House 2 House Moves was the best decision I could have made in coordinating my family's move within San Francisco. The challenge was no joke: we had a 7-day close on the new place, and gave ourselves barely more than 2 weeks to move out of the condo we'd lived in for 9 years. My husband was out of the country while we coordinated our efforts as best as possible across an 11-hour time difference, but there wasn't a whole lot I was going to accomplish with our then-4-year-old and dog. The needs were clear: someone to pack us up, someone to move us out, someone to move us in, someone to unpack once we got there. Desiree and her team delivered way, way more than that.
I spoke with 3 or 4 different packing and moving companies before making the easy decision to work with House 2 House Moves. Here's the thing: there are a few different levels of packers/movers, depending on your needs and financial bandwidth/wherewithal. There are companies who pack and move you, and I have no doubt the couple of those we talked to were great - they came highly recommended. But those companies didn't exhibit the intimate understanding of the emotional drain of the moving process that Des did. When she came to our condo for the interview to assess the work that would need to be done, she wasn't just counting rooms and coming up with box, hours and manpower estimates - she was looking at the stuff we'd accumulated in our years together, and talking about what would make the move and what wouldn't. And for the things that wouldn't make the move, she was coming up with plans for how it would be discarded (donation? recylce? trash?). If you've ever moved, especially after many years in one place and/or with someone, you know that this can be the hardest and most emotional part to deal with. It's not just about, "How the hell do I make time to recycle these electrical cords at Best Buy?" but also, "Are these leftover invites to our wedding that have been in a box for 12 years too valuable too touch?" You can waste hours stressing about that sort of stuff when you really need to be packing, and Des and her team just don't let you. They sat down with us in our storage closet and helped us sort through the memories, but didn't let us get hung up on them. Then they assigned us to what they knew we could handle, and did the rest (which was like 95% of the work, literally). And because I'm sure you're wondering, no, they are not the actual movers. But they have close relationships with a handful of experts and helped us partner with Ahmed's Moving Express (based in Marin) to get the job done with a stunning level of professionalism.
Des and team spent consecutive days with our family. During that time, they really got to know us and helped make our new house a home. They scouted the new place and helped us pre-determine where furniture would go, where all of our kitchenware would be stored (this is the hardest room to organize!) and did basic prep like cabinet and drawer lining. We trusted them so incredibly much by the end of the first day, we had them shopping for anything and everything they thought we'd need to organize the new place and make it ideally livable. They even came back a few weeks later after we'd installed new closet systems to help us get the most out of that investment.
This is a long review, but it really doesn't even tell the whole story of how great these guys are. Bottom line: If you need true professionals for your home move, and you're looking beyond the boxes, House 2 House Moves is the best out there, period. Or if you simply need organizers to get the physical clutter out of your house that can lead to so much emotional clutter, these are the folks. I don't regret a single penny spent with them, and foresee working with them again! read more