Welcome to the Personal Series (: Words that start with P have been deeply resonating with me and describing all aspects of my life lately, so that’s the inspiration for this series.
I love being asked about the move from Buffalo to Miami. How did you plan it? What did you consider? What were the costs involved? I’d love to share that with you. Having a big logistical puzzle and figuring out all of the pieces is actually something I enjoy, and feel accomplished from once the project is complete. Plus throughout the process, I add new knowledge and tools to my tool belt. It’s so cool to be able to see your hard work, courage and determination come to life. If you’ve been thinking about a big move too, it’s absolutely do-able.
Decide where you want to go
I knew I wanted to move some place warmer. John and I visited Miami in May 2024 and we loved it. Going to the beaches (so many options!), walking the boardwalk, so many unique neighborhoods and pockets with good food and drinks, and the focus on health and wellness. In August of 2025, we planned the 1 month Air BNB rental for February in the Edgewater area of Miami. Highly recommend visiting where you want to live for at least a couple weeks so you can get a sense of what it’s like to live, work, grocery shop, see the community, parks, beaches, etc.
You may need to visit a few neighborhoods, as they all have different vibes, may be walkable to different things, etc. And what you see in photos is so much different than when you’re actually there. What is the neighborhood like around where you will be living? The photos aren’t going to show that your unit may be right by the parking garage gate that makes noise every time someone comes and goes. That noise may be a huge factor for your wellbeing.
While we were there, we narrowed it down to 4 buildings and toured 2. I made a checklist for the tours:
- Are there extra fees for parking, amenities
- What are the amenities
- What utilities or services are included vs what’s an extra fee
- What is building security like, who to call with an emergency
- Is there onsite storage
- How does mail and packages work
- Do they allow units to be Air BNBed – this was a hard no for me
Tours will ensure you see a unit (ask to see multiple floor plans if you need!) as well as the common areas, gym, pool, parking garage, etc. If you have pets, look at where the elevator floors stop off to, are there still stairs after that, how far is it to grass, etc.
Use an AI tool to help make you a master list, and then you can narrow it down to the questions that are most important for your situation.
Securing the unit you want
Depending on where you’re going, you may need to pay to get on a waitlist. We discussed with our leasing agent what side of the building we wanted to be on, how high up, and what our timing was (currently lease ending in August). March, April and May, I checked in with her once a month. Even though you’re on a paid waitlist, I believe like anything in life, showing initiative and excitement is how you attract what you want. I wanted to stay top of mind with her. In May she reached out with an opening that wasn’t quite what we wanted. We passed because we knew the right one would come. And a couple weeks later, another unit opened and she messaged us about our current unit and we signed the lease within a couple days.
Leading up to the move
A lot of prep happened between March and August. Though we didn’t officially sign for the unit we wanted until May, I started organizing and donating anyways because this did honestly take 4 months. We were downsizing from a 3 bedroom house (plus a den) to a 1 bedroom. I wanted to find nice homes for my furniture, as well as be able to arrange pick ups from The Chapel / Potter’s Hands. Potter’s Hands helps furnish homes for those in need in the Buffalo area, and their volunteers only come and pick up one morning each week so I wanted to ensure I had time to get on their schedule. I also think starting to donate/sell/downsize/organize helps manifest that the move is coming regardless and the right unit for you is coming!
Also get yourself organized. In my phone, I chose to create a Miami move folder within my Notes app. Then, I had a note for:
- To do’s around the house (go through attic storage boxes, final clean once all furniture is moved out, etc)
- To do’s for the move (buy packing materials, book the truck, moving help, my flight, etc)
- List of furniture that was sold and who was picking it up and when
- Address changes to make
- What to purchase closer to when we arrive that we’ll need for the new place
- The most helpful was making a master packing plan and I broke it down into 6 weeks and ensured I was making progress each week
- Who to tell, anything I needed to give notice to
- Final checklist – cancel / change over utilities, label sandwich bags for screws when movers are taking apart bed frames, leave sets of keys
Lease is signed – go time!
The real count down started once the lease was signed. The first thing we did was look at when we wanted to arrive. Luckily we had a week over lap between our lease starting, and other lease ending. Highly recommend planning for that if you can. We packed up, cleaned, and traveled during that week and it was nice not to rush out before someone else moved in to our Buffalo place.
