By Logan Livers, Storage.com
Storage.com is your number one ally when moving to a new home. We’re here to provide you with useful moving tips and hacks, or additional storage whenever necessary.
Getting ready to make a move in the near future? Moving can be a little stressful, but we’ve compiled a list of the best websites and apps to get you through every step of the process.
Selling Your Current Home
The first step in moving is often to sell your current house, which can sometimes prove to be quite a pain. If you’re looking for a way to sell a house fast, then these websites are a great place to start. Many of them allow you to post online listings whether you’re using an agent or selling your house on your own.
Movoto has options to buy or sell houses, and can take the hassle out of selling a house with their Movoto Certified Real Estate Agents. If you don’t know how to sell a house, a real estate agent is likely your best bet. As one of the top places to search for a new home, you know that your home listing will be seen by plenty of potential homebuyers on Movoto.
Zillow is more than just a list of homes for sale. With Zillow you have options to post a house listing for sale by owner and for sale by agent. So, no matter how you plan on selling your home, Zillow has you covered. Plus, Zillow has an awesome interactive map that shows how much properties are worth and which houses are currently on the market.
HomeFinder is a great resource for house listings, and is another website where you can list your own house for sale. If you really want to sell your house fast, take advantage of their Single Enhanced Listing for only $30 per month to get more views and, hopefully, more offers.
Researching Your New City
Moving to a new city is a big life decision, and usually isn’t made until after a person has done a lot of research on potential new cities. When you’re looking for a new place to call home, use these amazing websites to find the best cities in the country for your interests and make sure you’ll love your new home.
Livability is one of the best websites to visit when searching for a new place to live. They have a list of the Top 100 Best Places to Live in 2015, as well as many Top 10 lists that will help you make a smart decision. Take a look at lists based around determining factors that are important to you, like the Top 10 Healthiest Cities.
Bert Sperling has spent over sixteen years analyzing data about people and places, which is the backbone of the information available on BestPlaces.net. With this powerful online tool, you’ll have access to all the information you’ll need to make an informed decision on a new city. With BestPlaces.net, you can even compare cities side-by-side when it comes to data like cost of living, crime rates, and climate.
AreaVibes allows you to search by address, zip code, neighborhood, or city and gives you a livability score for that area and others nearby. This website is particularly helpful when you have decided you want to live in a large metropolitan area and want to know which suburb is right for you. Search a city and find out which suburbs have the highest livability scores. AreaVibes even breaks down local amenities on an interactive map of the area searched.
Finding a Job
Before you move, you’ll also want to find a job in your new city. If you’ve decided on a change of scenery without having a new job offer in place, there are many websites that will make your job searching easy. With today’s technology, the best way to find a new job may be to hop online and create a personal profile on one of the top job listings websites.
Monster allows you to search for jobs within specified fields, and even lets you search for additional skills and keywords in order to find exactly what you’re looking for. But most importantly, you can search for jobs in specific cities around the country, so you can find a job in your intended new home before you move.
If you plan on relocating for a new job, Snagajob is a great resource, as well. You can search for jobs in specific zip codes and search by keywords so you can find something that’s in your field of work. You can also sign up for email alerts and they’ll send you job listings in your area.
Indeed is one of the more simplistic job listing websites available, so it can give you some great results without much of a hassle. With Indeed, there’s the option of sorting results by salary estimate, distance, and much more. Find jobs near you, or in your intended new city, with the help of Indeed.
With CareerBuilder you can turn the tables and have employers find you instead of needing to actively search them out. Add your resume to CareerBuilder and you can get a job offer without even needing to apply anywhere. Of course, there’s still the option to search for jobs by field and location, so you can do still do it the old fashioned way, if you want.
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Finding Your New House
Selecting your new house is no small decision, so it’s important to do a lot of research to find the ideal home. Use these great online listings to find houses for sale in your new city, and get all the information you’ll need faster than ever. Some websites even have tools to help you find the best school district, and many have a handy mortgage calculator to help you figure out how much house you can afford.
Before you go searching for your next house, you need to figure out what your budget will be so you don’t fall in love with a house you can’t afford. Mortgage Calculator is a great online tool that will break down your monthly mortgage rates and show you how much total interest you will pay on a house based on the information you enter.
Trulia is another helpful online resource for house hunters. Search for homes by neighborhood, city, zip, or specific address to view listings in your desired area. Then you can use advanced filters to narrow your search results and view pictures, contact a realtor, or view an estimated mortgage payment. Check out their mobile apps for searching on the go.
On Realtor.com, you can search for homes for sale or rent, as well as apartments for rent. You can even locate a realtor in your area to help you with your home buying experience. With a multitude of tools, including a mortgage calculator, home appraisal, and news & advice, Realtor.com can help anybody in the market for a new home. Realtor.com also has mobile apps designed specifically to meet various needs, including one that’s like Tinder for houses.
