There are vast differences from living in a single unit when you move into a condo, one of which is that you have to share your property space with others. Among some of the things you may have to share with your neighbors include the condo grounds, laundry area and even the pool if there is one.

Relocating to a condo also means that from time to time you would be given notice so that the grounds and maintenance crew can come into your unit to inspect it. Depending on which condo you choose to live, there is also security on the grounds either with an appointed security personnel on the premises or with the use of close circuit cameras in the building. This type of security is ideal for a single person or a single parent living with their kids.

Another thing to note about living in a condo is that you may have to deal with hearing noises from your neighbors since they live so close to your unit. There would also be repair and maintenance noises that you would hear around the building or even coming from one of your neighbors as well. From noises  made from the garbage chutes to the sound of the elevator and even the air-conditioning units; these are the noises that most tenants who live in a condo have to deal with. Even before moving into your condo, be sure to ask the real estate agent about noise reduction in your unit or find out about ways in which it can be obtained. In addition, find out about the noise level rules in your building; usually some condo association have rules about the noises that neighbors make in their own unit.

If you are downgrading to a condo from a large single unit home, you may have to also downgrade your furniture as space may not allow you to keep those that you have. Some appliances may not be allowed in the unit as well; be sure to ask about if you can keep a washer/dryer in your unit before moving in.

Since some condos have pet restrictions, you should also get information about this beforehand as well. One condo dwelling may require that your pet be of a particular weight to be able to move in with you while others may allow you to only have a dog or a cat. The sooner you find out about this the better as you would be able to make alternative arrangements for your pet or move to another condo that would accommodate them.

The economy has been sluggish for several years, another recession is looming and consumer confidence is still low. In these tough times, people are learning to do more with less. This is apparent in the trend towards smaller homes, apartments and condos. While downsizing sounds easy, there are certain things one should consider.

Where will you be downsizing to? Are you staying in the same area or moving out of state? When moving out of state you have to consider the costs, job market and schools for your kids. Are you going to purchase a home or rent? Is it better to rent a house, apartment or condo with your lifestyle?

If you plan to purchase a home, renting an apartment might be a good start. Renting first will give you a familiarity with the neighborhoods, schools, commute, shopping and safety issues before finding a more permanent place. Talk to co-workers and locals to learn more about the area and by the time you are ready to purchase a home, you’ll know exactly where you want to go.

You also have to consider what to dispose of and what to keep. Just because you are downsizing, it doesn’t mean you have to get rid of everything as some of your possessions will have meaning and value to you. Other items can be sold, donated or thrown out. Some of your larger items may not fit in an apartment but will be needed once you purchase a home. A Chicago storage facility or Los Angeles storage unit can be a good resource in these instances. Storage units are great during the relocation process, can be found easily and are usually relatively cheap.

Downsizing is a big change and it may take some time to adjust to your smaller living space. Be sure to no clutter your new space and your adjustment will go smoother and be less stressful.

Moving companies that do not write up an estimate are not legitimate, since this is a necessary first step in the moving process. Second, the movers should not require any down payment or deposit of any kind. This is the mark of a scammer—asking or pressuring the customer into believing that a down payment is part of the move. It is not. How are you to know that they will deliver your boxes and furniture once they have your money?

There are thousands of people who have fallen victim to this scam—they give the moving company money before the move and either never see that company, or their things, again, or the scammers show up at the new house asking for more money than the original amount that was quoted to the customer. In effect, they hold the customer’s furniture hostage, until their demands are met, which is illegal, but happens all the time. You can prevent this by making sure you know the moving company’s reputation, their physical address, their web site and their telephone numbers.

They must also have the right certificated and licenses. Ask for their DOT and MC license numbers. It is also helpful to research the company to see if there are any published complaints about them by previous customers and if so, what type of problems they encountered. Check with the Better Business Bureau as well. From local movers to car moving companies you must always look into their business before choosing them.

One more red flag that can help you to avoid being scammed by a moving company is if they advertise much lower rates than every other company that you have checked into. They may try to lure customers with attractive pricing, but a legitimate mover will always offer an estimate based on actual market values for their services, since there is a lot of competition among movers. If you find a mover and do not have much information about them, you can always check them out by searching the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration, (FTCSA), at www.fmcsa.dot.gov.

It is smart to visit a site like moversquote.org to get free mover quotes and compare them as the movers are pre-screened and licensed.

The guest post is provided by MoversQuote.Org.

Guest post provided by

Moving can be stressful enough without adding a snowstorm into the mix. So check the forecast, get out your mittens and take the following tips for successful winter moves into consideration.

