How do you know if the moving company you want is right the one for you? Good question and one you will need to do some research on as well. There are a lot of things to check on, but if you do your homework, you’ll know which moving company will do a good job for you and your family.

Moving company base prices are dictated by an interstate (between states) or intrastate (within your state) body. With different rules and regulations, you need to compare the efficiency and reputation of a moving company to help you figure out how close the quoted price is to the total cost. Confused? This means there is usually a difference with moving companies between the cost (quoted) and the price (actual). What you want to do is be able to figure that out to the best of your ability.

Here are a couple of other ideas for you as well, as you are searching for a moving company. Take some time to figure out if you want to do a self- service move or a full-service move. What does that mean? The self-service move means the moving company will take your goods from point A to point B – but you pack and unpack all the boxes. Yes, you could save some serious money this way. Note: cargo insurance on self-serve moves is limited to $25,000 and only covers damage caused by disasters like crashes or fire.

The full-service move means the moving company not only takes all your stuff from one house to the next, they also pack and unpack it. While there is no doubt you could do your own move, a company with highly trained professionals can do a much better job of moving heavy items.

Whatever outfit you do choose, whether or not you are doing it yourself or going with a full-service move, get a written cost estimate. Understand however that if the estimate is not binding, the actual final cost may be different. Don’t deal with a company that is not licensed.

Other hints and tips that will help you select a moving company are:

  • Call the local better business bureau and check their record for complaints
  •  Visit the local company and talk to the owner
  •  Do not invite anyone to your home to do an estimate until you have done a background check

Also make a list of other things you want to check that will affect the cost of your move with any potential company you want to hire. You need to know about packing costs, either they do it or you do it, and leave the hardest things to pack to the professionals.

Ask about disconnecting and reconnecting appliances. The moving company may do this for you, but they do charge to do this.

If you are well prepared with questions, it won’t take you long to decide on a moving company for your moving adventure.