The house is handled. The loan closed. And now you have to get everything you own from one place to another, which is the part nobody plans until it is three weeks out.
I have watched a lot of clients go through this, including the ones who had a great transaction and a miserable moving week because the moving piece got left to the end.
Here is how to handle it.
Book early, especially for summer
Greater Lafayette has a genuine moving season, and it is driven by the same calendar that drives everything else here.
Late spring through midsummer is the crunch. Families move between school years, the university turns over, leases end, and the trucks are all spoken for. Add the end of any month, which is busy everywhere.
Which means the good companies book out, and the leftovers are leftovers for a reason. If your move falls in that window, start calling as soon as you have a closing date, and earlier if you can.
If your timing is flexible, a midweek move outside peak season is easier to schedule and often cheaper. Spring versus fall relocation covers how the seasons compare for a move here.
Get real estimates
An estimate over the phone based on how many bedrooms you have is a guess. You want a survey, in person or by video, where somebody actually looks at what you own.
Ask for the estimate in writing and ask what kind it is. A binding estimate holds the price for the inventory surveyed. A not-to-exceed estimate caps it. A non-binding estimate is an opinion, and the final bill can land well above it.
Get several. Three is a reasonable number, and the spread tells you something. A quote dramatically below the others is not a bargain, it is usually an estimate that will grow on moving day.
Make sure the inventory is complete. The garage, the basement, the shed, the attic, the things in storage. Underdisclosed inventory is the leading cause of a moving day price increase, and it is usually the customer's oversight rather than the company's trick.
Check the company out
Moving is a business with excellent operators and some genuinely bad actors, so a few minutes of checking is worth it.
For a move crossing state lines, the company should be registered with the federal motor carrier regulator, and you can look up a mover's registration and complaint history through the federal Protect Your Move site. That is the single most useful verification step for a long-distance move.
For a local move, ask how long they have worked in this area, ask for references, and pay attention to whether they show up when they say they will for the estimate. A company that is late to the sales appointment is telling you something.
Confirm they carry insurance and workers compensation, because an injury at your house is a problem you want to belong to somebody else.
And be wary of the classic warning signs: a large cash deposit demanded upfront, no written estimate, a name that keeps changing, or a crew that shows up in an unmarked truck.
Understand what is covered
This surprises people every time.
Basic liability included with a move is generally calculated by weight rather than value, which means a heavy inexpensive item is covered better than a light valuable one. It is not insurance in any sense you would recognize.
Full value protection costs more and behaves more like coverage. Ask what it costs, what the deductible is, and what is excluded.
Then call your own insurance agent and ask what your policy does for goods in transit, because the answer varies and it is better to know in advance. While you are on the phone, sort out coverage for the new house. Homeowners insurance for Indiana buyers covers what to set up and when.
Photograph anything valuable before it is packed, including the condition it is in. That documentation is what makes a claim work.
Doing it yourself
Plenty of local moves are better done with a rental truck and some help, and I say that as somebody who has watched both approaches.
Count the real costs before you decide. Truck rental, mileage, fuel, dollies and pads, boxes, and whatever you pay the people helping you, in money or in food. Then count your own time, which is the cost people leave out.
A middle path exists and it is underused: rent the truck and hire labor for the loading and unloading only. You control the drive and the schedule, and you are not the one carrying a sleeper sofa up a half flight.
For anyone closing on two houses in the same week, think hard before adding a self-move to that week. That is a lot of moving parts, and the timeline is already tight. The moving out timeline after you sell covers how those dates fit together.
The timing puzzle
The hardest part of most moves is not the truck, it is the gap.
If you are selling one home and buying another, the two closings rarely line up perfectly, and you end up needing storage, a short rental, or an agreement letting you stay a few days after closing. All of those are solvable, and all of them are easier to solve in advance than in the final week. Selling before you buy covers the sequencing, and temporary housing here covers the bridge options.
If you are coming from out of state, decide early whether your belongings arrive with you or after. Storage in transit is a normal service and it is worth asking about.
Do not schedule the truck for the same day as the closing if you can avoid it. Closings move. A truck that is already loaded when a closing slips becomes an expensive problem.
The last week
A few things that make the final stretch easier.
Set utilities to transfer with a day of overlap rather than a gap. The utilities and internet guide covers who serves what here, and internet in particular can take longer to schedule than you expect.
Pack a box that stays with you: documents, chargers, medications, a change of clothes, coffee, and whatever the kids need to feel normal. Moving with kids and moving with pets both cover the humans and animals in the middle of this.
Then work the rest of the list. The moving checklist covers it in order, and the first month checklist picks up after you land.
A moving company handles the boxes. Getting the closing dates, the possession terms, and the gap between two houses to line up is a different job, and it is the one where having somebody local matters.
If you are planning a move to or within Greater Lafayette, grab a time on my calendar and we will map the dates together. A real person reads every message. No pressure either way. Let's get you home.