Why choose SOS Moving?
As well as people moving to a new place in inspiring films, you’ll also literally snap your fingers and get everything in your new home. Our professionals can accomplish a move of any complexity, so even an antique piano of your grandmother will be safely transported to a new place.
With us, you can confidently rule out the fear of uncertainty when you don’t know where your belongings are. We are a phone call or email away from giving you peace of mind by sharing the latest updates about your shipment and informing you about the delivery date or window.
Enjoy our full-service moves, including moving, packing, unpacking, furniture disassembly and reassembly, and storage services. Request a free quote for a smooth long-distance relocation experience.
Our office movers in Downey deliver top-level commercial moving services. We’ll cope with any office furniture, professional equipment, and even medical practice. Due to a professional approach to all stages of your office move, we help you not to lose excitement and inspiration from your new office in the overwhelming packing, lifting, and unpacking process.
Sure, our movers can bring packing materials and boxes if you need them. Make sure you mention that you need them to our operators in advance.
No, tips are not included, and it’s up to you how much to tip your movers. Tips are always appreciated but not required.
Your apartment moving cost depends on factors, such as the type and size of your property, the complexity of your move, the number of bedrooms, the volume of your items, zip code, etc. At SOS Moving, we offer flat and hourly rates. The hourly rate depends on the number of movers to be involved and the size of the moving truck. Flat rate is based on the volume of belongings you need to move, and it’s the best option for long-distance moves. To know your moving cost, please contact us or submit a form on our website to request your free quote.
You should schedule your move date as early as you can. If you’re moving locally, at least 1-2 weeks in advance, for long-distance moves, we recommend getting a quote at least 2-4 weeks before your move date.
You can choose any convenient day for your relocation, and yes, we can help you move on weekends and holidays.
A safe relocation is our goal, so we’ll provide you with a detailed list of items that are prohibited to transport. It includes perishables, hazardous materials, firearms, batteries, etc. We also don’t recommend packing your personal and irreplaceable items, including family heirlooms, family photos, jewelry, documents, etc. Carry them with you during the move.
We accept cash, all major debit and credit cards, and certified checks. We don’t accept personal checks. There will not apply any transaction fee on card transactions.
Yes, we’ll contact you prior to delivery. We’ll deliver your belongings within the given moving arrival window. In case the window is no longer possible, we’ll also contact you in advance and set another delivery time.
Downey, in southeast Los Angeles County, is mostly a city of houses. By the city's own land-use count, residential uses take up about 63 percent of its land, and detached single-family neighborhoods are the biggest part of that. For movers in Downey, the usual job is a house job: a driveway to load from, a garage to empty, and a long stretch of floor between the back bedroom and the truck.
Those low-density blocks dominate the north, west and south sides of the city, at roughly one to nine homes per acre. On them the carry sets the pace: bedroom, hallway, front door, driveway, ramp. The crew pads door frames, runs floor protection along that path, pulls drawers from dressers and breaks down bed frames, so every trip is short and nothing scrapes on the way out.
Apartments follow a different map: the city places most of its higher-density housing in the blocks bounded by Florence Avenue, Downey Avenue, Firestone Boulevard and Paramount Boulevard, and along the major corridors, at about 10 to 24 units per acre. There the questions are which stairwell, which parking space the truck can use, and whether the manager wants proof of insurance. If a building or HOA asks for one, SOS provides a COI for $50. The resident books any elevator time with the manager, and our apartment moving crews work from that plan.
Downtown Downey has its own specific plan, which zones the core for mixed use and encourages homes above ground-floor shops. Moving out of a unit over a storefront starts with one question: where on that block the truck can stand for a few hours, since a loading zone won't hold it.
Downey's municipal code keeps heavy commercial vehicles from parking on city streets, with an exception that fits moving day: a truck may stay while it is loaded or unloaded for a property on the same block, until the work is finished. So the truck parks on your block, not around the corner, and leaves when the job at that address is done.
Street sweeping is the second clock. Where signs post a sweeping day and time, nobody may stop, stand or park there during that window, and the city says streets are always swept on the posted day, with no make-up runs. If the window overlaps the move, the parking plan puts the truck on a stretch of your block that is clear that day.
Holiday weeks add a twist. When a holiday pushes trash pickup back a day, collection can land on the sweeping day for the rest of that week, with barrels set up on the curb so the sweeper can pass. If your date falls in one of those weeks, check both schedules before you pick a start time.
Loading zones won't hold a full move: the code lets a commercial vehicle stop there only as long as the loading takes, under a short time cap. Backing a truck to the curb at an angle takes a special permit from the Public Works director, and on arterial streets angle loading is off-limits Monday through Saturday from 7 to 9 a.m. SOS crews park parallel to the curb and carry from there.
| Area or housing type in Downey | What to plan for on moving day |
|---|---|
| Single-family streets on the north, west and south sides | Truck on the same block as the house, a driveway-to-ramp carry, and the posted sweeping day |
| Apartments between Florence Ave, Downey Ave, Firestone Blvd and Paramount Blvd | Shared parking and stairwells, the manager's move rules, a COI ($50) if the building asks |
| Mixed-use buildings in Downtown Downey | Homes above shops: settle the truck spot on the block in advance; the resident books any elevator time |
| Homes facing arterial streets | Parallel loading; no angle loading Monday to Saturday, 7 to 9 a.m.; backing to the curb takes a Public Works permit |
| South side near I-105 | Farthest from the I-5 corridor, so the drive in ends with more surface streets |
Downey's trash hauler, Athens Services, collects bulky items such as furniture, mattresses, box springs and carpet, up to five items per pickup, and the city asks residents to book it at least a day before their collection day. Single-family homes get it free; multi-family customers pay a fee. Schedule it for the week before the move, and the old sofa is gone before the crew arrives instead of sitting in the driveway.
A garage sale is the other way to lighten the load, and Downey requires a permit for one. You buy it at City Hall at least one working day ahead, you have to be present during the sale, and it runs two consecutive days, or three on a city holiday weekend. Signs on utility poles, street signs and trees are illegal, so hold the sale a weekend or two before the move and send whatever doesn't sell out with the bulky pickup.
Every SOS crew starts from one base, at 5530 Jillson Street, and the run to Downey is I-5: about 5.7 miles, around 10 minutes without traffic. The freeway crosses the northern part of the city, so north-side addresses come first. Homes near I-105, which follows the southern city line, add surface-street time at the end of the drive.
The commute is the variable. I-5 through this stretch slows in both rush hours, and an 8AM start puts the truck on it during the morning one. With the base this close, the delay is smaller than on long runs, but it still belongs in the day's plan.
Crews work Monday through Sunday, 8AM to 6PM. Moving services in Downey are billed by the hour; Downey is within 30 miles of the base, so the minimum is 3 hours, and double drive time applies to moves over 10 miles. When a crew is free, same-day moves in Downey are possible too.
Downey shares a city line with all three. Commerce sits on the northern border, joined to Downey by the same I-5 corridor our trucks use to get here; see moves in Commerce. Pico Rivera shares that northern border as well, and our Pico Rivera page covers moves on that side of the line.
To the east, Norwalk begins where Downey ends, and I-5 carries on from one city into the other. A move from a Downey apartment block to a house in Norwalk means reading two sets of curb signs, one at each end, before the date is set; see moving in Norwalk for the other end of that trip.
