Category: Moving

Maybe you’re a wine collector who’s amassed countless bottles of Chardonnay in your cellar, or maybe you just like to enjoy an occasional sip of fine wine from a variety of brands and labels. Regardless of how you’ve acquired your wine collection, you want to ensure your numerous hours and financial investment is not ruined by damaged or fractured bottles during a move.

Whether you’re a self-ascribed wine expert or like to indulge in a flavorful beverage experience only the taste of wine can provide, your wine collection is something you hold near and dear to your heart. Like any collection, you want your belongings to remain intact and in pristine condition — especially since you intend to consume your wine one day! Whether you’re relocating entirely or want to move your collection to a safer location during seasonal weather, make sure you always handle your valuable investment with care.

Packing Wine for a Move

You have everything ready and packed for your latest move: your furniture, your clothing and even your blankets and pillows. But what about your wine collection? When packaging wine, it is essential to remember that extreme care must be taken during the moving process to guarantee your wine stays as it should — completely immaculate without one drop spilling.

If you’re moving your collection in extremely warm or cold temperature drops associated with summer or winter weather, it’s recommended to move your collection in a climate-controlled vehicle. Even if you choose to relocate your wine in non-extreme weather environments, it may be best to speak with a professional mover beforehand.

Your wine is likely high-value, so it deserves to be treated as such. Hire an appraiser who can place a value on your collection before moving. Reach out to your local wine shops or distributors to locate an individual who would be able to better assist you in assessing your collection’s value.

Wine Packing Tips

Wine is often packaged in delicate glass bottles. Due to its fragile nature, special care must always be taken beforehand when transporting your wine collection from one location to the next. If you have a smaller, more manageable collection, keep in mind the following wine packing tips before relocating your collection:

• Purchase specialized boxes: When transporting wine, you need to pay special attention to caring for the contents inside your bottle. Boxes that specifically protect fragile materials from breakage are ideal.
• Insulation: Changes in environment can greatly affect the taste of your wine. Even if you take extra caution packing the glass, however, it’s also important to take care of the contents within your bottles. While transporting wine, aim to use insulation or a thermal container that can keep your wine at a constant temperature of roughly 55 degrees F.
• Pack wine on its side: It’s essential to keep your wine on its side during relocation to ensure the bottle’s cork remains wet. When you turn your bottles on their side, or upside down, the corks retain their wetness during their move, ensuring that the flavor is not altered during a bumpy ride or trip.

Unfortunately, damage may still occur even when extra precautionary measures are taken before the move. For example, your wine may agitate within the bottle, causing bottle shock and diminishing the flavor as a result. However, the risk is greatly reduced when wine is packaged correctly.

Hire a Professional Moving Company

For valuable or extensive wine collections, it is ideal to hire a professional moving company that can pack wine for a move. Professional movers are skilled in transporting a variety of fragile materials — wine included. Packing wine yourself may seem easier, but professional assistance gives you that much needed added peace of mind that all of your possessions will be taken care of and arrive safely at their intended destination.

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At Mid Atlantic Van Lines, we do more than just transport furniture and boxes. If you have special items, such as your wine collection, that need extra tender love and care during its move, review all of Mid Atlantic Van Lines’ moving and packing services, before taking matters into your own hands.

Whether you’re moving within the state or across the country, Mid Atlantic Van lines offers you exceptional service in handling your belongings with the utmost care and precision.

It’s an easy thing to ponder when you’re thinking about moving: Should I rent my old home? There’s a certain attachment to the old home, which makes renting it that much more attractive. There’s also the idea of a steady stream of income that accompanies renting your old home.

But like so much else in life, there are benefits of renting your old home just as there are drawbacks. To help you make the best decision for your unique situation, here’s a look at some of the pros and cons of renting your old home.

Pros of Renting Your Old Home

There are some investors who swear by real estate. Few things in life are sure to appreciate quite like a good piece of property. When you choose to invest in real estate, you’re choosing an investment that’s going to help you build wealth over the long term.

The key with any renting situation is to create enough revenue to cover the principal and interest on any existing loan as well as your taxes, insurance, repairs and maintenance. That’s a tall order. But keep in mind that even if you don’t make enough in rent to cover all of those expenses, you’re still building equity and maintaining an asset that will almost surely appreciate in the years to come.

Rental properties may also present certain tax benefits, depending on the specific situation.

Cons of Renting Your Old Home

Okay, so it’s definitely not all upside. There are a number of cons, too, and each should be carefully considered before you jump into renting out a property. First of all, you’re still on the hook for maintenance and repairs. This can be both costly and inconvenient. You can find a go-to source for maintenance and repairs, but this only increases the expense over doing it yourself.

