Moving into a new house is an exciting and life-changing event for most of us. It’s all fun and excitement not until you’ve thought about the things you need to consider. You have a lot of things to plan and take care of from the utilities (internet, electricity and clean water), unpacking, moving and arranging all your belongings. All of these will require and consume a lot of your time and effort. Once you arrive, you’ll probably get overwhelmed and even encounter more challenges. It’s always the things that we do after moving in that makes huge differences.
It’s important as a homeowner that we should get associated with our new home. One must learn the main problems which require major improvements and which ones require minimal ones. So why wait for it to uncover itself if we can start doing it before we completely move-in.
I know how much work you already have on your hands, so to make things easier for you, here’s a list of the important things that you need to know and you need to do before moving-in to your new house. Most of the steps won’t require too much time from you but still you’ll need to be dedicated by means of giving your efforts to make it successful. Hopefully you’ll get to learn a lot and be able to apply it real time, so in that way, you’ll be able to relax and celebrate being in your new house.
14 Tips For Moving Into New Home
1) Do a spot check
The best time for you to conduct a better look and check around the house is when it’s completely empty. This should be the first step to do before we decide to move our belongings completely and set-up everything. It’s important to look around it to double check that:
- The conditions agreed upon purchasing the house from the previous owners (such us utilities and things to be repaired) is all aligned with your expectations
- All that was promised to be included before closing the deal are complete inside
- Everything is functioning properly most importantly, electrical outlets, switches, etc.
Pro tip: if ever you discover any concerns and issue that goes against the contract (items promised to be included are missing or failure to repair things to be fixed) don’t hesitate to contact your realtor immediately to see what proper action to be taken. But if the issues are no longer mentioned in the contract, take full responsibility for it.
2) Plan everything out
Nothing beats organized and planned moving. This reduces a great amount of time and is stressful on setting up (furniture, appliances, and decorations. Plan everything beforehand, since you already pictured out what every room looks like, then give yourself some time thinking about how exactly you’d set things up. So when you’re already in the process of arranging everything, minimal changes will be encountered and you’ll be able to sort it out immediately.
3) Properly Set-up Your Utilities
No one likes to experience any inconvenience where there’s no proper waste management, electricity, water, and even internet. As a new homeowner, it should be included in your checklist to make sure that all utilities are functioning well. Contact your local waste management facility and make sure that there’ll be a scheduled garbage pick-up for you. All this should be done and processed before your scheduled move-in. This is to avoid arising issues and problems which could affect your new home experience and will cause you a headache.
4) Make sure to check and locate the fuse box and water walve
Two things that you should know are the fuse box and the water valve. So in any case of emergency, like when there’s suddenly a blackout or electrical malfunction, and for some reason, you need to turn off your water source, you know where to go directly. Commonly, your fuse box is located at the basement, garage or in the storage room while the water valve is usually somewhere around the house parameters.
5) Repair things that need to be fixed
You’ll probably experience this if your newly bought house doesn’t have previous owners. If it has, chances are you’ll need to do some minimal to major repair projects. While checking and looking around the house, make sure to take note of things that need to get done (though you’ll have plenty of time doing it after moving in), you can either try negotiating to have it repaired by the seller or you can do the projects on your own.
Congratulations on successfully moving into your new home! But, don’t stop hustling because you’re now stepping in doing the final stretch to your new house and there are a few more essentials to do. Be realistic and just follow whatever schedule you have and you’ll be successfully settled before you even notice it. So here are some additional tips and things to do after getting all your belongings:
6) Look for help when unpacking your things
The more hands that help you unpack the lesser and easier it is for you to complete the process. Recruiting some of your family members and close friends to help you finish it is the best thing that you can do. Aside from the fact that they are helping and making it all easier for you, it also serves as a simple invitation for them to check out and visit your new home. Some even appreciate it if you ask a favor to do something for your new place. So to have a smooth process, set deadlines, and figure out the most logical order in unpacking.
7) Deep Cleaning
This should be done before you begin to move the boxes in and try to organize them, deep cleaning the house before moving in helps in the process and makes it at least daunting. But, the last thing we should also do after unpacking is to do another round of cleaning. If you feel too tired or just don’t have enough time to pick-up the vacuum and the mop, you may consider calling help from the professional cleaners itself. Whether you’ll pay more or exhaust yourself more, living a new life in your clean home is going to be worth it.
8) Change the locks and keys
It’s not a bad thing to change our locks after moving in. It’s not about not being concerned or don’t trust the previous owners. It is to protect our family and provide better security. We’ll never know if someone has the key and might end up sneaking inside. It’s always better to prioritize our safety than to be sorry. So if you’re more comfortable changing it yourself, do it. But if you wanna make sure, schedule an appointment with a locksmith to drop by. Rekey all of the rooms, interior and exterior doors and even all the windows.
9) Create a home maintenance checklist
Keeping your home in good shape is a good thing to do, so it’s recommended to do a seasonal maintenance check up. Look around the house and see what are the things that will need to be checked regularly and be sure to gather all of the contact information of local services in your area.
10) Decide a lock-out solution
Being locked out of our houses is not a new thing for us, we may probably almost experience it. What’s important is we should have a back up plan in any case it occurs. We can always have a secret place outdoors to put our extra keys or the most simple one is to have a spare key hidden in our bag, or wallet.
11) Get to know your neighbors
Meeting your neighbors might be awkward at first but it’ll be worth it after sometime. Getting and involving yourself in the neighborhood will help you to gather new friends, and will help you to learn more about your community and will give you some ideas of the local services offered in the area. There’s no need to do it door to door, if it happens that you run into a neighbor, being a little friendly will not harm you, go and introduce yourself.
12) Make your home pet-proof or childproof
If you have children or pets living with you, it’s always their safety that we should prioritize. Be sure to make the initial steps in transforming your home child and pet-proof. While you’re busy doing housework (unpacking and arranging), keep all windows closed and have a space intended for them to play safely. Make sure that all sharp objects are out of reach of little hands and paws.
13) Invest in setting up security cameras
Our security should be our priority. We’ll never know what might happen. It’s always better to be prepared than to be late and be sorry. Installing security cameras around your home is a safe option for us because it’ll record everything that’s happening inside and outside our house. We’ll know who visited and checked in on us. If you already have a system in your place, make sure to contact your provider and update your information. If it’s your first time, take some time to shop and install it.
14) Change and update your address
If you haven’t set up to change your address, now is the time to contact all your service providers and update your contact information. Notify them about your move including your friends, banks, subscription providers or any services that are in correspondence with your bills.
Moving in to your new house is indescribably overwhelming and exhausting. Though it’s not that easy, you can always consider asking for help. The sooner that you’ll be able to take care of all of your stuff, the earliest you can enjoy the comfort of your new place.
Read More | MOVING ETIQUETTE: KEEPING YOURSELF AND YOUR MOVERS STRESS-FREE
