Ask Allied: Can a Moving Company Move Two Homes into One?

Can a Moving Company Move Two Homes into One? Depending on your situation, it is possible. Read how you would approach this task.

There are countless reasons to pack up and move to a new house: a college transfer, a new job, retirement, relocation to a bigger city…all of these are cited as the most common reasons, but they aren’t the only ones. When a marriage takes place or two families decide to move in together, you may find yourself facing the prospect of combining two households into one.

Fortunately, hiring a moving company can help with this huge life transition. Depending on your situation, you’ll want to approach this process one of two ways.

Moving Two Homes into One New One

The easiest way to combine households is when two families move into a single residence they’ve recently purchased or rented. When this happens, your moving company will coordinate the move in a traditional way.

This means you will:
> Find a moving company willing to coordinate two moves at once.

> Get an estimate based on the contents of both homes.

> Set a moving date.

> Prepare for the move by packing/purging your belongings.

> Have the moving company pick up the belongings in one home and deliver them, then pick up the belongings in a second home and deliver them. (This step can vary depending on how many items you have and the distance you’re moving. In a cross-country move, it may be easier and more cost-effective to combine both homes into one moving van so that it only has to make one trip. When this happens, you’ll either have the moving company make two stops before it departs, or you’ll arrange it so that the contents of one home are taken to the other for a single pickup.)

Because there’s so much variability in this last step, it’s a conversation you’ll need to have with your moving company. They should be able to walk you through the entire process and settle on a plan/price that you’re comfortable with.

Moving One Home into Another

From a moving standpoint, moving one household into an existing one is the easier process. (From a figuring-out-where-all-the-furniture-is-going-to-go standpoint, of course, the reverse may be true.) Because you’ll only be packing up and moving one household, it will cost less, take a shorter amount of time, and be easier to coordinate.

However, the amount of prep you’ll need to do will increase. Your movers will need a place to put all of the furniture and boxes, which means you’ll have to move existing furniture around and clear the walkways in anticipation of their arrival. If this is beyond your physical capabilities, you may need to create a checklist for the movers so they can get in the house and make the space for you.

In both cases, expect the combining of two households to cost more than a single move. Because the amount of work involved is much higher (and because you might be moving two entire households), your movers will adjust their estimates accordingly.

The best way to manage this is to be perfectly clear about your expectations and needs right from the start. A reputable moving company can easily handle this kind of situation as long as they know what the exact specifications of the move are.