Moving and guns

bashman

bashman

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We are getting ready to put our house on the market, and hopefully moving into a new (to us) home in the near future. Based on the market, we don’t expect ours to take long to sell. Homes In our neighborhood have been selling in 2, 3, 4 days lately, with 2 weeks being a long time to go unsold.

Two main questions/areas of concern:
1) showing the home.
All of my guns are in safes, so no concern there. The ammo, gun boxes/cases, and all other assorted accessories are in a closet, with a cheap locking door handle. I am wanting to move these items out of the house for safety (mine, not the perspective buyers), and to give the appearance of more/larger closet space. From what I’ve researched, self storage facilities have provisions against firearms and ammo. I don’t plan on storing firearms (see question 2 below), but am thinking of how to store the ammo and other stuff.

2) having to store our stuff in between homes.
If we sell and close on our current home before closing on and moving into a new home, what to do with my guns, safes, and everything else. This is more of a long term concern, as I’m not sure what I would do if put in that situation. I could reach out to family, but I’d hate to ask someone to make room for 2 safes and other items for an unforeseen amount of time.

For those who have been through something similar, what suggestions can you provide? Helpful tips, pointers, what not to do, etc.

Thanks


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PODS.

while PODs was a NIGHTMARE for me with interstate move, for local-ish would be super convenient. The benefit is you can stage your house and have access to your stuff.

I had a vault room that was only opened for inspection day, and for that I did the shuffle from vault to pod and back after.
 
sorry, didn't address #2....

You can potentially have part of your closing deal include the time for you moving into new home. Speak with realtor about the pros/cons of that kind of arrangement (I think there may be a term for it specifically). If you are not close to buying at time of close though, you won't be taken seriously. we were in reverse situation. Had someone make an offer who was going to 'list their house next week'. we laughed because it took us about 2 months to get the house in ready-to-leave condition (vetting realtors, engaging one, staging, logistics of move, packing, blah blah). Anyway, similar can be said on other side, if you haven't even made an offer yet your buyer can see the indefinite pursuit of a perfect home impacting their plans.

You talk about your guns and ammo in #2, but what about yourself and family? where are you staying? Apartment? guns go with you. no? Its a bit unclear to me how you can be in situation where your house has closed, your guns need somewhere to go, but you do not....
 
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also are you moving within state or out of state? theres firearms logistics there too....essentially needing a bit more detail on your situation and near future intentions.
 
As to the ammo and boxes ... rent a storage unit (climate controlled if possible) and store them along with other bulky type stuff like you said for the best overall appearance of your closet/storage space. I’d do the don’t ask don’t tell on the ammo because what’s the worst they can do to you ... eve it you with at least 30 notice?

As to the second part ... if you have an in limbo period between closing ... depends on how good of a friend and what setup they have. I don’t know what resources you have but a friend heated garage or outbuilding or walk-in type basement would be what I’d be looking for ... I’d be hard pressed to ask someone to store a couple gun safes in their living space.
 
Moving in state. Mother in law lives 10 minutes away, not ideal, but could live with her if the two closings don’t overlap. Would probably find someway to bring the guns with us to her townhouse. Not my first choice, though.


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Sigequinox220 said:
PODS.

while PODs was a NIGHTMARE for me with interstate move, for local-ish would be super convenient. The benefit is you can stage your house and have access to your stuff.

I had a vault room that was only opened for inspection day, and for that I did the shuffle from vault to pod and back after.
Click to expand...

Is there a secure place that allows storing of PODS? Our driveway is on a fairly decent slope, not the best setup for loading and storing stuff into a POD.


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the storage unit I rented (when we built our house) did not have a problem with guns and ammo. Back when I was active duty a few of us that were shooters rented a storage unit together and we each put our own gun safe in the unit because we could not keep them on base. Wherever you put them I would check out insurance to cover them from theft or fire
 
bashman said:
Is there a secure place that allows storing of PODS? Our driveway is on a fairly decent slope, not the best setup for loading and storing stuff into a POD.


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Click to expand...


Others mentioning storage unit will involve a lot of travel, packing and unpacking multiple times....If POD can fit somewhere on your property (they have different sizes) you can declutter your house for staging, store your ammo, then ship it to your MIL with the safes inside, use dolly to bring them into her house for interim. load them back up yourself and then ship the POD to final destination: new Casa.

Can call and ask POD (or maybe check the FAQ page) about solutions to unusual gradients on property.
 
We got a 16ft POD....Surprised I dont have move pics of it. was a hectic time for sure. But I annotated the pic I have where safe and ammo were in the POD. Ammo cans and similar were on floor under work bench and on the shelf, which I then screwed in plank boards to prevent from sliding out/off during journey. In my case however, safes were filled with stuff, not guns for interstate move (or I would have needed locks on every single ammo can and container I had lol--would be like $100 in locks-plus frowned upon by PODs in case something happened).

POD.jpg
 
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we did not move, but remodeled most of the interior.
i stored all of our firepower at a friends's house.
i paid him back by house-sitting (and dog sitting)
while his family was on vacation.
my wife and son stayed with inlaws
during the remodel.
 
When I remodeled one & then moved into it 2 years ago, I rented a second storage unit nearby. They had a policy of "nothing scary, dangerous, suspicious or weird," which I dutifully ignored. However, I acknowledged I was doing this at my own risk in case of theft or fire or water damage.

