Our team has been in the industry for many times, and in the past 5 years the demand for movers on certain dates in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Jersey City is getting out of hand. As I watch the chaos unfold at the end of each month when there are almost no moving companies with availability and all of the rental trucks are reserved, I shake my head in disbelief. Why do all the large buildings in our city insist that their tenants sign leases that end on the last day of the month?
To illustrate just how bad the situation at the end of the summer months has become, I will share a personal story. Last month a close friend of mine has reached out to me on Thursday, June 28th, and prefaced the conversation with “so you are going to hate me”. For reasons I still quite do not understand, his ability to extend the lease by several days was taken off the table and he was only able to move into his new apartment on June 30th, leaving only the one day to complete his relocation. He searched all the local website for truck rentals around New York City, Jersey, Long Island and as it turned out, they were all booked solid. Go To Moving has already been booked for the last week of the month for weeks in advance, as most of other reputable companies… and even the not so reputable ones.
My friend faced losing his security deposit, in the thousands of dollars, if he cannot get all of his furniture and boxes out of his apartment June 30th, with 2.5 days left to scramble and find a way out. Luckily for him, one of my vans was not in use and I took time out of my day to come and help him myself along with some of our other fellow Brooklyn Tech alumni friends. He was lucky.
The situation is much worse if you have a large apartment, work schedule, kids, pets, and the unexpected in life further limiting your options. The best thing you can do to make your search for a mover easier is follow the few trends I found over the years:
– Summer months are much busier. May-September may have more apartments on the market which is definitely important in the apartment search in our crazy city, but finding a moving company becomes exponentially more difficult, and often, more expensive.
– The last several days of the month are over saturated. If you have no choice but to move one of the last 4-5 days of the month, prepare yourself to compete with other customers to hire a reputable moving company, rather than shop around and compare rates endlessly or ask for discounts.
– Fridays and Saturdays is preferred… by everyone. You are not the only one who wants to move on Friday or Saturday in order to unpack over the weekend and avoid taking days off of work. The last Friday of the month is generally all booked as much as 4-6 weeks in advance.
– The 1st of each month is almost as bad as the 30th. After realizing there is an issue with availability for the last day of the month, the management granted an extra day to stay in you apartment and you are allowed to move out on the 1st. The other half of New York had the same idea, unfortunately and the 1st is not much easier to accommodate than other days.
To summarize all of this… When is the best date to move? Try to pick a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday of the second week of the month.
Why? Because you will get a much better deal on your move, and will be able to book a reputable company weeks or days in advance instead of months. Furthermore, if you have live in an elevator building odds are that at the end of the month there will be other moves going on. Even if the management promises you use of the elevator for a certain hour… this often does not work out in practice. Lastly, there is less traffic, and as supply and demand laws dictate, you are at greater odds to get the best crew for your move if you do not pick a busy day.
Happy Moving!