r/hobart • u/moobiegirl • 11h ago
Mainland to Hobart move
Moving from Victoria to Hobart – best/most cost-effective way to move our stuff?
Myself and my partner are looking at moving from mainland Victoria to Hobart next year. We currently live in a 2-bedroom house and are starting to look into the different options for getting all our personal belongings (including furniture) down to Tasmania.
I’d love to hear from anyone who has done a similar move: what option did you go for, who did you use, and roughly what did it cost?
I’m currently trying to understand if using an interstate removalist, backloading/shared truck space, hiring a truck/trailer and taking it over ourselves, or any other option worked out to be the most cost-effective.
Obviously I realise the cost will depend heavily on how much stuff we have, but a rough idea of what people paid for a 2-bedroom house would be really helpful for budgeting.
Also keen to hear about any companies you’d recommend (or avoid!) and anything you wish you’d known before moving your stuff to Tassie.
Thanks!
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u/k_lliste 11h ago
We used Kent when we came over. It wasn't cheap, but we also had a full container. Using backloading would be cheaper but their estimate was that it could takes weeks longer, which we didn't want to wait.
We took anything more fragile or valuable with us in the car which worked for us but did make us a bit paranoid leaving it for any amount of time.
If you do intend on selling some furniture (we did this), I'd recommend starting to buy new furniture probably before you even move. It can take months for it to be available.
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u/Tassieaurora 6h ago
really review what you want to bring , i wish i had not bothered with the bed and some furniture items
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u/teachcollapse 4h ago
- Definitely cull as much as you can.
- Use one of the container-movers, where you either buy a container and they move it for you, or you rent one of theirs.
I ended up using professionals to load my stuff into the container, and they were worth it… because those movers worked with containers all the time, they had great ideas about how to fill it, how to tie bikes up so they were hanging on ropes from the roof, etc. - because you can only stack boxes up to about four high before they start to buckle under the weight, so you can end up with unused height. If I’d tried to loaf it myself, it wouldn’t have had anywhere near as much stuff loaded in.
If you are driving, also consider getting a trailer and then filling your car and the trailer. That’s what I did for the “absolute necessities” that couldn’t go in the container. (Containers can take a week or so to get across the strait).
Lots of movers are crazy expensive. I was quoted something outrageous (for the “absolute necessities” - not much stuff) that ended up costing the same to just buy a trailer and move it ourselves.
It’s worth cutting as much stuff as possible, because much of it isn’t necessary.
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u/Top_Street_2145 4h ago
Furniture and interior options are straight up shit down here. Second hand market is insane, high prices for cheap, major chain store, generic crap. Bring everything.
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u/Aussie-Fun31 2h ago
I personally don’t understand why you’d do it. I’m 18 and when my camper is ready in December I’m fleeing to Victoria.
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u/Select_Pirate6571 11h ago
I had my employer pay for my move, so I didn't care. Just one word of advice, anything you truly value should not be placed in the hands of a third party. Move it in your own car/trailer. I lost some stuff with removalists and heard some horro stories from others
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u/ChookBaron 10h ago
I think it’s a case of you get what you pay for. If you have premium furniture, pay a decent moving company and get moving insurance.
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u/Ninjacatzzz 8h ago
Moved in 2024, two bedroom house. Our system was sell/give away as much as possible. Loads up our two cars and back load the rest. It's still expensive though, several thousand just for the back load which was a fridge, some bookcases, a mower, boxes and a TV. Only move what's still fairly new and worth the $$ or that's very sentimental/rare/loved. We used Bass Strait removals and didn't have to wait long between pick up and delivery.
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u/GreenLeechofReddit 9h ago
We used Grace for a 3 bedroom from Sydney-Hobart - good price, looked after our stuff like it was their own.
Be careful using brokers, we know several people whose stuff took months to arrive.
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u/Due_Hospital2646 11h ago
Have done a similar move before, but didn't have much expensive furniture so just sold everything and re-bought in hobart lol. Moved down with one car load of stuff on the ferry. Obviously depends on sentimentality and if your stuff is expensive or not but I'd do it again for sure
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u/pigeon-city 8h ago edited 8h ago
We did it ourselves because I got irked by the lack of price transparency when it came to removalists. My friend had a hiace van we borrowed and we had 2 cars which we loaded onto the spirit. We were able to bring everything, 2 beds and mattresses, couch, dining table, fridge, washing machine ect literally everything we owned. Props to my partner for his Tetris skills.
We also flew back and forth a couple times for different reasons and took some light, bulky things as oversize (like couch cushions) because they charged by weight.
We definitely did it the hard way, I don't remember cost (4 x spirit trips, 3x flights) but it was still cheaper than the quotes and included everything. I liked the certainty/control and not feeling scammed and it was oddly rewarding and dare I say fun.
We were lucky we could borrow the van, I think hire places probably wouldn't be okay with taking one on the boat.
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u/Minimum_Cancel_3711 11h ago
Can’t exactly remember the company name but there’s a few removal companies that have bases both within Hobart and the mainland and can work it out with you
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u/BrenBiker 11h ago
Moved a 3 bedroom house down here with Chris Watkins transport. 20 foot container full was about $10k from NSW. Fantastic to deal with, absolutely great service.