Moving
Moving from your current home to your new home is exciting but at the same time, it’s a stressful experience and once you’re finally moved you’ll probably feel both relieved and exhausted. There are still a few things to take care of to protect your new home and get settled in. Here are some basic things that you need to take care of just before you move or as soon as you move into your new home. Some of these seem extremely basic, but they’re all very useful in making sure that your bases are covered when you move in.
Check your street number
Make sure that your house’s street number is clearly visible from the road, in case you’re expecting a moving truck and/or delivery truck shortly after the move. But especially for emergency vehicles to easily find your home in case of an emergency.
Organize moving receipts
As you start to unpack, you may be tempted to throw out moving receipts and documents just to start getting things organized. But don’t! Depending on your situation, you may qualify for a tax deduction. Although you won’t necessarily need to provide your receipts when you do your taxes, keeping them will help you remember exactly how much you spent. You’ll also need the receipts if you get audited.
Take pictures of your new home
You should take pictures of any damage that was not there before or wasn’t documented in the home inspection paperwork. Then contact the seller, tenant or moving company responsible for the damage and ask them to make it right by fixing the damage or providing you with equivalent financial compensation. Be sure to take notes on your conversations with them; if they don’t want to make it right, you may end up in small claims court if you decide the damage is bad enough to pursue your case.
Change the locks
As soon as you take possession of your new home, you should change the locks as soon as you move in. You never know who has copies of keys to the old locks, and new locks will give you peace of mind. It’s a clever idea to change the locks even on new construction if anyone else (like a builder or project manager) has had access to the key long enough to make a copy. Don’t forget the front and back door, garage door as well as any sheds or other locked buildings on your property.
Know where the water shut-off valves are
This includes the main water shut-off from the street and well as your shut off valve next to your home. If you had a physical home inspection done, the home inspector would have pointed this out to you. Otherwise you should ask the previous homeowner or find them yourself as soon as you’re there.
Check for leaks
Water damage can cause significant and expensive damage to your new home. Start with a basic visual inspection of the areas under your sinks and around toilets. Run the water, flush the toilet and watch nearby pipes for leaks. Identify any inside water valves during this process so you’ll know how to turn water off to specific faucets if you need to do so.
To find hidden leaks occurring in unseen pipes, turn off all the faucets in your house and make sure the dishwasher is not running. Then, check the water meter. If the dial is moving, you likely have a large leak. If you have a slow leak, it will take a while for the water meter dial to change. If it isn’t moving, wait two hours (making sure to leave the water off the whole time) and check the dial on the meter again. It’s a clever idea to find your main water valve while doing this and figure out how to turn it off, in case of a major leak later.
Find your main electrical panel
When you move in, find the main electrical panel for your house. You should always check the electrical panel first if your power goes out to rule out any problems with your home before you call the electric company.
If the electrical panel is outside your house, lock it to prevent anyone from tampering with your power. If your electrical panel is inside your home, place a flashlight or battery-powered light near it. This will come in handy if you need to check the circuit breakers during a power outage.
Make sure you fully understand the labeling. If the circuit breakers are not labeled, you should go through each breaker to find out what circuit it controls and label each breaker so that you know which breaker turns off which area.
Check the smoke detectors
Find all the smoke detectors and test them all. If you don’t feel the home is adequately covered with enough detectors, install additional ones as quickly as possible. There should be a smoke one smoke detector in each bedroom and 1 in each hallway leading to the bedrooms (on each floor).
Check the Carbon Monoxide detectors
There should be at least 1 carbon monoxide detector on each floor.
Check if fire extinguishers are present
Make sure there’s a fire extinguisher on every floor and one in the garage.
Submit claims for damages or losses
If your moving company damaged or lost any of your property during the move, it’s time to submit a claim. Most companies have a short window of time that they’ll accept claims for damages. Take lots of pictures of the damaged items or property, then contact the company to initiate the claims process. If you took a moving inventory, submit a copy of that document to your moving company if items were lost. Be sure to document every conversation you have with the claims representatives.
Set up your utilities
When you move, you’ll need to ask about utilities services in your new area and set up services from the ones you need. You may need to set up water, natural gas, electricity, internet, satellite or cable television, trash services and security services like home alarms. It can take a a few days for a utilities provider to set up your services, so contact the company with your move-in date early if you can.
Set up or install smart and security devices
After your internet is turned on, set up and program your smart home devices. This process will vary greatly depending on what smart home devices you have.
Moving is a great time to add new smart features to your home. You can easily install items like smart thermostats and leak detectors when you move in to save money on energy bills and protect your home.
Change your address and register to vote
If you haven’t already completed a change of address form with the United States Postal Service (USPS), you can pick one up at the post office to ensure that all mail sent to your old address is forwarded to the new address. You should also update your voter registration address as soon as you can. If there’s an election within 60 days of your move, you can use your old polling place or mail in an absentee vote. But other elections will require you to register at least two weeks before the voting date.
Get a new license and registration
No matter where you move, if you drive you’re required to get a new driver’s license with an updated address. Most states require you to do this within 30 days of your move. You can visit your nearest Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office.
If you move to a new state, you will also need to register your vehicle in that state. You may have up to 60 days to complete the new registration process.
Update insurance policies
As soon as you move, it’s important to update your Homeowner’s Insurance policy with information about your new home. You’ll also need to update your information with your Auto Insurance company and provide them with your new address.
If you have a Home Warranty plan, you will need to update that policy as well.
Identify emergency exits
Make sure everyone knows how to get out in the case of a fire. In many homes, this is straightforward, but it’s good for everyone to know where they should be going to get out.
Emergency Kit
Get your emergency kit in the house first thing during the moving process and put it in a known place. Also, get the emergency numbers list for the area and post it in a readily accessible location.
