New Job in a New City!!!

[mrs.b]

Since you know the Chicagoland area, do you have any specific recommendations for suburbs? I've looked north and northwest, but am still not sure..

I'll toss out some options, but we moved away about ten years ago, so a lot can change in that time and we have not kept up with the status of the neighborhoods. Our friends have visited us here; we have not been back (though I would like to at some point).

The south side has a bad reputation, but if you live further out, it can be quite nice. We lived in the Park Forest and then Monee suburbs and there's a metro station right there on one of the lines that does not see many delays; the run itself was only about 45 minutes to an hour. Still, as I mentioned, it constituted a 2 hour commute - the travel to the station, and then from the other station to the office took just as much time. That was 4 hours of our day traveling. When it was just my husband and me, it was fine; we spent a lot of time together on the train, at the station, etc. Once our son came along, though, it was too much of a drain on time with our newly expanded family and that was a big contributor to our decision to leave the area. Matteson, Orland Park, and Tinley Park were also fine.

West side is also something I would consider if we ever moved back. Aurora, Fox Valley, etc. are all fine. Anything north of Joliet.

A lot of north side is also nice, but the price tags reflect it.

Honestly, you need to consider where your office is located, and scout out the travel routes you would like to take - available metro into the city, and also how far the metro station in town is from your building. Driving is an option, and sometimes it can save you time. Just as often, the traffic can cause even more of a delay and the parking and fuel expenses can be insane over time. (We would drive in once or twice a month if we ran late and missed our train, but it was not Plan A.) Also, where are your friends? You'll want to see them once in a while, and if they live in north suburbs and you live in the south, it can take you two or more hours to get there for an evening hang-out. You might find the most fantastic house, but if it includes an insane commute, it won't be so fantastic after a while.

Let your realtor know where your office is and where your friends' neighborhoods are, and use them for good advice on minimizing your commutes while putting you in a neighborhood that meets the safety and comfort you want.

On the moving dilemma...to piggyback on cook's advice, we had the pro movers do all the heavy lifting, but we also pared down all three households and sold a ton. When we were done, all three households were effectively one. It saved a lot of cash and would have saved even more if it were just one household! The difference in $$ can go a long way at IKEA to refurnish.

[NumberSix]

Often you can get used boxes for free from a grocery store. If not try Uline ULINE - Shipping Boxes, Shipping Supplies, Packaging Materials, Packing Supplies

[burbuja0512]

Wow you guys.. thank you. The advice is needed! Today I gave notice at work and my wonderful boss was great as usual.. really happy for me and sad that I'll be leaving.

However, now that my job knows.. OMG crazy day. My head is swimming and I can't think!!! *feeling overwhelmed*

[EI2HCB]

Locations, Park Ridge, Lake Forest are good neighborhoods. You could always think about Woodstock IL or Crystal Lake IL on the Union Pacific Northwest Rail line (1hr 45 mins to downtown on the train)
The pods thing is a great idea, I guess it depends on how many helpers you'll have, sometimes Craigslist will have people giving away boxes. Its a great city at times, make sure you check out local ordinances before you ship any firearms, some towns like Niles IL have a restriction that you can't drive through with a firearm even with an IL permit.

[Getiton1]

Awesome news!

CONGRATULATIONS!

I had this super long reply, but it disappeared. But the main thing was congratulations and a few bits of advice. I figured your boss and colleagues would take it well. And your husband is from the area, so you might be coming back to visit again soon. Also with social media it's so much easier to keep in touch and "see" each other using technology like Skype and FaceTime. Of course they will miss you, but that's really good testament to how awesome you are

My main advice was ALWAYS check with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) 1st before you pick a mover if you are going to hire a mover. (I think hiring a mover is a wise move because it's pretty far, and it will cost you time and a lot of money unless you have a caravan of Uhauls and 3-4 trustworthy drivers to move a house with a family. Once you pick your mover make 100% sure you have a signed contract. My parents got screwed by their moving company and were charged thousands of dollars more than they were quoted and they did not get their stuff back for 3 weeks…almost a month and when they did their stuff was damaged. If you don't have a contract, you have no legal recourse. They can charge you whatever they feel like. If you have a contract that includes all supplies and time lines, etc. you can have a leg to stand on (and some clean clothes on your back)! My parents were royally screwed, which is why I feel like I have to tell you how important this is.

Other options for moving might be to hire college kids (trustworthy ones that you know). The bad part is if you can't trust them things can disappear, get lost or broken. Plus HUGE Uhauls are hard to drive for the average person, so unless you have experience with driving huge trucks, consider the ease of hiring a professional and peer recommended moving company.

