On the Move

High transaction costs greatly reduce the overall efficiency of the housing market. One reason we never moved to a cheaper rental was the cost and hassle associated with moving. Landlords & apartment managers know this, and use it to their advantage. Unless you are young or with few earthly possessions, no matter where you move, to a rental or a home, it’s hard to avoid some costs. I consider our move, relatively low cost by most standards (given how much stuff we have).

Moving truck for two separate weekends (Sunday for the house, Saturday for the garage): $120
Cleaning costs associated with rental home move-out: house $120, carpet $300, misc $50
Sandwiches and pizza for our family movers (aunt, uncle, brother, father, and friend): $75
Utilities one-time charges: $66
Additional rent: $600 (we allowed for a little over a week of overlap to make it more manageable).

So it cost approximately $1300 for a family of 4, living in a larger than average home to move. I should report, that there was no obvious damage to any of our things (the bottom of an IKEA dresser drawer was a bit busted up, not unexpected for press board). I am not counting some of the time we had to take off work (approximately 20 hours or so for the whole process).

I don’t count the $300 or so my husband dropped on our 67’ Dodge Charger to get it running, so it could be driven to the new house as opposed to towed. (He went to rebuild the carburetor and sheared off some of the screw heads, so he bought a new one.)

I should also note, in some ways, it was like Christmas in February, as we opened all the boxes we hadn’t unpacked while in the rental.