Anyone got tips/advice for relocating to another state? (CA to VA)

[Guest bastaad525]

So... things have officially fallen apart for me and my wife here in CA. She's about to be assed out of a job. I'm within a hairs breadth of physically assaulting my boss. Her family is bordering on being certifiably crazy and they are trying to take us with them. Our neighborhood has gotten so bad in the last few years we are now officially afraid to venture outside at night. And moving anywhere halfway decent here in SoCal now will cost an arm and a leg (we've been living in the same place for 8 years so rent control has kept our rent VERY cheap... apartments in the same building now cost roughly 50% more).

 

She's got a good friend out in Virginia who used to live here... LOVES it out there and has been telling us to move out there for ages. She can get my wife a job at her company fairly quickly, pays $20 an hour (!!!!). I'm on my own for a job but shouldn't have too hard a time of it... at least I never have before. Rent out there is sooooooo cheap... for comparison, her friend just moved into a sizable 2 bedroom apartment within 1 mile of the beach, for just over $800 a month. For nearly $700 a month me and my wife currently live in a tiny 1 bedroom in what is now a crap neighborhood and nowhere near the beach .

 

So basically... our minds are made up and we want out. Problem is, neither of us has done anything like this before and really don't know the first place to start! We're trying to figure out what our options are... to get us, two cars, and a small 1 bdr. apartment's worth of stuff from one coast to the other, in a decent amount of time and w/o spending a fortune. We'd prefer speed over money as long as we can stay in our budget which is looking to be around $3000-4000. In other words... if we can have our stuff shipped and fly out would be prefered but somehow I think we're not gonna be able to afford that.

 

We can stay with her friend for a while if need be so at least that part is covered. But otherwise we don't have a clue.

 

So... if anyone here has done this or knows any useful tips or information, anything at all, please post here! I've always had good luck getting good info from you guys seems collectively among the bunch of us this forum basically knows something about EVERYTHING!

 

Oh and by the way for anyone who lives in VA... we'll be moving to Norfolk or very close to it. Would be nice if I had some forum friends to meet up with out there though I am currently Z-less but so far my wife's friend is our only contact out there.

[Sparky]

I'm sorry to hear of your recent string of bad luck....yes it sucks, but like any intelligent or resilient people you will both get over it quickly and be stronger people because of it.

 

I've never really Done a move that large before by myself. now as a teenager with my parents, and more recently helping girlfriends....(now Ex girlfriends lol!) move...I've got a few views on long distance moves. the last friend I helped moved from Texas to Monterey, Cali. she had some decent sized furniture in her one bedroom and one car. what she did was rented a U-HAUL with a flatbed car trailer...total cost was around 1800-2200$...now this was four years ago so things might have gone up a bit in price.

 

so if one of your drives a car, and the other drives the truck with car in tow, you might be looking at upwards of 3k. but in all honestly I've never done it myself, and all this info is from memory so I could be way way off.

 

if it was me in your shoes. I would look at starting all over again...sell as much stuff as you can, keep only what you can pack in two cars..maybe buy a roof rack or two so you can pack some larger "must keep" items on top...and get the hell out. probably not the most fun trip, but an adventure non the less. think of the stories you will be able to tell, and the things you will be able to see. also one thing to think about is im sure there are more than a few members on this board that would be willing to hook ya'll up with free room and board. I know I am...my apts. small but if yall want a place to crash for a night or two your more than welcome in San Antonio....just give me fair notice so I can kill all the roaches!!!

[JMortensen]

Can't help you too much, but I did make a 1200 mile move from CA to WA a couple years back. We rented a U-haul and a car trailer. Had a full house worth of stuff, and I think it cost us about $2500 by the time it was all said and done.

 

Little feedback on U-Haul, I will NEVER EVER use them again. They gave us a diesel truck, not a turbo diesel, so we ended up going up any grade at about 32 mph. They dropped off a car trailer at my house the night before we moved, but the lights didn't work. So me and a friend spent about an hour fixing the trailer wiring in the dirt at 12:30AM so that I could get up at the crack of dawn the next morning.

