Once you leave the closing for your new house, you’ll have many busy days until your actual move. In addition to packing everything up at your current home and making your new home the place of your dreams, there are quite small details that may slip through the cracks if you’re not careful. Follow this handy checklist of the 8 companies that you should contact before you move into your new home.
1. Utility Companies
Taking care of all of your utilities is critical. If not done properly, you could wind up paying for utilities you didn’t use or move into your new home only to find that some of the utilities have not been turned on. Here’s a rundown of what utilities need to be on your list:
- Electric
- Water
- Gas
- Oil
- Cable/satellite TV
- Internet
- Trash/recycling
- Home security
- Telephone
Whether you’re moving, cancelling ,or starting a new service, plan to call these companies two to three weeks before your scheduled move, and provide a forwarding address for those companies with services you are cancelling. Don’t forget to return any equipment you might have, such as cable boxes or Internet routers, or you might find yourself with a hefty bill for those down the road.
As you contact these companies, make sure that you ask for a refund of any deposits you paid when you started the service. When you do receive your final bills, check them closely to be sure that you weren’t charged for anything after the shutoff dates you gave the companies.
2. Post Office
When you move to your new home, don’t let any of your mail get lost in the shuffle. File a change of address form with the U.S. Postal Service to ensure that you don’t miss a beat with your mail. You can fill out the forms at the post office or file the change of address form online. There’s a box on the form that lets the post office know what date they should start forwarding your mail.
Filing a change of address is only a temporary measure; you tell contact every company you do business with, including banks, doctors, and insurance companies that you have a new address.
3. Locksmith
Unless you’re moving into a brand new home that was just built, a reputable locksmith should be on your list of companies to contact before your move. Even if the people you purchased the home from gave you a few sets of keys, you really have no idea how many other sets are floating around. If the people you purchased the home from didn’t change the locks when they moved in, there could be quite a few people out there with keys to your home. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so spend the money to have all exterior locks replaced.
4. Service Providers
Make a list of any service providers that you regularly use, and contact them to let them know you’re moving. If you’re still in the company’s service area, you may be able to move service to your new home. Otherwise, you’ll need to terminate services with that company. Make sure you have a good understanding of which ones you have written contracts with to be sure you’re not surprised later on with a bill for the remainder of the contract.
5. Motor Vehicle Department
If you’re moving to another city in the same state, changing your motor vehicle registration and driver’s license should be a fairly simple matter. In fact, you might be able to complete everything online or through the mail. When making a move out of state, call the local motor vehicle department to find out what you’ll need to change your license and registration from one state to another.
You might be tempted to make this one a low priority, but don’t let it wait. If you’re stopped for a traffic violation and you’ve waited too long to update everything, you might wind up with a hefty fine.
6. Financial Institutions
When you buy a new home, your finances aren’t something to take lightly. Make sure that you contact your bank, credit card companies, and any other investment or financial firm that you deal with to let them know your new address. If your move isn’t local, make sure you let your credit card company know that you’ll be using the card when traveling and that you may be charging more expenses than usual. It’s rather common for a credit card company to suspend a cardholder account for large, suspect out-of-town expenses. As long as you let them know ahead of time about your move, they can set your account up to handle it on their end.
7. Cleaning Service/Exterminator
You’re going to be busy enough packing and unpacking, so consider calling in a professional cleaning company before move-in day. No matter how clean it looks, you’ll feel better knowing that you’re moving into a home that’s relatively germ-free. If the home has any wall-to-wall carpets, have a professional rug cleaner come in to deep clean any rugs that you’ve decided to keep in the home. Finally, contact an exterminator to come in and do a once-over on the home. Remember that the seller was probably reluctant to point out anything less than stellar about the home, so he may have neglected to mention that the house has problems with insects or rodents.
8. HVAC Company
The last thing you need when moving into your new home is to have the furnace or central air conditioning system stop working suddenly. Even if the systems passed the home inspection, you really don’t know if the previous owner kept up with regular annual maintenance or not. By scheduling your annual service and cleanings before you move, you’ll have one less thing to worry about.
2 Point Highlight
If you’re moving to another city in the same state, changing your motor vehicle registration and driver’s license should be a fairly simple matter.
When you buy a new home, your finances aren’t something to take lightly.
