What a Moving Estimate Should Include, From a Minnesota Mover

A moving estimate is a promise about time. The price on the page is the crew size, the truck and the hours it takes to load, drive and unload your home, plus a few things that change the day, like stairs or a long walk to the truck. When you know what the number is built from, you can compare two quotes without guessing, and you can tell a careful estimate from a hopeful one.

What the number is made of

For a local move in the north metro, the estimate starts with hours. A two bedroom apartment with an elevator is a different day from a three bedroom house with a finished basement, even if the two homes hold a similar amount of furniture. The crew size follows the volume: enough movers that the truck is never waiting on people, not so many that they are waiting on each other.

Then come the things that add time in a way the crew cannot shortcut. Flights of stairs at either end. A driveway the truck cannot use, so every item is carried farther. A piano, a gun safe or a hot tub, which need extra people and equipment. Packing, if you want the kitchen and the fragile items boxed by the crew. Each of these should appear as its own line on the estimate, so you can see what it costs and decide whether it applies to you.

Why someone should go over your move with you

A number given before anyone has gone over what is moving is a guess. Whether a coordinator walks your home, goes room by room with you on the phone, or watches a five minute video you recorded, the point is the same: the estimate is built from your rooms, your stairs and your access, not from an average.

It also protects you later. When the crew arrives, the plan they were given matches the home they are standing in. No renegotiation on the driveway, no extra truck ordered at noon.

Questions worth asking any mover

Ask whether the hourly rate includes the drive between your two addresses, or whether travel is billed separately. Ask what happens if the job runs shorter or longer than estimated. With hourly billing you pay for the hours actually worked, at the rate on your estimate. Ask how the mover handles damage and how long you have to report it. In Minnesota, a household move within the state falls under the state's household goods rules, and your mover should be able to tell you what valuation coverage comes with the move and what more costs.

Ask for the estimate in writing, with the crew size, the hourly rate, the expected hours and every other charge on its own line.

What MileWay does differently

We go over every move with you first, by phone, at your home or from a video walkthrough, and send the estimate in writing with every charge on its own line. On move day the crew's time is billed for the hours actually worked, at the rate on your estimate.

Questions about your own move? Call (612) 662-5609 or request a free estimate, and a coordinator goes over it with you.

Moving in Anoka? See what moves look like in Anoka.