Moving Trucks and Wintery Roads

Hiring professional movers to get your belongings from your old to new home is highly recommended if there’s a chance of inclement winter weather. Handling your family’s SUV can be difficult enough in snowy conditions, let alone getting behind the wheel of a rental moving truck or van. Professional movers have the experience to safely deliver your boxes and furniture, regardless of the weather. If you decide to rent and drive your own moving vehicle, however, keep these tips in mind for driving in wintery conditions:

• Insure Yourself: Don’t take chances, make sure you have moving truck insurance.
• Adjust Mirrors: The bigger the vehicle, the bigger the blind spots. Make sure to adjust your mirrors before hitting the road.
• Remember, Your New Size is Big & Tall: When driving, keep in mind that you’ll have a wider turning radius than in a normal vehicle and that your truck may be too tall to fit under certain overpasses. Plan your route accordingly.
• Easy on the Brakes: It takes heavier vehicles a longer time to break. In addition, unless you have antilock brakes, you may need to pump the brakes when coming to a stop.
• Be Prepared for Skidding: If the roads are icy and the moving truck starts skidding, steer the wheel into the slide, take your foot of the gas pedal and avoid slamming on the brakes.
• Park Like a Pro: If you have to park on a hill, the cab of truck should be facing downhill with wheel chocks in place. If you don’t have wheel chocks, turn the front wheels towards the curb and set the parking brake. This makes the angle of the ramp for unloading less steep and, if there’s any slipping, the truck won’t roll into traffic.

Packing and Loading the Moving Truck

If your new home is in a city, your first step should be to check parking regulations. You may need to obtain a permit to block off the street in front of your home or apartment so that your moving truck can unload. In some cases, the moving company will take care of this for you. Other times, it is your responsibility to obtain the permits from your city hall. Especially during winter moves, when the weather isn’t always favorable, you want to make sure the moving truck can park as close to your front door as possible. Also keep a sharp eye on the forecast, as snow storms can result in parking bans on major thruways and streets.

Pack your belongings with winter weather in mind by making sure all boxes are properly sealed and furniture is covered with moving pads. Clear a path from the moving truck to your home’s entrance to minimize the time your things are exposed to the elements, and make sure to have a doormat handy so that movers and family members don’t track snow, slush and mud into your new house or apartment.

Moving with a Cold

If your move is coinciding with cold and flu season, planning ahead is your best defense. Moving is a busy and, at times, stressful process, but don’t let that hinder your sleep. Rest is key to recovering from a cold, so start packing far enough in advance that you won’t have to pull an all-nighter come moving day. During the chaos of a move, it can also be easy to resort to fast food and quick meals like pizza. Although these meals may be convenient, they’re not providing you with the essential nutrients your body needs to fight off a cold. Make sure your move day snacks include fruit and vegetables.

While the weather outside might be frightful, your move doesn’t have to be. Plan ahead, prepare for driving and unpacking in unfavorable conditions and enlist the help of professionals for added ease.

This articles was provided as a guest post by LowCostMovers.Org, moving portal of licensed and insured companies.

How do you find movers who can be trusted with your family’s treasured possessions? Look for cheap moving companies that are well-established and have offices all over the U.S. Check out the statistics regarding the number of satisfied customers they have served, and find out how many shipments they move each year. It pays to thoroughly investigate the moving company and know how many years they have been in business, too. Some other questions to ask are: how many drivers and vans do they have? Are all of their drivers certified, bonded and insured? Are the drivers required to pass stringent background checks as well? Have they been properly trained? Does the moving company ever hire subcontractors? If so, are those subcontractors also held to the highest professional standards? Are the subcontractors bonded? If not, then you might not want to hire that particular moving company.

If you need full service moving companies, make sure that the company provides packing, unpacking, storage, clean up, and any other services you require. Check into the amount and type of insurance that the moving company has, since that can vary greatly from one company to another, and you want to be sure that your movers have the best, most comprehensive insurance in case any of your belongings are lost or damaged during the move. Minimum insurance coverage, which is required by Department of Transportation law, might not be sufficient in all situations. Inspect the moving vans and trucks to be sure that they all have the company logo and are clean and look well-maintained. Keep a record of the mover’s DOT and MC license numbers. There is also a law that many customers may not be familiar with, which requires that the movers provide you with a booklet called, “Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move”. Read it before you move so you do not have any unanswered questions or concerns, and so you are not surprised by anything regarding your rights if there is a problem with the move or with filing a claim if necessary.

Keeping detailed lists of every box and item that you are moving, and take photographs of every antique and other object of particular value to you, to have peace of mind and know that you have done all you can to make your move easier.

Experts would tell you that you should select at least five or six prospective movers before narrowing them to just two that you can work with and compare prices and services.

