There are numerous details to take care of when your family is moving to a new house, so it’s no surprise that some of the small, but important steps and details are often overlooked. To ensure that doesn’t happen to you we’ve come up with a checklist of sorts, outlining the 5 things that people often forget about when moving to a new home; we promise, this list will eliminate a lot of the stress, making you more organized and the whole experience much smoother.
5 Important Details People Overlook When Moving Into A House
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Obtaining ALL the Keys to the New Home
Getting the key to the front door from your real estate agent is a given, but most homes have more than one door, like a back door, side door, or basement door; and each of those doors has a lock and key of its own. There might also be gate keys, window keys, keys to the closets, kitchen cabinet keys and keys to sheds or other outbuildings. Obtaining all these additional keys before the big day will make it much easier for you to move into your new place and get settled.
Otherwise, you may find yourself having to make an extra stop at the real estate office or worse, unable to open a door in your own place.
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Changing All the Locks at the New Home upon Arrival
There’s no way to know how many copies of your new home’s keys are knocking about in the world. The former owner of your home could have given out keys to dozens of people, from family members to delivery guys. So, while you need to old keys to get in, once you have them you should change all the locks, especially for doors and windows accessible on the outside. Changing all the locks is the safest way to prevent unpleasant surprise visits from acquaintances of the former owners or those who may have less than honorable intentions.
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Leave Enough Time to Connect the Utilities at the New Home
Moving your house’s electricity connection should be done as soon as possible to ensure you and your loved ones aren’t sitting in the dark or that your precious, but full-of-energy kids aren’t without their Saturday morning cartoons when you get there. If you are switching over services, like electric and gas, call your companies about 3 business days before and find out what you need to switch. If you are switching over cable or signing up for a new service, call at least 2 weeks before to schedule installation if you are signing up for new service.
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Informing All the People Who Need to Know About the Move
Before you move, it’s a good idea to go through your entire database of connections and send out postcards or text messages informing people about your new address. Also, inform the post office, along with any creditors and magazine subscriptions you hold. That way, anyone who sends you mail will be likelier to send it to your new home, causing less inconvenience for you. The address on your driver’s license and vehicle registrations will also need to be updated.
If you live in NSW or you’re moving to NSW, this link will take you to a page that includes an online change-of-address notification option plus a helpful checklist of contacts who may need to be informed of your move. There are similar links if you need to change your address in Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.
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Returning Library Books or Other Borrowed Things
It’s wise to return any borrowed items such as library books before you move house. For starters, there’s no point in moving things that don’t need to be moved; and if you’re moving to a home in a different state, returning library books from your former locality will become a major inconvenience after you’ve settled into your new home. You’ll definitely want to avoid this unnecessary hassle.
If you remember to take care of these 5 often-overlooked details, you have a much greater chance that your moving house experience will proceed smoothly.
Author Bio:
Sumo Power is an Australian owned energy company that retails electricity products and services to consumers across Victoria.