 

Then I had a move to make up here from one house to the next. The differential of the truck we got sounded like it was about to fall out. There were no windshield wiper blades (in Seattle). The seat was held in by one bolt. I could go on and on about how crappy the truck was, but the worst part was on the 2nd trip when I found the GAY PORN in the truck!!! I was pretty pissed. So I walked into the U-Haul thinking I'd make a big stink about it, but the only other guy in there was SCREAMING at the dude behind the counter, so no luck. It was fun asking him if they provided gay porn with all of their rentals though. Talk about a blank stare. Then I made a list for him of everything that I found wrong with the truck, he looks at it and says "Oh yeah. We don't send that truck on any long moves just for those reasons." So I'm thinking to myself what would have happened had it broke down on the side of the road. I don't think the pimply faced U-Haul kid would have been out there transferring all my crap from one truck to the other! Assholes!!!

 

On another note Matman had to rent a truck recently to move a bunch of Z parts, and he went with Ryder. What a difference! Huge truck, 2005 model, turbo diesel, thing was practically brand new. Well kept, ran bitchin. Ryder good, U-Haul bad...

 

One thing that I've seen lately that looks kinda cool is this Pods thing that you can have delivered to your home. They basically drop off a huge storage container. You fill it and call the company, they throw it on a truck and take it where you want it and drop it at the new place. Don't know if that would work for you though, as you live in an apartment. But it does look convenient.

 

In your case unless you have a bunch of bulky expensive furniture, I'd recommend selling whatever you can and buying again when you get there. Pretty much all of our furniture was garage sale or hand me down type stuff, and I think we could have gotten a much smaller truck to pack up my garage and tow the Z and might have saved quite a bit of money on the move, which then could have been used to buy more garage sale type furniture when we got here.

[Guest bastaad525]

jeezus... already the cost is way more than I would have expected.

 

coincidentally, I was also already considering looking up that Pods company, and just got off the phone with them at the same time jmortensens post popped up.

 

W/o even asking them how it would work with us living in an apartment, just getting the rough ballpark estimate for them to drop the pod off, we fill it, they pick it up, store it for up to one month while we get situated, then they bring it out to us..... $6000 way out of our budget.

 

Good advice about getting rid of some of our stuff.... actually our couches were hand me downs and we were 90% sure we weren't going to keep them anyways... but damn, with the move costing this much, we're gonna be assed out on having something to sit on for a while after we move!! I don't see us leaving our bed behind for this very reason! I mean it sounds like all of our $4000 is gonna be used up just getting us out there and maybe covering 1-2 mos rent while we get rolling on new jobs.

 

Okay so... no Uhaul, ryder the way to go. I can dig that... I used Uhaul to pick up my 240z shell a few years ago from 120 miles away... it wasn't the best experience, not as bad as Jon had but yeah... after that it won't take much to sell me on that.

 

The only thing I was worried about with using a truck is that a) we won't have a place to unload all our stuff when we get there, meaning we may have to rent storage = more $$$ sucked up, and parking a truck loaded with all our valuables at who knows how many little hotels on our week long journey... what if someone breaks into it?

 

Otherwise... seems that our budget can only cover the rent a truck and tow one of the cars route... we did call some 'relocation companies'... fancy term for movers LOL.... who are supposed to come give us an estimate in the next few days for getting all our stuff shipped out... but somehow I don't see it costing less than the do-it-yourself Pods method. $6000..... jeezus....

[Sparky]

sell it all, pack up your cars, stay with a friend for a few days while you find a place and then buy a new bed. starting a new life in a new place with a new bed!

 

do it man!!!!