Most of the times word of mouth is the ideal way to find a long distance moving company. You can source numbers of long distance moving companies from your friends, families and work acquaintance. Their feedback about the company would go a long distance for you and would be part of the deciding factor. An internet research about a specific company can also help you determine if they are as good as they say they are. The reviews and testimonials about the company from previous clients would be enough indication if you should visit their office or move along to a next long distance mover.

Those companies that you visit in person would usually display their proof of legitimacy with an array of certificates on the wall or you would see their business license as well. However, you can still go that extra mile by checking up the company through the Better Business Bureau.

Once comfortable with the moving company and their rates, one of the first things you should do after setting a moving date is to get rid of the excess stuff you may have laying around the house. You can choose to either throw them away or put them in the hands of friends and relatives if they are in good condition. Since moving is costly, you may also want to consider selling off some of your stuff through a garage sale in order to recover your money. Once you have gotten rid of the clutter, the next thing to do would be to make a list of all the items that you now have in your home that you intend to take to your new home.

Next, make a list of the items that you are moving with before you start packing them in containers, boxes etc. Experts would advise that you pack room by room and well ahead in advance to avoid the rush. Use strong boxes; you can get them free at your neighbor grocery store and remember to bolster your breakables with bubble wrap or even with newspapers. As you pack, remember that you should not exceed 50 pounds per box; don’t forget to seal and label your boxes as well.

If you are mving with jewelry, documents and other personal effects, the best thing to do is to personally take it with you to avoid it being misplaced when you get to the new home. You should also travel with medications which should be stored in leak-proof containers.

Finally, a week before moving day, inform the utility cable and phone companies about your move so that you would no longer incur charges when you move. Depending on the state that you live in you may be able to transfer your service using the same provider; other times you have to create a new account with a competing company. Either way, ensure that the basic essentials such as lights, water and heat are functioning before you move in.

This is guest post from FindGoodMovers.com, moving portal of long distance movers.

The moving company that you choose to relocate you and your family to another state can determine if your move would be successful or not. That’s why it is imperative that you properly screen the moving companies by making sure to do proper background checks and research on them. Without research, you could be putting your household items in the hands of a company that could either steal or damage your items; this is definitely not the way you envision your moving day.

Even with legitimate companies, there is always that chance of Murphy’s Law looming over your long distance move. Here are a few cross country concerns that most experience and ways in which you can handle them.

They say timing is everything when making a cross country move; unfortunately if you get all your things on the truck on time when moving day arrives, there is really no telling when your household items would arrive at your new home. In most situations, you have customers who get to their new place of residence well ahead of the moving vehicle; sometimes it can take hours, other times it can take days.

The main cause for scheduling problems is if the company has multiple clients that are moving around the same time. It would be wise to talk to the moving company ahead of time to guesstimate a time or amount of days that it would take them to deliver your items. Most movers usually give a window of three to seven days; if this is the case then you can find ways to work around that. Perhaps you can stay at a cheap hotel or bed and breakfast close to your new residence so that you can be on standby when the movers get there with your household items.

Secondly, another problem that can plague a cross country move is the exorbitant rate that you may be asked to pay. Because of the nature of the move to several miles away, it is quite easy for a moving company to inflate their prices on customers who do not know any better. Not only are customers charged with the moving fee but some moving companies are known for sneaking in moving supplies fees etc. and make the bill twice the amount that it really is. All this can be avoided if you initially get your moving company to supply you with a written estimate as well as a signed list of household inventory. On this paper there would be information about the total weight of your household items as well as the cubic feet. Always keep that document close to you; it would be the one thing that would prevent you from paying outrageous fees at the end of your move.

Theft is also a big concern in cross country moves as there are a lot of rouge movers who take the opportunity to steal from customers during transit. Again, this would be a good time to do your research on a few cross country moving companies before making a decision. The Internet is very useful in assisting you when it comes to getting more information about a specific moving company. There are two websites that currently provide moving customers with the evidence that they need to determine if a moving company is legitimate or not. They are the Better Business Bureau website at www.bbb.org and the Safety and Fitness Electronic Records (SAFER) System at www.safersys.org These are the sites where complaints are lodged about a specific long distance moving company that you may want to hire. It is also good to do background checks on the owner of the moving company as well as to see how long the company has been in business and their track records before you take that leap.

The worst thing that could happen is to complete your thorough research on the moving company and then find out that the work has been subcontracted to a company that specialize in long distance moving. In this situation, the moving company that you initially hire would move your household items only so far before reaching at a cut off point where the subcontractor takes your items the rest of the way. This is not a good scenario; you want to find out before hand if the original hired company would be getting your items directly from point A to point B. If this is not the case upfront, then you can always switch to another moving company that offers this service.

This is a guest post by Matt Hammerton, Marketing Manager of Cross Country Movers, the web company that provides moving leads.

