Rents Continue to Increase in the Boston Area

"Boston is a desirable place to live," says Eric Belsky, managing director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies in a Boston Globe article today.

Of course, we Bostonians (and greater Bostonians) know this, but we also know that can translate into some pretty high rents. Much as other Globe articles have recently mentioned (and we've blogged about here and here), the rising rents are due in part to the current state of the housing market. People just aren't buying right now, so they continue to rent and prices continue to rise in response to the demand.

Its an interesting article and worth a read whether your looking to rent or buy in the near future. And of course, if you do find that great apartment in or around Boston and need help moving, give us a call!

Piano Moving Seminar

The other day we held a piano moving seminar for our guys at the warehouse. One of our movers has spent many years moving pianos at a previous job so we had him show our other movers how to do everything properly. A lot of our guys have piano moving experience already, but it never hurts to have an expert go over the finer points for clarification.

There's a lot more that goes into a moving a piano than with most other goods. First, they're often very expensive. They also have a lot of delicate parts and they're heavy. There's even special equipment, skid boards, that we use just for pianos (though they do sometimes get used for other heavy weight items).

Check out all the pictures from the seminar. I think everyone learned a lot!

Legs have been removed.

A baby grand properly wrapped and strapped to a skid.

Practicing moving the pianos on dollies.

Laying the piano onto a skid.

Piano Technicians Guild

image courtesy of www.ptg.org

We are now a proud member of the Piano Technicians Guild. They are a nationwide organization that serves as a source of piano service expertise. If you need a piano tuned, a piano teacher or a piano restored, among other things, they are the group to check out. PTG is really one stop shopping for all things piano related. There are chapters all over the country, including the Boston chapter we joined, so you can check out the local websites as well.

We're really proud to be a part of PTG and we look forward to working with them.

UPDATE: Moving Tip #8: Appliances

Happy New Year!

Here's an update by our owner on our previous post about moving appliances.

image courtesy of homerefrigeratorrepair.com

The conventional wisdom is that refrigerators should not be plugged in after being moved for at least 2 hours to let chemicals to settle in the lines. If the refrigerator had to be layed down or was hoisted, it should be left upright for at least 24 hours for the oil in the compressor to settle.

We cannot hook up any of your appliances that have connections to water or gas. We recommend if you do it yourself to pay particular attention for the hours following the hookup. Water can do a lot of damage to a home, and making sure your plumbing is well sorted is of paramount importance. Wait to plug your washer in until you can be home and keep an eye out for leaks or other issues until you're sure everything is fine.

Usually dishwashers are hard-wired into the house with a switch, so an electrician will be needed to unhook your dishwasher in addition to a plumber. If you would like a recommendation on a local plumber or electrician, let us know, we might have some suggestions.

Places to Fuel Up with Diesel in the Cambridge Area

Our owner, Ezekiel, was kind enough to write this post about fueling up with diesel in Cambridge. This is great information for all of you who are moving yourselves and/or renting your own trucks.

image courtesy of whitfieldoil.com

There's a bunch of places to get diesel if you're running low while in the Cambridge area. Of course, prices are going to be cheaper at the big pilot stops on the highway, but here are some options if you're in a jam.

The Hess on Massachusetts Ave., westbound outside Porter Sq. (2055 Mass. Ave.), is easily accessible if you're heading westbound. The parking is a bit tight for tractor-trailers, but most straight jobs won't have a problem. They're usually the lowest prices in the area. Access to and from the eastbound lane however, is problematic.

Chico's Sunoco in Fresh Pond is moderately priced (not the best but not too bad) and is open 24 hours. They're located on Rte. 16 in Cambridge between the two Fresh Pond area rotaries. They have a good parking lot that's not too bad for pulling into and out of. Again, trailers might get a bit tight. They can usually fill tanks on both sides at the same time if you park just right. Their windshield washer fluid and squeegees are also usually in good shape, even in the winter.

There's also a Hess with diesel in Allston, right off of  Interstate 90 at the corner of Cambridge St. and North Harvard (219 Cambridge St. Allston). This has the easiest access to the pumps (good for any size truck) and is right by the 90 on ramp.

Why We Blog

image courtesy of financiallysmitten.com

Our main goal in blogging is to get information out to anyone looking for moving tips in general and for information specific to Intelligent Labor and Moving. We do our best to offer timely, educational posts on a variety of moving related topics.

Some Boston moving or Boston mover blogs I've found (using those search terms in Google) are little more than a way to use the latest top search terms to make their names come up first in the results. Its a good marketing strategy for sure, but not usually very on topic. Other blogs I've found using those same search terms have been very helpful and up-to-date. We strive to be the latter. We want people to be able to come to this blog and find information that will be helpful to them, whether they're using us for their Boston/Cambridge/Somerville/Arlington/New York City/etc move or not.

So far our most popular posts have been "What if My Furniture Doesn't Fit?" and "Parking in Towns That Don't Issue Moving Van Permits." We've covered a lot of other useful topics, too, but if there's ever anything that you feel we've missed and would like us to explain, please let us know. We strive to make the process of moving with us as transparent as possible and that's part of why the blog exists. Of course, anyone can also get in touch with us by phone at 617.864.0620 or by e-mail at help@intelligentlabor.com. We're happy to answer any questions you have.

Holiday Closings

image courtesy of freechristmaswallpapers.net

Just a head's up on our 2011 holiday schedule. Here are the days the company will be closed for business so everyone at ILAM can enjoy some egg nogg and well deserved rest:

Dec. 24th
Dec. 25th
Dec. 26th
Jan. 1st

Other than that we're open for business so give us a call or shoot us an e-mail if you need to move around the holidays (because the holidays are busy enough already, right?)