I packed everything carefully, built a light crate to hold 10 long guns upright, labeled it "Glass," and moved my man stuff to the storage area discreetly over several trips with other typical household & carpenter stuff. I repacked things inside the unit as needed, with the door down & my truck parked strategically against prying eyes (digital as well as human).

Most of it was in a non-climate-controlled area for a solid year. I moved it all out piecemeal & discreetly, same way I moved it in. None of it seemed to suffer any negative consequences.

I was able to move the small steel lockers, but I was fortunate in that I was able to leave the safe in the basement of the old house until Iwas ready to take it directly to the new place.

Good luck with the sale & the move!

(FYI, I still have the 10-gun box if you want it, but I'm up in the hills and don't get to Charlotte much anymore. It's now painted "I had leftover paint Green.")
 
Having moved 4 times in 10 years there are two approaches that I recommend. First is a climate controlled storage unit which allows for ammo and gun storage or at least does not directly prohibit it. You also want to make sure that your home owners insurance or other insurance policy for your collection covers the contents of an off site storage unit. Any storage facility is not going to cover you for any kind of loss. The second option is to store them at a friends/relatives etc... Honestly if they are not going to be there for very long less than a couple of month this is the way I would go.

I have had professional mover pack and move my stuff. Perk of my wifes job. All the drivers have been cool. Most of the time they see the safe and they say they will move it for me but.... it will not be insured. If something happens it is off the books and they will not be covered so I move all my ammo, powder, primers & guns myself. Make sure you understand the insurance ramifications of any storage or moving. For example in a pod they most likely will not be covered if they are in there when they move that pod. If it tips over because it is involved in a accident you will have to file a claim with your insurance.
 
Can you get a small enclosed trailer and add an electrical outlet that can be feed from the house?
Outlet will allow you to provide heat/humidity control.
 
Storage unit, pick up a new or used jobsite tool box or two to cloak contents, along with a few file cabinets. Add normal clutter and crap for eye candy.
 
@bashman I'm buying a 40ft container to be my onsite storage...i know that may not be an option but thats the plan. Safe inside the storage unit with about 3 plug in dehumidifiers that will be rotated. I may end up putting a minisplit HVAC since this unit will end up being my man cave anyhow
 
Guns and ammo.
Put everything in one closet. Draw a layout with the measurements of that closet and tape it on the door. Have a lock on the closet door. Tell your agent to inform the other agents that this particular door stays locked.

This way not everyone (“no offer” slackers) gets a look at your stash.
 
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On my recent move I had to pack up ammo cans into decoy boxes to hide them for walk throughs. I brought home some appliance boxes and filled them up with gun stuff. Then I piled on them with other stuff. Nothing went missing, no odd questions were asked.
 
Recently moved from NC to IN. I'll second/third/fourth what a few people have already shared, and share a few anecdotes/experiences of my own.

bashman said:
1) showing the home.
Click to expand...

We were still living in our home while it was for sale, and my NC agent suggested stashing guns and ammo in a spare bedroom closet and replacing the handle with a locking knob. He found listing photos of the house from before we bought it, and said he would point any potential buyers dead set on seeing that space to those earlier photos. As a buyer, I'd want to inspect every inch of a home before considering an offer, and so this felt like a good compromise. If worse came to worst, I'd have to move the stash to another closet and invite said potential buyer to come back just to look at the now-empty closet. It never came to that. Our home showed to about a dozen shoppers and sold for our asking price in 10 days, and the closet was never an issue as far as I am aware.

bashman said:
2) having to store our stuff in between homes.
Click to expand...

I contacted several professional movers for quotes. Some wouldn't move firearms. Others would move them but wouldn't insure them. None would move ammo. In the end, I hybridized and rented a 26-foot Penske truck with a car hauler to make the drive myself, along with professional teams to pack our house and load the truck in NC, and a separate team to unload the truck in IN. We were not lucky enough to find a house to buy before we moved, so I found a highly-rated self-storage place to use while we lived in an Airbnb for two months. I picked up the truck, loaded my guns and ammo first (mother of God) in the far back, and partitioned that section off. Told the loaders in NC and the unloaders in IN not to remove the partition or mess with anything behind it. No one asked any questions. I rented two storage units, both climate-controlled, and unloaded the guns and ammo in the second unit, after the unloaders finished with everything else into the first unit and left.

As for PODS, as far as I can tell its website only states that it will not cover firearms, but doesn't prohibit moving them. Calling PODS customer service, they stated the same thing, but were less clear on whether ammunition is technically allowed. Some say yes, some say no. I had a friend and fellow gun owner recently move across the country, and he was told flat-out he could not store ammo. He did anyway, and they moved his POD (albeit with some logistical delays and lots of shifted contents). He asked the local PODS people in his new state after delivery, and they said you can't move firearms or ammo in them. Who the hell knows. You take your own risks, I suppose.

bashman said:
For those who have been through something similar, what suggestions can you provide? Helpful tips, pointers, what not to do, etc.
Click to expand...

Talk to your insurance agent and be 100% sure you understand coverage (or lack of it) for your stuff through all stages of the move.

You get what you pay for with storage units. If you go that route, I'd highly recommend finding a place in a good location that is gated all around, is well lit and has lots of cameras, and has secure internal access (which meant more doors to go through and an elevator to ride up every single time, but all of these barriers required a code of my own choosing. I traded loads of convenience for far more peace of mind). The place I reserved also had someone living on the property 24/7. I ended up storing the guns and ammo for two months. No issues, hassles, or prying eyes whatsoever. What's a couple hundred more dollars to protect your far more valuable investment?
 
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