{"id":910,"date":"2015-09-15T03:35:45","date_gmt":"2015-09-15T03:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/?p=910"},"modified":"2018-01-22T22:32:12","modified_gmt":"2018-01-22T22:32:12","slug":"5-good-steps-to-take-before-moving-into-your-new-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/consumer-guides\/5-good-steps-to-take-before-moving-into-your-new-house\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Good Steps to Take Before Moving Into Your New House"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Moving = Stress<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Step #1 \u2013 Changing the Locks<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Step #2 \u2013 Housecleaning<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Step #3 \u2013 Painting\/Refinishing\/Wiring<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Step #4 \u2013 Organizing<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Step #5 \u2013 HVAC Servicing<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Still Looking for Your Dream Home?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Moving = Stress<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Moving is one of those things that always feels a little overwhelming. In fact, it is considered one of the most stressful experiences that people typically encounter. Just look at the top five most stressful situations according to HealthStatus.com:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Divorce<\/li>\n<li>Death in the family<\/li>\n<li>Serious illness<\/li>\n<li>Losing a job<\/li>\n<li>Moving<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cAny disruption of your routine causes stress,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthstatus.com\/health_blog\/depression-stress-anxiety\/top-5-stressful-situations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">explains\u00a0the health site<\/a>. \u201cMoving disrupts the entire family.\u2026 Plus you have to deal with the packing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Personally, I have moved seven times during my adult life, and I can say that it continues to be challenging no matter how many times you do it. I think that\u2019s because of two basic dual elements: 1.) You are uprooting your life and logically feel ungrounded as you make the transition. 2.) The sheer number of tasks to complete are difficult to fit into an already busy schedule.<\/p>\n<p>What to feel more stable and relaxed? So you can breathe a little easier, we put together this list of to-do items to check off <em>before<\/em> you move everything into the property.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Step #1 \u2013 Changing the Locks<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s easy to forget a step that\u2019s incredibly important: switching the locks so that you are truly creating a private environment. It may sound ridiculous to think that the person selling you the house or any other random person who might have a key would have the audacity to use it. However, that\u2019s exactly what happened to a friend of <em>Lifehacker<\/em> contributor <a href=\"http:\/\/kinja.com\/MelaniePinola\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Melanie Pinola<\/a>: one day the previous occupant just unlocked the door and <a href=\"http:\/\/lifehacker.com\/5925388\/what-do-i-need-to-do-before-i-move-into-a-new-place\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">waltzed\u00a0in uninvited<\/a>. Moving is expensive of course, so you can look into doing this as a DIY project if cash is tight.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Step #2 \u2013 Housecleaning<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Certainly if you can help it, you don\u2019t want to move all your belongings into a filthy house \u2013 and sometimes the previous owner or realtor will have already cleaned the place from top to bottom. However, <em>Bud Dietrich advises in Forbes that you clean the whole place regardless. <\/em>\u201cYou can hire a service to do this, something I heartily recommend if time is tight, or you can do it yourself,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/houzz\/2013\/11\/14\/7-things-to-do-before-you-move-into-a-new-house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he notes<\/a>. \u201cIf you do it yourself, set up an area with all of the supplies and tools you\u2019ll need to get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Step #3 \u2013 Painting\/Refinishing\/Wiring<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>When your house does not yet have all of your furniture and electronics in it yet, it\u2019s an ideal time to fix up how the house looks and feels.<\/p>\n<p>Go after the walls and ceiling, Pinola suggests \u2013 with paint and possibly wallpaper. You also may want to put a fresh coat of paint in your closets or on your cabinets. The best way to approach this project is starting at the ceiling and working your way toward the floor.<\/p>\n<p>While you\u2019re at it with these big routine maintenance projects, you also may want to get your carpets professionally cleaned and freshen up your wood floors. People often make the second of those tasks excessively complicated, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thisoldhouse.com\/toh\/how-to\/intro\/0,,20333774,00.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">explains\u00a0Steve Dubuque of Hunt Hardwood Floors<\/a>. \u201cIf the scratches don&#8217;t go all the way through to the <em>wood<\/em>, you can scuff-sand your <em>floors<\/em> with a buffer and apply a fresh coat or two of finish,\u201d he says. \u201cThe process is easier and less expensive than <em>sanding<\/em> down to bare <em>wood<\/em> and takes less time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finally, go ahead and put in the wiring that you are going to need for your home entertainment and computer systems.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Step #4 \u2013 Organizing<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Moving is partially an opportunity to reduce clutter. Start with the closets since they are such a great place to stow away random items. Even piles of shoes can start to become chaotic.<\/p>\n<p>If the closet just has a single shelf, you might want to add another one. You also might want to look into a hanging shoe rack.<\/p>\n<p>Once you are through with the closet, turn to the rest of the house. Where will everything go? What are the best spots for your laundry detergent and umbrella, for instance? You can see how this will make moving in much easier.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Step #5 \u2013 HVAC Servicing<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Finally, you want to get your heating and air-conditioning system serviced right away, as soon as the paperwork goes through on the house. You also want to make sure that you have a service plan in place on those systems, says Dietrich.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve always had good luck asking our new neighbors which company they have found to be reputable and attentive for this work,\u201d he notes. \u201cIt\u2019s also a great way to meet the neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Still looking for Your Dream Home?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Are you still in search of your dream home? We can help. At Realty.com, we integrate basic property information with the amenities that fit your lifestyle. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Find a new home now<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Moving = Stress Step #1 \u2013 Changing the Locks Step #2 \u2013 Housecleaning Step #3 \u2013 Painting\/Refinishing\/Wiring Step #4 \u2013 Organizing Step #5 \u2013 HVAC Servicing Still Looking for Your Dream Home? Moving = Stress Moving is one of those things that always feels a little overwhelming. In fact, it is considered one of the &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1211,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,32],"tags":[53,56,62,70,73,65],"class_list":["post-910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consumer-guides","category-home-tips","tag-buying-a-home","tag-home-buying","tag-home-buying-tips","tag-moving","tag-moving-tips","tag-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1212,"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910\/revisions\/1212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}