When the season starts and ends
Seasonal residents usually arrive in late October and November, and the season winds down after Easter, as local station WPTV has reported. A University of Florida study found that Florida's temporary population peaks in January and February.
Easter moves around, so the spring rush does too. In 2027, Easter Sunday falls on March 28, so expect spring departures to begin earlier than in a year when Easter comes in mid-April.
That gives the year two crowded stretches for moving: the fall arrivals and the spring departures. Plan your dates around them, and the rest of this checklist gets easier.
Book early, because everyone moves at once
The catch with a seasonal move is timing. In Palm Beach County you're moving in the same weeks as many of your neighbors, and the end of each month adds its own rush.
Book as soon as you know your dates, and earlier still for the weeks right after Easter. If you can be flexible by a few days, say so when you call; a midweek, mid-month date is often easier to get than a Saturday at the end of the month.
Booking early gives your building time, too. Elevator bookings and move windows can fill up in season, so reserve yours as soon as your moving date is set. If your building needs a certificate of insurance from the mover, ask for its wording at the same time.
Questions for your association and your insurer
Closing a Florida home for the summer means leaving it empty through hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30. Start with the people who will be responsible for the home while you're away, and ask them in the winter rather than the week you leave.
Ask the association who closes the hurricane shutters on an empty unit, whether it wants a key or an emergency contact on file, and whether it has rules about air conditioning or about units left empty for months. Ask your insurer what your policy expects of a home that's unoccupied for the summer, such as regular checks, and how your belongings are covered while you're gone.
Write the answers down with names and dates, and keep them with your home's paperwork. If someone will check on the home while you're away, give them a copy. Tell the association how to reach you over the summer, too, in case a storm passes through while you're gone.
Humidity, and what to leave or take
A closed-up home in a South Florida summer gets warm and damp, and damp is hard on what's inside. Ask your association, or an air conditioning technician, how to leave the air conditioning and humidity control while you're away, rather than guessing. Clear out any food that can spoil before you go.
The furniture and household basics usually stay. What travels north is what you'll use there and what you couldn't replace: documents, medicines, jewelry, a season's clothes and anything sentimental.
Things that don't like heat and damp, such as photographs, papers, artwork and electronics, are worth protecting or bringing along. If you're unsure about a piece, ask at the walkthrough; that's part of what it's for.
If what goes north is more than a car can carry, the move crosses a state line, and the mover needs a federal USDOT number, shown in its ads as "U.S. DOT No." A move that starts and ends in Florida, such as from one Palm Beach County home to another, falls under Florida's own registration rules instead.
Seasonal condo moves
If your Florida home is a condo, the move comes with paperwork: approval for new residents, a certificate of insurance from the mover, an elevator booking, move hours and gate passes. Those rules can apply in both directions, so expect them when you arrive in the fall and again when you leave in the spring.
If you rent for the season, check the lease's move-out date against the building's move hours early. A lease that ends on a Sunday in a building that only allows weekday moves needs a plan well before the day.
Our condo paperwork guide lists the questions to ask, with real examples from South Florida buildings. For the move itself, see seasonal moving.
Your fall checklist
Here is the arrival half of the season, month by month. Shift it to match your own dates; what matters is the order, because each step waits on the one before.
If you're reopening a home that was closed for the summer, give yourself a day there before the boxes arrive. The air conditioning, the shutters and anything the summer left behind are easier to deal with in an empty room than around a moving crew. Run the taps and check under the sinks for leaks while the rooms are still clear.
Moving into a building for the first time? Approval is the step everything else waits on, so start it first.
- August: ask your association for its current moving rules, and how long approval takes if you're new to the building.
- September: book your mover and your building's elevator time, and pass the certificate of insurance wording to the mover.
- October: confirm the date, the gate pass and the move hours, pack what travels with you and set aside an essentials bag.
- Late October to November: move in, check the home over, and note any damage on the paperwork before the crew leaves.
- December: put your spring moving date on the calendar and book it, earlier still in a year when Easter falls in March.
Your spring checklist
The spring list is where booking early pays off, because the weeks after Easter are when the season winds down. In 2027, with Easter on March 28, those weeks come early. If you're leaving a seasonal rental, ask the landlord when the move-out inspection is, so it doesn't land in the same hour as the truck.
Closing a home for the summer takes longer than locking up for a weekend, so give yourself a day after the movers leave. Walk through the home with your association's and your insurer's answers in hand before you lock the door.
When you're ready to plan a move within Florida at either end of the season, book a free walkthrough. We'll go through this list with you, and the proposed dates will be on your written estimate:
- January: confirm your spring moving date, the elevator booking and any move window, and ask your insurer about the empty months.
- February: decide what stays and what goes north, and ask the association about shutters, keys and air conditioning.
- March: pack what's traveling north, set aside an essentials bag, and arrange who will check on the home.
- After Easter: move out, close the shutters or confirm who will, and leave the home the way your association and insurer asked.
- May: hurricane season starts June 1, so finish any moves and close the home before then.