Buying a House & Moving Across Country
Okay, so there are a bajillion websites out there that will talk about the parts and processes that are involved in buying a house so I'm not going to try and re-invent the wheel here. I read most of those guides on what to do and they all pretty much nail the stuff that's important (get your credit in order, save for down payment, don't make any new major purchases etc), what they don't tell is what I'm going to try to hopefully get through here.
1. When buying a house, everyone in this process has done it a bunch of times except you. Generally speaking you would think this would be overall comforting, but it's not. We had a Realtor (R) and Lender (L) who were the primary folks we dealt with. Both of them had very different communication styles and adjusting to this was a little bit of a challenge. When there were issues (and from what I can tell there are always issues), we would get a call from L or R and they would tell us about this new problem which could potentially kill the whole sale, but rest assured, this sort of thing happens all the time and we'll be just fine (you never feel like it will be fine).
2. Location, Location, Location: So depending on your state there are certain rules and guidelines that your Realtor will have to follow. One of those is they can't really tell you "Don't move to that neighborhood, you'll get shot". Now for most folks, this isn't a major issue, because you have lived in the area where you are planning on buying a house for a while and you know where the good areas are vs. your run of the mill crack dens. We were a little lost. Sure you can look at the crime rates, but if you dig through those things you'll find all kinds of theft and stuff happening in places where you would normally think it was a "good neighborhood" and relatively little going on in areas where you know there is a great deal of crime. Believe me it's harder than you think. You wind up going to the outskirts (we are 35 miles from the "big city" and 20 miles to the nearest gas/grocery store).
3. Money, Money, Money: So when I set out to figure out our total moving expenses I put up the truck ($900), gas ($600) (via gasbuddy.com), hotel expense ($150) (it's a long drive), Food ($50) and then tacked on an extra $300 for "incidentals" and other moving expenses. While most of this was fine (gas was way more, but otherwise was pretty spot on), what didn't work out well was the "incidentals". I've moved a few times and I'm used to always picking up new stuff, but wow this one is different. There are no drapes in any of the rooms, which are not cheap at all. Then there are a billion and one little things that you just never think of, plus you'll be eating out a lot more for at least a couple of days while you're getting everything unpacked. One other expense I wasn't expecting will be my next tip, but it was worth every freaking penny.
That's just on the moving side too, when you're actually going through the closing you'll find that the dollar amount you thought you were going to pay can drastically shift and everyone thinks, 'well you're spending 6 figures, what's another thousand here or there'. I can tell you it's a lot of freaking money. We have to get landscaping done as well, which I'm sure will be more than I want to pay :-)
Oh and don't forget your licenses, dogs, cars, motorcycles, trailers, etc all cost more money to register when you move, and they generally want that stuff done in the first 30 days, cause you know, you don't have anything else going on in your life, right?
And finally in the money department, make sure you've got some set aside for all your utilities. Some companies will require deposits, and who knows how much your "free" cable installation will run you (mine wound up at 64.99, so apparently that is nothing per Xfinity/Comcast). All and all, just have as much as you can set aside and it will be decidedly less stressful for you.
4. Hire people. Seriously. U-haul has a website that lists a bunch of companies that will send a couple people to move the stuff at some pretty reasonable rates. We got 2 guys, for 4 hours, for $200. These guys were absolutely awesome. First of they were both built like freaking tanks so they had no issues with even our heaviest stuff. They worked their butts off and got everything in the house in about 3 1/2 hours, both were very professional, and didn't damage any of our stuff. As an aside, they were both deaf (there is a university nearby for deaf/blind) and gave me a chance to bust out my rusty ass ASL!
5. Take some extra time off work. I am lucky, I don't have to go to work until I start law school in late August. If both of us had to work, we would still be surrounded by boxes everywhere. We're still waiting for some stuff to arrive so we haven't had the chance to fully settle in but we almost have something that could pass for a home.
6. Pack the following stuff in a series of boxes you will be able to get at NOW.
- Normal "travel" stuff (toiletries, medicines, changes of clothes); make sure you have enough for at least a week
- Cleaning supplies, you'll want to be able to clean stuff up.
- Small tools - hammer, screwdrivers, wrenches, etc. Get a reasonable kit and make sure you can get it out asap. If you don't have one, get a drill, you'll need it more than you know.
- Picture hanging kit - they have these at pretty much any big box retailer (Fred Meyer/Kroger, Target, etc). You have more pictures than you thought you did.
Having some of these things would have made the whole process go a little smoother, but hey it's a great experience and next time I feel like we will know so much more, and be way better prepared for all of it. Hopefully we will be ready for some out of town guests soon! Hope all is well for everyone. Did I forget anything? If so leave a comment and I'll make sure it gets in here as well.
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