As the moving day draws near, one of the most important decisions you will have to make is choosing between hiring movers or requesting a friend's help. Moving is a stressful event, so you should accept any kind of help that you might get during this phase of your life. Nothing is better during a move than having a few good friends who can lend a helping hand in packing your boxes and transporting your belongings.
Seeking moving assistance will provide you with an opportunity to be around people whom you can trust and save the cost that you otherwise would have paid to a professional moving company.
Hiring a friend to help you pack and move is a surefire way to reduce your moving costs since they won’t charge you for their assistance. But as minor compensation, you can offer your friends some pizza, juice, and other foodstuffs to keep them energized during the complete process.
However, there are some disadvantages of seeking moving assistance from your friends that you will need to consider before you decide to not hire professional movers. You don't have to spend money seeking assistance from friends; but it comes with a price tag of a different kind.
You should make a well-researched decision so that you regret anything later. Here we will explore the pros and cons of both options.
Advantages of hiring a friend
Reduce your moving expenses
Relocating to a new place is a costly venture. If you hire movers, you can expect to pay something between $240 to $10,000 based on the distance of your new house from your old destination (as well as the size of your move). If you want to reduce your moving costs, you will need to seek free assistance from your friends or family members, which will be immensely beneficial for you.
However, if you have heavy furniture to move, you will definitely need to hire a small moving team who will help you lift and move your bulky furniture. But you can always reduce the number of professional movers you need to hire, by requesting your friends to help you out during the process in conjunction with the professionals.
Possible late-hours assistance
By hiring friends, you won’t be bound with time as your loved ones can help you pack and move your belongings after their work time. You do need to value their time, but you can request them to help you after they are free from work without paying a premium amount for it.
Offering help with pets and children
Friends can sometimes take care of your kids and pets.
Drawbacks of hiring a friend
More time required
If you hire professional movers, both you and the movers will fix a start time and a set duration for the entire task. However, when you hire a friend, you won’t be able to implement a fixed schedule as easily since your friends would be offering you a helping hand free of cost, making it morally dubious to lock them into a time frame. If you consider factors like delayed starters, lengthy breaks, or unplanned exits from your unprofessional moving team, you will take more time to complete your move with friends when compared to the time taken by any professional movers.
On average a professional mover will hardly take a day to complete a local move smoothly for you.
Breaking and damaging items
Before you decide upon an option, you must think about your special possessions and whether you can entrust their moving responsibility to your friends. You may not want to damage your precious items just for the sake of saving a few dollars. Also, if you hire a friend to move heavy items, your floors might get scratched or your walls might get chipped.
On the other hand, if you have professional movers at your service, they will have the required experience as well as the equipment to ship fragile items.
Higher risk of injuries
There is always the risk of your friends getting injured while trying to lift and move a heavy couch or a bookcase. You can avoid this by hiring professional movers who have the right set of skills and equipment to do this job.
No insurance
It’s not incorrect to say that hiring friends for moving assistance would be cheaper compared to hiring movers, but doing this will have some disadvantages:
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By moving with the help of friends, you will not have access to any insurance policy for covering your damages.
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If your friend accidentally drops one of your properties, you won’t be able to do anything except feel regret.
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If you hire professional movers, the package will likely include insurance which will compensate for any loss or damage that may happen during the move.
If you are still confused with the options, you can hire movers for hauling furniture into the moving van or even lifting and moving heavy weights. At the same time, you can seek your friend's assistance in decluttering your house, organizing your belongings, and handling any other personal aspects of the move.
Tip: Since there are lots of tasks to do to make a move successful, it’s recommended to prepare a moving checklist and get an idea of how you can divide the tasks between your friends and the movers.
How to organize your helpers on a moving day?
If you choose to seek the assistance of a friend, you will need to provide sufficient time in advance for planning and sorting out things. You must keep in mind that overall; you are asking your friends to do you a favor so you can’t ask for too much.
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You must be ready to reciprocate. Though your friends won’t be charging you anything for their assistance, they will expect similar favors from you, when they will be moving to a new house.
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If you include both your friends and professional movers in your moving team, make sure they don’t interfere with each other’s work. You must leave the professionals alone so that they can work efficiently to make your moving day successful.
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Be it your friends or professional movers, you must arrange for snacks and refreshments for them on moving day. Moving will be physically tormenting for both, offer them appropriate hydration, as well as food, will help them maintain the required energy.
How will hiring movers reduce your stress?
If you hire professional movers, you may not have to make multiple trips from your old house to your new apartment for moving your belongings. Based on the size of the move, you may need to rent a 26-foot truck from a truck rental company to accommodate all your belongings. This will help you complete your move in only a single trip.
If you hire a friend, they might be unable to continue the moving task after a few hours due to excessive heat or tiredness. However, by hiring professional movers, you will be rest assured that they won’t quit halfway since this is the kind of work that they do regularly. Their endurance will last throughout the moving process and in their future assignments.
Finally, professional movers will not expect any kind of entertainment or treatment from you after the move. It's their duty that they will fulfill their responsibilities and go towards their next assignment.
What’s your choice?
You will simply need to check if you have any heavy items to move or not. If yes, you must hire professional movers for the same. If you have lighter items to pack and move, you can seek assistance from your friends. Alternatively, you can use a combination of both these options.
For professional assistance, you can contact us at movers.com or get a quote from a few moving companies before choosing a feasible option for yourself.