People in New York work hard. When they are looking for a new home and moving, they don’t have time or money to waste. While most majority of people believe that their moving costs only apply on moving day, the process starts far earlier.
Before you even hire a mover, you need to think about moving costs, non-refundable Co-Op application costs, any penalties for terminating a lease early, and packing supplies.
Every move is unique, with its difficulties and requirements. The cost of hiring a professional, the stress-free choice, can range from extremely low to extremely high. While hiring a mover with adequate insurance and a fixed flat price may cost more than hiring an unproven operator with a dubious quoting method, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that you are covered and that your movers will take care of any catastrophes if they occur.
What could one anticipate to pay on a modest budget in New York City? To provide you with a trustworthy indicator, we delve into the details.
1. Being Frugal
In highly competitive property markets like New York, more than half of the apartments are 700 square feet or smaller. That’s a lot of spartan living when more than half of New Yorkers reside in a 300–600 square foot studio or a small one-bedroom apartment.
Although living out of a shoebox has drawbacks, on the plus side, you won’t gather much furniture, which means your moving expenses won’t be excessive.
For small apartment sizes, professional movers will typically be required, costing between $400 and $750 on average for local moves. Expect some additional fees when relocating outside the five boroughs. Using huge furniture that needs to be disassembled, or moving without a service elevator. These prices for a local transfer can go from $600-$1200 for one-bedroom rentals with more items.
Although you may see moving company commercials touting reservations for $60 per mover or $299 for a local move, these businesses don’t disclose additional costs. Gas, tolls, insurance, and unforeseen fees like day-of-the-week surcharges.
Make sure you thoroughly review their Terms and Conditions and ask the crucial questions we provide in this article, or that $200 savings could result in a headache that lasts far longer than you anticipated and lasts for months.
2. Multi-Room Relocations
While we’d all prefer a two or three-bedroom apartment for our personal space, these apartments can hold a lot more things, which increases the cost of moving when the time comes.
These flats may have several home office configurations as well as extra storage space.
Depending on the variety of goods and buildings involved, professional movers will need to send 3 movers or more to these bookings. And charge anywhere from $1000 to more than $2000.
A move will take longer the more specialized equipment the movers use to transport your possessions.
When you are getting an estimate, take access and delivery options into account in addition to volume. Moving from a three to a four-bedroom apartment will require a four-person team and can cost between $1500 and $3500 for a local relocation.
Remember that certain elements, such as the day of the week, the month, packing services, the distance between sites, stairways, and handling requirements, have an impact on each price.
3. Supplies For Packing
Even a studio move may need $200–$250 worth of strong, pristine boxes to safeguard your possessions. Your budget will benefit from finding sturdy, damage-free boxes that you can reuse at your building’s recycling bin. Or from someone else who has recently moved and is giving them away.
Generally speaking, a bookshelf may be packed into one medium-sized box for each shelf. It implies that if you have a bookcase with three shelves, you will want at least three boxes for only that one piece of furniture.
Plastic moving boxes are commonly rented for one week at a time. Costing between $50 and $100 for 20 boxes for one week. These boxes are waterproof and simple to stack. But if you want more flexibility or don’t plan to unpack right away, the extra costs could mount up.
4. The Small Print
Luxury condos and rickety pre-war studios can both be found in New York’s housing stock, and the application process is also rather diverse. Some complexes require you to pay for a thorough credit check and screening procedure in addition to your security deposit.
These fees might be as low as a $20 credit check and as high as a $700 co-op check and an application charge of $250. None of these fees are refundable, and they are very typical if you’re applying to a doorman building.
Since it can take 2–6 weeks for a Co-Op to approve an application, you’ll need to budget for a place to stay during that time. In March 2022, a hotel room in New York City cost an average of $139, according to Statista.
Over two weeks, adding city tax and resort fees, that amount can easily exceed $2,000.
5. Before Leaving
The small print of your lease contains yet another fee that you should avoid in New York. If your landlord included a notice term in your lease that was longer than 30 days, such as 60 days, which has become more prevalent since COVID, you can be liable for additional rent once you’ve moved into your new apartment.
To find any financial penalties, such as the landlord billing you for any free rent months or discounts if you leave sooner than agreed, thoroughly review your previous lease.
6. DIY Move
Ask about one-way rentals, or whether you can drop off the truck at your destination. And ask if they would change your reservation if their truck inventory was limited if you were planning a DIY move with a truck rental.
Even this do-it-yourself option, which starts with a low daily rate, may cost hundreds of dollars. And also come with a lot of responsibility. According to a survey of truck rental businesses, their typical reservations range from $100 to $1500. Or sometimes as little as $90 for a single local day move. If you value your time, make sure to thoroughly research the advantages and disadvantages of a DIY relocation before making a choice.
In the end, the more downward pressure you can apply to your moving costs, the more flexibility you have to choose an ideal moving date that fits your lifestyle. If you need assistance quickly, make sure to call Dream Moving.
