Home Movers: Hiring Guide, Cost Guide
What you need to know before engaging a professional mover?
What type of moving do you want?
There are few steps to moving. Depending on your budget and preference, you may opt for different combinations. The 4 steps are:
- Packing
- Moving (with or without vehicle provided)
- Unpacking
- Cleaning up
- Storage services
Packing includes tapping, bubble wrapping, packing into boxes to ensure your items are in safe hands.
We would advise you to pack important items by yourself such as important documents, jewelry, personal items.
You need to know what you are moving
Be clear on what you are moving and what you are leaving behind.
Usually when you ask for a quote, movers will come done to your home to assess the items that you will be moving.
Most movers, according to the industry standards, do not charge for viewing and quoting at your home. Even if they do charge, they will offset it once you engage them to move your home.
If you do not want multiple movers to come to your home, you can also list down your items comprehensively and pass it on to movers who allow quotations based on list of items.
Definitely, it is better to have the professional come down to your house to give a quote. This will be the most accurate. Moreover, they will be able to assess things that can’t be addressed via the phone such as:
- Whether big furniture requires dismantling before moving
- Whether the layout of the house will result in more complicated moving
- Items that could be accidentally left out by you via the phone
Download this moving inventory checklist.
This Checklist also covers the more important points such as:
- Involvement of stairs
- Prevention of Flooring scratches
- Insurance
- Big items that are involved (Piano Moving, Bed dismantling)
- Things to take note when speaking to the professionals
You need to make sure that the quote is final based on the viewing or the list of items. You need to make sure all the items that you want moved are listed by you and the professional. Also, ensure that the professional has finalized the quote and no further adjustments will be made.
Most quotation includes labour, transportation, basic dismantling & assembling of furniture, necessary protection using stretch film for furniture and electronic goods. Clarify with the professional what is covered and whether more is required during the move such as packing, unpacking etc.
If you would like your items to be insured during the move, make sure to check your insurance status. If you are not insured, you can purchase insurance from the moving company directly.
However, if you are not willing to pay for insurance, then you will need to do an extra step of checking their reviews to see what past customers have commented about their service. Make sure that you are engaging a trustworthy professional.
Cost of hiring a moving professional
Some charge by hour, some charge by trips and some will provide a quote immediately (one off). See which is comfortable for you and you can decide which to go ahead with. One-off will be the most recommended option, provided the company is trustworthy. This is because you do not need to think about the possible price change that will happen, depending on the move.
For a 3-room HDB flat, be expected to pay about $500 for a full moving service. For per hour moving, the moving rate is about $150 per hour. Moving a 3-room HDB flat may take 3h, including moving big furniture and packing.
If the professional charges by per trip, you need to check the size of the lorry. Opt for a bigger lorry size to ensure fewer trips are made.
There are some charges that you may need to take note. Some companies do include the necessary items in their package, while some companies charge them separately. You will need to inform the professional of these additional requirements. Do confirm with them whether the prices of these additional services are included in the final quote.
Common additional charges include:
- Floor protection
- Piano Moving
- Insurance
- Elevator Carry (if elevator is involved in the moving)
- Flight Charge (for stairs in the house)
- Auxiliary Service (change of truck midway because the big truck cannot access your home compounds)
- Assembling and Disassembling of furniture (E.g. Beds, Cupboards)
- Appliance installation and preparation (E.g. TV Install)
Cost of moving by yourself
If you are looking to pack by yourself, here is an estimated cost of materials that you may require.
| Item | Cost | Quantity |
| Boxes | $2.5-$4 (from small to large sizes) | 20 |
| Shrinkwrap | $13 | 2 |
| Bubblewrap (20 ft) | $9/roll | 2 |
| Corrugated paper (20 feet) | $10/roll | 1 |
| Silica gel $0.3/packet | $0.3/packet | 10 |
| Packing peanuts $36/packet | $36/packet | 1 |
| Brown packing tape | $2.50 | 6 |
| Marker Pen | $1.50 | 3 |
| Newsprint (100 sheets) | $10/pack | 1 |
| Penknife | $2.20 | 1 |
| Scissors | $2 | 1 |
| Van Rental | $60/h | 2h |
| Total = $306.7 |
They usually allow boxes to be sent to your house directly with a transportation fee if you want to pack the items into a box by yourself. Some companies do buy back boxes that are still in good condition if you engage them for moving service – so do ask them!
If you are looking to move by yourself, you may require a vehicle rental and driver.
| Type | Cost* | Size | Load weight | Load size | Size of bed that can fit | Estimated time for loading and unloading |
Toyota Hiace Van
| About $60 per hour with driver included | 2.5m (length) by 1.5m (width) by 1.25m (height)
| Up to 1.06 ton of goods. | About 40 jumbo (59cm by 46cm by 55cm) boxes | A queen size bed will be able to fit in there.
| 0.5h per load |
10 Ft Open Lorry | About $70 per hour with driver included | 3m (length) by 1.5m (width) by 1.8m (height)
| Up to 1.5 ton of goods. | About 60 jumbo (59cm by 46cm by 55cm) boxes | A king size bed will be able to fit in there. | 45 mins per load |
14ft Box Covered Lorry
| About $80 per hour with driver included | 4m (length) by 1.8m (width) by 2m (height)
| Up to 2.5 ton of goods. | About 150 jumbo (59cm by 46cm by 55cm) boxes | 2 queen size beds will be able to fit in there. | 1h per load |
*At different timings (e.g. evening or night times), prices may be higher.
If you have items that exceeds the size of the lorry, opt for the open lorry to manage those items.
Things to note:
Do take note of both the size and the weight of the items. If the load is too heavy, the suspension of the lorry may get damaged, which may eventually result in greater cost.
Take note of the height limit of your loading area. Ensure that the pick up point and drop off point can fit the height of the lorry. If not, you will have to arrange for a smaller lorry.
Should I move with or without a professional?
Our advice is to move with a professional. Most of us are not moving experts. Renting a lorry to move may end up incurring higher costs as we spend hours away moving the items. Taking into account your sweat and effort, and possible problems that may result from inexperience moving, consulting a moving professional is definitely the option to go for.
We would advise you to take charge of packing and unpacking of your personal items. This ensures that your items will not be misplaced, stolen and damaged during the move.
Looking for a moving professional?
SGHomeNeeds can match you to a professional instantly. Just fill up the moving form here.
You can also view the reviews of a list of moving professionals.
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