[tannji]

I will agree on U-Haul/Ryder.... Ryder is the way to go... decent rates, mileage is what will drive the price up. Sell as much as possible so you dont have to go with their largest truck, but by the same token, I wouldnt tow a vehicle with any of their smaller trucks. I only have 2 minor things to note with Ryder.... I spent 800 miles or so fighting the drivers side rear view mirror with Duct Tape, thing kept folding in to the window under wind pressure. Pulled into a truck stop to get the tape, went out to find the guy in a U-Haul next to me doing the same darn thing to his. Neither one of us was in any mood to laugh much.... it funny now tho. Also, the flat-bed trailors are safer and all around better in my mind, but there should be a little sticker on them that says "Do not exceed 45mph"..... !! My first trailor did not have this sticker, and I didnt see it on the second one until I was unloading it to be returned. Upon discovering this little tidbit, I had a quick flash-back to the truck convoy I led through much of Nebraska... at nearly double that speed..... Also, if you plan on exceeding 45mph ( I did for almost 2000 miles) check the wheel straps every time you gas up. I hit some unanticipated rough road at about 65mph, and could see my Subaru bouncing agressively on the trailor. I pulled over to find the straps loosened and the car inching over on the trailor.... Not Good. Properly cinched down, the car didnt budge, even at what was apparently unsafe speeds.

Little dumb stuff, Load heaviest items into trailor first, and then delicate items near heavy items in the front of the truck. Stuff in the rear will be more inclined to bounce around, and should be tied down and packed accordingly. If you decide to take an extended nap on the road, your car on the trailor will most likely be more comfortable than the truck cab. I took a nap in my trailored car in Wyoming, and scared the crap out of some kids who for some reason wanted a closer look inside the car.... they didnt stick around to talk about it.

[Guest bastaad525]

well... I can't even get ahold of anyone at Ryder today... every single one I called I'm getting no answer so maybe they're not open on weekends?

 

I did look into some other "you pack it we move it" type companies such as Bekins, Broadway Express and ABF U-pack. Same kinda deal as Pods... these companies bring a truck to you, you load it up, then they haul your stuff to your new home. I actually got some decent estimates from a couple of them, and yeah, you guys' advice showing through again here... in that, if we get rid of some stuff i.e.: bed, couches... save some space we will definately save some money. Many of these companies charge not by weight but by the amount of space you take up in their truck.

 

Anyways, a couple of them gave us a decent $2000 range estimate. Actually cheaper than what I"m thinking renting a Ryder truck would cost just going on what you guys are saying and some other stuff I found scattered around on the 'net.

 

The only problem is that still leaves us either a) driving two cars cross country (not wholly against this idea but I'd much rather take just one), having one car shipped, driving the other, or c) having both shipped and flying out.

 

I'd love to fly out this way we have a 7-10 day lead time on the movers, hopefully enough time to get into our own place. But, the extra cost of plane tickets and car shipping bringing it back up out of our budget again. If we drive both cars then we'll arrive only slightly ahead of our movers... may be back to having to pay some kind of storage fee while we try to find a place to stay.

 

I feel better, anyways, knowing that that Pods place wasn't what the average price was going to be... if we can move for ~$2000-3000 that leaves us plenty for getting into a place and yeah buying some new furniture... though the prospect of trying to SELL our current furniture is making me cringe... PAIN IN THE BUTT trying to sell stuff like this and really we don't even have the time to try right now. I'm thinking more along the lines of giving to charity and writing it off for next years taxes. What do you guys think?

[JMortensen]

Just remember you have a big standard deduction of $10K (?) on your taxes IIRC. So unless you're donating a whole shitload of stuff you won't be able to claim it on taxes, plus you'd need to itemize which is a lot more complicated on the tax forms, etc. Craig's List, garage sale, that kind of thing is your best bet IMO.

[Guest bastaad525]

Just remember you have a big standard deduction of $10K (?) on your taxes IIRC. So unless you're donating a whole shitload of stuff you won't be able to claim it on taxes, plus you'd need to itemize which is a lot more complicated on the tax forms, etc. Craig's List, garage sale, that kind of thing is your best bet IMO.

