FAQ numero uno

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me, “Now how exactly can I move for free.” I would have… ummm…. well… I would have a lot a money.

It is actually simpler than you might think.

All you have to do is…

1. Find an apartment on moveforfree.com
2. Visit the properties you found on the website and list moveforFREE.com as the referring source
3. Once your lease is signed, schedule your FREE move

Now, you say well that’s all well and good, but I want to know how I can move without paying anything?

In simple terms….

The apartment properties pay us a commission for referring you, the renter, to their property. That commission covers the cost of the move. Thus in turn you get this really wickedly awesome deal where you will move for free!

It really is that easy! Now… what are you waiting for??? Move your mouse on over to moveforFREE.com! We also have a great FAQ page. Check it out if you have any other questions. And as always don’t hesitate to post a question or comment on our Facebook or Twitter. I will get back to ASAP!

(See how happy I was to be using Moveforfree when I moved last year!)

Tip of the Week: Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends, and good food. It’s a time to gather together with the ones you care about and give thanks. It’s such a wonderful time to sit around a big table with everyone.

But what if you don’t have a big table or a table at all.  No need to fear.  Hosting a Thanksgiving dinner in your small space is easier than you might think.

Watch the video for some tips on hosting a fabulous dinner.

On behalf of everyone at Moveforfree; have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Roommates and Politics

In lieu of the recent midterm elections held yesterday, I thought it appropriate that we talk today about roommates and politics.  Not necessarily roommates and their political beliefs, but that of roommates and how to make your household a place of social equality.  Not a place where you are constantly fighting about the temperature of the thermostat or who’s turn it is to take out the trash or even shutting yourself up in your room because you just don’t feel comfortable in your own home.  That is not a place where anyone wants to live.  But, there is hope!  With just a little bit of pre planning and ground rules set you can make your roommate experience something you will never forget… for the good.

Here are a few suggestions on how to make your living situation work

• Agree on equal chore responsibilities

Chores are one of the most argued about issues amongst roommates.  Different people can have different perceptions of cleanliness or what their definition of messy is.  What has worked best for me is to agree that the main, common areas of the apartment should stay clean and are both person’s responsibility to keep clean.  Decide the very first day or even before you move in who is responsible for each chore.  If one person is responsible for vacuuming then the other person should mop the kitchen floor.  Also, come up with a time frame to get the chores done.  Some people think 10 minutes is too long to leave dirty dishes in the sink while others could leave them there for days without noticing.  Come up with a compromise, somewhere in the middle.  I would write all of this down in some sort of contract and have each roommate sign it.  This will avoid any confusion later.  If any argument arises all you have to do is point to the signed contract.  You can find a pretty good contract template here.  Lastly, I highly recommend that you get separate bathrooms.  I’m only saying from personal experience.  This will save a lot of headaches.

• Money issues

Money is always a struggle in any relationship.  Friends, marriages, friendships and roommates all feel the strain that money issues can bring.  When you split household bills with another person it is VERY important to set up a system before your first month’s bills are due.  I’ve seen different things when it comes to paying bills with a roommate.  I’ve seen friends who were responsible for one utility while the other was responsible for the cable bill.  I’ve also seen people who split every single bill down the middle.  The important thing to remember is that you decide right away and agree to something.  Who’s name is the bill going to be in?  How will the other person pay, if it’s in the other person’s name?  Nowadays with bill payment online it makes this method quite easy.  Check to see when each bill is due each month and write it on a communal calendar that you both can see.  Choose two days a month where both of you can sit down at the computer and pay bills.  Write these days down on the calendar as well.  Some apartment properties even allow you to pay rent online.  This is a wonderful tool at your disposal and allows you to pay with your credit or debit card instead of writing a check or getting a money order.  As with the chores it is also very important to sign some sort of contract to make sure that the bills are paid on time, especially the rent.

