Moving in tips

[noddingninja]

All being well we get the keys to our first owned property this Friday. I'm very excited but am trying to be practical and thinking about what we need to do in those first few days. Luckily we're in rented accommodation now and have a week overlap, so our things aren't being moved in until Monday and Tuesday.

I'm going to get the locks changed and I guess there will be some cleaning to do (although the seller is lovely and I doubt she will leave it a state). Then there's the meter readings and getting everything registered and connected.

Any other things I need to think of? How did your move in go? Many thanks.

get your post redirect set up NOW, assuming you have exchanged contracts.

you should already have the new place insured. Speak to your tenant's insurers to cancel your current insurance when the tenancy ends.

if you have a car, speak to the car insurers to advise the new address and its date.

set up broadband/landline; get a shift on as that takes time.

all else can wait until you have moved, that's what the redirect is for.

Congratulations!

IME the enthusiasm for unpacking and setting up home wanes as time goes on so focus on getting everything out of boxes asap.

The best bit of advice I ever got was on moving in day, make the beds first. The last thing you'll want to do at the end of the day is look for your bedding and put the beds together.

Good luck!

Label boxes as you pack with the room they are for.

Declutter if you have time. Everyone I know has boxes from moving that they've never unpacked. How much better if stuff goes to charity shop or tip straight from the old house.

Book one of those oven cleaning services if you are acquiring an oven, unless you know previous owner have done it. Someone else's dirty oven is much grimmer than your own. Similarly if there are carpets I'd organise rug doctor hire now so you can clean carpets whilst the house is empty.

We unpacked DC's stuff first and got their rooms ready. It was less disruptive for them. We then put up curtains and blinds.

Also we had an essentials box with kettle, mugs, tea bags, biscuits etc.

Our move went very well as we had ruthlessly de-cluttered loads in the last couple of weeks before moving.

Book the fire service to do a check and put up new smoke alarms if needed.

And we advertised our empty moving in boxes straight after which got them out of the way and made us get on with the unpacking. There's always someone moving.