Can You Get a Moving Quote Without an In-Home Visit?

You need to hire a residential moving service, and some of the companies you’ve called want to send someone out for an on-site review. You may not be thrilled at the idea of strangers coming into your home and opening your closets and cupboards.

So you want to know whether an in-home visit is truly necessary, what you might lose by choosing a virtual survey, and how each process works.

Yes, You Can Skip the In-Home Visit, and Here’s How a No-Visit Quote Works

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulates household goods moving companies that operate across state lines, and its rules require your mover to base their written estimate on a physical survey of your belongings. However, a “physical survey” can be conducted either on-site or virtually, as long as the mover can see the household goods to be transported.

A quote provided over the phone from a verbal list does not count as a physical survey under FMCSA rules. However, moves made entirely within a single state may be outside the FMCSA’s jurisdiction, and local laws may apply.

You may skip the survey entirely. The waiver must be given in writing, signed before your shipment loads, and kept with the bill of lading. 

What the Survey Measures

An estimator will calculate weight and volume, then price the conditions that drive labor hours and equipment. This includes:

• How far your front door sits from where the truck can legally park
• How many flights of stairs are involved, and whether they’re straight or switchback
• Whether a tractor-trailer fits down your street or the job needs a shuttle
• Whether your building requires the elevator to be reserved, limiting the working hours 
• Which pieces need custom crating

A camera on a video call can pick up these details, whereas a phone call doesn’t.

How a Video Survey Runs

You should expect a thorough video call to take 30-45 minutes and to be scheduled like any other appointment. You use your phone, the estimator joins from a laptop, and they steer while you hold the camera.

Expect to be asked to open closets, pan the camera from the floor to the top shelf, and cover every area the movers will need to enter. A surveyor needs to create an exhaustive list, so they’ll ask what’s actually going and what’s being sold, donated, or left for the buyer.

They’ll also want to see parts of the house you might have overlooked, such as the attic, crawl space, shed, and the area under the basement stairs. Then they’ll ask you to step outside and film the driveway, the street, and the walk from your door to the curb.

Where Remote Surveys Lose Accuracy

A virtual survey is only as good as the video. Closed doors are a common problem. A homeowner embarrassed by the state of a room might wave the camera past it, and the mover ends up pricing a house with one fewer bedroom than it has.

Undecided items can inflate costs in a similar way. If you’re not sure the exercise equipment is coming, say so during the survey rather than deciding at 7 a.m. on move day.

The destination adds some complexity. It may have a loading dock with limited hours, a freight elevator that needs to be reserved, and management that wants the moving company’s insurance paperwork in advance. All of that should be noted in the survey.

Apps that allow you to do a self-survey can fix some problems but create others. They let you run the survey on your own time, for example, without making your schedule fit the mover’s. But they don’t allow for follow-up questions. The survey is only as good as how thorough you were.

Reading the Estimate That Comes Back

The kind of estimate you get will depend in part on whether you’re moving between states or staying in the same state.

Each state determines the rules for professional movers that stay within its borders. Virginia, for example, lets a carrier bind an estimate so that the price can’t be exceeded, with limited exceptions. Pennsylvania says that if the final bill runs more than 10% or $25 over the estimate, whichever is greater, you owe the estimate plus 10% at delivery, and have 15 days to settle the balance. 

Massachusetts licenses movers through the Department of Public Utilities and steers people toward written in-home estimates, while telling consumers plainly that an estimate isn’t a bid or a contract.

Local jobs are usually billed hourly, so the estimate is a projection of hours rather than a locked price. Ask your mover which state agency licenses them and what that agency requires.

Interstate moves are governed by the FMCSA, which requires professional movers to provide a written estimate. The estimate must also state whether it’s binding or non-binding. 

For a non-binding estimate, charges are based on actual weight and services, and you can’t be required to pay more than 110% of the estimated amount at delivery (any remaining balance is billed afterward). 

On a binding estimate, the total is agreed in writing up front. If unforeseen circumstances come up, such as the customer adding items or a change in parking arrangements, the mover has three options. They can prepare a new binding estimate, agree in writing to treat the original binding estimate as non-binding, or reaffirm the original binding estimate. If none of those actions are taken expressly, the presumption is that they have reaffirmed the binding estimate.

Commercial Projects Take a Hybrid Approach

Office and institutional moves frequently use remote surveys, but not for everything. Video handles the countable parts of a floor well. Workstation counts and general density read clearly on camera.

However, commercial projects are often more complex in terms of having freight elevators, dock schedules, after-hours access rules, and floor and wall protection.

Decommissioning is another dimension. Returning a suite to base building condition depends on what was installed, how it was attached, and what the lease says. 

Lab, healthcare, and technology relocations almost always warrant an in-person walk-through, because the chain of custody and the disconnect-and-reconnect sequencing are built room by room. When a project runs in phases, storage gets scoped on that same walk.

When the In-Home Visit Is Still the Better Call

How necessary the in-home visit is depends in part on your possessions and your tolerance for uncertainty. A recent graduate moving to their first job from a small studio apartment, with valuables they can fit in a suitcase, can usually manage with a video walkthrough.

A larger home, especially one with antique furniture, art collections on the walls, and large pieces such as pianos or custom-made dining tables, often benefits from an in-home survey.

Properties that are hard to access are also better surveyed in person. The estimator may need to see how tight the stair bend is or how steep the hill is from the curb to the door. Issues such as these can add time and risk to a job.

Get a Survey That Fits Your Schedule

The right survey method depends on what you’re most comfortable with, the goods you’re moving, and the condition of the site. While an in-person walkthrough can catch details easily missed over a video call, video calls can still be effective if done well. You’ll want to walk slowly, answer questions thoroughly, open every closet, and check every room, including the basement and attic. Be sure to flag any fragile or heavy pieces.

Simplify your next relocation from start to finish with Move360™ by Olympia, our all-inclusive full-service moving program. Contact us online or call us at (888) 983-4830, and we’ll walk through what your move needs, either virtually or in person.