Next was booking the loading dock/elevator reservation for our new building. If you’re bringing anything with you and will have a trailer, truck, or a moving company, get the dock/elevator reservation. You can always move it. For the rest of the move, we decided to:
- Book a 16 foot Budget truck. Booking it for a Wednesday pick up was hundreds of dollars cheaper than any other day of the week. The reservation was for a week, so we had some room to play with since it only takes 2 days to drive to FL (we looked into full service movers – the cost did not make sense for us)
- Book load and unload help on each end. In Buffalo we used Good Neighbors Moving, and in Miami we used 305 on the Move. Both sent 2 people with tape, straps, power tools, dollys etc and they were wonderful.
- Found a company to ship the cars. We used Nexus Auto Transport as the broker and they connected us to Mark Auto Tech LLC, a father and son team based in Syracuse. They also were wonderful. They picked up the cars on a Monday. (If you ship cars, you may have to figure out what to do with transportation for a few days if you need it and won’t have your cars anymore)
- I then booked my 1 way flight on Thursday and a hotel for us all for that night. John and his cousin drove Wednesday and Thursday. They booked a hotel on Wednesday when they were ready to stop
Remember to focus on what you can control. Having an HR background, I know what I expect good employee onboarding to look like. I thought tenant onboarding would be somewhat similar. Once we signed the lease (kind of like signing a job offer), you’re in this interesting limbo state. There was not as much communication as I had hoped for. I focused on what I could control which was staying positive, and being proactive to reach out, ask questions and get what I needed. Next time I move, I’m going to work into my manifesting how I want the experience to go/feel!
How the plan actually worked
- Wednesday AM – pick up Budget truck at 8, Good Neighbors Moving load help came at 9
- Around 2 PM – John and his cousin hit the road to start the drive
- I did a final clean, walk through, etc before locking myself out for the final time!
- I stayed with my Mom Wednesday night and flew out Thursday. When I landed, went straight to the building. You don’t want any surprises on move in day so I ensured I could get in using the codes we were provided, see where the loading dock/elevator was located, and actually saw our unit for the first time! Plus my fight was delayed, so I’m really glad I got in the day before.
- Then I went to the hotel and we all stayed at the same place Thursday night
- We drove over to our building (the 3 of us together in the budget truck lol) Friday morning to meet 305 On The Move at 10 AM and do the unload!
- Mark Auto Tech gave us a delivery window of Friday morning. They got as close as they could to our building, about 5 minutes away, so we met them to get our cars and drive back to the building
- Once we got everything in, by around 1 PM Friday, we all went out to lunch to relax and cheers! It took about a week after that to get unpacked and settled. Plan for longer if you have bigger than a one bedroom. (Especially if you are still working/working out/living while unpacking.)
Other things to remember/consider
- In my suit case I kept with me – I had a copy of our lease, a roll of toilet paper, paper towels, a garbage bag, box cutters, door stops, tape, felt feet, sharpies, wipes, any important cords, and then my change of clothes, PJs, toiletries, etc. It felt so funny traveling with all that, but I did not want to be looking for that box when we arrived on Friday.
- Hopefully your building is organized, but I had to follow up multiple times to get the codes for entering the community and our unit, confirm when I was meeting someone to get our mail key, parking passes for the garage, etc.
- Called the Thursday night hotel in advance to let them know we had a 16 foot truck for one night and could they reserve one longer spot for us. We had to pay parking for 2 spots which was fine.
- Mishaps will come up. Even though I confirmed the dock/elevator reservation multiple times, there was still someone in the bay when we arrived Friday morning. That’s Miami/big city living. The staff was not prepared with our orientation packet and parking passes so we had to wait a few minutes for them to get organized.
- Items will break in the move so do not panic when you open that truck door for the first time after the road trip.
- The best thing you can do is stay neutral and maintain the best positive mindset that you can. If you let something derail you, you won’t be as level headed as you need to be for the rest of the day/move.
- I started a new job before we moved – if you will be looking for a new job in the area you’re moving to, or asking your current company if you can move/giving them notice of your move, this requires a whole other plan
- There are so many ways you could plan/work a big move. Decide on the pieces that work best for you depending on your time frame and budget. I know people who took 2 weeks to drive to their next destination and make their move.
Cost
- Shipping 2 cars – $2,500
- Load / unload help – $500 each, $1,000
- Budget truck rental for a week – $2,400
- Budget truck gas – $600
- Hotels for Wednesday and Thursday nights – $300
- My one way flight to Fort Lauderdale – $174
- Total – about $7,000
Let me know if you have any questions at all! I love to make plans and big moves.
Part 1 of the Personal Series was Planning. What will my next P be? (:
Claire is Coaching 