A moving estimate is only as good as the information it is built on. Most of the unpleasant surprises people run into on moving day trace back to something nobody knew about until the truck was already parked outside.
The fix is simple and it is mostly on the front end: show us everything, tell us the awkward parts, and be honest about what has not been decided yet. An estimate built on a complete picture is one you can actually plan around.
Here is what goes into an accurate estimate, what we look at, and how to prepare so the plan matches the move you really have.
Why a phone call is not enough
“Three bedrooms” can mean two very different moves. One house has a normal amount of furniture and a two-car driveway. The other has a full garage, a lanai’s worth of outdoor furniture, an attic, a piano and a gate the truck cannot fit through.
A survey exists to tell those apart. It can be done in person or over video — both work, and video is often easier to schedule — but something has to actually see the house. A number produced from a description alone is a guess, and guesses get corrected on move day, which is the worst possible time.
What we are actually looking at
A survey is not an inspection of your housekeeping. It is a fairly short list of practical things:
How much there is
Room by room, including the spaces people forget: the garage, the attic, the lanai, the shed, the storage closet, the space under the stairs. Those four or five spots are the single most common reason a move turns out bigger than expected.
How hard it is to get to the truck
Stairs, elevators, and how far the walk is from the door to where a truck can legally and physically park. A long carry changes how a day is staffed. So does a gated community with a guard, a narrow lane, low branches, or a building that only allows moves in a set window.
What needs special handling
Pianos, safes, artwork, mirrors, glass tabletops, antiques, large televisions, treadmills and exercise equipment, wine collections, chandeliers. These need the right equipment and sometimes extra people, and they are the items most likely to be mentioned in passing on the day if nobody asks in advance.
How much packing you want done
Whether you are packing everything yourself, want the whole house packed, or want help with just the fragile rooms — usually the kitchen, the china cabinet and the artwork. All three are normal. They are just different amounts of work and they need to be planned for.
Whether anything needs to be stored
If your closing dates do not line up, or the new place is not ready, some or all of the shipment may need to sit with us in between. Our storage is warehouse-based and staff-managed, so it is part of the move plan rather than a separate errand for you.
Dates, and how firm they are
A fixed closing date, a flexible week, a delivery window at the other end of a long-distance move. Flexibility is worth mentioning, because it opens up scheduling options that a fixed date does not.
How to prepare for the survey
Half an hour of preparation makes the whole thing more accurate:
- Open everything. Closets, the garage, the attic hatch, the shed, the storage room. What is not seen does not get planned for.
- Decide what is not going. If you already know the patio set is staying with the house, say so. If you have not decided yet, say that too — “undecided” is useful information and “forgot to mention” is not.
- Point out the difficult items yourself. The safe in the closet. The glass-top table. The piano nobody plays.
- Talk about both ends. The new place matters as much as the old one. Stairs, a narrow driveway, an HOA with move-in hours, a third-floor walk-up.
- Mention anything going to a second address. A few pieces to a family member, a load to storage, items being delivered later.
- Say what you need to unpack first. It changes how the truck is loaded.
Get it in writing, and read it
Whatever is discussed, you should end up with something written that lists what is moving, what services are included, and the dates. Read it against your own memory of the walkthrough.
If you packed a room yourself after the survey and it turned out to be four times what you thought, that is worth a phone call. If you decided to bring the garage shelving after all, same. Changes are completely normal — they only cause problems when the first time anyone hears about them is on the morning of the move.
Questions worth asking
- What is included, and what would be handled separately?
- What happens if my closing date moves?
- Who do I call on moving day, and who is my point of contact before then?
- How are specialty items handled?
- What do you need me to do before the crew arrives?
A good answer to the last one is usually specific: have the appliances disconnected, have the closets cleared, have the parking sorted out. Vague answers are worth a follow-up question.
Things people forget to mention
After enough surveys, the same omissions come up:
- The attic and the crawl space
- Outdoor furniture, grills and planters
- A second refrigerator or freezer in the garage
- Items in a friend’s or relative’s house that are joining the move
- A gate code, a guard house, or a community that requires advance notice
- An elevator that has to be reserved
- Pets and plants, which travel differently from everything else
None of these are difficult. They are just easy to forget, and every one of them changes the shape of the day if it turns up unannounced.
Long-distance moves need a little more detail
If the move is going out of state, a few extra things belong in the conversation early.
Access matters at both ends and you may not have seen the new address yet. If you are moving into a home you have only viewed online, tell us — we plan differently when the destination is an unknown quantity, and it is better to find out about a steep driveway or a narrow street ahead of time.
Delivery timing works differently too. A long-distance shipment arrives within a window rather than at an hour, so the question worth asking is what that window looks like and how much notice you get before delivery. That shapes everything else you schedule around it — flights, utilities, time off work. We have written separately about what happens on a long-distance move from pickup to delivery.
The inventory also matters more. On a local move, everything goes on one truck and comes off the same day. Over a longer distance there is more handling, so an accurate list of what went on the truck is worth the time it takes to build.
When you are selling one home and buying another
This is the most common complication in Southwest Florida, and it is worth raising at the survey rather than later.
Closing dates slip. A buyer’s financing takes an extra week, a seller needs a few more days, and suddenly there is a gap between the day you have to be out and the day you can get in. It happens often enough that it should be planned for rather than reacted to.
If there is any chance of a gap, say so during the survey. It means the move can be built to allow for it from the start — the shipment comes to our warehouse, stays inventoried and climate-controlled, and goes out to the new house when you have keys. Sorting that out in advance is a scheduling conversation. Sorting it out the week before is a scramble.
Same goes for a gap you already know about. If the new house is three weeks away, that is not a problem, it is just a different plan.
Common questions
How long does a survey take?
Usually under an hour for a typical home, and less over video.
Is a video survey as good as an in-person one?
For most homes, yes, as long as you are willing to walk the camera into the garage, the attic and the closets rather than just the living room.
How far in advance should I do this?
As soon as you have a rough date. Season, month-end and weekend dates go first in Southwest Florida, and an early conversation keeps your options open.
What if my plans change after the estimate?
Tell us. Dates move, closings slip and people change their minds about what is coming — all of that is manageable with notice and awkward without it.
Getting started
Hilton Moving and Storage has been moving families and businesses around Naples, Marco Island, Bonita Springs and Estero since 2010. We would rather spend the time up front getting the picture right than fix it on the day.
Call (239) 231-7050 or request a free estimate, and tell us what you are working with — the house, the dates, and the parts you think might be complicated.
