The peak moving season has traditionally been end of June, so that people can get settled into their homes before the kids start the new school year. But you know what we are seeing more and more? Moving time is anytime!
A lot more people are moving into new-build homes, so that means they move as soon as their home is ready. An advantage of purchasing homes in the wintertime, is that the pace is slower, and it gives people an opportunity to properly look at homes and make decisions. Summer real estate is pretty fast paced, so you feel more pressured to make a decision before you’re ready. You may also end up paying more than you wanted or could end up buying a home that did not meet all your wants and needs because you felt rushed.
The issue with winter moving is that there is snow and ice. The cold weather itself is not a problem, but the moisture that comes with it is to be watched. Winter weather can be unpredictable and dangerous to drive in. Navigating snow and ice while you’re trying to move means you need to really think about safety ahead of time.
Moving in the winter has some additional items to think through, but these are all easily solved with some preparation ahead of time.
You may want to move on January 29th, but if there is a massive ice storm that rolls in, you probably won’t want to move on that day. Keep this in mind when you’re negotiating your home closing date and try and build in some buffers to release the pressure. Maintain good lines of communications with your moving company or your truck rental company if you’re using either of these services. It’s nice to have a direct phone number, a specific contact, so that if you need to make quick, last-minute adjustments, you have an accountable person you can reach.
This is very obvious, but when you’re busy packing, you lose track of time. You can set snow and ice warnings on the Weather Network app, so you’ll be notified automatically of an incoming storm. Moving can be stressful enough without trying to do it in a blizzard or nasty winter storm.
With winter weather, there are definitely more safety considerations to think through. For example, you might think you’re a good mover, but you don’t really know how to properly place your feet, and you slip and get hurt. There is also the drive to consider, which may be a nice easy drive in the summer, but a scary mess when there is ice and snow. Consider hiring a professional moving company who have experience with moving in the winter. Professional movers can help you move your stuff between homes or from your home to your storage unit too, which can help alleviate and eliminate so much weather driven stress. Here are tips for What to Look for When Hiring a Moving Company. If you decide to move yourself, here are Tips for How to Rent a Moving Truck.
You will want to think ahead when it comes to protecting your floors. You can either put down some inexpensive runners or cardboard at your entrances to take some of the salt and moisture off of peoples’ shoes. You could also lay down some towels, but these could become a serious tripped hazard. Your outdoor exterior walkways may also be snow covered or slippery. Make sure to have some salt or sand and a snow shovel when you move so that you can keep your walkways as clear and dry as possible.
One of the best ways to get organized when you move is to create groups of items. When you create groups of items, you’ll be in a better position to move more efficiently. Things end up in the right boxes and in the right rooms in your new home. We suggest creating a group of items to go to your storage unit and try and move those ahead of time, in dry weather. This helps get things out of your home and means less stuff to move on moving day. If there are seasonal items, like your patio furniture, summer tools, cottage toys, consider getting a self-storage unit over the winter so you can easily move those items before your move your whole house.
Before you move, you’re probably going to declutter your current home. You may be surprised that as soon as you’re in your new home, it feels like you’re decluttering efforts were for nothing because you're tripping over all of your stuff and boxes. Here are tips for decluttering your home after you’ve moved in so it does not feel like you are living in a mess. And if you are still in the process of selling your current home this winter, check out these helpful tips on staging your home, and listing & living in your home. They will help you showcase your home, and not your stuff.
If you have any questions about self-storage and self-storage in the wintertime, please reach out to us! We making renting super easy. You can virtually tour on YouTube our Milton self storage and Woodstock self storage facilities, as well as the many different sizes of storage units we have for rent. You can also rent online and pay online from our website too - easy peasy!
We have lots of helpful self-storage tips, advice, and knowledge in our blog, especially for moving, since that is a key reason why people use (and love) self-storage. Here are just a few:
And be sure to like or follow us on Instagram & Facebook, for more tips, tricks and advice...especially if you like to laugh. We make renting easy and FUN!
Happy moving and all the best in your new space!
Your friend in self-storage,
Storage Solutions
