Hunting for a new house or apartment offers limitless possibilities. Do you want an island kitchen? Bay windows? A doorman? Maybe you'll finally be close to the subway or have a washer and dryer in your building. And let's not even start thinking about the new Seamless possibilities.
But with that excitement of finally having a dishwasher comes the dread of the move itself. Packing up your entire life and relocating it is a pretty daunting and stressful task.
See also: 8 Social Networks for Your Next Apartment Hunt
If you're planning a move in the immediate future, we have some online resources to make your new place feel like home in no time. First things first, if you haven't found your new digs yet, check out these 10 great apartment hunting sites.
Now, let's get to it.
Before you even think about starting to pack, there's a few things to take care of. First, switch over any utilities you'll be paying for and fill out a change of address form with the post office.
Once you've got all the paperwork taken care of, you can get some supplies. Check your workplace for empty boxes and use newspaper as filler; it's much cheaper than buying all new boxes that you'll then feel the need to store. If you must buy new, go with ULine to get a good deal on moving supplies that'll be delivered right to you.
You might also want to look into renting or buying a moving dolly or a hand truck. Both are relatively cheap to rent or buy and will come in handy.
Another vitally important step is to measure your furniture and make sure it's going to fit in your new place. You don't want to haul your couch up the four flights of your new walkup only to find that it doesn't fit like you planned it would. When you view the apartment or house, take measurements of the rooms and of your furniture. Then, you can plug in those measurements to a website like Autodesk Homestyler to try different configurations without all the grunt work.
Image: Autodesk Homestyler
The most important thing about packing is staying organized, as it'll make the unpacking much less daunting. Managing and labeling boxes will mean you don't have to dump everything in the first room you enter and sort through it later or open each box as you bring it in. Dishes can go right into the kitchen and toiletries can go directly to the bathroom. But while it's easy to start with a room-by-room system, you'll inevitably end up with stuff that doesn't particularly belong anywhere.
Tech to the rescue: Inventory apps on your computer or phone can make the process much more organized. While it might take a few extra seconds to type in the contents of each box as your packing, you'll save time and frustration wondering which unpacked box holds the coffeepot for when your friends need a cup to get their second wind. It also means that, if you are hiring movers to help you, you have evidence of what your items and their conditions to protect you from theft or damage. Here are our favorites:
Moving Van for iOS lets you organize boxes by room, take a photo of the contents of each box, and export your lists as a text, PDF, CSV or XML file.
Moving Day for iOS is also a great option. It allows you to create barcodes which you can print out and place on your boxes, so you can "scan" your boxes and immediately see the contents without having to open the box.
Moving Planner for Android comes with a list of more than 210 household items that you can check/uncheck easily, to save yourself some typing.
Moving day can be rough. If you're going to hire a mover, we highly recommend hireahelper.com, which lets you compare local movers to get you the best deal. It's simple to use and lists which equipment is included in the moving fee (like furniture pads, dollies and plastic wrap), and which costs extra.
Image: hireahelper.com
Why hire someone for a job you can do yourself, you say? We like your spunky attitude, and we can offer some help.
You can book almost any truck or van rental online, so be sure to shop around for the best deal. Uhaul is the most well known, but Lowes and Home Depot both offer truck and van rentals as well.
Once your truck is rented, coerce your friends with the promise of free food. It might be best to get two "crews," one to pack and one to unpack. Tensions will be lower when people don't have to do a full day of manual labor.
Once you're all settled in, it can be a while before your new place feels like home, even if you're only moving across town. Finding a new gym, favorite bar or family doctor can be a pain. These websites will make it much more simple:
ZocDoc will allow you to find a new doctor by searching by location, specialty or insurance plan. Once you've found the perfect M.D., you can even book appointments online. The best part? It's totally free.
Handybook lets you hire professional cleaners and handymen, so you can keep that new pad clean, put together all that new Ikea furniture or fill-in for that not-so-stellar new super of yours. All Handybook professionals are background and reference checked and professionally insured.
Classtivity will get you up and moving again by showing you the local intramural sports, fitness and dance classes in your new area so you can stay fit. Bonus: fitness groups are a great place to meet new people.
Seamless and Yelp are pretty self explanatory, especially for when your inner foodie wants to dive headfirst into your new hood.
Congratulations, mover, you're all settled in.
Got any great moving tips? Have a website or app that has proved invaluable to the moving process? Let us know in the comments!
Image: Flickr, Robert S. Donovan