Real Estate --- Checklist For Moving Day So you have chosen your perfect dream house in the hills with a white picket fence, you even have a new family dog to top it all off. Perfect right? Wrong, you still have the move to consider. You’ve got to change your address on all your utility bills, bank statements, have all your mail forwarded, inform the creditors, and worst of all, you have to PACK!!! Using the checklist below will help ease your troubles.
One month before the move:
One month before the move: Whether you are moving across town or across the country there are certain things you have to do. The first one is to take an inventory of what you possess. You will need to choose what you are going to keep and what can be donated to local charity or sold at a garage sale. It is easiest to do this on a room by room basis. Go through each room and box up what you will not be taking with you to the new house. If you are donating to the charity call to arrange a pick up time. If you are having a garage sale, plan it for the next weekend.
For parents with school age children, if there will be a change in schools, notify both the old school and the new one so that transcripts can be sent ahead. This will make it easier to sign the kids into the new school.
Locate the new pharmacy and have your prescriptions transferred.
call the utility companies to make arrangements for disconnecting and/or transferring to the new address. You will want to contact the new companies to have the utilities turned on the day you move in your new home.
Draw out your new floor plan. This will help you you to know which pieces of furniture will go where in the new house. You can also think about what will fit and what will not.
Inform the post office with an address change card they supply. The kit the U.S. Postal Service has will allow you to notify friends, family, and creditors about the new address.
Talk with your bank to have them change the address on your accounts and credit cards.
Three weeks before the move: Start using cleaning supplies and foods you will not want to move. Downsizing the kitchen can be easy during a move. It can be a hassle to move if you do not do this.
Start packing unusual items you do not use that often. Labeling the boxes for the new house make it easier to unpack and get settled in. Many times it is less of a hassle to start with things like the off season clothes.
Retrieve items out on loan. Get any items in the repair shop out. Make sure all dry cleaning has been picked up.
Notify the newspaper of any cancellations.
Now is when you want to plan that garage sale.
Two weeks before the move: If you are using professional movers, find another way to move your pets and plants. These are things the movers can not take on the truck.
Pack as much of the home up as you can. Remembering to check the attic and basement for stored seasonal items.
Have a moving folder. This is where you would keep important items you do not want to get lost or misplaced during the move. Insurance cards, birth certificates, titles, and other things can go in this folder. Put it someplace safe.
Walk around the outside of the house to make sure you got everything you are moving. The garden hose, the wind chimes, and even the lawn ornaments can sometimes be left behind without thinking.
The week before the move:
Pack up anything else you possibly can.
Double check to make sure the utilities will be taken care of and you know what is happening with any deposits you are owed.
Order the new paper delivery service at the new house.
The day of the move:
Box everything you have not gotten to at this point.
When the entire house is empty, do a complete walk through checking closets and drawers as you go. Make sure to check in the basement and garage as well. Close each door before you walk out of the room. There have been many things left behind doors.
This is just a small checklist of some of the things you will want to do before you move. There are other things you may put on your mover's checklist. Back to San Diego downtown real estate article index |
