Call a moving company vs. DIY: How much does moving cost on Long Island?

You just spent a good chunk of your savings to buy a house on Long Island, where the median home sale price is $630,000. You pocketed extra cash for closing costs, which add up fast. Keys in hand, you think you can finally zip up the wallet — but now it's time to call in the movers.

Hiring a company to help you move into a house on Long Island can cost at least $1,000 and go up to $3,500 or more, depending on the size and distance of the move. Then come tips for each mover, for which companies have different recommendations.

This can be one of the most stressful parts of the homebuying process, experts say. But with the right preparation, it doesn't have to be.

When it comes to choosing a company to help pack up and relocate your life, there are many options to choose from on Long Island, with varying costs and services. Some homeowners have rented a truck or used storage units instead, and found that it helped them save money or was just a better option for their move. But in any case, experts agree that the key to minimizing costs is to declutter before packing.

Here's what to know (and how to save) before you go.

How to save money while packing to move

Edith Yang is a dual-licensed real estate agent with Compass, who works in Manhasset and Manhattan. Many of her clients are young families moving from New York City to Long Island. Their biggest concerns tend to center on lifestyle changes and property taxes.

Then there are the relatively smaller worries, like how to transport furniture out of an apartment building or condo.

"When you buy a house, whether you're downsizing or moving out of state, if you like the furniture in the house, always negotiate with the seller," Yang said. "Then the buyer has less stuff to buy and is move-in ready."

In this situation — where the seller is leaving items behind and the buyer could be gaining something new to replace what they already have — both parties can save on moving costs. This is becoming more common, said Natacha Beauzil, an agent based out of the Douglas Elliman Real Estate office in Farmingville.

"Some sellers are just not able to take heavy furniture with them, so they leave it behind," she said. "Most of the time, the buyers are OK with it, especially if it's expensive, durable things they're leaving behind."

There are other options if the buyer and seller don't agree on this. Maria Zaffarese, an agent based at Compass in Smithtown, offers resources while working with home sellers.

"I will print out sheets and give them to sellers, with information about the VA, Goodwill, any charities that would accept free items," she said. "It's a lot cheaper than having it removed by a junk removal company. It helps to do this when showing a house, before they even list it."

Getting ready to pack can be overwhelming, said Denise Sinclair, founder of GoClutterless.  The business provides declutter, organization and clean-out services, with about a quarter of their requests coming from people getting ready to move, Sinclair said. Through the years, belongings can accumulate quickly as people move — from college, to a first apartment, and then to a first home, she gave as an example.

"I think decluttering is the No. 1 tip that helps a move to go smoothly," said Sinclair, whose business is based in Valley Stream. "Most people are just ready to pack everything they have. They don't think, 'We should stop and go through this stuff.' But a lot of it serves no purpose, a lot of it we don't like it anymore, or a lot of times, we've just evolved."

"Most people are just ready to pack everything they have. They don't think, 'We should stop and go through this stuff.' "

— Denise Sinclair, founder of GoClutterless

Credit: Denise Sinclair

After removing whatever you don't need for your new home, staying organized while packing is essential: Using labels, and going room by room to take photos of where your belongings are in your old place, to get a sense of where they'd fit in your new one.

To save money, Sinclair has more advice: Use clothing as a cushion in boxes, rather than buying rolls of bubble wrap. She also suggested visiting local supermarkets and liquor stores to collect cardboard boxes that would otherwise be recycled.

"One of the big questions I ask folks, specifically focused on moving: 'Is this big item worth you paying someone to move it for you?' That helps put things in perspective: When you start to consider the cost of stuff that you like having around, but have no need for," Sinclair said.

Transporting as much as you can without the help of movers will cut down on the cost, too.

"Bring some stuff with you to the closing," Beauzil said. "You'll get a key, so if you're not needing to do major work on the house or something, you can go leave some stuff there."

What do moving companies charge on Long Island, including tips?

Parsa Samii, a real estate agent at Compass, noted because of New York State's window for setting a closing date, it can be tricky to schedule movers. Contracts have an "on or about" date  that gives a 30-day window to close.

"There are a lot of moving parts," said Samii, who is based in Manhasset. "Having mental flexibility and having a calm attitude about the ending of this transaction is most important. And to always have options if things don't work out the way you want them to work out."

Betty Bennafield, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty, advises clients to take their time to shop. That goes for buying furniture (which she said should only be done after closing on a house) and choosing a moving company.

"I tell them to get three quotes from movers," said Bennafield, whose office is in Garden City. "And try to get referrals from other people they know."

For a moving company that charges by the hour, like Men On The Move Moving & Self-Storage, Long Islanders can minimize the cost by doing some of the heavy work themselves, said founder John Beyer.

"Of course, if someone chooses to do their own packing, that's huge cost savings," said Beyer, whose Woodbury-based company has been going since 1985. "In addition, disassembly and reassembly, which is time-consuming labor."

Removing a table's legs in advance, for example, can make a big difference, Beyer said. "You're saving hours of labor, and subsequently, hundreds and hundreds of dollars," he added.

Nicholas McElroy is the owner of NGM Moving & Junk Removal in Smithtown. For a seamless move, items should be packed, organized and ready to go, he said.

