Moving a Condo or Apartment at the Jersey Shore: Elevators, Stairs and Building Rules

A house move is mostly about your own house. A condo or apartment move is about the building. You're sharing an elevator, a lobby, hallways and a parking lot with neighbors, and there's usually a management office or HOA with rules about how all of it gets used.

None of that is hard. It just needs to be handled a few weeks ahead instead of the morning of. Here's what to sort out for a condo, apartment or 55 and over building move anywhere in Ocean County or Monmouth County.

Start with the management office or HOA

Do this for both buildings, the one you're leaving and the one you're moving into, and do it three or four weeks out. Questions to ask:

• When are moves allowed? Lots of buildings limit moves to weekday daytime hours, which matters if you were planning on a Saturday.
• Is there a move fee or a refundable deposit? And what gets it back.
• Does the elevator need to be reserved, and does the building put up pads?
• Do movers need a certificate of insurance? Many associations want one naming the building before a moving company can work there. Movers usually need a few days' notice to send it.
• Where can the truck park or load? Fire lanes and the front entrance are often off limits.
• Any rules about the hallways or lobby? Some buildings don't want anything staged outside your unit.

Get the answers by email so you have them in writing, and forward the insurance request to your movers right away.

Elevators: reserve them and use them well

On a building move the elevator is the bottleneck. Every trip takes the same few minutes whether it's carrying one lamp or a full load, so the goal is to make every trip count.

• Reserve a block of time and ask whether it can be keyed for your exclusive use during that window.
• Uniform containers fill the car. Mismatched boxes waste space and get crushed when you stack them. Same size totes with flat lids stack straight, and on a dolly a whole stack rolls in and out in one go.
• Split the crew. One person loads at your floor and one unloads at the lobby, so the elevator is never sitting open.
• Leave a window for neighbors. If someone's waiting with groceries, let them ride. It's a long day if the whole building is annoyed with you.

Walk up? Plan for the stairs

Plenty of apartments and older condo buildings at the shore are two or three story walk ups. Stairs change how you pack.

• Pack lighter. A tote that's fine to roll across a driveway is a lot heavier on the third flight. Keep heavy stuff like books and cans to half a tote.
• Snap the lids on. A closed tote can be carried by the handles with both hands, and nothing falls out on a turn.
• Stage at the landings. Bring everything to the bottom of the stairs first, then up, instead of one item from the truck all the way to the unit.
• Two people for anything heavy, and take breaks. Stairs are where moving day injuries happen.

Protect the building (and your deposit)

• Take photos of the hallway, elevator and lobby before you start and after you finish.
• Pad the tight spots: door frames, hallway corners and the elevator if the building doesn't.
• Watch the weather. Wet cardboard leaves a trail across lobby carpet. Plastic totes just get wiped off at the door.
• Don't prop fire doors or block exits, even for a few minutes. Ask management where you can stage.

Living with packed totes in a small space

In a one bedroom, 30 packed totes take up real floor space for a week or two. A few things help:

• Pack one room at a time and stack its totes against one wall of that room, so you always have a clear path.
• Stack straight, not wide. Totes stack evenly, so a few tall stacks take much less floor than a scattered pile of boxes.
• Use your storage unit or cage if the building has one. Pack it first and stack those totes there.
• No cardboard to break down. No flattening 40 boxes and hauling them to the recycling room after you unpack.

For sizing, a studio usually needs about 20 totes ($95) and a one bedroom about 30 ($135). The room by room guide covers bigger units.

Drop off and pickup at a building

You don't need to be home for either. When you book, use the notes box for the details that matter at a building: the building and unit, which entrance to use, gate or door codes, any stairs, and where you'd like the totes left.

For pickup, check with management on where the empties can sit that day, and add that to your notes. Moving from one building to another? You can have us pick up from your new address instead, as long as both are in Ocean County or Monmouth County.

Moving into a 55 and over community? Our downsizing guide covers deciding what makes the trip.

A quick timeline

Packing the kitchen? Here's how to pack a kitchen in totes without breaking anything.

Common questions