Moving in to your new home: 5 tips to smooth the way
What to keep in mind for moving day and your first week as a homeowner
by Heather Benjamin
Moving day! It’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times. After all you’ve done to close on your new home, you’re ready to finally take possession and move family, pets, furniture, boxes, and that overflowing bag of cleaning supplies and power cords into the new space so you can make it your own.
Although moving can be a bit chaotic, once you’re all settled in, you can relax and set things up at your own pace. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you’re planning your move-in. Take note of these tips to make everything go as smoothly as possible:
Schedule the moving truck arrival for after you expect to have the deed recorded.
You can’t always assume that you’ll receive keys in hand on the day of closing. After you’ve signed all those papers at the closing attorney’s office, it’s often another day before the deed and title are recorded at the local office of the Register of Deeds.
It’s important to schedule your actual physical move-in for after that time—perhaps the day after closing, or even the day after that. Hopefully, your real estate agent has scheduled your closing for early in the week rather than on a Friday, to minimize delays.
Set up the start dates for your utilities logically.
As with your homeowners insurance, you’ll want to make sure the start date for your electricity, gas and water accounts to be active in your name is the day of closing (or even the day before). The last thing you want is to arrive ready to scrub the kitchen ahead your first dinner in the house, only to find no water’s coming out of the faucet. However, visits from internet, phone, or cable installers should be scheduled for afterward, when you’re certain you’ll be in the house.
Make security and safety checks.
On the day you move in:
—Change locks and keycodes as needed for external doors, fences, or garage doors.
—Locate the water main shutoff valve and circuit breaker box.
—Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
—Check windows and lock any that you don’t want to be open.
Update your address and contact info.
If you haven’t already, make sure you file a change of address form with the post office, and let friends and family know of your new mailing address. In addition, update your contact information for all important business entities, such as your work’s HR office, banking institutions, credit cards, houses of worshiip, volunteer groups, and any other accounts that might send you physical mail. Such things are easy to forget in the digital age, so it can be helpful to set aside an hour or two to make these updates all at one time.
Meet your neighbors and explore the neighborhood.
Introduce yourself to your neighbors (if they don’t come knocking on your door first, that is!) to start things off on the right foot. Ask them for helpful hints like when to put out the trash and recycling. People love to share info and give advice, and chances are, they’ll be glad to share all they know about the community, from when there might be increased traffic from summer festivals to what times of day the neighbor child who skateboards is likely to be flying past your driveway.
Last, take some time to explore your neighborhood—on foot if possible. Your first walks around the community will let you breathe, take in the surroundings, and feel even more deeply the joy of being in a new place, ready for a new journey.
A real estate agent can help guide you through all the steps of the homebuying process. Feel free to reach out anytime with questions—I serve as a resource for the community, whether client or neighbor. Post by Heather Benjamin, Broker/REALTOR®, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices York Simpson Underwood Realty.