Round about cost of moving

Just my opinion but I wouldn't move the furniture down here. Store it, if possible until after you're settled. You might find that most of it won't "fit in" here. Can't help w/moving costs, sorry.

KellyLynn,
Figure your car alone (after road tax, VI tax and shipping costs) will run approximately $3300. Moving a house is very expensive. We moved 3 bedrooms and living room from Phoenix and it was well over 10 grand. However, having our stuff really added some normalcy to our lives when everything else was so wacky. We were also fortunate to know where we were going to live before we got here. We used Viking Freight (Don Collins) and were happy with them. There phone number is 340-776-1536.

Hope this helps,
Kelly

Good advice here. If you keep it simple and take your time, you can always find good furniture deals from people who are leaving the islands.

Regarding Viking:

I second Kelly's recommendation. Viking is great! I have used them a couple of times now for moving various things to and from various places. They are very reliable and extremely competent!!!

Thanks for the info, I' m sure we will have more questions later on, but thanks so much for replying it really helped us out a lot.
Kelly

Hi Kelly,

We also live in Charlotte, NC and are relocating to St Croix. Actually my husband has already started his job there and I will be going in 2 weeks to look at some houses. We have movers coming the end of next week to give us a estimate on moving our household, so I could give you an idea after they are here.

SQ

Hey there! That sounds great! That would be very very helpful for us.

2 weeks huh? We're jealous! LOL.

The cost of shipping a car is around $1,400 fior ocean freight depending on the car's size and if you purchase marine insurance and pay the shipper to handle the outbound customs work. Then you will have to pay road and use tax which are dependent on the cars weight and value. If the car wasn't manufactured in the US you will have to pay duty.

Minimum total cost at least $2,200.

Jim

When hubby and I moved here, we moved most all of our furniture with us and we don't regret it even though it was expensive. But we did have to overcome some issues with the weather. The humidity, heat and critters are really hard on furniture. We didn't have anything stuffed, no comfy sofas, no mattresses, so we didn't have to fight those battles but we did have buggies starting to chew on the wood. What we found, in St. Thomas at least, was that buying furniture locally was very challenging. We still don't have a comfy couch after 6 years here! Much of what we were able to find furniture-wise we thought was overpriced and of inferior quality. Or, at a few places you could get top of the line stuff but the prices were astronomical. We do have a modest budget (we are both educators), so maybe if you have a little more disposable income you would not be so discouraged by the prices. We were glad we brought our stuff so we could have something nice, feel settled quickly, and not be limited to what is available locally.

I am currently in the process of moving to STT.
The moving company my employer is contracting with has a set estimate before they even come to the house of $1500 per room. I sold most of my things anyway, even though I do not have to pay for it because of some research I did. And now that I have returned from my house hunting trip, I am glad I did.
Anything made with any kind of particle board will be ruined by the moisture and humidity. Also whats the point of bringing a house full of furniture when I am probably going to live in a smaller condo. During my trip, I also found that there are a LOT of people leaving the island that are selling furniture for very reasonable prices.
Other than boxes of all that crap I just cant part with...photos and awards and all that....I am bringing my mattress, dining set, computer and tv's. As long as I have those, I can live until I buy all the other stuff I need.
Good luck to you!!

KellyLynn: I put my stuff in storage, furniture, family heirlooms, etc. and after a period of time, 5 years, I decided that if the heirlooms were to be destroyed here, I'd like to enjoy them for awhile rather than having them sitting in shrink wrap in a warehouse. So I sent everything down. It is just stuff after all, and it isn't good to be too concerned about stuff in the long run.

I heard you have to pay duty on a car that has foreign parts. Is that true? So... if I came down with a Ford, no duty to pay?

It all depends on the VIN number.

Even if you have a ford it might not have been built in America you would have to look on the door panel.
Also
Road Tax on your car will be 16 cents a lb.
Customs varies by where the car was made.

US = free
Canada & Mexico = 6%
Japan & basically all others = 3.5%

these are based on the value of the vehicle.

Hi,

We live in Annapolis, Md. and are also planning to move to St.Croix in the next 6-9 months. We are also debating whether or not to move furniture, one car etc. Any information or advice you can share with us would be greatly appreciated!

Cameron

What moving company did you go with? We are moving from MD. in Sept. and are researching movers and or storage.

Cameron

cost us $10,000 with two cars and furniture...Missouri...I used Managed Freight, which I don't recommend

The govt paid to ship all of our furniture and cars and if I had to do over I would have left everything back home or sold it. So many places come furnished and nice cars just do not hold up here. Ended up having to buy an island junker (great not to have to worry about it every time you go around a tight curve and hear the branches scratching the crap out of your car) anyways and my husband's work gives him a car. Think long and hard before you plop down 10 to 20k for a move you may have to make back to the mainland again one day. Bring the memories and leave the stuff.