Book the elevator before you pack a single box
Reserve the freight elevator or loading dock with the leasing office as soon as your move date is set. Many buildings along the north Austin corridor fill their end of month slots weeks ahead.
Ask whether the office needs a certificate of insurance from the movers, and pass that requirement to us early so it does not become a last minute scramble.
Label for the new place, not the old one
Write the destination room on two sides of every box, using the name of the room in the new apartment, since boxes stack and the top label disappears from view.
A short note of contents helps more than people expect. Coffee maker and mugs written on a box means breakfast happens on the first morning instead of opening four kitchen cartons.
Stage boxes near the door
In a smaller unit, staging packed boxes near the entrance the night before saves real time on move day, since the crew is not walking through a bedroom to reach the kitchen boxes.
Keep a clear path from each room to the door. A single hallway blocked by a rug or a lamp slows every trip the crew makes.
What to carry yourself
Documents, jewelry, medication, and a first night bag with chargers and a change of clothes should ride with you rather than on the truck, especially on a move where the truck might sit in a loading zone for a while before it can leave.
Measure the furniture before move day
A sofa that fit through the old apartment's door does not automatically fit through the new one. Measure your largest pieces and the doorways, hallway turns, and elevator dimensions at the new place ahead of time.
If something clearly will not make the turn, decide in advance whether it gets disassembled, goes out a window with proper rigging, or gets replaced instead. Working that out on move day wastes the elevator window you booked.