How Much Time Does Moving Take? A Detailed Breakdown

How Much Time Does Moving Take? A Detailed Breakdown

Man taping a moving box shut

Stressed about relocating? The best thing you can do is plan ahead. But it’s hard to guess how long it’ll take to move an apartment or house. There are many stages of the process, from transferring utilities to finding movers to unpacking afterward. Depending on your particular situation, these stages can take different lengths of time.

Never fear! We’ll give you an estimate of how long it takes to move. We’ll break down how much time moving takes depending on several situations. By the end, you’ll have a good idea of how to plan!

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Moving a Small/Studio Apartment

1-2 Months in Advance

If you’re moving out of a small or studio apartment (400-600 square feet), start thinking about the move a month or two in advance. There are various tasks to take care of during this period. Be prepared to spend some time on them over several weeks. 

One thing to start now is gathering supplies like boxes and packing tape. Depending on how many items you have to take with you, you can also begin to pack, discard, or donate them. Make sure to block a few chunks of time to take care of these tasks. 

You have several logistical items you should consider at this stage. For example, make some plans for your moving day. Think about when you’ll move, if you’ll take time off work, and what your budget is. Also, will you ask friends to help? Will you hire movers? Set aside a few hours to consider these logistics in advance. 

Family packing moving boxes

1-3 Weeks in Advance

A few weeks ahead of time, work on packing items that you don’t immediately need. Also, consider tasks like transferring your utilities, as well as scheduling an apartment inspection so you know what you need to clean or repair.

With less than a week to go, keep on packing! Here’s where you’ll probably spend the bulk of your time getting ready for the move. Give yourself a few days to do this work. You might need to clean, make repairs to your apartment, and finish packing.

Moving Day and Beyond

Finally, your moving day will arrive. The process from loading to unloading can take about 3-4 hours with the help of 2 movers for a small apartment. 

After you’ve unloaded everything, you’re almost done! But don’t forget that you’ll want time to clean, unpack, and set up your new apartment. Pace yourself! Settling in might take a few days.

Man resting under boxes

Total Moving Time

With all these tasks, expect to spend about 3-6 full days moving a small apartment from start to finish. This estimate includes 1 day of work figuring out the logistics in advance, 1-2 days cleaning and packing, and 1-3 days transporting belongings and unpacking after the move.

Moving a Large Apartment

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1-2 Months in Advance

If you’re relocating a larger apartment—for example, an apartment with 2 bedrooms, or about 700-1200 square feet—your process is similar to moving a small apartment. However, your larger space probably means you have more belongings. You should take time to remain organized during the moving process.

Start thinking about the move a month or two in advance. Plan to spend some time during this period sorting and packing your possessions. You might want to pack different rooms separately. You can also make an inventory of what’s in each box as you pack.

If you have any fragile or bulky items, it’ll take extra time to figure out how to transport them. In addition, you can save yourself some work down the road by planning how you’ll arrange your furniture in your new abode. 

Labeled moving box

Week of the Move

With less than a week to go, set aside some time to clean and make repairs to your apartment—perhaps 1-2 days. On moving day, plan to spend about 4-5 hours with 2 movers from loading to unloading your belongings.

Afterward, in your new home, you have some unpacking and cleaning to do. Still, the time it takes to finish unpacking probably won’t be more than a few days. 

Total Moving Time

With all these tasks, expect to spend about 4-7 full days moving a larger apartment from start to finish. This estimate includes 1 day of work figuring out the logistics in advance, 2-3 days cleaning and packing, and 1-4 days transporting belongings and unpacking after the move.

Moving a 2-3 Bedroom House

2+ Months in Advance

Front of a yellow house

If you’re moving a small house (about 1100-1600 square feet), some extra organization can make your life easier. So, at least two months in advance, set aside some time to consider the logistics.

For example, you might have appointments to plan, such as a house inspection. Also, if you have large furniture items, take the time to measure them and make sure they’ll fit in your new space. In addition, the cost of moving can add up. Spend some time planning your finances.

You can also get started on your packing. With your house, you’ll probably need to spend substantial time packing, so get to work early! Start packing up rooms and items that you won’t immediately need for a month or two.

Set aside time to take care of all of these tasks. You might want to make a moving binder to help you stay organized during the process. 