 

 

true... I forgot about that. Our regular tax guy just told us about that as well when we were asking about deductions last month. So yeah... not worth donating any of it, but then again, not worth trying to sell a lot of it either. The couches can go... bedframe is relatively simple affair so we can probably just break it down and it won't take up too much space... as will most of our other furniture. It's all cheap Ikea stuff so all just held together with allen bolts

[Tim240z]

I haven't done many local moves like you are looking to do, but I have moved several times to different countries/continents and I will give you this advice. It is a great opportunity to rethink what you really need (possessions) and to get rid of the accumulated junk. When I moved to the States, some 9 years ago now (this time around anyways), ALL of my stuff, and the Missus's stuff fit onto one pallet that came out via Air Chance (AKA Air France). It is very liberating to start fresh....more expensive over the long run, and it will take a while to have all the little things again, but nice nonetheless.

 

BTW...I will be visiting the East Coast (likely Charlotte and surrounding areas this summer) to look at the opportunities out there. I want to get there at the apex of the heat/humidity to get a 'real' flavour.....

[boodlefoof]

I like Virginia, it is a pretty nice place.

 

I recommend getting VA antique license plates for any of your old cars.

[jimzdat]

One thing to check on is if the rental places also have storage. When I moved from WA to TN, (used UHaul for that one) they gave us one month of free storage at our destination.

I've done a few moves with various companies:

CA to IL--Penske

IL to CA--Penske

CA to WI (moving a friend)--Ryder

CA to WA--U-Haul

WA to TN--U-Haul

TN to OH--Budget

Plus various local moves

 

Had good and bad experiences with just about all of em--guess it just depends on luck of the draw. I used U-Haul many times because I needed 2 car haulers, and they are the only one that would rent me 2 of them (at the time anyway).

The CA to WI trip involved a crappy truck (minor issues, but annoying all the same)--called corporate office after trip and got a 10% refund.

 

Def look for turbo-diesel trucks, I drove through the Siskiyou mountains at 25 MPH in a damn gasser.

I never had any trouble with people messing with my stuff, just put a good padlock on the truck.

 

Best hint? Find a friend who has worked for a moving company--the way the truck is packed makes a world of difference; I watched a couple guys load a 4 bedroom house into a 24' truck--beds, couches, whole nine yards.

 

They still had 3' left at the back of the truck--but you couldn't find any space anywhere else in that truck

[Guest norm[T12SDSUD]]

I moved from NC to Fla and then back to NC from Fla in the early 90's.

 

RYDER all the way baby!!

 

Had great trucks on both moves and used a tow dolly to pull the Z. Ran 75 mph the whole way.

Can't remember exact expense but I know it wasn't more than $500.

 

I say get the HELL out of Cali before the BIG ONE destroys your infrastructure and makes life a living hell like in New Orleans.

 

My friend lives in Williamsburg which is about an hour north of Norfolk.He likes it a lot.

 

Norfolk is a military town though so be prepared for plenty of pawn shops!! haha

 

Virginia Beach is really nice!

 

I SAY MOVE NOW and work it all out!!

 

Sell the Furniture as you can always get some more nice 2nd hand stuff at a yard sale. GO to the rich neighborhoods and you will get some NICE FURNITURE CHEAP!!!

 

GOOD LUCK!!

 

Later,Norm

[DemonZ]

I helped a relative move from CA to WA and I think it was a Ryder truck (forgive my heat stroke memory fade, it might've been a U-haul...). They said it had A/C, but didn't mention it wasn't working on our move day, the hottest day of the year 100 temps OUTSIDE. It started overheating 5hrs into the drive during the hottest time of day, and busiest parts of traffic (of course) had to drive with the heater on full blast to keep it from overheating! I thought it was weird that I drank a 2 liter bottle of 7-up and didn't have to pee the entire 1st day driving. Turns out I don't recall sweating that much either, it pretty much evaporated leaving ashy salt on my skin. It must have been 114 degrees in the cab. It felt like driving with a hair dryer on high blowing at my face most of the time. There were other problems with the truck, but as bad as it was, I dreaded breaking down and having to unload everything on the side of the road in the desert, and reloading into a "good" truck even more. It must've been fate and the stars shined upon us, and we did not break down. The second leg of the trip, it started to rain, and the wipers were crappy and the windshield was cracked and leaked, but after literally driving through hell, we made it. So my advice is check out before hand if all the important things on the truck indeed WORK before heading off on the big adventure.

