Movers North America: June 2006: Find Canada Movers and US Movers

Posted on Friday, June 30, 2006

Query

I have a sofa that I need to get to an upholster in Guelph....I live in Toronto....any ideas...ie., piggy-backing on a moving truck going back to Guelph empty...?

Posted on Thursday, June 29, 2006

8 most affordable American cities to move into

MSN.com recently published a fairly interesting article about eight of the cheaper American cities to move to for a reasonably priced lifestyle. It seems that a lot of quite well-paid professionals in America simply cannot afford to buy houses where they are currently living. The article says that they have three main choices:
1. Continue to rent a home in despair of ever owning one,

2. Stretch your personal finances to the absolute maximum with an oversized mortgage and have to worry about it for decades,

3. Look for somewhere else to live.

The article itself is written for those who are more interested in choosing option number three, and follows fairly closely to the United Nations yearly analysis of the best places on the world to live, albeit considerably more simplified. In general they look that employment rates, the general economy of the area, median home prices, relative cost of living indexes, and the potential for future job growth within the area. Unfortunately they did not include any Canadian cities within their study. In the top eight cities that they came up with [in no particular order] are:

Asheville, North Carolina
Austin, Texas
Boise, Idaho
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nashua, New Hampshire
Olympia, Washington
Prescott, Arizona

Some of the things that they suggest when looking for a new place to live include making certain that the area has a healthy economy, since high unemployment tends to drive up crime, and somewhat surprisingly, to avoid cities that are in the middle of a boom. This is due to the fact that when the boom cycle finish is, the inevitable slowdown will catch them with many half completed projects. They also suggest that a college or university presence always increases the living value of whichever town or city they happen to be in. In their most obvious suggestion is to simply visit the area that you are thinking of moving to, since there is no substitute for the hands-on approach. If you are interested in reading the original article, it is located here.

Tags: moving, moving America , affordable American cities

Posted on Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Renovating your house for moving: Part 4

Many people want to know what is the best way of finding a truly competent contractor or tradesperson. There is no secret to the process, but you do need to spend some time if you truly want to be certain that the person you're hiring is the best possible one for the job.

1. As mentioned yesterday, make sure that you insisted on seeing a copy of every tradesperson's professional licensing.

2. Ask every tradesperson that you're potentially hiring to give you between three and five references of previous jobs. Any competent tradesperson
or contractor will easily be able to give you this number of references. The more of these references that you're able to speak with, the better your chances of not getting a 'dud' when it comes to home renovations.

3. Contact each of these people and ask them if they would hire the tradesperson again. If possible, try to arrange to visit that persons renovation site, so that you can physically take a look at their handiwork.

4. Call your city's or county's building departments and check to see if there are any complaints against the repairperson or contractor. Again, having a complaint lodged against them should not be reason for immediate dismissal. As in all facets of life, unforeseen problems happen in the construction industry. Investigate to see how the complaint was rectified.

5. Repeat step three, but this time with your local Better Business Bureau. Remember that a completely clean record is not a necessity, but that several unresolved complaints should be an indication that perhaps you should look a little further afield.

As well, one of the easiest ways of finding competent tradespeople is to simply ask around among your circle of friends. In general, there is nothing like the recommendation of a trusted friend to supply a valuable opinion.

Tags: moving, hiring tradespeople , home renovations

Posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Renovating your house for moving Part 3

Properly Hiring a Repair Person

Here are a few tips to make sure that your home renovation gets done properly and without complication.

1. Determine ahead of time how much money you are willing to spend on the project. Bring in several contractors and ask them for written estimates of the project. Depending on the average of the estimates, you may have to revise your initial budget. It may also turn out that you simply cannot realistically afford your renovation. It's very important that you determine this early on.

2. If your municipal law requires, apply for a permit for the work being done. Having proper permits and inspections are one of the best defenses against unscrupulous home renovators. After it is finished, have all the completed work inspected so you are certain that it has been done professionally and that it meets current construction and building codes.

3. Insist on a coordinated work schedule with easily definable goal and a preset day to finish the job. In the work contract, include negative incentives if the work is not completed by this time. If a contractor or repair person will not agree to set times for a finish, it's probably a good idea not to hire them.

4. Ask any repair person or contractor to provide you with a copy of their license or tradesman tickets, so that you are certain that the person doing your work is professionally qualified to do so. While it is true that some weekend handyman may be competent in certain areas, you are in much safer hands if they have an actual professional accreditation.

Tomorrow we will further talk about the best ways of hiring contractors and tradespeople, and what you can do to ensure that you minimize your chance of an unhappy renovation.

