Your Moving Checklist

o  Sort through your belongings – Don’t wait until you have found a new place to do this. If you know you are going to be moving in the next few months, start going through your belongings. If you don’t use it or need it, get rid of it. The less you have to move & reorganize, the easier your move will be.

o  Take measurements – Take measurements of your new home. This will help you plan for where to put things once you get there.

o  Start packing early –Start packing early. If its something you aren’t going to use for the next couple weeks, put it into totes or boxes and get them stacked and ready to move.

o  Hire a reputable moving company – Seriously, this is money well spent. You will thank yourself later. Hiring a company to move you will relieve so much stress on moving day. This is especially important if you are buying one house and selling another is a relatively short time span. You won’t have to beg friends and family to help, or deal with the stress of not having enough hands to get the job done in time. While someone else moves your belongings, you can be at your new house unpacking, or the old house cleaning up.

o  Start looking for homeowner’s insurance early – Once you have your offer in place, you should begin looking for homeowner’s insurance. If you start early, you will have more time to shop for the best rates and coverage.

o  Schedule your utilities – Call and schedule utilities to transfer over on the day of closing. If your closing date moves, remember to call and change the date!

o  Get your records ready – If you have children who will be moving to a new school district, get all their records ready and register them to start

o  Wait to schedule non-essential contractors – This one is more of a “don’t do” than a “to-do” but it’s a mistake that many to-be homeowners make. When you move into a new home, frequently you will need to schedule contractors or for new furniture/appliances to be delivered. Buying a new house is exciting and it’s easy to get ahead of ourselves by scheduling quotes & deliveries to make your new house a home. However, if the repair or new household item is not an essential, it is best to wait to schedule these. There is a fairly good probability that your closing date will change. When this happens, you will already need to call to post-pone utilities and insurance coverage. The last thing you want to have to do is call around to reschedule deliveries and contractors as well. Around 4%-6% of home sales fall through completely while 32% of closings are delayed. This means, you have up to a 38% chance of not closing when you think you will. Just save yourself the hassle and wait to schedule if you can!

o  Throw a house warming party! – Ok, this one isn’t essential but it’s fun! Plus, after all that work preparing to move, you deserve it!

o  Call Rock Valley Fence & Deck – If you will be needing a new fence for your brand new home, give us a call to schedule your estimate