Calculating costs of moving a two-story house in San Francisco

The costs of moving a two-story house in San Francisco can vary a lot. Some of those variables are the distance to your new home, the weight of your belongings, and the moving materials and supplies you use. Most moving companies in California will let you know their hourly rate. Then they will multiply this by the number of hours for the total job at the end. It’s in your best interest to ask the movers to come to your home to provide a free quotation. This will give them a much better idea of how long the moving process will take and then they can provide you a “Not To Exceed” quote. You will know how much you will end up paying so there won’t be any surprises.

Moving company rates of moving a two-story house in San Francisco

Check out San Francisco moving companies about their rate and charging method. The hourly billing time begins as soon as their moving truck arrives at your current household. It ends as soon as your household goods are moved into the new home. The costs of relocating a two-story house in San Francisco will include Double Drive Time charges as required by the CPUC, with a minimum 3-hour charge and fuel fees. Have in mind that the farther the distance your new location is from your original location, the higher the Double Drive Time charge will be.

Extra costs are added to your bill for moving supplies used by the movers. You can purchase cardboard moving boxes and packing supplies straight from the moving company. However, you may find the prices are much higher than if you bought them or rented moving boxes on your own.

Finding a reliable and professional moving company in San Francisco

The different moving companies you hire may have different levels of qualifications. While it may not seem important, hiring a reliable and secure moving company is actually crucial.  Movers who have the technical expertise, with a comprehensive understanding of transit laws can make all the difference when calculating the costs of relocating a two-story house in San Francisco. 

For instance, when searching for long distance movers California, make sure that the company has insurance. With that comes the security if anything with your shipment goes wrong. The professional movers will have the means to get back compensation for the value of what was damaged. This is really important when you have no control over the weather, crime rates, natural disasters, and other risks. While the statistical likelihood of it happening may be low, it is always—as they say—better safe than sorry. Therefore, if you are deciding between two companies and one lacks insurance, chances are they are not an official move with proper registration. You will never know how many other corners they cut.

Standard move or a full-service move

When you hire a moving company you can decide the level of service you want. You can opt for full service. This can be handy if you are, for example, moving from San Francisco to Dallas. This means the movers will pack your belongings, move them, and then unpack them at your new home. According to San Francisco Bay Area moving companies, roughly about 10% of clients opt for a full-service move. Movers could have a lower hourly rate for the packing portion of the move. Generally, they have experienced employees who are skilled at packing boxes and organizing.

However, the majority of people moving, in an effort to save money, choose to pack their belongings on their own. This means only paying an hourly rate for the movers to load, transport, and unload the stuff. Whether you hire the moving company for a full-service move or a standard move, you’ll need to consider the cost of tipping San Francisco movers.

Price or quality

You should be really careful when choosing price over quality while calculating the costs of relocating a two-story house in San Francisco. Some residential movers SF charge significantly less than the average company. This is not always as good a sign as you might think. In these cases, the promise that you get what you pay for is quite true. And beyond that, it can also be a sign that the company is illegitimate. This means lacking the appropriate permits and insurance required by the state.

Low price moving companies without insurance may turn around and sue you in the event that damage is inflicted on their employees or their supplies while relocating your household.  Even more, if there is damage to your belongings, no insurance means no legal support. 

Additional charges of moving a two-story house in San Francisco

When calculating your relocation budget for moving a two-story house in San Francisco, consider these unexpected moving expenses:

• A transportation surcharge. The moving company may pay employees more for working in metropolitan areas where labor costs are higher.
• Full value protection insurance. This often is an overlooked expense when relocating a two-story house in San Francisco.
• Charges for moving vehicles. This includes cars, boats, and motorcycles
• Surcharges for moving large or fragile items.
• Additional charge if the workers have to walk more than 75 feet from door to truck. Or if they need to use stairs or an elevator.
• Additional fee if your street is too narrow to maneuver a moving truck. They may shuttle your stuff with a smaller truck.
• Fuel. Some moving companies also have an additional fuel charge.

Storage for your belongings

If you need to store your items you will have an additional storage expanse. For instance, they may be some delays in availability at your new home. Therefore, you may need to find a moving company with storage services San Francisco. In that case, your belongings can be stored temporarily until the day you are able to arrange for a drop-off. Of course, included in this additional service is the additional charge for moving to and from the storage unit. This is something to take into account when you plan your dates for moving to a two-story house in San Francisco.

Keeping costs down

All moving companies try to make a profit while keeping the charges to customers reasonable. Avoid any moving companies that appear to cut corners to obtain profitability. Professional companies will work hard to keep moving costs down. They will work with providers of rented plastic moving boxes and reusable plastic wardrobe boxes. With plastic moving boxes, you can save between 35-50% on the overall cost of buying and building traditional cardboard boxes. Especially when you take into account that they are delivered to your door pre-assembled with attached lids.

The plastic moving boxes are easier to load into and out of a moving truck. Also, because these boxes are standardized. They stack neatly atop one another, and next to one another in the moving truck. This leads to faster loading and unloading time. It’s because it eliminates trying to get everything to fit by moving things around multiple times. Or even worse, finding out that the items just won’t fit, no matter how hard they try. Then a second truck is required at an additional cost. When moving a two-story house in San Francisco is complete, and you unpack all your items, they pick up the plastic moving bins.

If you’re relocating a two-story house in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, or any of the Bay Area cities, there are a lot of ways to stay on a budget. The important thing is to try and plan ahead as much as you can and do your research. Doing proper research will ensure you find out all moving hidden costs and have a more realistic budget.