Moving can be incredibly hard and stressful, but it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. In this video Chelsea and Lauren share tips on how to move without going broke. Learn what Lauren wishes she hadn’t bought for her first apartment here:
Hi i’m chelsea and i’m lauren and we are the financial diet with our glorious fall makeovers and today we’re going to be talking about how to prepare for moving so that it’s easier and less expensive lauren and i actually both moved recently and what is probably objectively the worst possible city to move in new york city for example my boyfriend and i when we
Moved just like last month between the move itself the broker’s fee all of the costs when moving in we came out at about ten thousand dollars which sounds insane but if you consider that there are apartments in the city that rent for ten thousand dollars a month for a one-bedroom it’s all relative the point is that it’s a huge amount of savings that you really
Have to prepare for one of the first expenses that you’re going to incur is the application fee which basically covers the cheque that the landlord has to do on your credit history and your credit score now this has paid per person so if there’s two people renting both of you pay and it ranges from 60 to about 150 dollars roughly and then depending on what you’re
Looking for you might also need to work with a broker marc and i for example we’re looking for a two-bedroom minimum because tfd needed an office and we actually ended up in a duplex but we knew that we needed a broker to help us navigate that and brokers are typical in cities where the market is very competitive and things move really quickly and generally you can
Expect to pay between 4 and 15 percent of a year’s rent on the broker fee itself and trust me you will present every moment of signing that check because even though sometimes they’re absolutely necessary they really don’t do that much next you’ll have to pay the first month’s rent along with a safety deposit which usually takes the form of the last month’s rent
Would you get back at the end of the lease so that’s exciting you might also be asked to pay a good-faith deposit and for us it was about $500 and this can really vary but it usually goes towards your first month’s rent and once you’re all moved in you’re going to want to have things that we can call settling in expenses like painting supplies cleaning supplies and
Everything you’ll need to actually prepare the apartment right and by the way paint is like $40 a gallon and needs several of them to paint a big room so don’t think that that’s something that you can forget about you’ll also want to clean your space before you get in which will require a boatload of cleaning supplies which is something that i personally didn’t
Budget for and so i went to target and $100 later i was all hooked up but it’s expensive and you’re also going to want to budget for the actual moving day which is things like a van movers and everything you need basically to get your furniture from one place to another and this obviously varies in terms of cost depending on where you live and how many stuff you
Have but for me it was about $600 plus tip for four hours two guys and a truck so it’s expensive as hell and don’t forget to budget for renter’s insurance which typically costs roughly twenty dollars a month and if you’re moving into a place for your first time don’t forget to do a sweep of all the family members to see what stuff you can get for free secondhand
Because often it’s a pretty good quality and the people want to get rid of it anyway so check and some goals all of that see what you can get i personally missed out on a kitchenaid stand mixer because i didn’t think to ask which yes is one of the greatest tragedies in my recent life so it’s helpful to downsize your life and declutter and get rid of belongings
That are not even worth the cost of moving anyway and it’s a great opportunity to make a little bit of extra cash for yourself by filling things on craigslist have a stoop or a yard sale and just use a word of mouth with friends to get rid of stuff that you don’t need and when it comes to movers what’s really important is minimizing the cost as much as you can
Before the big day comes now that means making smaller trips in your cars with the stuff that you can fit as she said downsizing some of your furniture that’s not even worth making the move and making sure that everything’s packed up and ready to go as much as possible so that the movers just have to come in get this stuff over lay it out because often they charge
By the hour another way that you can reduce the overall cost of the move is trying to negotiate down the broker’s fee with the actual broker i know several people in new york who’ve gone to the signing and said look we want to take the apartment but at a 10 percent fee not 15 don’t underestimate how much it’s the broker who really wants to close that deal and on
Especially in rentals so definitely negotiate and don’t forget to plan ahead for what you’ll need in your new space to minimize the time wasted going back and forth between your old place and your get 1 things like cleaning supplies you should order online to have arrived the day after you get there so you don’t have to make any unnecessary trip and it’s already
Waiting for you moving is tough and expensive but there are ways to be smart about it and remember that the more you plan ahead of time the less it’ll suck so don’t forget to hit the subscribe button and go to the financial.com for more bye
Transcribed from video
How To Move Without Going Broke | The Financial Diet By The Financial Diet