There’s also the issue of occupancy. It’s great to see rent payments roll in when the property is leased — but what about when it’s not? You’ll still be responsible for mortgage payments, taxes and insurance, but you won’t have any of the revenue to help offset those costs. Not everyone can afford to cover these expenses in the absence of revenue.

Finally, there’s the hassle of finding the right tenants. You certainly don’t want to get caught up in a situation where your renters are making late payments or damaging your property. But that can happen without a comprehensive application process.

Mid Atlantic Van Lines: Your Moving and Storage Company

Is renting your old home right for you? Only you can answer that question. Take a look at your financial situation and take the time required to weigh these pros and cons before making a decision.

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And, when you need a moving and storage company to help with the move to your new home, remember Mid Atlantic Van Lines. We can make life easier by taking care of your belongings and ensuring they arrive safely at your new abode.

Contact us today about serving as your moving and storage company.

So, the big day is almost here. You’re about to move into your new home and you want to create a to-do list that includes everything that needs to be done before you arrive. What exactly should be on that list?

You don’t have to wonder anymore, because we’ve taken care of the details for you. First thing’s first: if you’re moving from state to state, you need a long-distance moving and packing company. And then, on your first day, you’ll need the following:

• Utilities: Make sure everything is set up beforehand. You don’t want to walk into your new home only to find the electricity isn’t on, the water isn’t running or the gas isn’t connected. Call your utility providers ahead of time and set up an activation for the day before you move in. This will ensure that everything is ready to go on Day One.
• Cable/Internet/Phone: Call a few weeks in advance of your move to schedule cable, internet, and phone installation for your move-in day. These are creature comforts that most of us have come to fully rely on, and you’ll want to have them up and running as quickly as possible. There’s no better time for this than move-in day. Consider an afternoon installation so you’ll have the morning to get things organized.
• Appliance Delivery: Are you ordering new appliances for your new home? This is fairly typical for new homeowners. Go ahead and schedule delivery for the day of your move-in. Unlike with your cable, try to schedule for the morning rather than the afternoon. It’s easier to get your appliances into place before your home is full of boxes and other items that will surely find themselves strewn about the house. Having appliances squared away ahead of time just makes everything easier.

Moving provides enough stress on its own. That stress is only heightened the farther you move from your old home to your new one. When you have your utilities, cable, internet, phone and appliances all scheduled and taken care of well ahead of time, that stress is reduced as much as it possibly can be. You can better handle all of the unexpected things that are sure to come up on moving day.

Choose Mid Atlantic Van Lines

Securing a long-distance moving and storage company for your big day is a great way to reduce the stress — choosing a dependable and reliable company to care for your belongings and help you get moved in. At Mid Atlantic Van Lines, we are that company. Let us take care of the moving so you can focus on the many other things that demand your attention.

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Contact us today about securing Mid Atlantic Van Lines for your long-distance move.

There’s something simple and incredibly helpful about finding the right moving and packing company to meet your needs. But, no matter how good your moving and packing company is, it’s important that you move some things yourself. What are those things? Here’s a look at the items you should take yourself, whether you’re moving across town or across the country.

Fine Jewelry

Fine jewelry should be moved personally for two reasons: It’s small and it’s expensive. This is the type of stuff that can easily get lost or misplaced, which you want to avoid at all costs. It’s easy enough to move fine jewelry yourself because it’s small and light. Make sure it reaches your new home safely when you choose to move it yourself.

Heirlooms

Heirlooms are important for another reason — they are irreplaceable. Anytime you have something that’s been passed down from generation to generation — something that holds significant value only to you — don’t run the risk of losing or misplacing that item in the middle of a move. It’s just not worth it.

Important Documents

Always make sure you have important documents before you move. We’re talking about passports, social security cards, birth certificates and similar documents. Not only is it expensive and difficult to replace these items, but you may also find that you need them immediately upon arrival in your new town or state.

For example: when you start a new job, you often need to provide a Social Security card and driver’s license to get paid.

Antiques

Antiques are another expensive and difficult-to-replace asset that should be moved by the owner only. Oftentimes, antiques have special handling needs that are best executed by a knowledgeable owner. Antiques are also best protected when moved by the owner rather than as part of a bulk move.

Medications

You never want to be without your important medications — especially when moving to a new place where you don’t yet have a doctor and pharmacy established. This isn’t just daily medication. You should make sure you have anything you might need for certain allergies or allergic reactions, or even emergencies you’re more prone to.

This is just an abbreviated list of the thing you should consider taking with you before a move. You may have other assets that you deem necessary to move yourself.

When you need a dependable moving and packing company for everything else, trust the experience and team you’ll find at Mid Atlantic Van Lines. We have been the go-to source for trustworthy moving and packing for thousands of customers through the years. We’ll make sure your belongings arrive safely and on time.

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Contact us today about your moving and packing needs.