Everyone is excited about moving to a new neighborhood and home. It’s usually the culmination of several months or years of hard labor.
However, the experience and process of settling in may not always be fun-filled due to the associated complex dynamics of moving in.
But adequate preparation and strategic planning can make it an easy process. If you’ve just bought or built a new home, use the following checklist to prepare your new home for your arrival.
11 Drastic Ways To Prepare Your Home Before Your Arrival
1. Transport The Essentials
It’d help to furnish your new home with the necessary furniture and household appliances. Ideally, it would help if you transported them before arrival, so your comfort isn’t compromised. After all, you wouldn’t want to move into an empty house with nowhere to sit or sleep and no equipment to prepare your meals.
For this reason, you must make solid plans before the actual moving day. It helps you decide on many factors, such as who goes in which room or your furniture layout.
If you rely on your brain and memory to run things, you’ll be overwhelmed before the movers arrive. It’d help to prepare in advance to avoid the last-minute rush.
Again, it helps you plan your moving arrangements, especially if it involves long-distance moving. A checklist helps you organize your thoughts and ideas and serves as your ultimate guide to moving.
On the other hand, you’ll be at an advantage if you plan on the appropriate timelines. It’s normal to forget stuff as you plan your relocation, but ideally, a checklist takes care of the little things. Doing so will make you less likely to forget any crucial tasks before moving into your new home.
2. Do A Walkthrough
Before moving, you must make a preliminary visit to your new residence. You may make better plans once you see the space empty. During this process, you will become aware of any necessary repairs or alterations agreed upon with your real estate agent. Some advantages of doing a walkthrough include:
- It helps you determine if issues need to be resolved before moving in.
- It gives you the benefit of planning the arrangements of all your things.
- You get the freedom to inspect the house and check if all the agreed repairs or replacements have been done.
While at it, you’d want to check the condition of specific house parts as follows:
- Ensure the windows and door lock are closed and open seamlessly.
- If there are appliances in the home, ensure they’re working properly.
- Inspect the moist areas for mold problems.
- Check for signs of damage to electric systems.
- Address the presence of pests in your home.
- Scrutinize the walls and floors for damage.
You can test the house’s thermostat and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) to be sure they’re working correctly.
3. Schedule Cleaning
The best time to clean your new home is before everything comes in. Take advantage of the empty spaces and thoroughly clean your house. No doubt the previous homeowner could have left the place clean, but you can’t rely on that.
On the other hand, you’d want to understand the ins and outs of your new home. While cleaning, you’ll notice what you need to change to have a comfortable stay. Unless you’re the home’s first owner, your house will need deep cleaning.
Similarly, newly built homes have a lot of construction dust. You can ask friends to help you tidy up the place if they live nearby. Before you bring your belongings, ensure all the dust is out, and every corner of the house is clean enough.
To get the job done well, you can hire a cleaning crew like Think Maids, arlington va. They’re more thorough and efficient and will make your new place sparkling clean.
4. Organize Your Belongings
The most hectic part of moving is the unpacking. If you don’t organize your belongings, you’ll find it tough to move and settle fast. It’s draining to go through all the boxes looking for one tool, such as a knife. Here are some of the best tips you should consider when packing your belongings:
- Sort them in order of importance: It helps you track the essentials. You’ll need a change of clothes, a toothbrush, medication, or paperwork. You don’t have to go through all the boxes to get such essentials. Have an essentials box where you put most of these items for easy retrieval.
- Declutter: Moving is the best time to identify what you need and use. For instance, you can donate the clothes you’ll not be wearing to the homeless or to a charity. Alternatively, you can hold garage sales on things you’ll not be using. You can also ask your friends to pick some items they’ll need from your belongings. The advantage of decluttering is that it helps you pack less.
- Make an inventory list: A list will help you note what you’ve packed and what’s yet to go into the box. You can make it more detailed if you have time. For instance, have different packages for cups, plates, and crockery instead of just putting all utensils in one box.
- Pack one room at a time: This trick will help you quickly identify what box goes where when you’ll be unpacking. It’s also helpful for the movers as they unload the boxes.
- Start packing earlier: If you care about the organization, don’t start packing the night before you move. You end up with jumbled-up stuff while rushing against time. It’s one of the moving mistakes you’d want to avoid. You can start packing not commonly used items or off-season clothes. It reduces the stress of time and working with a considerable load.
- Save On space: You need all the space you can to fit everything in your boxes. Instead of folding your clothes, you can roll them. Additionally, you can hang your clothes on garbage bags instead of folding them. Rolling and hanging the clothes reduces wrinkles and ultimately saves space.
- Label the boxes: Marking your boxes saves time as you pack and unpack. You can streamline the process using symbols or shorthand writings on your packages. However, it’d be best to mark them correctly to avoid confusion. Labelling the boxes gives you an upper hand on what to get into which package. Be precise with the details since it makes the whole difference.
- Bundle the breakables: Fragile items may break when moving. If you want to avoid such unfortunate events, you have to be thorough when packing the breakables. You can use bunched paper for padding. Alternatively, you can cushion the boxes to safely store them for moving.
