as important as those larger moves, just as local move preparation requires just as much attention to detail as long-distance ones.

Local moves can quickly become just as complicated as long-distance moves if you don’t incorporate the right planning and preparation into your process – and especially if you leave it to the last minute.

So how do you go about planning your local move in a way that will serve you and make your experience as calm as possible? In this guide, we’ll give you the best local moving tips plus a local move checklist to allow you to be as prepared as possible.

Local Moving Tips

The best thing you can do when preparing for any move is to start as early as possible in both your packing and planning process. This applies to small, local, large, and long-distance moves alike.

Getting ready for a move is no doubt stressful, but getting ahead of the process and preparing on a timeline that will allow you to take it on calmly and without being overwhelmed will make a lot of difference in the quality of your overall moving experience. Plus, getting things done lets you relax and will make sure that everything gets done without you having to stress over it.

When we say ‘start early, however, how early is early, exactly? When packing and getting ready for a move, you’d be surprised as to how quickly things can move sometimes. One minute you’re packing things here and there, and the next you’re standing here the night before moving day with nothing done! Instead, when you start as soon as you decide to move, giving yourself a month or two to plan and start your packing process will let you enter the moving day with ease and know that you’re ready to go.

Outside of starting the planning and packing process as early as you can, you might wonder what else you can do to make your move run as smoothly as possible. Outside of just getting ahead of preparation, let’s think about other ways you can make your move a smooth and successful one.

Small Move Checklist

Before starting the moving process or trying to figure out what the best approach to take is when it comes to packing smartly and efficiently, you should always make sure a few things are taken care of before starting your process.

1. • Hire Your Moving Company

Hire your moving company and lock in your move-in date as soon as possible! Even if you think it might be a weird thing to book super far in advance, having your moving day and your truck reserved for a move makes a world of difference in giving you peace of mind.

This is only more necessary to do when moving during peak season, which lasts from April-September. During this time, competition for services and for moving dates are high, and you’ll want to make sure you get the moving day you want to keep yourself on track. The best way to do this is by being proactive and booking as early as possible.

1. • Outline & Plan

Before actually beginning your packing process, make a plan of action. Determine what needs to be done from start to finish in your move, and create a timeline for packing to keep your entire process on track. Create a timeline or calendar to keep track of when you’d like certain things to be done.

1. • Start Preparing

If you’re able to see your new home in advance or can have a buffer zone in between your new home is accessible to you, take advantage of it by preparing your new home ahead of the moving process itself.

From activating or changing utilities, to just planning out rooms and cleaning, prepping your new home for your arrival will save you a lot of hassle later.

1. • Get Packing Supplies

If you’re packing yourself, get your materials from friends, family, local businesses, or for free on sites like Facebook Marketplace or friends and family. This will let you pack for less – or even free! Strategize what will go where, and make sure your boxes are strong and a good size to fit your items.

1. • Take it Room by Room

Once you’ve gotten your supplies together, start packing room by room. Sectioning out your packing will let you take things slow while getting more done and keeping things organized. Additionally, packing in this manner will allow your unpacking process to be much smoother since you’ll know where all of your items are and where they’ll go in your new place.

Now that you’ve seen our local move checklist, it’s time to start the actual planning and packing process involved in your local move. Make sure you’ve got the right local movers on your side to bring your items to their destination safely while you’re at it! See what Cord Moving & Storage can do for you today.