You have taken the leap and decided to expand your family and your little one will be arriving in no time. Or perhaps you are heading in the opposite direction and your family is getting smaller as your youngest finally heads off to university. Either way, it might be time to move. You may need to upgrade to a larger condo unit or down grade to a smaller, more manageable unit.
You find a real estate agent with the highest level of experience and industry know how in the condo market and you ask her to find your next dream home. She responds in kind and offers you a gorgeous place with just the right fixtures and amount of space. Best of all, it’s a great price. It’s a no brainer and you buy it! Before you know it, moving day is coming and it’s time to get packed!
If this is your story at the moment, I can totally relate! This was my story ten years ago. We had a beautiful one-bedroom condo that I was absolutely in love with. It was in my favorite area in Toronto, it had been designed just to my liking and it was the first home I shared with my husband. But when the stork came calling I knew our small space was not going to be enough so we began to look for a two-bedroom condo to purchase.
We found the perfect sized property and we purchased it. As moving day approached I was told by many well meaning individuals, my husband among them, that “in a one bedroom condo there can’t be that much stuff so why hire movers?” I knew in my heart this seemed like a strange idea but I went along with it to save money. Plus we were moving right up the street so how difficult could the whole thing be? I gave my yes to not hiring movers and in no time, my husband wrangled a friend who happened to own a good-sized pickup truck to help us move all our belongings to the new place.
I can tell you now, I never should have agreed to these haphazard moving plans because on moving day they all went a wry! The friend who owned the pick up truck and who was offering to not only be our driver but second mover (my husband being the first) hurt his back the day before the big move and as a result, he could barely lift a thing! This meant that most of my larger items like my couch and bookcase were either dragged or jerked in and out of the truck and the properties. Then the most difficult thing of all happened, it began to rain and hard at that! Yes that’s right, all my personal belongings and furniture got soaked and muddied in the back of a less than clean pick-up truck!
Ok, so you are planning to move to a new condo and now I definitely have your attention! I am sharing this terrible moving story with you for your own good so that you will heed the following advice and avoid soggy couches and peeling bookcases and total breakdowns on the day that should be one of the happiest days of your life!
Top Seven Condo Moving Tips
- Expect for a one-bedroom home to take 1-2 days to pack, a two-bedroom home to take 2-3 days to pack and 3 bedroom home to take 3-5 days to pack.
- Hire professional movers who are insured and who will wrap your delicate furniture in moving blankets and treat your “Handle with Care” boxes accordingly.
- Start collecting boxes early on and to save money ask local merchants if they have any that they plan on throwing away. Then, as you pack, mark all boxes very clearly.
- Book the service elevator of both your old condo building and your new condo building for your moving day as early on as possible.
- Verify your new building does not have pre-existing building-wide cable and Internet services so you have no surprises when transferring/cancelling your cable or Internet services.
- Ask your condo manager(s) if there are any special moving requirements (i.e.,no moving before 7am or after 9pm).
- Take measurements of your new living space and your current furniture to make sure it all fits ok.
Lara Brighton is a journalist and real estate aficionado living in Toronto.