• Confront issues before the lease is signed

Whether you are best friends or a potential roommate you met on roommates.com, it is critical that you sit down and talk about any issues that may arise while living together; things besides money and chores.  Things like: what noise level is appropriate for music/ TV, how late are guests allowed over, how long are guests allowed to stay, what temperature is reasonable for the thermostat to be set, what is the mutual food that can be eaten by either roommate and are pets allowed in the apartment?  While you might disagree on some issues; it is important to work and compromise on them before your lease is signed and not when the problem arises.

Moving Horror Stories!

Moving stories are sometimes like “scar” stories.  Telling the story of a stressful and painful move can be just as unpleasant as recalling how you got a certain scar on your body.  Moving is considered one of the top five most stressful situations a person go through in their life; right next to getting married and death.  Since Halloween is coming up this weekend I thought it would be a good time to share some moving horror stories from real people, who quite honestly wish they would have used moveforfree or had the option of moveforfree during their move.

We moved into our first purchased house on my 29th birthday, deep into July, in Houston. Hot. The moving van we rented had six foot high doors. I’m 6′ 1″. I ducked just right most of the time… but late in the day, I missed it, hit the… top of my head, and for a moment, the heavens opened and I saw Grandma again, beckoning for me to come into the light…

~ Pete B.

“Well everything I own for some reason weighs a ton so when I started packing all the boxes and everything felt like it was filled with lead….I actually had a box of rocks….yup rocks, since I collect raw gem formations ……when I moved in I had to move all that stuff on my own which wasn’t too bad since I was 5 years younger and in good shape…..but now when I moved out I was older and waaaay out of shape……but thank God I had another older waaaay out of shape friend come help with most of it LOL…..2 old guys huffin and sweatin up and down stairs scaring the new tenants……had to take a break after every haul so we didn’t die of heat exhaustion, dehydration or just from utter and completely failure to be healthy……finished with only about a 10% breakage… Woot?”

~Bradley B.

“I had been kicked out of dorms, but my apartment wasn’t ready when they said it would be. So I stayed with my aunt, but I basically had to live out of my car.  I was driving with every single thing I owned in my car.  I couldn’t see out the back window… It’s funny now. Lol.”

~Ana F.

“I had movers that promised to show at 2 and didn’t actually come until 10 PM! I didn’t get moved until after midnight.  The movers “used to be” professionals, but “forgot to take themselves out of the phone book.  I guess they only moved office furniture, but did moving as a side kinda thing.  They were REALLY cheap. I guess you what you pay for.  I also tipped them in beer. It’s a very long story.”

~Julie F.

“Army movers!  They come, pack all your stuff for you and ship it for you. This includes your underwear drawer, which having a very big large man packing your undergarments is horrific.”

~Sarrah H.

We all make mistakes in our lives.  But you know what they say… “live and learn.”  Next time you know what to do… use Moveforfree.com.  No need to haul those heavy rocks by yourself or wait until 10 PM to move!!  We want to take moving out of the top five stressful events.  And oh yeah, have a

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

How Does it Work?

Pink Floyd may have said “‘We don’t need no education,” but boy they couldn’t have been further from the truth.

For every question that you may have, we have a wonderful and brilliant answer for you!

I asked all of our fantastic locators, what was the most asked question by MoveforFREE customers was.  Honestly, the answer was unanimous!  All of them said…

How Does it Work?!!

I think people are skeptical of how exactly we work and how a move can really be free.  So, I decided to lay it all out for you, straight from the horses mouth.  This is exactly how moveforfree works.

Moveforfree.com is a free online apartment locating company.  Like all locating companies, we are paid a commission by properties for referring clients to their properties.  Unlike other locating companies, we share our commission with our clients by offering them a Free Move or a Cash Voucher, if they prefer that over the free move option.  The free move or the cash voucher are a thank you to the customer for using our locating service and listing us as a referral on the guest card and the lease application.

The locators also said that the second most asked question is “What all do you move for free?”  You can find the answer to that question here.

We do all we can to make our customers happy and satisfied.  We even have customers that use us every time they move.  Like this guy who was a three time moveforfree veteran.