Tags: moving, home renovating, hiring contractors

Posted on Monday, June 26, 2006

Renovating your house for moving, Part 2

Today we will add to part one's article about renovations by discussing how to keep your renovation in harmony with the look of your home, and your neighborhood. We have probably all driven past that one home on the block that stands out from all of the others. Sometimes this can be a good thing, and increase the salability of your home. But if your own personal decorating tastes are leading you to consider bright orange roofing tiles with purple shutters and a yellow front door, you may wish to reconsider on the basis of decreased resalability. Customizing your home to yourself is one thing, but creating something that your neighbors walk past and giggle about is quite another.

You should keep the same consideration in mind when renovating the interior of your home. For example, your best bet for resalability is to stick with classic colors in kitchen cabinets, countertops, flooring, and carpeting. While that blood red carpeting may go well with your living room set, you should probably try and find something closer to be neutral tones, such as white, black, or gray. For quick renovation ideas, you might want to visit the home renovation guide site.

And try to keep the entire home in mind when redecorating single rooms. It's best if you keep a consistent color scheme throughout your home, rather then pasting together a mishmash of colors and styles. If your children want to have different primary colors on each of the four walls in their room, then probably the only other people willing to buy your home will also be those with young children. Try to create color schemes that the majority of other people would be willing to have within their home. This will ensure that you appeal to the maximum number of people's tastes.

One last thing to consider is the overall value of your neighborhood. There is very little point in upgrading your $200,000 home with a further $100,000 worth of renovations if houses in your area are only going for $225,000. Most realtors will tell you that you simply will not recoup your expenditures on your renovations if you price yourself outside of the average cost of a home in your neighborhood. Some realtors call this the "gilding the lily" rule. An all Italian granite countertop is just not appropriate for a new family home. No matter how beautiful it is, it will never really suit the home.

Tags: moving, home renovating , renovating resalability value

Posted on Friday, June 23, 2006

Renovating your home

Renovating Your Home before a Move

If you're going to be moving, it may also mean that you're going to be selling the home that you currently own. Over the next few days we will talk about the best way of fixing up and renovating your home so that you receive the maximum possible amount for your home before you move. During the entire renovation process, you should always be asking these three questions:

1. Will the renovation be a renovation that people care about?

Putting in a swimming pool will add surprisingly little to the sale value of your home, since many North Americans view pools as more of a nuisance than a convenience. The same goes for home offices. Despite North America's changing work styles, there are still relatively few people who work from home, so few home buyers want a portion of their home dedicated to an office.

2. Will it add to the value of the property?

According to realtors, the majority of people buy a home based on the appearance of its bathrooms and kitchen. While these tend to be relatively expensive rooms to renovate, your money would be well spent in this area.

3. What will be the renovation's return on investment?

Intimately connected with the question above, the percentage of a renovation's return on investment is also very important. While a total renovation of your kitchen may earn you a 50% return on investment, a much simpler or facelift renovation, such as replacing the major appliances, repainting, and resurfacing the cabinets may earn you a 200% return on investment.

Tags: moving, renovating your home , renovating return on investment

Posted on Thursday, June 22, 2006

Moving your pets

Today we are going to discuss the best ways of gently easing your animals into your new home. Moving is extremely stressful on most animals, since they are being uprooted from their known territory and thrust into a completely new one. As such, it's very important that you try to keep all those objects that your dog or cat is very familiar with. Don't use the move as an opportunity to throw out their bedding, toys or other playthings. These will be especially important for them while establishing their comfort in their new home. Let's take a quick look at the behavioral differences between dogs and cats during and after a move.
Generally speaking, most dogs see their role in life as the protector of your home, and many of them will react very badly to strangers coming into your house and ' stealing' all of your belongings. If you're having a mover pack your goods for you, it's probably best if you place your dog either outside or in an isolated room where they cannot see what is going on. Their anxiety levels are going to be very high, so be sure to visit every once in awhile to reassure them. Even the calmest and most sedate dogs can accidentally be stepped on or kicked during the move, and the best way to prevent this is to ensure that they are out of the line of traffic. If your dog is kennel trained, great! Most kennel trained dogs view their kennel as their own private cave, and as a result will have much lower levels of anxiety.
If your dog is well trained enough to go outside on his own without running away, be sure that you spend the first couple of weeks with him while he is outside at your new home. Your new home will be a cornucopia of new sights and smells for your canine, some of which are simply too irresistible not to be investigated. Take several long walks with him over the first few weeks so that he is able to thoroughly explore the area around your new home. This will help them to be oriented in case they do manage to become lost over the first few days.
In general, cats are far easier to move. While you're unpacking, half-empty boxes and cartons will give your cat a fabulous wonderland to explore, as they will be certain that all of this new activity is designed solely for their amusement. Simply be certain to show your cat the new position of his litter box, and be careful while you are unpacking, as they will undoubtedly want to be in the center of activity. If you allow your cat outdoors, you should also try to be outside with them while they are outside. And be certain to either have the microchip and/or wearing an identification collar.

