[movin1]

One of my moves worked out great, I rented an unfurnished house and had my stuff moved there. Didn't have to pay for storage like I would have it it had been a furnished place. I didn't unpack anything I didn't need (plan ahead). The move to the new home I had built was a breeze. For sure you have to be careful with storage units here during the summer months, if it gets too hot, it can cause lots of damage.

[homerboy]

Originally Posted by Packrat1

We had a house and belongings similar to yours. We used ABF and packed it ourselves. We used the entire container. Seattle to Vegas and not one thing broken. We paid a crew to load and unload but they were under the strict supervision of my wife. YouTube has some great videos on packing.
If you plan to store in the summer consider paying extra for climate controlled storage. The other option is to move everything into the rental.

Congratz on the move. A little envious here, currently living in the eastside of Seattle. Been eyeing a move to Vegas (Summerlin) for a while, won't be able to make the move until the kid finishes high school in a couple of years.

How are you liking Vegas compared to Seattle? Which part of Vegas did you move to? Wife and I are thinking of making a trip to check out Skye Canyon.

Absolutely ridiculous expensive here, homes in my neighborhood exceeding $2M, and homeless camps everywhere, and getting worse. Not to mention the weather continues to stay wet and cold. Ugh.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by longviewJoe

Get rid of the piano and most of the crap.

Get rid of the piano? What if they're, ya know, a pianist/musician?? Telling us to get rid of our instruments would be like telling a truck driver to get rid of their truck.

Downsizing is good, yes. But one would assume if they have a baby grand piano they actually play it. lol

[Packrat1]

We are in Seven Hills zip code 89052. We could not stand the weather in Seattle especially in winter. We used ABF packed it ourselves and had zero damage no mover I know of can beat that. We bought before we retired and rented it out full time to buy at a better price plus the rental market is red hot.

[Koshka2]

We are selling our house (Texas) and may be moving to Las Vegas. We will likely being renting something short term while looking for a house.

Anyway. I live the ability to get full value protection from a traditional mover. But, the mover will have to move stuff to a storage place (most charge astronomical fees to store good in my experience). We won’t unpack stuff. Let’s saw we then hire someone to move everything to our house and unpack our big new TV (less than a year old, 75”). I suspect the long distance mover will say it wasn’t their fault and must have happened in storage or in moving to the house.

So we are looking at PODs. We would definitely higher people to load the PODS (we are retirees). We had decided to get rid of most of our furniture except a few pieces of high value or sentiment. (Right now we plan to move 3 pieces of furniture — 2 very expensive new desk chairs and one cabinet that I inherited from my mother). We will have probably 60 boxes of stuff plus TVs.

Anyway, PODS will store everything and their website says you have access to it while being stored. So we will hire someone to unload everything. I don’t think PODS coverage is very good. Lots of loopholes and only depreciated value. But, as mentioned above I don’t traditional movers will pay if something is broken (even if they pack) so I would prefer the savings with the PODs.

[Cold Warrior]

PODS will store everything

in an air conditioned warehouse?

[homerboy]

Originally Posted by Koshka2

We are selling our house (Texas) and may be moving to Las Vegas. We will likely being renting something short term while looking for a house.

Anyway. I live the ability to get full value protection from a traditional mover. But, the mover will have to move stuff to a storage place (most charge astronomical fees to store good in my experience). We won’t unpack stuff. Let’s saw we then hire someone to move everything to our house and unpack our big new TV (less than a year old, 75”). I suspect the long distance mover will say it wasn’t their fault and must have happened in storage or in moving to the house.

So we are looking at PODs. We would definitely higher people to load the PODS (we are retirees). We had decided to get rid of most of our furniture except a few pieces of high value or sentiment. (Right now we plan to move 3 pieces of furniture — 2 very expensive new desk chairs and one cabinet that I inherited from my mother). We will have probably 60 boxes of stuff plus TVs.

Anyway, PODS will store everything and their website says you have access to it while being stored. So we will hire someone to unload everything. I don’t think PODS coverage is very good. Lots of loopholes and only depreciated value. But, as mentioned above I don’t traditional movers will pay if something is broken (even if they pack) so I would prefer the savings with the PODs.

What city in TX do you live? Mind me asking what is prompting the potential move to LV?

Dallas was one of the cities I've considered relocating to; love the growth, red politics, and good economy, but the high property taxes and potential of natural disasters gives me pause.

[Mr B Kind]

Originally Posted by gizmo980

Get rid of the piano? What if they're, ya know, a pianist/musician?? Telling us to get rid of our instruments would be like telling a truck driver to get rid of their truck.