Okay, so you have your moving plan set up (yourselves, college kids, or a pro company with a contract and several checked references). Now you it's you against the clock. Here's what worked for me. I took things room by room with my husband. We packed the easy rooms first. The attic and the garage. I used color coded stickers like you get at the dollar store. Grey and brown for the attic and garage respectively. We put everything that was in halfway decent condition on eBay, Craig's list first with a "first come, first serve policy" which pretty much eliminated the flaky people. Plus we made some money…and and that left room for more important stuff to fit in the truck. Whatever we couldn't sell on eBay and Craigs list we tried to sell at a garage sale. Right after that we dropped off the nice stuff that was left over to charity. When Charity wouldn't take the big stuff like bookshelves and furniture, we "free cycled" (a website) it and left it for the people to come pick up. We did this for every room and color coded the boxes with stickers for each room of the new house. Each person the house was responsible for packing up a room, and each room had 3 piles…1. keep, 2. sell, 3. donate. Once the items were marked "keep" it went into that rooms box with that rooms sticker on it. Each person packed a suitcase with "must haves". My advise is to start with packing your garage and attic stuff first. That will give you a gauge to how fast or slow your progress is. Pack your bedroom and kitchen last because thats going to be closest to the back door of your moving truck. You want to be able to get to your bed and your food once you get to your new house. I packed garbage bags, food, knives and spoons along with cereal, granola bars and almond milk (because it comes in those stay fresh but room temperature cartons for having a quick bowl of cereal or cup of coffee/tea.) I put that in a huge box labeled " PACK LAST and keep this by the back door of truck" and had loads of red stickers on it so it would be easily recognizable by all. Also I packed some nuts, trail mix and power drinks/H20 because everyone will get thirsty and you don't know what the water will be like.

Pack a suitcase with everything you absolutely have to have if for any reason you can't settle in the house the first day. For example, I packed a suitcase with a blanket, pillow, sweat pants, t-shirt, underthings for a few days, and a dopp kit with toiletries. ALWAYS bring an extra garbage bag, and toilet paper in all cars. I was SOOO happy I did this.

Oh before I forget…make sure on moving out day you have two different people (in my case it was my husband and I) with the old house keys and a spare set with a trustworthy person like a neighbor or a friend that's helping move you. I can't tell you how bad it sucked to be locked out of my parents house because they both left with their house keys and they thought I was already in the house packing. My cell phone was also locked in the house which meant I had to wait hours in the cold before they realized I was locked out. Giving me one of their sets of keys or a spare set would have solved the problem.

Those are my best moving tips for you As for boxes I agree with everyone else. You can also pick up great boxes at liquor stores. The often have wooden crates which are awesome for glass/breakables…you just have to ask…put it out there to them and they usually will give them to you because that means they don't have to break them down. File boxes are the best, small but not too small and you can label them easily.

Always have loads of tape, big fat sharpie markers, and scissors on hand. I kept a pair of scissors in my car because on moving in day nothing is worse then having the boxes taped up like Fort Knox and having to guess which one has your pajamas or food for the evening in them. Pack extra scissors in your cars if you are driving them or pack them in the trunk of your car is being transported. Color coded stickers are great and you can tape big colors to the doors of the rooms the boxes are going to be moved into. That means everyone can find what goes where quickly and visually.

WOW! I am so excited for you! You are another amazing InstantCert Success story!

Congratulations!
Tara

Wow you guys.. thank you. The advice is needed! Today I gave notice at work and my wonderful boss was great as usual.. really happy for me and sad that I'll be leaving.

However, now that my job knows.. OMG crazy day. My head is swimming and I can't think!!! *feeling overwhelmed*

[Getiton1]

Duplicate entry…please ignore.

[mrs.b]

Oh! I forgot Highland Park. Lots of adorable, family homes there and it's closer on the train line than some of the further suburbs I listed. Ferris Beuller's friend, Cameron's house is in that neighborhood (overpriced and outdated, but fun to drive by the first time or two). Not all are priced in the realm of Cameron's house if you happen to look that up.

Also...I'm not sure how it is going, but when we were preparing to leave, there was a big move by the city to reclaim formerly run-down neighborhoods. Lots of warehouses turned condo, or in some cases, family homes. That'll put you a fairly short L or cab ride to work, if you are okay with living in the city itself, and can find one that will fit your family and budget (though you will probably want to find a private school for the kids in your budget as well, or consider homeschooling for the rest of them, unless the city schooling situation has changed much). That plan may not have worked as intended, but it seemed to really be taking off when we were still there.

[burbuja0512]

Awesome news!


