How to Choose a Mover

Anyone who has ever packed up their life and moved to a different house knows just how stressful moving and storage can be. From protecting valuables through cleaning all those rooms, anxiety such as this is practically enough to make you want to stay put. Thankfully there are some simple ways to streamline the moving and storage process and improve your life. Hiring professional movers may be the single most important step of them all.

But which mover should you choose? These days the marketplace for hired muscle such as this has exploded with new variety, and homeowners are finding their moving and storage choices increasingly confusing. Should you get college kids or seasoned professionals, freelance guys or the kind of people who come with a national brand and a website?

The answer, as you may imagine, depends greatly on what kind of moving and storage you can afford and what you're planning to move.

There was a time when the only way to evaluate moving and storage options was to ask friends and families for their advice. Today the Internet has made it easier than ever to achieve something like perspective on the movers in your area, especially since you can usually dig up some reviews with a little patience. Many smaller moving and storage companies maintain an online presence as well, making it fast and easy to negotiate a price without spending hours on the phone.

Of course everyone's situation is a little different, so you may want to look into the vehicular capacity and manpower you can expect at each place. Although some movers nowadays specialize in major hauls or bachelor pads, generally the people that have cultivated a reputation for safety in one venue will apply it across the board. Be sure to ask about liability and damage protection to ensure you won't be held responsible for anything broken in transit.

Movers come with their own tools and materials, and not everyone is equally equipped to handle art, collectibles or unusually heavy furniture. Do some online research, however, and you should be able to discover which moving and storage outfit can manage what kind of options are available, namely speed, storage and packaging materials.