Moving into a new house isn’t the easiest thing to do. As you move, you have to say goodbye to your previous home and hello to fresh new beginnings. It can be an impactful event, so prepare yourself for a rollercoaster of emotions.
When it comes to moving homes, you shouldn’t just choose the first amazing internet listing you see. You need to go through several other processes so you can be sure you’re moving into a home that will fit you and your family perfectly.
Below are some things you’ll need to consider when moving:
Inspect The Location
The location of your new home is one of the most critical factors when it comes to choosing a new place to live. Before you go to the open house, you first need to consider if the location is safe for your entire family to live in.
Take natural disasters, for example. Is the home near a fault line? Is it on a flood plain? You wouldn’t want to live in a house that can get easily drowned with just a splash of rain.
To check the flood levels, you can look online or go to the neighborhood and ask a few people. That way, you can have a first-hand opinion about the flood situation in the area.
Overall, you need to check your location’s key characteristics and see if it fits your family’s needs. You can read more articles online, discussing the pros and cons of living in a particular place, like the Boise area. In that way, you can have deeper knowledge about the neighborhood.
Consider Distances From School And Work
After inspecting the area’s location, you need to further assess if it’s at a good distance from the places you’ll visit regularly. If you’re staying in your old office, you need to consider how far your new home will be away from work, for instance.
Consider the commute time from your new home to your office and see if the move is worth it. You also need to consider the location of your child’s school. If you’re not planning to transfer your children to a new school, you’ll need to make sure you’re not moving out of the district, or giving them too long of a trip themselves.
If you’re planning to visit your relatives every weekend, you could also consider their location and try to keep it near your area, so you don’t have to regularly drive long distances.
On the whole, before moving into a new home, make sure it’s in an area that’s well located for everyone, making the move worth it.
Change Your Locks
Unless your new home has smart locks, you should always change the locks just to be sure that no one has a spare copy of the key.
When moving into somewhere new, you won’t be at ease thinking that the previous owners still have a copy of the key to your new home. No matter how much you trust the person you’re purchasing from, it’s still best practice to get new locks for your home, especially for its exterior access.
If you’re moving into a household that doesn’t require a physical key but rather a passcode to enter, you should immediately change the code to something more personal so you can guarantee the safety of your household.
Set Up The Utilities
As you move into your new home, the previous owner probably turned off all the utilities to reduce their monthly bills. Before you move in, you need to contact your utility providers and inform them that you need to have everything turned back on, a list which could include:
- Electricity
- Water
- Heating
- Cooling
- Gas.
In that way, you can have a smooth transition as you move into your new house.
You should also consider setting up your internet, cable, and telephone connection beforehand so they’ll be ready on your move-in day. That way, all you’ll need to do is to place your new and old furniture inside your new home.
Verify The Repairs
If you’re moving into a home that someone previously owned, expect it to have repairs that you’ll need to do.
Before moving in, first ensure that you fix everything there is to repair. That way you won’t have to deal with any issues once you’ve settled everything inside your new home.
After the repairs have been done, you need to verify that things are as they should be, and that the home is entirely safe for your move-in day. Ideally, you wouldn’t want to move into a new house while still allowing some workers to come inside your home and fix the roof. When moving into your new home, you want everything to be okay, so you can proceed with the joy of moving in.
Update Your Addresses
Since you’re moving into a new home, it’s only reasonable that you’ll need to update your address. If you have a monthly subscription—for magazines, socks, or anything else—you’ll want to redirect it to your new home so you continue to receive them and avoiding wasting money.
Apart from your subscriptions, you should also update your home address with your bank and other providers that send you regular bills. Along with this, it’s a good idea to update your address on your government ID as well, so you have a legal document with your new and current address.
Do A Deep Clean
Before you officially move into your house, you may want to conduct a deep cleaning inside your home so that you can guarantee it’s entirely safe for everyone to live in, especially for your kids.
You can choose to get your hands dirty by cleaning your house yourself, or you can choose to hire a service that can deep clean your home for you. When it comes to hiring a deep cleaning service, ensure that they’re from a reputable company so you can guarantee that they’ll not damage your furniture and home as they clean.
Conclusion
Moving into a new home can be an exhausting event, as you need to take care of so many things. Apart from packing everything that you need into boxes, you also need to check if the house is in tip-top shape and is already move-in ready. If you keep these seven things in mind, your move-in day should be smooth sailing.
