Trash and Recycling Bins

Trash cans aren’t the most glamorous items you own, but they do serve an important purpose. Since many people leave their trash cans outside, they are easily overlooked when you’re making sure your home is completely packed up. This isn’t as much of an issue with cheaper, smaller trash cans but this can be a pricey oversight if you own a large trash receptacle. Remember to pack all bins away before you leave so that you will have someplace to leave your trash when you get to your new home.

Sundries in your Medicine Cabinet

Many homes are outfitted with medicine cabinets behind the mirror in their bathroom, and because they are essentially hidden from sight unlike the other cabinets in your home, they’re easy to forget about. It isn’t too shocking to discover then that many people forget to pack everything in said cabinets. This could leave you without important medications, bandages, makeup and whatever sundry items you store in your bathroom.

Lighting

Since you use it every day, it’s easy to forget that the $100 floor lamp sitting in the corner wasn’t always a part of the house. Similarly, lighting fixtures of all types are seemingly overlooked when moving including outdoor decorative lights, solar-powered walkway lights and all kinds of lamps. It doesn’t help that it’s one of the last things you’ll have to remove from the home since you’ll likely need them to see while you’re doing any last minute cleanups in your house.

Items You’ve Lent Out

Perhaps the most commonly forgotten items are those that aren’t even in your home at all. Being neighborly often means lending out appliances, electronics or home care products to nearby acquaintances. Often times this means you’ll lend out an item and subsequently forgot about until it’s brought back to you. Make a mental note of every item you’ve lent out before you move and be sure to make an attempt to retrieve it before leaving. Similarly, this would be a great time to give back any items you may have borrowed from your neighbors.

When moving large or bulky items, it’s important to follow a few safety precautions. Even if you don’t think it’s necessary, practicing lifting safety can help you save your muscles from strain and prevent serious injuries. Back injuries can happen unexpectedly when you’re not prepared, and the damage can take years to recover from. Here are a few tips for lifting heavy objects:

– When packing, put heavy items in smaller boxes. This will prevent you from making a box impossibly heavy.
– Lift with your knees, not your back. This means you should squat down to pick something up, not bend over.
– Always get help for carrying large or heavy items, especially if they’re bulky
– Use a dolly or other lifting or special equipment to help relieve the weight from you
– Take frequent breaks and stay hydrated
– If you have to strain to lift something, get help. Don’t hurt yourself trying to lift things that are too heavy for you.

Top 10 Heaviest Household Items You May Have to Move

– Refrigerators. These can range from 200 to 500 pounds and are large, awkward and bulky
– Washer and dryer. Expect these to weigh from 70 to 200 pounds each depending on their size.
– Televisions. Old-fashioned cathode ray tube TVs can be difficult to carry due to their awkward shape, while flat-screen TVs are often much larger and can weigh up to 100 pounds.
– Boxes of books. Many people will fill large boxes with dozens of heavy books, leading too a large package that can easily weigh 50 pounds or more.
– Sofas, couches and chairs. Furniture is often fairly light-weight for its size, but it’s hard to get a good grip on and may be fragile when lifted from certain angles.

By practicing these tips, you can help reduce the difficulty of moving some of these and other heavy household items. Of course, if you don’t feel like straining your muscles, you can always pay someone else to do it for you, whether a professional or an eager young neighbor. Your body will thank you for it later.

Use a Moving Company

It is easy to think that moving oneself is the cheapest way to go. However, there are many costs associated with moving without professional assistance that can add up quick. Truck rental, mileage, moving supplies, equipment rental and gas can drive up the price fast. Many people have to take days off from work to pack and move, resulting in lost income.

A moving company – like Unicorn Moving – will be able to move your stuff fast, quick and at a fair price. These companies offer a range of services, making it easy to find and pay for only the needed ones. For example, some companies offer a discount when combining services such as moving and on-site storing. It is also possible to hire the company to just move the things while the homeowner does the packing.