[Guest bastaad525]

thanks for all the advice thus far guys...

 

 

Tim240z - yeah I agree 100%. Today me and my wife did kinda do a preliminary 'assesment' of all our junk and did agree that a lot of this stuff doesn't need to go with us. Really... we thought we had accumalated a lot of junk... but when we think about it... our 1 bdr. apartment is REALLY small... we never had that much room to begin with... consider that we don't want to take our worn out couches or bed frame... and we really end up left with not much stuff. Also, most of our other furniture is IKEA stuff... which means it's all very easy to dissasemble and get it to where it takes up very little space. Hell, I brought home our bed frame, dining room table, dining room chairs, living room table, and computer desk all at one time in the back of my Z!

 

But yeah... we really are taking this as a an opportunity for a new start, and dont' want to take much with us. About the humidity... ugggghhhh I know this is the one thing I am worried about (well that and hurricanes!!)... we had meant to visit during the summer but this whole job situation really forcing us to move now. Well... I don't expect any place to be perfect, and I do LOATHE SoCal's 100+ degree weather in the summer... not sure if less heat and more humidity would be better ... well in the end just do the same as here... stay indoors with the AC on full blast

 

 

About renting a truck... still not 100% sure until I actually get some official quotes from some of these places on Monday, but at this point it looks like this ABF U-pack will end up actually costing less renting a Ryder/U-haul truck. I also checked another company called Broadway Express... same kinda deal as ABF U-pack... basically they bring the truck/trailer to you, you load it up, they deliver to your new home.... they handle the drive cross country. Right now they are rough-quoting me about $2000... close to what Jon and Sparky remember the cost for renting a U-haul was.

 

So... U-pack/Broadway Express takes our stuff and one car, we drive the other cross country in about 3-4 days, our stuff shows up a few days later.

 

That's the tentative plan for now, but again, won't know for sure til I get some people on the phone with accurate numbers.

 

Norm - yeah... big earthquake been on my mind a lot lately. We are overdue for one, IMO... I've been here all 28 years of my life... I went thru Northridge (wasn't that bad, IMO and I was about 8 miles away from the epicenter). On the one hand... yeah it's a fear like... how bad will it be? On the other hand, we were almost looking forward to it! We've been wanting to buy a house for so long, but I'm sure everyone here knows just how tremendously property values have shot up in the last few years... just friggin rediculous. Well... a big earthquake is the perfect thing for fixing that problem, IMO!

 

Case in point, the apartment we live in now... when we moved in here 8 years ago... it was SUPER cheap. We got in at the tail end of the emigration... people were still running scared, and everything was cheap. Mind you, our apartment is right smack in the middle of Northridge. The going rent for a 1 bdr. in our building has nearly doubled from what it was when we moved in... thank the law for rent control keeping it nice and low for us!

 

So we have been kinda waiting and hoping for a little shakin to knock the prices back down and then we coulda bought here as has been our plan for years. Maybe kinda bad of us to think that way... *shrug*

 

 

 

We did get some good news today. My wife's friend and contact out in VA just found a place.... she's been living with family for a while but dieing to get out. So she just found a sweet 2 bedroom, beach front apartment for $870 a mo...... you can't even get a crappy one bdr in the middle of a crappy neighborhood for that much where we live now!!!

 

So... she has invited to move in with her as half-paying roomates for as long as we like/need. This works great as it solves the whole issue of having to find a place before or after we get there... we'll have an adress to have our stuff delivered so no worrying about paying extra to store it temporarily, and we can get to the business of finding jobs that much more quickly. And we'll be saving quite a bit on rent (we were looking at getting into a one bdr. right off the bad for around mid $600's), so with us paying roughly $200 less a month, and half the bills and all that, means the money we have saved to hold us over til we get jobs can last us that much longer if we need it to and we'll have more left over (hopefully) when we do get jobs.