1 Month in Advance

With less than a month to go, keep on packing! Plan to spend the days before the move finishing your packing; packing a two or three-bedroom house can take at least three full workdays. It might take longer if you have unorganized rooms, rooms with a lot of items in cabinets or drawers, or rooms that multiple people share. 

People driving a moving van

Moving Day and Beyond

Come moving day, you probably want 3 movers helping you. The process will take about 5-7 hours from loading to unloading. 

Finally, after you’ve arrived in your new home, it’s time to clean and unpack! It’s possible to finish this process in about 3-5 days if you dedicate them entirely to unpacking. But don’t worry—you can also spread out the unpacking and expect to finish within two weeks.  

Total Moving Time

Overall, with a 2-3 bedroom house, plan to spend about 8-13 full days moving from start to finish. This estimate includes 1-2 days of work figuring out the logistics in advance, 3-5 days cleaning and packing, and 4-6 days of transporting belongings and unpacking after the move.

Moving a 4+ Bedroom House

With a larger home of four or more bedrooms (2000-3000 square feet), plan to spend more time preparing than you would for a smaller house. Packing will probably also take longer, as much as 4-6 full days of work.

In addition, on the day of your move, you’ll probably spend more time from loading to unloading. With an estimated team of 4 movers, this process could take 7-10 hours

Lastly, it can take 5-7 full days of work to unpack your belongings after the move. If you don’t have this much time off work, don’t worry—it’s normal for people to spend a few weeks or even months settling into a large house after a move.

Total Moving Time

With your 4+ bedroom house, plan to spend about 10-16 full days moving from start to finish. This estimate includes 1-2 days of work figuring out the logistics in advance, 3-5 days cleaning and packing, and 6-9 days of transporting belongings and unpacking.

Other Factors Affecting Duration

So far, we’ve gone over some of the key steps involved in moving and how long they might take, depending on how big your home is. However, many other factors affect the duration of a move besides the size of your apartment or house.

These factors include the number of boxes you have, the amount of disassembly and assembly you have to do, and the number of fragile items you have.

On moving day, your travel can also be affected by weather conditions, the number of people helping you, the distance you need to go, and the floor you’re moving onto. Don’t discount these extra factors! For example, using an elevator adds 30% to the estimated base time for a move

Car driving on highway

Distance of the Move

Another major factor affecting the time it takes to move is the distance you’re traveling. After all, if you’re relocating to another part of the country, it could take days just to get to your new home.

On moving day, from loading to unloading, local moves take a day or two. However, for a long-distance move, it may take a week or two for your belongings to travel.

Downsizing or Upsizing

One last situation that can add significant time is if you’re downsizing—for example, relocating from a house to a smaller apartment. You’ll have less space in your new home. Thus, you need to spend more time in advance figuring out what to do with your possessions. It might take a substantial amount of time to donate your items, hold a garage sale, or sell items online. 

Conversely, if you’re upsizing, transferring your belongings might not take as long. It might also be easier to unpack after the move. However, you now need to furnish your new apartment or house, which can take a while.

People moving items into a home

UniMovers

If you still want more information about how long it takes to relocate based on your individual situation, UniMovers’ moving calculator can help.

Knowing how long it takes to move isn’t just useful for scheduling purposes. It can also help you estimate the cost of your relocation. A service like UniMovers will charge a flat hourly rate to help you. With the chart below, you can estimate how much you can expect to spend on movers.

Chart of UniMovers moving estimates

Conclusion

Now you have an idea of how long you’ll spend moving an apartment or house during all stages of the process, including planning, packing, moving your possessions, and unpacking.

To sum up what we’ve covered:

  • Moving a small apartment takes 3-6 days total.
  • Moving a large apartment takes 4-7 days total.
  • Moving a 2-3 bedroom house takes 8-13 days total.
  • Moving a 4+ bedroom house takes 10-16 days total.
  • Other factors like distance and downsizing/upsizing affect these time estimates.

All this information can seem overwhelming, so take it one day at a time. Don’t forget that with a little planning (like researching ways to save time), you can make the process faster and easier.

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Sophie Pollack-Milgate has a day job as a research assistant. In her free time, she likes to read 10% of the library books she checks out, complain about how either ice or heat are ruining her runs (depending on the season), and modify recipes beyond recognition.