Sell Unwanted Items

While packing, it is likely that some items will be deemed as unnecessary or no longer wanted. Instead of moving with them and then selling, hold a garage sale or list the items on an online classifieds site. This will save the trouble of having to pack and move the items. It will also supply a little extra cash to help with moving expenses. Make a determination to sell things that don’t get used to save on labor costs and packing materials. This is especially true for large, heavy or bulky items.

Budget for Deposits

Utility and service companies often charge a deposit when starting service. It is easy to forget about these charges and not leave room in the budget for them. Inquire at each company to see if they are willing to waive the deposit fee. For example, some will not charge the fee if the homeowner can produce a letter from a previous service stating that payments are on time and up-to-date. Doing this can possibly save hundreds of dollars. In addition, don’t forget to ask for deposits back from current service providers.

Monitoring your pets with high supervision is vital, especially upon first arriving at a new home. Make sure the pet has a collar and an Identification tag containing vital information just in case he gets lost. Many individuals have even gone as far as to implant a tracking device inside their pets to ensure the pets will never get lost.

If the pet happens to be a dog, experts suggest that he is allowed to observe his new surroundings with his owner close by. Walking slowly with the dog throughout the house can help ease him in to this new location. If at all possible, one should set up his dog’s home in a similar fashion as it was in the old house. The move can also be made easier if the dog is provided with old toys. In addition to these things, one should give his dog great amounts of attention full of walks and other activities. Things like this will be sure to make him feel more like home.

Many pet owners find a dog’s transition to his new home to go more smoothly than the typical cat’s transition as most cats grow more strongly attached to a home. One of the best ways to help a cat adjust to a move is to place the cat in a closed room during the moving process. This way the animal can entertain himself without becoming frantic at the changes occurring throughout the house. Having the cat observe the new surroundings for himself is also encouraged, especially inside. When outside, one may find it best to limit the amount of time by itself and then gradually increasing this time each day to be sure the cat does not run away.

Although this advice has shown itself useful in a myriad of situations across the globe, sometimes pets simply cannot make the adjustment without major difficulty. If serious complications arise such as loss of appetite or other extremely unusual behavior, the pet owner needs to seek professional help immediately. Most veterinarians will know how to best deal with the animal.

Who will Benefit from this Settlement?

This settlement is the most significant that has been met between the federal and state governments and the banks. This money is meant to assist homeowners whose mortgage balance is higher than what their home is worth. However, this settlement will not be able to rescue the millions of homeowners who are suffering with financial difficulty due to the banks alleged deceptive mortgage practices. In fact, some critics believe that this settlement will scarcely cover the moving costs for homeowners who are losing or have already lost their homes. This enormous settlement between the state and federal governments and the mortgage providers will only give these homeowners a few thousand dollars each. The settlement pertains to individuals whose homes were foreclosed on from 2008 to the end of 2011.

Settlement Amount May Only Cover Moving Costs

The settlement is valued at $26 billion and provides mortgage relief for individuals who are suffering with financial difficulty. The amount of relief for these homeowners is $17 billion. The 750,000 homeowners who lost their homes because of foreclosure from 2008 to the latter part of 2011 will receive a one-time payment of $1,500 to $2,000. For many of these displaced homeowners, this may just about cover their moving costs.

Still Maintain Their Right to Sue

One positive aspect of the settlement for the homeowners affected is that receiving a payout will not forego their right to sue. This is good news for the affected homeowners because many times the right to sue is forfeited once they accept payment from a class-action settlement.

Principal Reduction vs. Monetary Payout

Individuals who were able to keep possession of their homes will benefit much more than those who did not. This relief includes helping them pay down the principal on their home loans. This could prove to be more valuable than the actual dollar amount, according to USA Today.

The reduction of the principal is expected to greatly affect the homeowner and benefit him much more than the actual monetary payout itself. The servicers will receive ‘credits’ for the writing down of loans at various stages of the collection process. The credit they receive will vary, according to officials. One official estimated that the $26 billion deal might provide homeowners with as much as $40 billion worth of mortgage relief.