True, the rain is a welcoming change especially when there have been days of record-breaking heat. And while those who work outside would welcome the rainfall to keep them cool, rain is indeed a mover’s nightmare that could very well impede progress during moving.

A little bit of rain would never cancel a move. However, if it is a thunderstorm type of scenario, then you are better off changing the moving date. For those who are unable to put off moving day because of legal landlord issues, then be prepared to put in that extra work to protect your furniture from the elements.

For your furniture, it is best that you use some heavy duty tarp to wrap or cover as well as plastic, the latter especially when covering mattresses and sofas. Avoid the use of shrink wrap as water can still seem into it.

Moving the furniture to and from the truck in the rainy weather can also be tricky. True, the top portion is covered and protected but what about the bottom part of the furniture that may have to touch the wet or muddy ground?  Moving experts would advise that you make a walkway out of either old carpets or rugs for which you can drag the items into the house. On moving day, ensure that you make the movers’ job as easy as possible. You can do this by using lots of sheets, towels, blankets, whatever you can find to lay in the house to prevent the movers from slipping. You want to lay them out smoothly so that the movers would not trip or fall. You simply cannot ask the moving crew to remove their shoes when they enter your home. That’s why it is important to either spread material on the floor or simply have a mop handy to clean up the mess.

One of the first things that you should do is to remove the items that are packed into the armoire and cabinet and place then in boxes for moving. If they are fragile items such as porcelain ornaments and the like, be sure to bubble wrap them a few times before gently placing in them in the box. When it comes to your cabinet, it would be wise to remove the shelves (if they are indeed removable) and put them aside. These shelves should be placed in another part of the truck for moving since you do not want it to slide out and damage other items in the vehicle. You should also think about removing the doors of the cabinets as well; a rough drive can make it catapult to God knows where in the back of the truck.

There are some who may have armoires and even cabinets that have glass doors; these can be very tricky to move. When you get to this part you can either call on professional movers to assist you if you think you would make a mess of it or simply use a moving blanket over the area as it is made for protecting fragile items such as these.

We also recommend that you also remove the drawers in the cabinet or armoire rather than taping it to stay sturdy. By taking it you would be giving yourself an extra headache as most of the times the tape would is hard to remove and would ultimately destroy your furniture.

Another option for holding the drawers and doors in place is to get it shrink wrapped. Shrink wrapping an item such as this is a tedious job, but it’s worth it especially when you are trying to protect items such as these.

If you want to remove the doors and drawers instead one of the first things to do is to remove the screws and set them aside in a Ziploc bag and label so that you can locate them easily when you move. Once that is completed and set aside, then it times to remove the drawers and doors those of which you should also wrap in moving blankets.

The thing about these moving company reviews is that they all should be taken with a grain of salt for many reasons. One such reason is the legitimacy of these reviews that are posted on some of these websites. If a moving company review section is laced with nothing short of glowing comments, it does not always mean that the company may be the right one for you or that the comments are even factual. In this world where moving companies are vying for your attention, they can do just about anything to woo you, even if it means producing information that is less than factual.

Having observed how other non-moving company reviews work, most of them use bribe tactics to get customers (and sometimes non-customers) to say good things about their company. Just recently on a popular social network, there was actually a burgeoning clothing store that was soliciting people to go over and say nice things about the company in order to win one of three designer bags.  Of course the influx of reviews was phenomenal; the winners got their bags and the company reviews remain online to woo unsuspected buyers.

A week later, one of the reviewers had made her first transaction with the company and needless to say the service was so bad that she had to cancelled her order. Ultimately there was no way she could retract her first statement; the owner would not let her on the website to do so.

Taking all the aforementioned into perspective, it tells you a lot about how careful we ought to be when we start reading moving company reviews. Moving experts would tell you pay particular attention to the bad reviews and seek out consistencies. For instance, if a few customers are claiming that a particular moving company always shows up late or that the movers were unprofessional, then this would mean that you should look elsewhere.

Similarly, if there is nothing but sugar flowing from one moving company’s reviews, be mindful of the “too good to be true” axiom. In preparation for this article, we actually had one of our readers contact us to say that they signed up for an Internet company without reading the online reviews. It was after placing their order by phone they did their research only to find out that the problems with the Internet company from subscribers were so bad that a website was actually created for negative feedback. The reader said he tried to cancel his subscription after reading the reviews but was told that the device was already on its way and he could mail it back. He said that he decided to hook up the device when he received it and he has not have any problems with it since receiving it some six months ago.

Case in point: make a wise decision about the moving company that you choose after reading reviews. It’s one that moving experts refer to as taking an “educated risk.” Also remember that while great comments may appear on the company’s main website, do a little more digging and researching for the company; you may find customers complaining about them at other websites.