Downsizing is good, yes. But one would assume if they have a baby grand piano they actually play it. lol

Billy Joel was out riding his Harley here on Long Island and saw a piano put out for bulk garbage pickup day...he just had to stop and check it out..


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvdObArL_40

[Koshka2]

Originally Posted by homerboy

What city in TX do you live? Mind me asking what is prompting the potential move to LV?

Dallas was one of the cities I've considered relocating to; love the growth, red politics, and good economy, but the high property taxes and potential of natural disasters gives me pause.

I live in the DFW area. I grew up in the area, spent most of my adulthood in Houston. After retiring and kids being gone, DH and I moved to this area 4 years ago.

We decided to sell our house because we've decided to downsize and wanted something smaller, easier to maintain, no pool (love the beauty of the pool but not the upkeep). We decided that we could move anywhere we wanted to and really looked at several locales.

Our top 3 we narrowed to were Vancouver, WA, Albuquerque, NM and Las Vegas. All of them were far preferable on real estate taxes. Two of them have no state income tax. NM just last month passed a law to not tax Social Security for most people. None of them have the hot, humid weather of Texas. Washington has a much milder summer climate (we weren't that upset about the rain). But, the Vancouver real estate market is difficult and there are certainly huge potential of natural disasters. The biggest negative was I felt that many of the attractions of that area are more for people who enjoy outdoor activities and we do not.

Albuquerque has a high desert climate which appealed and has housing costs much less than the DFW area. However, it is a poor state and so I was concerned about long term economic stability. Also, Albuquerque is a little too small for my taste. I wanted something smaller than the DFW area but Albuquerque was too small. The high crime was a concern, but I felt I could alleviate that to a great extent by living in Rio Rancho. But, again I felt that the activities for things to do were not that great. And, if we wanted to go on a short trip somewhere there was nowhere within a few hours that I would really want to go for. The main thing Albuquerque had going for it was lower cost of living.

Then, there's Las Vegas. We thought about moving there 4 years ago when we moved to DFW but I sort of chickened out about moving somewhere far away where I didn't know anyone. But, I felt that it would suit us in terms of activities. We would enjoy the many dining and entertainment options. We are not huge gamblers but having blackjack close by for the occasional evening out would be nice. We probably wouldn't often go to the Strip, but nice to know it is there. I also like the shopping opportunities. There are more in Las Vegas than you would expect for an area that size. (Back in the day we enjoyed going to Las Vegas. In fact, we got married there 30 years ago). The weather doesn't bother me. Yes, I know how hot it is in the summer but not having humidity would be great and I would just stay in the air conditioned areas during summer.

I like the size of the area. Bigger than Albuquerque but not like DFW or Houston. Both of them are over 7 million now. But, LV is bigger than ABQ. I like the central location close to other places we might want to go. LA or San Diego or Phoenix are not that far away. There is a large airport so easy to travel places.

Why leave Texas? One reason is weather. I am really tired of the humidity. But, honestly, that is minor compared to other things. DFW is really, really big. Not just in number of people but in terms of distance. We live in NE Tarrant County (near the airport). DH has a daughter who lived in neighboring county to the east of Dallas. Depending on traffic it can take an hour and a half to get to her house. We thought about downsizing in this area and most smaller, newer houses are on the far, far outskirts where it take forever to get anywhere. Right now we are are in a great location but I still hate the sprawl. When we first moved here, I didn't think the traffic was as bad as Houston (and maybe it still isn't), but it is awful if you are having to get on a freeway.

And, really for us, DFW doesn't really have activities that we like. I mean, yes, we have dining and shopping here but some of it is just hard to get to. See: Sprawl and traffic.

And, for us, the red politics of the area is a bug, not a feature. We are moving away from Texas politics....

Let me just say a couple of things about growth and economy. Yes, the growth has done a lot for the area. But, the area is becoming unwieldy just do to the degree of growth and new people coming in. House prices were historically low in the area but that has changed a lot. Which brings up property taxes. The property taxes here are just brutal. We are protected somewhat by having the over 65 exemption. As high as our taxes are they would be far higher without that exemption. Be sure and check taxes if you think about buying here. And, this year values went up a bunch. Basically if you want to move to DFW or Houston, that is all well and good but be very aware of the population and size of this area.

[moguldreamer]

Originally Posted by homerboy

Congratz on the move. A little envious here, currently living in the eastside of Seattle. Been eyeing a move to Vegas (Summerlin) for a while, won't be able to make the move until the kid finishes high school in a couple of years.

That's what we did - we waited until our daughter went off to college, then we sold the house in which she grew up, moved to Henderson, and didn't give her the forwarding address.


Just kidding.























Sort of.