Tags: moving, moving pets

Posted on Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Post-moving Furniture Care

Furniture care after your move will help to insure both its beauty and long life within your home. Let's talk briefly about the two major factors that will degrade your furniture over time: sunlight and humidity.
We've all seen wood and fabric change colors because it has sat in our living room windows for too long. Generally speaking, this type of damage is irreversible. Thankfully however, you are able to prevent damage from sunlight with a few simple precautions. Protect your furniture by either keeping it out of the direct rays of the sun, or try placing shears over your windows to try and block the majority of the sunlight. You may also want to be aware of the fact that delete that fluorescent lightbulbs radiate frequency of light which is also quite damaging, so you may want to limit their use in your home.

Furniture's greatest enemy however, is undoubtedly changes in humidity. Try to imagine the wood in your furniture as being the same as a sponge. During periods of high humidity the sponge will suck up water from the surrounding air. However, during periods of low humidity, the air will pull water from the sponge, causing it to dry out and shrink. The wood in your furniture will behave in exactly the same manner. During periods of high humidity he or furniture's wood will absorb water and possibly swell and cracked within its joints. Conversely, during periods of low humidity the wood will tend to shrink and loosen, and possibly even pulling out of its joints. Depending upon the type finish that your furniture has, the woods coating may become either brittle and begin to craze or crack, or may actually begin to feel 'tacky' during periods of high humidity.

For most of North America, high humidity is considered to be anything over 70%, while low humidity is anything under 25%. If you live in a region which commonly experiences either situation, you may wish to employ the use of either a humidifier or dehumidifier depending upon your need.

Tags: moving, furniture care, furniture damage

Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Chinese house moving customs

If you think that moving is difficult enough as it is, you may be interested in learning about the procedures involved in a traditional Chinese-Canadian or Chinese-American move, in order to maximize the house's feng shui. Let's examine some of the customs for house moving within Chinese culture.

1. Find a suitably auspicious day for the move according to the birth date of the house owner or patriarch of the family.

2. Before the day of the move, make sure that every lightbulb in the house is working, and leave them all on for three consecutive nights.

3. At the correct time and date of the move, say a prayer before entering the house and proclaim that you are the rightful owner of the house. Also ask any uninvited guests, [bad luck or evil spirits] to leave.

4. Enter the home with your purchase agreement [and marriage certificate if you are a newlywed couple].

5. Before moving any other objects into the home, locate and position the family altar and perform the necessary religious ceremonies for its new installment.

6. Open all doors and windows, and turn on all of the lights, watertaps, heaters, and appliances to clean the house of its old Chi energy.

7. Let the water run and the heaters burn for approximately three minutes to signify the new flow of energy in the house.

8. Guests should now visit the home bringing the five necessities for a kitchen: cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and rice, as well as a brush and broom, a bucket filled with water and pairs of chopsticks.

9. At this point a light meal for your family should be cooked.

10. The furniture should be brought in and placed in accordance with standard feng shui philosophy.

11. Put some newly minted money into a red envelope and store it where you will be keeping the house's money.

12. To represent good fortune, put candy on all the home's tables and desks.

13. Make sure that the patriarch and all family members stay and sleep in the home the first night after moving in.

Some restrictions:
1. On the day of the move, try to avoid disputes and only say good things. [This is probably good advice for people of any culture.]

2. If there is a pregnant woman in the family, she should not be at the home during the move.

3. The after moving in, organize a housewarming party as the presence of guests will bring favorable yang energy to the home.

If you're interested in reading the original article, is located here.

Moving for your kids

In their online edition, the Observer newspaper in London reported a very interesting study about people who move in order to give their children better schooling. The Centre for the Economics of Education at the London School of Economics recently wrote a study called, 'Peer Effects and Pupil Attainment' which concluded that a move from an average school to a top-line school would result in one G. C. S. E. grade being raised by one level. [G. C. S. E. stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education, and is a set of British qualifications, taken by secondary school students at age 14–16 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. They are essentially standardized achievement tests designed to help British universities when deciding admissions]. So an example of one grade being raised by one level would be five A's and five B's rather than four A's and six B's for students changing to a better school. The largest possible grade movement that could be achieved was three levels; say from a D to an A, or from three C's to three B's. And this would only be achieved by moving from one of the 10 worst schools into one of the U.K.'s ten best schools. In other words, the effect is quite marginal.

One of the authors of the report, Steve Gibbons, stated, "Although the attainment of a child's peer-group does matter, the effects are small. They are much less than seems reasonable given the level of attention that parents pay to them in terms of moving house to find a new school." He went on to say that of all of the factors that affect a students school performance, their peer group accounts for less than 1% of the impact on marks. This goes against the commonly held view that a pupil will be 'pulled down' by other students of lesser ability.

