Asking Friends To Help You Move vs. Hiring Professionals

There comes a moment in everyone’s life when they have to move. Whether it be out of the family house, or with their family in a bigger home there’s the same amount of questions that arise. How do I handle this move? Will it cost me a fortune? Who should I ask for help?

Having years of experience in the area, we at Paul’s Removals Melbourne have found the answers to these questions and have mastered a system that will make your move easier and stress-free. Having said that, here is what we have found during the years about moving and, particularly about asking friends to help you move.

Asking Friends to Help You Move:

Advantages:

– There will always be people who would want to join in and help you. Moving is a strenuous task, as we will explore further, but there are people who might be insulted if you don’t ask them for help. Make sure you thank them enough! If there are way too many volunteers to help you can organise them in crews. A crew to pack the old place in the morning and a fresh new group of people to help you with the heavy lifting. Family and friends who want to help, but are not fit to lift heavy items can help with packing.

– You save money. It is unlikely that your friends will charge you. This is the main benefit when it comes to asking friends for help during a house relocation;

– You can ask them for spare supplies. If they have carton boxes, tape or bags and suitcases they don’t need, you can get these without spending a dime. Make sure you have them on the day of the move, or a few days in advance when you will be packing. This will save you time and headaches.

– You can make a day out of it and share your relocation with your closest friends and family members. Moving homes is exciting and handling it with friends adds up on the memories. Spending the last few moments in that house together, while opening a can of beer and drinking to your new beginning is something you will all cherish in the years to come.

Disadvantages:

– You have to take into an account their availability. Unlike professional removalists who work full-time and are able to tackle a move during odd hours and workdays, friends have jobs and families. This means you have to organise your group of friends and fit your move into their busy schedules.

– Sometimes there is pressure that accumulates during a move. You, your family and your friends might have a different vision of how the move should be handled and this can create unwanted tension between people. Avoid the escalating of this at any cost. You really don’t want to fight people on the day of your move.

– Your friends don’t have insurance policies covering them against damage of your property, or possible accidents that can occur, mainly due to the heavy lifting. It is tempting to ask a friend to help you move, but it is rare that we stop and think ‘what if’. What if this person accidentally strains and hurts his back, drops my super expensive 42” Smart TV in the middle of the patio, or worse trips over and breaks an arm or a leg?

Shall you go with that option you might want to make the experience even more enjoyable.

For the purpose:
– supply lunch and refreshments.  – don’t push your friends to hard and avoid bossing them around.

– the day after the move send everyone a thank you note, or give them a call;  – Get together and buy them drinks, invite them for a dinner at your new place;

– thank people again and again. Every bit of moving help is very generous. This is not like a walk in the park. Moving homes is a stressful, strenuous, tiring and time-consuming activity.

Hiring Professional Removalists:

Advantages:

– Professional removalists are covered by all the necessary insurance policies. In the unlikely event they drop something, or anything goes wrong, their insurance policies will be able to cover their medical expenses and your the damage done to your belongings.

– Hiring professional removalists means your schedule will be the priority. If you call well in advance, the team will take into an account your availability and the desired date of your move. We don’t have another job to attend to and we won’t charge extra for a weekend, holiday or an evening move.

– Professional movers are quick and more organised. We have seen it all and moved it all. We know how to move things faster in a way that doesn’t damage the items.

– Professionals have all the necessary equipment like ropes and furniture dollies of all sizes and for all kinds of items. If you ask your friends you might have to buy most of the supplies you will need yourself.

– Sometimes removalist companies offer end of lease cleaning, which is a huge relief. Not only you will get the house cleaned on the same day, but by combining services you will save money too.

Disadvantages:

– Hiring a company costs money. We are not going to lie. In the most cases you will need at least two men and one van. These men have to be paid, hiring the van costs money too and the van runs on fuel. Distances in Melbourne are crazy sometimes and traffic is not making it any easier. The cost of a move is the number one reason why people choose to ask friends and family for help.

– Some people are also worried to have strangers pick up their stuff. To trust a stranger with your furniture and valuable belongings, boxes of memories and all sorts of other stuff is more of a trust issue than anything else. Get to know the company you will be using, check their reviews, see if they are the kind of people who will treat your items with care and respect.

Featured Image Credits: Angela Rutherford, Flickr Creative Commons