Moving in the Fall at the Jersey Shore: What Changes After Labor Day

Around here the moving calendar has two speeds. From May through August everything is booked solid, prices peak, and you are hauling boxes in ninety degree heat. Then Labor Day passes and the whole thing loosens up.

If you have any flexibility on timing, September through November is the stretch to aim for. Here is what actually changes.

Movers stop being impossible to book

Summer is peak season for every moving company in Ocean County. Fall is not. You go from calling six companies hoping someone has a Saturday open to having your pick of dates, often at lower rates. Mid week in October is about as easy as moving gets.

The same applies to us. Summer Saturdays book out fast. In October you can usually get the delivery date you actually want instead of the one that happens to be left.

The weather stops working against you

Anyone who has moved in August at the shore knows the feeling. You are soaked through by the second load, everybody is short with each other, and the whole day takes longer than it should because you keep stopping.

October is genuinely pleasant for physical work. Fifties and sixties, no humidity. A move that would have wrecked you in July is just a long day.

But the rain is real, and cardboard loses

The tradeoff is precipitation. Fall in New Jersey brings steady rain and the occasional coastal system that parks over us for two days. If you have ever had a nor easter roll in during the first week of October, you know the drill.

Here is the part people underestimate. Cardboard does not need to be rained on to fail. It just needs to sit. A box set down on wet grass or a damp driveway for a few minutes wicks water straight up through the bottom. You pick it up, the bottom lets go, and whatever was inside is on the ground.

This is the single most common reason people call us in the fall. They are not shopping for a better box. They had a bad experience with a wet one.

Our totes are rigid plastic with lids that snap shut. Set one down in a puddle, pick it up, nothing happens. That is the whole pitch.

Daylight gets short faster than you think

A detail that sneaks up on people. In mid October the sun is gone by about 6:15. By mid November it is dark before 5. If you are planning an evening move after work, you are moving in the dark.

Two things help. Start earlier than feels necessary, and stage everything by the door the night before so the truck loads in one continuous push instead of stopping while somebody hunts for the box with the router in it.

Landlords and closings get easier

Lease turnover at the shore is heavily summer weighted, especially in the rental towns. Come fall, landlords have fewer applicants and more empty units, which usually means more room to negotiate your move in date. The same goes for closings. Title companies and attorneys are less jammed than they are in June, so the schedule tends to hold.

How to plan a fall move here

• Book your movers three to four weeks out instead of the eight you would need in summer
• Check the forecast at the ten day mark and again at three days, and have a plan for rain rather than hoping
• Pack a covered staging area, a garage or a carport, so loads are not sitting in the open
• Plan for dark by 6, and load anything awkward while you still have light
• Keep a towel by the truck door, because you will be tracking wet leaves through both houses

Where totes fit

A 2 week rental covers the pack, the move, and the unpack without you racing the clock. We drop them off, you fill them at your own pace, and we pick them up when you are done. Nothing to break down, nothing to recycle, nothing sitting in your garage in December.

For most fall moves the 2 Bedroom package at $175 or the 3 Bedroom at $235 covers it. If you are not sure, the tote math guide walks through it room by room.