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After you come down from the high of knowing your home is in contract (whether you’re selling or buying) what to do next can seem daunting. I grew up in a military family so we moved quite often. My sisters and I joked we were able to pack our rooms’ boxes before we even knew how to write the word “toys” on the side!Hopefully, you’ve taken my advice and already had a yard sale or started paring down your belongings prior to putting your home on the market. This should help make the move much easier since you’ve already started gathering supplies such as boxes, markers, bubble wrap and newspapers for safe guarding breakables.
1. Hire a reputable moving company. Research on-line reviews, get estimates in writing (not over the phone) and make sure the company has an US Dept of Transportation identity number on the paperwork.
2. Keep an inventory of your items. Receipts are really helpful, and you may have some of these with your tax records already.
3. If you’re packing all the items yourself, be sure to mark the contents and room destination on the outside of each box.
4. Pack an essentials box you’ll need at the new home and take it with you. Can’t live without your morning coffee? The last thing you want to do is rummage through boxes trying to find filters, coffee, spoons and mugs at 6am the day after your move!
5. Along with your essentials box, pack a box specifically of cash box items – jewelry, important papers such as marriage licenses, birth records, social security cards, etc. You’ll also want to take this to the new home personally.
6. Start packing non essentials as soon as you can. Until your closing/moving day – do you really need to use Aunt Ella’s fine china? It’s also a good time to start using up all those perishable or frozen groceries – unless your move is just across town, most of us won’t ship our frozen foods.
7. Utility transfers. You’ll want to make sure to get the gas, electric, water, cable, and security systems, etc are on at your new home, and off at your current one. I’ve got a pretty good list of the local providers that I can email you if interested – just contact me through this blog! Newspaper delivery would be another to add to the list.
8. Put in a change of address at the post office, and don’t forget to have them forward your mail. Many of us do much of our bill paying on-line, but those companies still have our addresses on file, so don’t forget to go through that list and let them know as well.
8. Banking. I may be one of those holdouts that still uses checks on occasion, so if you’re like me, you’ll want to get those updated too. If you have any security boxes that need to have the items relocated, you’ll want to take care of that too.
Closing dates can shift around sometimes, so be sure to keep the moving company aware of any changes. Call and confirm your move with them a week before your scheduled move date to avoid any last-minute complications.
Lastly, have a sense of humor about it. Stuff happens. Life happens. Being as prepared as possible can lessen those anxious moments!