Mr. Gibbons also gave an important caveat when he added that many parents choose to move their children to different areas with better schools for many reasons other than simple academic performance increases. He added that often parents will relocate in order to increase the feeling of security at school.

One member of the National Confederation of Parent-teacher Associations named Marguerite Morrissey added that she had, "once carried out a poll straw of 1,000 parents and asked them what were the most important things to them in terms of their children's schools. The first thing was to be happy; the second was to be safe." She added that the importance of grades was actually seventh on the list. If you'd like to read the original article, it is located here.

Speaking as a former teacher, this can certainly be supported anecdotally. The students with the greatest increases in their learning were invariably those whose parents decided to spend at least a half an hour in the evening with their children's schooling. Unfortunately, this increased time was usually only generated owing to previously very poor results, and was often discontinued soon after academic improvement. It would seem that the old cliche is true: "learning begins in the home", - no matter where the home is located.

Tags: moving, moving children, moving children's school

Posted on Monday, June 19, 2006

Giving away furniture

My wife and I are retiring to Pompano Beach in August. We also sold our cottage up north but the new buyer did not want the contents. We now have a great deal of excess furniture that we need to try to get rid of quickly. We will sell what we can, but what is the best way of moving the rest of it?

George T.

Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006

I'm Moving; Can I take my pet on an airline?

If you will be traveling by airplane when you move, there are some important considerations to ensure a happy move for your pet. A very few airlines allow smaller animals to be transported as carry on luggage, so you can keep them with you while you travel; check with your airline for their policies. In most cases a hard sided plastic cage with a secure lockable door and lots of ventilation is the safest form of transport. For more details, read our article on moving your pet on an airline.

Tags: moving, moving pets, moving pets by airline

Posted on Monday, June 12, 2006

Moving to Alberta

I'm going to move from Ontario to Alberta soon for work, but I don't know how long I'll be staying. What is the cheapest way of storing my stuff while I'm out there?

Depending on the amount of things that you intend to keep for your return, you have two courses of action. Obviously the absolute cheapest way of storing your goods would be to try and find a considerate friend with enough spare space to keep them for you. And before you dump everything that you own on some hapless soul, very carefully consider all of your possessions and decide whether or not it really is worth while keeping that hundred dollar futon that takes up so much space, or any other low value but bulky furniture. If you do not know anyone with enough extra storage space to hold your goods, you'll have to rely on a rental storage unit. Depending on the amount of space that you want, prices usually vary from $50-$250 per month.
If you're interested in more information on the best way to package your goods before storage, please visit our moving storage page.

Tags: moving, moving alberta, moving alberta storage

Posted on Sunday, June 11, 2006

Moving from Ontario to Alberta

what is the cheapest method of moving a one bedroom apartment of furniture from ontario to alberta? (no appliances, no bed)

There is no simple answer to this question. If you have access to a vehicle with a hitch, then the cheapest way would be to simply rent a moving trailer from any of the moving rental agencies. You will be able to pay by the day, and you can also drop it off at another dealer at your final destination. If you do not, then renting a moving van should be your second choice. Make sure that you figure out exactly how far the trip will be using any of the online mapping sites, such as http://www.mapquest.com/. This will allow you to calculate your mileage charges and determine almost exactly what your total costs will be for the van rental.

Tags: moving, moving Alberta, moving Ontario, moving truck rental, moving MapQuest

Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006

moving

Where do I go in Toronto to change my address for employment insurance after I change where I live?

You don't actually need to physically go anywhere, as it can all be done online. Consult our page on government services, and it will tell you everything that you need to know. It includes information on governmental services, postal services, and taxation.

Tags: moving, moving address change , Employment Insurance Ontario

Posted on Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Retirees moving shop

My wife and I are retired, and are moving into a smaller home. My son-in-law would like to have most of my woodworking tools, but is unable to come to Manitoba to get them. In addition to my workbench and hand tools I also have a table saw, a drill press, a 16 in. thickness and planer, and a 36 in. lathe. It will all be going from Brandon Manitoba to Edmonton, Alberta. What will be the most cost effective means of getting it there?

Your most cost effective means of sending the tools would be to pre-box all of your loose hand tools ahead of time, and try to find a local mover who specializes in partial loads for long distance moving. The mover will combine your partial loads with someone else's who's contents are also going to Edmonton. My advice is to call 4 - 5 local moving companies and explain your situation to them.

Movers-NorthAmerica

Tags: moving, moving alberta, moving woodworking tools

Posted on Thursday, June 01, 2006

Moving deductions

I am going to be moving for University from Toronto to Windsor in September, and I've heard that you can deduct moving expenses from your taxes. Is this true? If it is, what things are deductible? Do I need to get a form from the government?
Thanks.
Bob D.