So, you’re preparing for a move and wondering how much it will cost you. We understand hiring movers can sometimes be unpleasant—after all, you’ve already purchased a lovely new home…now it’s time to shell out additional cash to get your belongings there? Ouch.

But hiring a professional removalist team shouldn’t be a difficult task, and the cost will largely depend on your budget and what optional services you may want to add on. Today, we’ll be answering your questions about the real cost of hiring a professional removalist in…and how much it can cost if you don’t.

Average Costs of a Move

On average, you can expect to pay anywhere from $300 – $3,500 for a same-city move. This equates to a fee of $75 – $300 per hour.

One factor that determines the cost of a removalist team is the size of your home and amount of belongings you’ve collected. According to the online service directory, HiPages, you can expect to pay the following fees:

 

Rate Size # of Movers Time
$125 1 Bedroom Apartment 2 movers 3 – 5 hours
$175 Small 3-bedroom Apartment 3 movers 4 – 6 hours
$245 3 Bedroom home 4 movers 4 – 6 hours
$315 4+ Bedroom home 5 movers 7 – 9 hours

 

People often try to save money by moving themselves and, while this is certainly an option, it’s important to consider all the equipment removalists have on hand that you’ll need to rent in order to pull off a successful move—like a truck, dollies, and moving blankets.

Movers also receive specialised training in lifting and carrying heavy furniture like sofas, tables, and dressers. Odds are the movers’ backs will be just fine at the end of a long day of moving. Yours, on the other hand? Let’s just say you may want to have the ice pack chilled and a bottle of aspirin at the ready.

What Will Movers Do?

The nice thing about hiring a professional team is that their services may be tailored to fit within your budget. If funds are lean and saving money is a priority, you may opt to pack your own boxes and dismantle your own furniture. This means the movers will only place your belongings on the truck, transport them, then leave everything at your new address.

If you have a larger budget, you may want to consider adding packing services to your bill. In this case your removalists will send a team of packing pros to carefully pack up your belongings in a fraction of the time it would take you to complete the task.

You may also want the team to unpack your boxes once they arrive in your new home. While it adds to the overall moving costs, it frees you up to take care of other tasks (and there are always a million things to take care of when moving).

Important Things to Ask Your Removalist BEFORE You Hire Them

There are many things you should consider before hiring a removalist. Choosing the cheapest company you can find is not always the best idea (there’s a reason “You get what you pay for” is an age-old adage).

Before you hire a removalist team, ask them important questions like:

  • Is insurance included in your moving fees and, if so, what type of insurance do you carry?
  • How many movers are included in your quoted price?
  • Does your quote include GST?
  • Am I paying a door-to-door or depot-to-depot rate?
  • Are there any additional costs that are NOT included in your quote?
  • May I have a list of references?
  • Are you a member of AFRA?

If you’re considering a removalist who can’t—or won’t—answer any of the questions above, take your business elsewhere. Finding a high-quality, conscientious removalist team shouldn’t be hard, and you shouldn’t have to pry answers out of them.

Remember to ask for estimates from multiple moving companies (three or four, minimum), and make sure they send a representative to conduct a walk through evaluation of your home. This is the only way they can provide a reliable estimate.

Consider the Complexity of Your Move

Factors that extend the time it takes to move your belongings will affect how much you pay. The further the distance between your old home and your new, the more time and gas it’s going to take to get your belongings there.

Are you moving from a 3rd story flat to a 6th story condo? Navigating large furniture up and down flights of stairs, into building lifts, or through narrow hallways can extend the length of time it takes to move you and will likely increase the cost.

At the end of the day, how much you pay for your move will depend largely on your budget and your needs. What you shouldn’t get is a cookie-cutter estimate…because your move is uniquely yours.

When it comes time to move, we hope you’ll contact us at Holloway Removals. We’re proud to be one of the top removalist companies in Sydney, and we’ve earned our reputation by providing tailored estimates to our clients with exactly what they need—nothing more, nothing less.

We’d love to offer the same stellar service to you…

After all, it’s your move.