- Use quality moving boxes: Specialized moving boxes have the added advantage of durability, which is worth the cost when buying them. If you use grocery boxes, you risk exposing your belongings to moisture or the box falling apart.
5. Child Or Pet Proof
If you’re moving with pets and children, you must ensure their safety in their new surroundings. You should pet-proof the property and even the house. Your child and pet may be injured throughout the moving process if you do not properly place your boxes to prevent mishaps. You will need to make room for the boxes, or you can decide for all boxes to be placed in the garage while the furniture is brought into the house first.
Alternatively, you can restrict their movement on that day by installing temporary child and pet gates. You will be preoccupied with moving and may ignore your children for some time. Therefore, you can install cabinet locks and door knobs to prevent children from entering rooms without permission. Here are some child- and pet-proofing tips for your new home:
- Covering outlets
- Spreading the boxes instead of stacking them high
- Getting appliances with cords out of the way
- Storing poisonous cleaning supplies in higher cabinets
- Stashing breakables and alcohol in lockable cabinets
6. Ensure Your Utilities Are Set
Priority should be given to utilities such as power, gas, water, and heat. You probably don’t want to spend your first night in your new home in the dark. Before the move, obtain information about the utility’s functionality.
You may want to start by checking the internet connection in your new home, as it’s challenging nowadays to stay offline, even for a few hours. If the cable connection isn’t up and running, you can transfer your existing internet connection system to your new home if the company allows that. It means you’ll have to schedule appointments before the actual move day.
Call the connection service providers a day or two before to avoid the inconvenience of not being connected. You might also want to run a few errands online, such as changing your address or informing someone that you’ve finally moved in. Thus, planning for the utilities earlier is necessary.
Also, you should be prepared for anything. For instance, there could be an issue with the electrical system, hence the need to locate the circuit breaker. You can also look for other essentials, such as the water valve and the fuse box. An exit point is also essential in case a fire occurs. Such details are necessary, and you should be ready with the information before you arrive at your new home.
7. Consider Doing Repairs
You must have spotted several locations that require repair after your walkthrough. You can divide the repairs into two categories: those that must be done immediately and those that can wait. It is best to fix any flaws before moving in. After all, you wouldn’t want to walk into a broken-down house and immediately begin repairing it.
Some of the repairs you should do before you arrive include:
- Heavy remodeling
- Paintworks
- Floor replacements
- Replacing furnace filters
- Attic repairs
- Drainage system repairs
- Installation
- Smoke detectors maintenance
- Roof repairs
8. Change Your Locks
You wouldn’t want a break-in on your first days. Thus, changing the locks before moving in is critical. You might not know who the previous owners of the house were. Also, anyone might have a key to your main entry doors. For your safety and security, you’d better have them changed.
As they say, better be safe than sorry. You can schedule the locks changing a day before your moving day. If you’re uncomfortable working with a locksmith, you can change them yourself. Ensure you test the locks to be sure they work perfectly. For peace of mind, it would be best to change all the locks in your new home.
9. Get Insurance
You must safeguard your belongings even as you move into your new house. It’s also critical to check that your items are covered by insurance. Keep in mind that accidents might occur throughout the moving procedure, and movers will only cover a portion of your belongings.
That said, it may not be enough to cover most of your belongings. As a result, you’d require more insurance. It would be best to work with your home agents to get a reputable insurance agent. Be sure to have them checked for legitimacy before engaging in any transactions.
Ask for more information regarding the insurance to understand their terms. It gives you an advantage in case things don’t go as planned.
10. Set Up Security Systems
Since you’re new to the neighborhood, setting up the security systems before moving would be wise. Their primary function is to safeguard your family’s security and safety.
Apart from burglary, they can also help detect fires, home intrusion, and environmental disasters. You can have the measures put in place by professionals to stay on alert for any dangerous threat to your home.
11. Meet Your Neighbors
If you want to enjoy your stay, you should set off on the right foot with your neighbors. Before the actual moving day, you can try to get to know your neighbors. If you meet them and say hello, you’ll have a warm and cordial relationship that could lead to a peaceful co-existence. It’s not a requirement, but knowing your neighbors would be much better.
Furthermore, you might need help locating the nearby social amenities, such as the local markets, schools, and hospitals. There’s no harm in getting such information from neighbors. Alternatively, you can host a housewarming party.
Pass the word around the neighborhood that everyone is invited. During the party, you’ll formally get to know your neighbors and have a neutral ground to ask all the questions concerning the area.
Conclusion
Moving to a new house can be exciting and overwhelming at the same time. But with proper and efficient planning, you can be sure to have a hassle-free moving day.
You can use the tips mentioned above to prepare for your moving day ahead of time. You don’t have to do it all alone. You can ask your friends, neighbors, or professionals for help.
On the flip side, your new home might not feel like home immediately. It might take some time for you to acclimatize and get comfortable.
However, you can improve the experience by adding personalized features to your space. Eventually, you’ll settle in and get used to the new place.
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