What to Do After Closing...
We are finally closing this week. Apart from the closing itself what should we make sure to do right away? We won’t be moving in for a few weeks. Change the locks the day of closing? Thorough cleaning. Transfer utilities. Set up phone/cable service. Floor and walls are good to go. I think there was…
We are finally closing this week. Apart from the closing itself what should we make sure to do right away? We won’t be moving in for a few weeks.
Change the locks the day of closing?
Thorough cleaning.
Transfer utilities.
Set up phone/cable service.
Floor and walls are good to go.
I think there was a post like this a few months ago but I can’t find it.
Thanks very much.
Hopefully your new place is all clean and shiny, but when we closed on our house years ago the owner left the basement and backyard full of trash. We were first time buyers, had a rental to vacate, and didn’t insist that the house be properly emptied but I wish we had. Or insisted on a dollar amount to cover the trash removal. We did it ourselves but it took a long time, when we were already exhausted from the move.
To add to the great lists posted above, I’d make sure you have all the trash cans you need at the new place, and stencil them with your address. (If it’s a house.) And if you have a car, start to learn the parking rules on the new street.
Take over some soap with the TP and paper towels.
I can vouch for the tip on roto rooter of tree roots in main waste pipe.
Maybe have the furnace checked/serviced. Same for central air if you have it.
Have any fireplaces cleaned before you move in.
Hire a window cleaner–so much easier for them to access the windows before furniture and curtains go in. We went years before having ours cleaned and it almost made as much difference as a renovation.
If you order online much, maybe take the time to update your shipping and billing addresses, when you update all your banking and credit cards, etc.
Take your favorite pen to closing. Celebrate. Then find a lot of great recipes for beans and rice until your finances recover.
Congratulations.
Cablevision won’t set up any cable if you don’t have TVs in the place.
wow. this is so helpful. we are so worn out from a three month closing process that I didn’t think I could make another coherent list, so thank you!!
– Paper towels, toilet paper and plastic cups / other necessities for moving day.
– Some cold bottled water in the fridge could come in handy for you and the movers.
– Measure doors, hallways and stairways – sometimes there are issues with big pieces.
– Change your driver’s license and your registration
– Quick list of closest grocery, pharmacy, hospital, vets for any emergencies early on
.
– Check your garbage and recycling days on DSNY Website – http://1.usa.gov/aa64eY – right hand column there is a box to input your address and look up the days. Also, you will need clear bags for recycling if you don’t already have them.
– Update your bank checks with your new address
-If this spring is anything like the last, don’t place anything on your basement floor until you know the water situation. place them on blocks of 2×4’s etc and certainly nothing on the floor that you aren’t willing to lose.
If there is a tree in the front, i highly recommend a pre-emptive roto rooter job, unless the seller can say with confidence they just did it. Stay on top of this early and often, we are doing it every 3 months and if someone told me to do that when i bought the place i would have saved big big big problems (i’ll spare you the smelly details).
measure to make sure furniture will fit where you want it, especially if you are paying your movers by the hour. some people get an alarm installed before moving in because sleeping in a new place can be spooky for the first few weeks. if there’s bare windows some cheap treatments can be better than that sheet in the window for a couple months.
also, may want to put some of that paper that goes on the floors, the movers will get those high traffic areas pretty dirty.
hopefully you have scheduled the water / sewer because that is an integral part of the closing and has some liability / lien issues (and title issues) attached to it.
Celebrate!