Your must do checklist before you move into your new home

Congratulations! You have managed to buy a property to call home! Now, it’s time to enjoy life at your new address.

We know that moving between homes is already a hassle, and the last thing you want to do is add more to your plate. If you put these key tasks off, though, you’re ultimately making them harder to tackle in the long run.

Knock out these eight to-dos before moving in and you’ll be able to enjoy life in your new home stress-free, the way you deserve.

1. Change the locks

First and foremost, it’s important to keep your family and your property safe. You don’t want a stranger running around with a key to your front door, so changing the locks at your home is a natural step.

Do it before moving in and you’ll thank yourself when you’re lying-in bed the first few nights in your new home. Plus, getting the locks changed before you move in your belongings prevents them from being exposed during that brief window while your locks are getting switched over.

2. Update your address

Changing your address doesn’t have to be a daunting process. Firstly, set up a mail forward from your old address to your future address with Australia Post. Sure, you’ll eventually need to update your address with your credit cards, subscription accounts, etc., but getting set up with the Australia Post mail forwarding buys you some time and ensures that you don’t miss any important documents.

Second, make sure you don’t forget to change your address with your bank, credit card providers, insurers etc within the mail forward period.

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3. Check for leaks

Ideally, your pre-purchase property inspector ensured that your house is leak-free. But with a simple double-check, you can give yourself peace of mind. When you’re moving in and not yet using any water, check your water meter.

Wait two hours, making sure no one uses any water, then check your meter again. It should read exactly the same. If it doesn’t, you have a plumbing leak. You may or may not choose to deal with it right away, but at least you’ll be aware of the current state of your pipes.

Plus, it’s a lot easier to arrange two water-free hours during moving – when everyone in your family is out of their routine – than in the normal course of daily life.

4. Change the toilet seats

A simple toilet seat swap will help you feel like the home is really yours – and it will keep you from worrying about what happened in it before you got the keys. If you want to go the extra mile, consider choosing a detachable toilet seat.

You know that frustrating feeling of scrubbing your toilet seat hinges, never feeling like they’re truly clean? With a detachable seat, you can take the whole thing off and get every nook and cranny sparkling.

5. Check smoke alarms detectors

Don’t sleep a single night in your home without these safeguards in place. Before moving, head to your new place with a box of batteries and test every smoke alarm.

6. Find your electricity meter box and surge trip switch

Hunting for your meter box with only a flashlight isn’t fun, but all too many people find themselves in that situation because they didn’t take the time to locate it during daylight.

While you’re at it, locate your main water shutoff and gas shutoff valves before moving in. Again, it’s better to find them now than to be frantically looking for the valve as a burst pipe gushes water onto your floors.

7. Clean the cabinets and closets.

Before you unload your dishware and clothes, give everything a thorough wipe down. It will take you minutes if you do it now, but the task becomes much more onerous once it involves unloading everything off of each shelf.

8. Tackle major maintenance tasks

First off, vacuum out the coils underneath or behind your fridge. Over time, these coils can get clogged with hair and dust. This makes it more difficult for them to release heat, ultimately forcing your fridge to work harder.

After you vacuum, use a coil cleaning brush to get them thoroughly cleaned. While you’re at it, flush your hot water tank to clear out any sediment and check if your air con filters need to be replaced.

Getting all of these tasks handled makes it easy to set a maintenance calendar from your move-in date, rather than having to remember a bunch of miscellaneous dates when each task was last completed.

Back to the fun stuff

Now that you’ve tackled the chores that will make it easy to get settled in your new home, you can start on the fun parts!

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This article via Freshome does not constitute advice; readers should seek independent and personalised counsel from a trusted adviser that specialises in property, a tax accountant and property design specialist.