McElroy recently worked on a home clean-out where the client gave movers detailed instructions on what boxes were going in storage and what needed to be thrown away, and then stayed out of the way while the crew got to work. "That's a perfect customer," he said.

"If you give us proper directions and let us do our jobs, it saves your money and essentially, everything goes smoothly," McElroy said.

Moving companies often charge an hourly rate for a local move, and determine the price based on weight for a long-distance relocation. Anthony Luisi, owner of LM & Sons Moving and Storage, said their prices have risen since the pandemic, but the range is generally $2,500 to $3,500 for a local move, and $5,500 to $6,500 for long-distance, which would be anywhere out of state along the East Coast.

"Moves can go much higher than that, or a little bit lower," said Luisi, whose company is based in Freeport and Amityville. "But it really depends on the square footage." Typical apartment moves can range between $1,200 and $2,000, depending on the number of bedrooms, he said.

Piece of Cake Moving & Storage, based in Manhattan, calculates quotes based on a flat-fee pricing model. The total accounts for your inventory, the distance between locations and other considerations, such as the date and time of the move.

You can provide a list of belongings online, by phone or in person with a representative at your home, said Piece of Cake chief marketing officer Najah Ayoub.

"Inventory is the most important piece of the whole move," Ayoub said, "because it's what you're moving and getting quoted on."

As for gratuity, several local companies recommend it, but it is not required or factored into the grand total. Piece of Cake, for example, recommends 15-20% of the total move cost for the tip.

McElroy said his company would implement a policy if tipping becomes an issue, but most customers give between $50 and $100 per mover, even though it's not required.

"The moving industry is tough," he said. "You have to remember, it's hard labor, lifting heavy furniture day in and day out. And as long as they are taking care of your items, I would say it's highly recommended to tip."

DIY moving tips

For Sydney Squatrito 29, and her husband, Ryan Ferraro, 30, the house-hunting journey was filled with stiff competition and ruthless bidding wars.

"The houses that were in our price range are just so highly competitive that we would show up to an open house and there would be an hourlong wait outside," Squatrito said. "And we'd be like, 'Oh gosh, we're not getting this one.' "

After months of searching, the newlyweds and their Yorkie, Daisy, started a new chapter in Sound Beach in September, when they closed on their two-bed, two-bath home for $400,000. Following a process with so many variables out of their control, the couple decided to handle one part entirely on their own: Moving.

Squatrito rented a van through Taylor True Value Rental, based in Port Jefferson Station. Their landlord gave them time to do a slow move over a month, she said, so the couple packed and brought their belongings over little by little before using the van to transport furniture.

"It's not that bad if you don't have a ton of stuff," said Squatrito, who said they spent under $100 to rent the van for a few hours. "We came from a basement apartment, and we had a bed, a couch, a table — but it's not like we had to pack up a whole house."

Their apartment was in Mount Sinai, so they didn't put a ton of mileage on the van either, she added.

"That was the best option," said Squatrito, who owns the baking company For Goodness Cakes Co., based in Suffolk County. "That's what I recommend, if you're capable of doing it yourself: Loading and unloading a van, because that was the cheapest option."

The biggest challenge of the moving process was getting larger items, like their couch, through the front door. But Squatrito didn't mind troubleshooting.

"I'm more of a person that just likes to do things myself, rather than hire people," she said.

Bianca Cannizzaro and her family recently moved from Coram to Wesley Chapel, Florida. Instead of hiring movers, she and her husband used a mobile storage unit, which they packed up and had delivered to their new home.

"We paid for the pod itself, and an additional monetary amount because our home is not yet completed with construction," said Cannizzaro, 31. "So it needs to be held at a site here in Florida until we're ready for it to be brought to our new home, to unload it."

The family spent about $3,000 on the unit, Cannizzaro said, adding that the price was based on size and amount of time it would be stored before their house is ready this month. They also spent $1,000 on a mobile trash bin that was placed outside their Coram house while they went through belongings and packed.

"That was costly as well, but essential," she said, adding that they paid for the allotted time and there could have been an additional fee if the bin exceeded a weight limit. "We tried to be diligent and smart about when we'd put out certain items on the curb to get picked up, to minimize the amount of space to take up in the dumpster."

Cannizzaro also sold some possessions — like her son's bedroom set, which wasn't practical for his new room, she said — on Facebook Marketplace.

"I was really happy because it was going to another family to use," said Cannizzaro, a talent acquisition specialist. Along with a dresser and some fitness equipment that would have been difficult to transport, they made about $400.

The family is staying at an Airbnb until their town home is move-in ready. Their new home, which they closed on for $415,000, includes three bedrooms, a loft space and 2½ bathrooms. Cannizzaro looks forward to settling in with her husband, Anthony Cannizzaro, and their sons: A 4-year-old and a 6-month-old.

Despite the expenses of moving, their support system was priceless, Cannizzaro said.

"I think what was instrumental in making this move doable was the support that came from our families," she said. ''The help we had from our families in physically helping us move was paramount in making this happen."

By Rachel Weiss

rachel.weiss@newsday.com@RachMWeiss

Rachel Weiss joined Newsday in 2016. As a real estate/living multimedia reporter, Rachel writes feature stories and contributes to and appears in on-camera video packages. She was the lead reporter on Newsday’s LI Acts of Kindness series.