My main advice was ALWAYS check with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) 1st before you pick a mover if you are going to hire a mover. (I think hiring a mover is a wise move because it's pretty far, and it will cost you time and a lot of money unless you have a caravan of Uhauls and 3-4 trustworthy drivers to move a house with a family. Once you pick your mover make 100% sure you have a signed contract. My parents got screwed by their moving company and were charged thousands of dollars more than they were quoted and they did not get their stuff back for 3 weeks…almost a month and when they did their stuff was damaged. If you don't have a contract, you have no legal recourse. They can charge you whatever they feel like. If you have a contract that includes all supplies and time lines, etc. you can have a leg to stand on (and some clean clothes on your back)! My parents were royally screwed, which is why I feel like I have to tell you how important this is.

Thank you - lots of great advice.. I couldn't agree more about the movers. Last time I moved was 6+ years ago and it was only a mile from a small house to a larger house and we hired movers just to help with the heavy stuff. Since we didn't need them to do everything, we decided we would just pay for three hours of work. Well, I have never seen people take SOOOOO many cigarette breaks. I'm not kidding!! These guys literally stepped outside to smoke every 15 minutes and went to the bathroom or to get a sip of water at least twice an hour. We ended up yelling at them - told them that we'd pay them for 5 hours, but they had to actually work. Was a total nightmare and I will never pay movers by the hour again... just by the job and they can take it or leave it if they don't like it.

@Mrs. B & EI2HCB- thank you for all the suburb suggestions. I've looked into some of these so far and see quite a few good options. The housing market in Illinois is bad compared to here so I should be able to get a decent place once we sell our house. The only problem I see are the mind-boggling property taxes. HOLY COW!!! Some of the properties that look like a "good deal" have annual tax bills of 10k or more!!!! OMG never seen anything like it!! We're basing our housing search around which suburbs are slightly less expensive. None of them are great, but trying to find a great place that won't charge us so much just to buy a house there.

[BGSU_Alum_86]

After 3 moves in the past 8 years, we no longer panic when it is time to pack up the house to make the next move. Each move has been out of state and each one further than the previous one. We rented a big Penske moving truck the first time (from OH to NY), but have used ABF the rest of the time (NY to MN, MN to CA). We love ABF! They will tell you how long it will take to transport your trailer to your destination and even give you a tracking number so that you can follow it along. You give them a call when you are ready for the trailer to be dropped off. Make sure you have a place where it is allowed to sit, possibly overnight. We had a problem in our tight association and ended up having our trailer dropped on the main street, rented a U-Haul pickup truck and made short loads into our townhouse association, using our garage as a quick drop. It wasn't horrible and didn't cost that much more.

When ABFgives you a quote, it is based on the size of your home. Besides the overall quote, they also give you a cubic foot price. They will confirm how much space you used once you install the temporary wall behind your goods. Your price will go up or down from the quote depending on how you did in utilizing the space (adding or subtracting the cubic foot price). We have never used the amount of space they have quoted.

We learned early on that it was best to try to stick to as few different size boxes as possible. My husband found it much easier to pack the trailer by stacking all like-sized boxes and basically create another wall. We used egg boxes and apple boxes (no tape needed for the apple boxes as the two pieces fit inside one another). We had very few small boxes, but you always end up with some of those odd-shaped ones. We not only labeled what room destination for each box, but also jotted down some main items that were in the box. Anything you need right away should either travel in the cars with you or be loaded at the back of the trailer. My husband decided to keep all nuts and bolts in one box, each divided by furniture piece and put into ziploc bags (labeled), and the box stayed with us so we wouldn't be scrambling to find it.

I also learned to utilize empty spaces -- I stuffed soft things inside the washer and dryer cavities (think coats, bedding, etc.). We removed the shelves from bookshelves where able and stacked boxes inside the body of the bookshelf. Nothing was empty!

Husband loves that stretchy film and bought it for every move. Hate to have drawers swinging open when moving a desk, encase them in stretchy film. Have furniture pieces that break down into flat pieces (like IKEA furniture)? Wrap them together using the film. We have a shoe cubby that holds something like 24 pairs of shoes. We loaded that thing with shoes we wouldn't need and husband wrapped it up!

If you have any old sheets, comforters, towels, etc. that you are willing to possibly get torn or dirty, set them aside to wrap around furniture that you don't want to get scratched up. We actually bought a stack of used moving blankets off of Craigslist. Still have them and friends have used them in short-distance moves. Great buy for something like $20. We also purchased plastic mattress/box spring bags from U-Haul before the first move (kept them for each move). I have heard someone mention that you can always ask for something like this from mattress stores.

Those are all my ideas for now. It is an exciting time for you and your family! Congrats and best wishes for a smooth move and transition to a new city and state!