Homes.com has plenty of home listings in their database, allowing you to search by city or zip code to find your perfect place. Create a free MyHomes account and you can save your favorite listings to look at them later and compare them to make the best decision possible. Homes.com also offers a wide selection of mobile apps to help you find the home you are looking for.
If you are relocating with your family, it may be important to find a home that’s close to a great school for your children. Find the best school district in your new city by using the valuable resources at GreatSchools. Search by location and grade level to find the highest GreatSchools ratings in the city. This website even connects with Zillow to show home listings within each school district, so you can take the guesswork out of finding a home near a great school.
Finding Your New Apartment
If you’d rather rent than own, you can use one of these great resources to find an apartment in your new city. In a market that doesn’t rely on real estate agents to help people find a new home, these websites can be very valuable tools. Find affordable apartments based on location and narrow down the list by amenities, size, and much more.
Apartments.com has a handful of amazing tools to simplify your apartment search. Available on desktop and in apps for iOS and Android, Apartments.com ensures that their listings are up to date with availability. Try out their new POLYGON tool, which allows you to draw whatever shape you want on a map to search for apartments for rent within that area.
Rent.com is one of the powerhouses when it comes to finding an apartment. Search by city, state, or zip code and view a huge listing of nearby apartments for rent. With plenty of pictures, floor plans, and information available, you can find the ideal apartment in your new city. Take advantage of their mobile apps for searching on the go.
ForRent.com allows you to search for apartments based on location, as well, and displays results with large images and important information. Filter your results by pet policy, neighborhood, amenities, and more. Each apartment complex has plenty of pictures and ForRent.com also shows 3D models of floor plans. Check out their app for iOS and Android.
Apartment Guide lets you search for apartments by state, type, city, neighborhood, college, or military base. With a huge database of apartment listings, you can find exactly what you’re looking for on Apartment Guide. Save your favorite apartments so you can compare them side by side later. For searching on the go, download their mobile app.
Apartment Finder allows you to search for apartments by city, county, or zip code. You can view results in three different ways: by list, by photos, or on an interactive map of the area. Apartment Finder includes the option for advanced search and has apps available for mobile searching.
PadMapper is the ultimate location-based apartment finder, available on both desktop and in an easy-to-use app for iOS and Android. Start your search on an interactive map to find the ideal apartment location and set parameters based on price range, bedrooms, bathrooms, and more.
Hotpads is another great apartment listing website that is based around an interactive map, and has apps for both iOS and Android. Easily click on apartment locations to view rental rates, amenities, and more. You can also easily filter the results on the interactive map to show only the apartment listings that you care about.
Walk Score is built around the idea of finding you a place to live based on the things you love. Search for apartments ranked by their Walk Score, which takes into account nearby restaurants, grocery stores, schools, and entertainment. Available on desktop and apps for iOS and Android, you can learn about a neighborhood and make sure you will enjoy living there before you make a decision.
Getting Where You Need to Go
When traveling to your new home, you may need some help navigating unknown roadways. To get the best directions, use these great cell phone apps that offer turn-by-turn directions and superb reliability.
Google Maps App for iOS and Android
The most used navigation app on smartphones, Google Maps is as reliable as they come. Simply type in, or speak, your intended destination and Google Maps will show you the quickest possible route and offer turn-by-turn navigation.
Waze uses a large community of drivers to deliver up-to-date traffic information to their navigation app. If you’re traveling through any large cities during rush hour, you can use Waze to avoid heavy traffic, road closures, and accidents.
Places to Stay Along the Way
If you’re making a long drive to your new home, you may need to find cheap hotels along the way. Many people on long road trips will simply drive until it starts to get dark and then search for nearby hotels. With some of these apps and websites, you can easily do just that and find the best rates possible.
Hotels.com is all about finding cheap hotels with ease. By helping hotels sell their unused rooms, Hotels.com is able to offer lower rates than normal and can create a huge listing of available hotels based on location. With their mobile app, you can easily find cheap hotel rooms near you.
Priceline offers a lot of traveling services and their hotel search is incredibly useful for finding good deals. Search for a hotel by location, check-in date, and amount of rooms needed. Use their Name Your Own Price tool to negotiate for the lowest price possible.
Booking.com helps you find the latest deals in hotels, and is perfect for planning out your stays on a trip to your new home city. If your new company is willing to pay for your relocation costs, you can create a business account that will keep track of your total in one place. Try their mobile apps for easy searching. They’re also available on the new Apple Watch.
