Moving out of state is one of those things that seem easy enough in theory, but when you get down to the logistics of moving out of state there is actually a lot more to it then just packing boxes and renting a moving truck. You have to think about how to find a place to live out of state, getting new state ids and tags, finding a location you like, and much much more.
I recently moved from Georgia to Charlotte, North Carolina. While its is not a huge move we still had to cover many of bases that come with moving out of state, no matter where you move to. So I would like to share some of what I learned about moving out of state with you. I hope it will make your move out of state a little easier then ours.
Moving Out of State- Finding a Place to Live
So when we were planning our move out of state I figured we could just look at a few houses for rent online and then take a weekend long trip out of state and pick the one we liked the most. Needles to say it was not that simple. Probably the biggest thing I didn’t think about was what the area around the house was like. We found some really cute houses out of state, but when we went to look at them on our research trip we found them to be smack dab in the middle of the ghetto. That is something the ads on the internet don’t tell you about!
One of my tips for moving out of state is to see if anyone you know ever lived there like some friends or family. They can give you some tips and advice before you ever move out of state. Once we were in North Carolina doing our moving out of state research trip my girlfriend decided to call one of her friends who she knew used to live in Charlotte. She told us that we would want to live in North or South Charlotte, but to stay away from the East and West because those were where the bad neighborhoods were. Now that is information you will never find online.
Sometimes you can be lucky enough to find a place to live once you move out of state very easy. Other times it might be very hard. Some places it is just hard to find a place to live be it population or you’re just picky about what you want. If this is the case a good idea is to just find some cheap short term lodging. One thing you could do is find an apartment with a 6 month lease. If that’s longer than you’d like to live in an apartment you can always stay in a convince lodge for a month or two. That will be a little bit more expensive, but you can leave whenever you want. Don’t forget to think about staying with family for a while. This is always a cheap alternative.
Moving Out of State- Research Trip
You may have heard me mention our research trip. This is a must when it comes to moving out of state. Like I said before, there are just some things you will never know without visiting first.
I would suggest going out on a research trip about a month and a half before your actual move date. That way if you do find a place you really like you can go ahead and get started on the paper work. If you go earlier and find something you like you run the risk of it not being available when you are ready to move.
When planning your research trip for your move out of state there are to different way you can do this. One is to pick a hotel in a central location and just make day trips from there. The other option is to stay a several different hotels in different areas you are curious about. Each of these options has pros and cons.
With the first option you don’t have to worry about checking in and out of hotels and because you are coming and going from the same place everyday you get a little more familiar with the area. The drawback is that you may not see as many areas as with option two.
With option number two you get a chance to really see more of each area you are interested in. This is nice if the areas you are looking at are far apart. You can also get more specific information for each area. The major drawback is the cost and having to deal with going from hotel to hotel.
Before you go o you research trip make sure you have a list of houses or apartments you want to look at. This will save you time when you get out of state. When you are driving around looking for places to move out of state to make sure you have a camera and pen and pad. These will come in handy. You can use the pen and pad to write down phone number for other places you see for sale or rent. Then you can use the camera to take pictures of the houses you look at. These will prove to be very useful later n in your decision making.
Moving Out of State- Things to Think About
When you are moving out of state you need to make sure to think ahead for hidden costs and problems you might run into. The first major thing to make sure you take care of ahead of time is the utilities for your new place. There is nothing worse than hiving to move into a new house and try to un pack over candle light or not having electricity for a few days.
Another major thing to think about when moving out of state is all the new forms paperwork, and ids you will need. You will need to change your drivers’ license, Get pets shots up-to-date, Change your car tag and insurance, and check to see if your health insurance will be affected.
I would suggest getting the new driver licenses as soon as possible. If you are moving out of state because of your job then finding work won’t be a problem. If you move out of state and then look for work without a valid state id it may be hard. Some places are very strict about having a state Id while others aren’t. So just keep that in mind.