We have been around for 10 years and we plan to be around for many many more.

You have just been educated!!

Look Ma! We’re on TV!

Spreading the word about MoveforFREE is so much fun… especially when we get to go on TV and tell everyone in TV land about us!  Colleen and Ashley, those energetic girls from our testimonial vids, got an incredible opportunity to go on, not one but TWO morning talk shows to talk about how MoveforFREE works and how incredibly easy it really is.  Be sure to let us know if you saw them on any of these shows.  You can leave a comment here or go to our Facebook or Twitter pages and leave a shout out.

Here they are on Great Day Houston talking with the host Deborah Duncan. (aired July 27, 2010)

And in Dallas on Good Morning Texas with host Amy Vanderoef. (aired July 29, 2010)

Colleen and Ashley had a great time and best of all got to tell everyone about MoveforFREE.com.

Colleen and Ashley with the host of Great Day Houston, Deborah Duncan.

Behind the scenes of Great Day Houston.

Hanging backstage with Good Morning Texas host Amy Vanderoef.

Good Morning Texas set.

Testimonial Tuesday: The Letter

In the age of email, Facebook and Twitter, the hand- mailed (snail mail) letter has gotten lost along the way.  Getting a letter now, shows that the person who sent it really took the time and energy to tell you something important.  A couple of weeks ago we received a letter in the mail from a VERY satisfied customer.  It meant a lot to us that Jordan L. took the time to type, print, get an envelope, get a stamp and mail this letter to us.  Jordan told us that she was relocating from Houston to Dallas and the fact that moveforfree was there for her every step of the way made the things a whole lot easier.  In fact she said, “I was far less stressed during this move than any other time in my moving history.”  Now without further ado here is Jordan’s testimonial… The Letter.

My name is Jordan L., and I just finished my move yesterday into my new place.  I have to say, this experience is the best I ever had.  I do not compliment often, for the mere fact that customer service has, in my opinion, severely declined over the past years.  However, this experience is one that I am unable to over look with regards to giving recognition.

I should have prefaced the first of this letter by saying that I am a manager in service- oriented industry and understand the true outcomes that good, quality customer service can have on a business.  The associates that I was fortunate enough to become assigned to are phenomenal at their job an at giving quality customer service.

I will have to admit that I was a bit skeptical of the moveforefree.com business model and how it was feasible to operate successfully, but after everything (and everyone) working like clock work to satisfy me (the customer), I am truly dumbfounded by all I received.

During a move, it is obviously a stressful time for anyone, and had it not been for the follow up and constant attention to detail by the representatives that I was assigned to, I would have had major issues in my ability to get the move completed.  Not only were the associates there beforehand, they were also there during the move as well.  I was moving from Houston to Dallas and got a late start after the first movers arrived and your team was able to work with the movers to have my window of arrival pushed back to accommodate me and my tardiness- this is something I would have never thought to be possible.

I am truly amazed at the overall outcome of this moving endeavor. and it not been for your company employing great people, I don’t know that I would been in  the great spot that I am currently enduring.  I cannot say thank you enough for the quality work and dedication your associates have put in to making this a satisfying experience for me.

I have already begun to solicit others to use your site.  This is an experience that I will tell to anyone and everyone I know who is looking to move in the near future.  Your associates have taken me from a pessimist to an optimist in a short amount of time, and that is something I cannot say very often about customer service.

Again, thank you for existing and having such great and talented people helping your customers, it will truly pay dividends in your growing future.  I wish your company the best of luck in your endeavor to grow, I hope to one day utilize your services again.

Thank you so much Jordan for sending us this wonderful letter!  I would like to give a very special shout out to Shari who was Jordan’s locator and Deedra and Courtney who assisted Jordan during her move.  They work very hard everyday to help people find their new place and get them moved into their new apartments.  You guys rock!  Thank you for all your years of service.