Orbitz is dedicated to simplifying travel, which includes finding and booking a hotel room. Use Orbitz to search for nearby hotels, or hotels in the area where you’ll be traveling. Plus, you can sign up for Orbitz Rewards and build up some points to redeem on stays in amazing hotels. Check out their app for both iOS and Android.
Expedia is known for their bundle deals that help you save a lot of money, but you can use them simply for booking a hotel room, too. Use their app for the first time and you can save $25 on your first hotel room. Download their mobile apps, and even use Expedia on your new Apple Watch.
Use HotelPlanner as the perfect tool for finding nearby hotel deals for tonight. If you’re ready to stop for the night, HotelPlanner’s apps for iOS and Android are great at finding deals based on your location that are available immediately. Saving has never been easier.
HotelGuides is yet another tool that is great for searching for hotels along your route to your new home. If you have a rewards card with a particular hotel chain, you can use HotelGuides to search by hotel names and chains to find one along the way.
Travelocity has over 435,000 hotels to choose from worldwide, so you’re bound to find one on your path to your new home. Use their mobile app to find exclusive offers, hotels by location, and even book a hotel room with ease.
If you want to find the best deals online, Kayak compares tons of travel sites to show you the best rates available. Instead of comparing tons of hotel listings yourself, let Kayak compare different websites and you can save both money and time.
Getting to Know Your New Home
One of the best parts of relocating is learning about all the cool, fun things to do in your new locale. From restaurants to specialty shops, you will want to explore all of the local attractions to not only get to know your new town, but also to enjoy it.
TripAdvisor is built around travel, but also provides user-generated recommendations on what to do and where to eat in every city. If you want to get to know your new home a little better, search your city and look at what people suggest as the top things to do.
Yelp is well known for being the main place to view customer reviews for restaurants, hotels, and other businesses. Search your city and look through the highest rated businesses in the area to learn more about what your new home has to offer.
Professional Moving Help
Moving can be a lot of work, especially when it comes to lugging around large items like furniture and appliances. Instead of breaking your back trying to move everything yourself, hire some professional movers to get the job done quickly and easily. Here are some websites that specialize in finding moving professionals.
With HireAHelper, you can rent your own moving truck, then find a local moving company to help you load and unload. Search by date and zip code to find the best help available and easily compare up-front pricing, read customer reviews, and book your moving labor all on one website.
Movers Corp helps you search for moving companies by zip code and moving date so you can easily compare rates and services of various companies. Find information like license and insurance information, as well as customer reviews, to make sure you are hiring a reputable company to move your belongings and simply book right online.
With Moving Help, you can search for local moving companies nearby and immediately find their contact information. Moving Help also makes payment easy by allowing you to pay online before the move. Simply give your moving labor the Payment Code after the job is complete and Moving Help will take care of the rest.
123 Movers is the easy way to move. Fill out your information and immediately receive free quotes from qualified moving companies. You can then compare quotes to find the best deal. 123 Movers also has companies that will help you move cars across country if you need some help moving spare vehicles.
Movers.com has every service you could possibly need while moving. Search their website for long distance movers, local movers, truck rentals, and much more. If you have a certain moving company in mind already, you can select to search by moving company, as well.
Preparing for Moving Day
Moving day can be fairly stressful, but it doesn’t have to be when there are plenty of great apps to help it go smoothly. When moving day is finally upon you, use these apps to stay organized and calm throughout the entire process.
Move Planner iOS ($2.99)
Move Planner may cost $2.99, but the help it provides can be invaluable. This app has over 100 pre-populated moving tasks to ensure that you have everything in order before you move. Things like “Make sure you have your children’s school records,” and “Make sure you have your medical and dental records,” will help you think of everything you need to have in order before moving.
MoveMatch Android (FREE)
This app can be really helpful in determining the approximate weight of all of your items for shipping purposes and can also help you get a free quote for professional movers. In addition, you can also create lists that you can forward to the movers so they know where to place each box in your new home.
Moving Day iOS (FREE)
Moving Day for iOS is a must-have app for those who are in the process of packing everything into boxes. You can easily record what is inside each box and then print off a barcode label that you can stick to the outside. When it comes time to unpack, simply use your phone to read the barcode and you’ll instantly know what’s inside.
Self Storage
When moving long distances, it can sometimes be beneficial to use a storage unit to hold all of your belongings during the process. If you need to find a reliable storage facility and a great deal on storage, you can find it all online.
That’s right, us! We are here to help you find the ideal storage unit to fit your needs. If you’re storing the contents of your entire home, you’ll likely need a large unit. Find storage units 10×20, 10×30, or even larger right here on Storage.com. You can compare rates side by side and look for important amenities like drive-up access, advanced security, and climate control. Best of all, you can reserve your unit right online.