 

Only downside is... her friend doesn't move into this place until April 1st... sucks for us as we were ready to go NOW... I was realistically aiming at being out within 2 weeks. Ah well.. that's that much longer I can stay at work and bring in another paycheck or two, and more time to get rid of some of this stuff meaning I can actually try to sell it instead of giving it away From the sound of it it will be worth waiting for as her friend says this place is SUPER nice and we'll have a balcony overlooking the ocean... for ~$400 a month I can't complain about that!!! Hell many californians including myself DREAM of beach front property but even the cheapest studio apartments are like $2000 + !!!!

 

But our long term goal of course will be to move into a nice place of our own... at these prices, that should NOT be a problem.

 

Well... that's all the news I got for now... can't wait til monday to get some definate prices and really start to finalize the plans. So... one more month... god this is gonna be the longest month EVER.

[violacleff]

Not sure if you would be up for this but...

 

I've driven with my family to Washington D.C several times, using a company called Auto Drive Away. Basically, people like you, who do not want to drive two cars across state, leave it at a particular port in Cali. Then a guy like me who wants to visit VA, drives your car up there, and drops it off at a VA ADA port. The only downside, is you don't know who is driving your car, although there are rules and restrictions for what is allowed in an ADA vehicle.

 

As far as couches and beds. When I graduated college, my roomates and I were all piss broke (not that i'm not anymore) and we had nothing but walls and carpet for months, but little by little we got decent furniture, almost all for free. You'd be surprised what people will give away. You can go that route and within a short time, you will be surprised how much money you start racking up by not living in CA, and will have recouped what you sold in no time.

[Guest bastaad525]

well another advantage to moving in with my wife's friend for at least a few months... she's already got all her own furniture and will furnish the place nicely, as far as couches and tables and chairs... all we need is what will be in our room.

 

A lot of these "u pack we haul" moving companies don't charge by weight, they charge by the amount of feet you take up in their truck, measured only laterally from front to back. Our matress and box spring are only going to take up a little more than 1 foot, measured that way so yeah... matress and box spring, our living room and dining room tables which will easily be taken apart and take up very little space as such, and the computer desk which is pretty much the same. That's about it other than a few boxes of stuff, mostly our hobbies, video games for me and sewing/crochet for her .

 

I'll look into that auto drive away but I don't see us going for it... the new Civic we just bought, being my wifes first car... I don't see her really wanting to put it in a strangers hands when she just now finished her break in miles!!! Also, the Civic would be the FAR more econimcal choice for us to drive, given it's 40 mpg rating on good ol' 87. My SRT on the other hand needs 91 and averages high 20's on the highway... a lot more expensive for a 2700 mile drive.

 

At the same time, I DEFINATELY wouldn't trust my SRT in the hands of a stranger... HELL NO!

 

We're thinking of offering to fly her friend out here and have her drive one of them back... otherwise... I don't know yet.

[Mikelly]

Specifically what town/ City in Virginia?

 

Mike

[Guest bastaad525]

Mike - we're moving to the Hampton Roads (I think that's what she called it) area? Like Norfolk, Virginia Beach, around there.

 

I think I talked to a guy from Fredricksburg today... I think he said that was on the other side of the gulf, or something? Made it sound pretty far away.

 

Hey does this mean I get to get a ride in a Z06?? :mrgreen:

[Synlubes]

The Hampton Roads area covers

Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Yorktown, Williamsburg.

I would stay away from Norfolk, Hampton, Suffolk and Portsmouth. The Virginia Beach area is very congested.

The average rent for apartments run $600 to $1500 depending on location and size.

You can rent a home with a yard for about the same price as renting an apartment.

Home prices range from $150,000 (around 1250 sq foot house) and up.

This area has grown quite abit over the last few years and traffic sucks due to our limited/out dated roadways.

 

We do have 4 seasons of weather here which is ok.

 

Where I am at in Newport News, I am about 1 hour from Virginia Beach (the beach front) and about 1 hour from Richmond.

 

Fredericksburg (Mikelly`s place) is a 1.5 hour ride from me.