If you would like to send us a testimonial we love them in all forms: letters, emails, phone calls, Facebook/ Twitter posts, sky writing and billboards etc…

Don’t forget if you would like to take some pictures or video during your move, just swing on by our Facebook page and post them on up.  We love to hear from our customers and how they are doing in their new apartments.

Testimonial Tuesday: House —> Apartment

So you already know that MoveforFREE.com can move you from one apartment to another.  But did you know that we can also move you from a house to an apartment?  Well we can!

Is your nest empty or just need to downsize?  Look no further.

Take it from one moveforFREE customer who had been living in a house for over 25 years.  Here is what MoveforFREE newbie Ms. Mayes had to say.

“It had been 25 years since I last moved and this service made it so easy and the workers were very nice and worked hard.”

We are happy to make your next transition the easiest it can be.

Mobile Site

Ok MoveforFREE fans… two scenarios for you.

# 1

Isn’t frustrating when you are on your smart phone and you pull up a website and it’s just a tiny version of the one on the web?  You have to pinch and squeeze and it can be super hard to navigate.   It’s so nice when a site has a mobile friendly version.  Like Chase Bank or Twitter.

#2

Picture yourself driving around town looking for a new apartment.  Ok now picture how tiring it is going in and out of every apartment you think looks like it might be decent.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could pull up a handy mobile list of what you’re looking for right on your smart phone?

The future is now folks!  That’s right… MoveforFREE.com is now smart phone friendly.  Just type in moveforfree.com into your browser and you will see this…

Just select the metro area you are looking in from the quick search menu.

Once you select your metro area it will take you to some more options.  You can search by city, zip code, street name, or property name.

Say you wanted to look at all the apartments on a certain street… this is what the next screen would look like.  You can indicate number of bedrooms, and minimum and maximum price for rent.

Then you can look at the specific properties within the parameters you have just set.  Plus you can even call the property directly from this screen, just by clicking on the phone number!

Do you want to know when the property is open or how many different floor plans they have and what the rent is?  Just click view detail on the property.

MoveforFREE.com has always been about making things easier for our customers.  THIS my friends will make your apartment search mobile and on the go!  And WAY easier.  Also, be sure to check out the map feature.  This will help you find the specific property you are looking for.  And don’t forget this will make it easier than ever to register.  You now can register on your phone.  How cool is that?!

You no longer are restricted to a desktop or searching for a wi-fi hotspot.  Over one- third of all humankind now has access to the internet via mobile device.  Way wait to try this out!  Go now and let us know what you think.

Facebook Community Pages

We all know that the world of social media and the internet is ever changing.  What’s hot one minute is not the next.  As well as established sites like, the most popular social network on the world Facebook, they are always trying to improve and change their site to better fit the needs of their audience.

A couple of weeks ago Facebook introduced their “Community Pages” and the linking of them to people’s profiles.  I don’t know about you but this has been a super confusing to me.  What exactly is a “community page” and is it different then a branded “fan” page?  You can click here to get Facebook’s explanation of what a Community Page is.

At first this seemed like a good idea.  When anyone mentions or puts in their status update a certain idea/ brand/ company/ activity they will all show up on one page (even without “liking” the brand).  To me this sounded like if someone mentioned moveforfree.com it will show up on our “fan” page.  But I found out today that I was wrong.  If someone mentions moveforfree.com it shows up on our “community page.”  Which doesn’t have our branding, pictures, updates or anything that I have been posting since we launched it back in October 09′.  This is a completely different page with a completely different url.

This can be confusing to our customers who see two different pages if they were to search for moveforfree within Facebook.  Which one is best?  Well I can tell you it is the one with our logo and branding; with all of our awesome pictures, stories, testimonials, links, and videos.

I’m hoping Facebook will realize this huge confusing error and do something to fix it.  Perhaps they are already working out the problem.

While this issue is confusing, moveforfree.com is still a dedicated Facebook user and truly believes it is a great place to connect with our fans, friends, customers, future clients.

If you haven’t already “liked” moveforfree.com on facebook… we would love to have you.  Click the link below.

http://www.faceboook.com/moveforfree