Give them Away

Put an add up on a local give and receive site looking for another family that is moving, or talk to your friends to see if they need any boxes for storage or moving. Break each box down flat for easy transport that takes up minimal space.

Use for Storage

The large wardrobe boxes make excellent storage vessels for off-season clothing, extra winter coats, sleeping bags, or anything else you want stored neatly away. Consider placing one or two boxes in the basement or garage to store these items. Just keep them dry, and your stuff will be fine. Smaller boxes can hold recyclables, toys, books and magazines, or other items needing a place to be stored.

Let Your Kids Play

Indulge your kids for a time by letting them play in the boxes. We can all probably remember a time when creating a cardboard fort was foremost on our to-do lists. With several moving boxes, your children could set up a cardboard city. Encourage them to make windows and doors and decorate with paint and markers. You might be surprised how creative they are. You might even get involved to help them create a rocket, a giant caterpillar, or something even more inventive.

Trash Cans

Line small or medium-sized boxes with garbage bags, turning the box into a trash can. You can stash them inside a cupboard or closet. Use boxes to get rid of chemical wastes, like paints and oils that often leak out of the trash bag.

Make Compost

Turn the cardboard into compost for your vegetable or flower garden. Just break it into small pieces, sprinkle on the soil, moisten, and stir it into the soil.

Mail Packages

Save a few smaller boxes for mailing packages. Boxes are nice to have on hand, especially around the holidays, when many people are sending gifts long distance.

Make Kindling

If you have a wood stove, or often make campfires, save the boxes for kindling. Just tear or cut the boxes into thin pieces and keep them in a dry location.

Make a Birdfeeder

Fill a box with seed and hang it from a tree branch for a treat the birds and squirrels will love. Rain and snow will cause the cardboard to moisten and break apart, but the squirrels and birds will happily carry it away to add to their nests.

The highest mobility rate the country has ever experienced was in 1951 when 21.2 percent of the population moved residences.

In 2010, young adults between the ages of 25- and 29-years old were the most likely to move.  24.1 percent of this demographic moved to a new location last year.

3.4 percent of the U.S. population moved over a long distance in 2010 and 15.4 percent of the population moved locally.

Austin, San Antonio, and Houston were 3 of the cities researchers included on a short list of places that were able to combat the problems of the housing market crisis and economy and attract movers.

If you or someone you know is planning a move and looking for an experienced and professional team of residential movers, contact the Austin movers of Unicorn Moving & Storage by calling 512-339-9922.

Things passed down from family members, children’s furniture and other items that children have outgrown, old furniture from a different home or business, and collectibles often clutter people’s homes.

In order to avoid clutter and having to give up sentimental possessions, many people use storage facilities.  The most commonly stored items are family heirlooms, antiques, collectibles, and seasonal decorations.

Contact the Austin storage professionals of Unicorn Moving & Storage by calling 512-339-9922 today, if you or someone you know has questions about our storage facilities in Austin.

The association’s builder sentiment index reflects the optimism and pessimism felt by home builders across the country.  An index below 50 indicates a pessimistic sentiment.

The last time the index reached pessimistic levels was in April 2006.  For 23 out of the past 24 months, the builder sentiment index has remained below 20.

Home builders listed 23 metro areas determined to be “improving.”  7 of the metro areas are in Texas.  In the South, the builders index rose by 4 points.

If you or someone you know is seeking experienced home movers to make the moving process easier, contact the Austin movers of Unicorn Moving & Storage by calling 512-339-9922 today.

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The move is expected to double the size of their office space and employment.  Facebook’s Austin office opened a little over a year ago and currently employs around 150 people.

Officials say the sales team will be moving into the floor of the building just above the floor that their current office is on.  Facebook Inc.’s headquarters is also planning to move to a new location in Menlo Park, California.

The tech company is expected to go public next year.

If you or someone you know needs assistance packing, storing, or moving high-tech equipment, contact the Austin high-tech movers of Unicorn Moving & Storage at 512-339-9922 to learn more about how our professional moving team safely moves high-tech equipment.

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