Pricing a Charleston apartment or condo move
An apartment move plays by a different rulebook than a house, and across Charleston the units we price split into two types whose numbers barely resemble each other.
Two jobs sharing a name
The downtown single-house apartment south of Calhoun Street sits inside a converted historic building with a shared stair, no elevator, and an alley too narrow for anything but a shuttle vehicle.
The Daniel Island or West Ashley elevator building sits in newer construction where a booked freight elevator and a certificate of insurance clear before the truck reaches the loading dock.
| Type of unit | Movers and vehicle | Rate you can expect | Notes on access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio unit, Daniel Island or West Ashley elevator building | 2 movers, 1 truck | $420 – $690 | Freight elevator window, loading-dock booking |
| 1-bedroom ground-floor condo | 2 movers, 1 truck | $690 – $1,120 | Reserved loading spot near the entrance |
| 2-bedroom single-house unit, south of Calhoun Street | 2-3 movers, 1 truck | $1,120 – $1,950 | Interior stairs, no elevator, alley-only truck access |
| 3-bedroom condo or townhome | 3 movers, 1 truck | $1,950 – $3,200 | Interior stairs, HOA move-in window |
Why ground-floor doesn’t always win
A ground-floor unit should beat a walk-up since nobody’s hauling a couch up three flights, but a few property rules can eat the savings. Some buildings and historic single houses ask for:
- A booked freight elevator. Some Daniel Island and West Ashley buildings hand out just one two-hour window for move-day freight service, and missing it bumps the job to whichever day the building opens the window back up.
- One approved loading spot. Whatever dock number or curb space the property assigns, Mara locks it in before your date instead of the crew guessing at the entrance morning-of.
- A visitor certificate of insurance. A handful of managed buildings and historic-district landlords want one on file; Mara sends it over so the freight elevator or alley gate never gets held up.
No surprise fees on the rate
The number is the whole rate for a move anywhere on the peninsula or in the Lowcountry. Whether it’s ground-floor or a third-floor walk-up south of Calhoun Street, or the truck ends up parked half a block out on a narrow alley, the total stays exactly what was quoted.
| Fee people brace for | What we charge |
|---|---|
| Stair or walk-up fee | $0, built into the crew size |
| Fuel surcharge | $0, built into the rate |
| Freight-elevator booking fee | $0, included |
One written number, our own crew
The crew is our own W-2 movers, never day labor, with Silas Vance lining up any certificate or elevator booking and Tobias Kern scheduling the truck around Ravenel Bridge traffic. A blank valuation form still means something under federal rule: coverage defaults to $0.60 a pound automatically, no paperwork needed. Prefer a higher ceiling? Tell us the declared value of the shipment and full-value protection swaps in for that default. Send over the address and which floor you’re on, and Tobias has a written figure back to you within the hour.
