Moving into your new home is all kinds of exciting. But once you’ve moved in, you unfortunately can’t start enjoying yourself right away. There’s a lot to do, including getting everything unpacked and possibly waiting for new furniture to arrive too. Before you start really settling in, there are some important things that you’ll want to do to start making your new home your own. You can take care of a few practical tasks and start thinking about how to make it a comfortable place to be where you feel at home.
Keep reading to find some of the first tasks you should do in your new home if you want to be organized and ready to start treating it like you’ve always lived there.
Conduct a Walkthrough
Before you do anything else, it’s helpful to conduct a walkthrough of your home. Simply walk around both outside and inside to check for any key concerns. It will give you the chance to see if everything is as it should be. For example, you can check to see if any repairs that you agreed on with the previous owners have been completed. You can make sure that everything included in the sale is definitely there and none of it has been removed. You can also check that everything is in working order, including the electrics, plumbing, and other important parts of the property.
Inspect to Identify Any Problems
A simple walkthrough of the property can give you a good idea of the condition that the property is in. However, if you didn’t have everything properly inspected before you bought the place, now is the time to have everything checked out. You can often find roofers that can give you a free roof inspection and similar services, so you won’t have to spend any money if there’s nothing wrong. Even if you’re pretty sure there’s nothing that needs to be repaired, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Picking up on any problems as soon as you move in means that you can fix them faster.
Get Utilities Set Up
Getting your utilities set up is something that you might be able to start doing before you officially move in. However, if you haven’t started yet, you should try to get it done on the day that you move. This should include ensuring your water and energy providers are set up. If you want to have a landline phone, you can get that set up too. TV and internet connections are also things you can arrange when you move into a new home. If you’ve already organized it all, check that it’s all working and everything is ready to go when you move in.
Childproof (or Petproof) Your Home
If you have children, you need to make your home safe for them. This is especially important for infants and young children who are particularly good at getting themselves into trouble. There are a few things you might want to do, including installing baby gates, covering power outlets, or making sure any wires and cables are safely out of the way. Stay safe while you’re unpacking too, keeping things like box cutters and glass items out of the way. If you have a pool or yard, don’t forget to secure it. If you have pets, make your new home safe for them too.
Think About Where Everything Will Go
Unpacking can be a little tedious but it’s also an exciting opportunity to start settling in and making your new house your home. Before you take anything out of your boxes, move boxes into the right rooms if you haven’t already. Don’t just start unpacking without really thinking about it. Consider where you want to put everything and make conscious choices so each room looks how you want it to. You might want to try out some different layouts for your furniture before you start unpacking any smaller items.
Get Familiar with How Everything Works
It’s important to be familiar with how your house works, especially because something could go wrong and you’ll need to know how to respond. You can start by making sure you know how to shut off your water and electricity, as well as other utilities, such as gas. You can also walk around the house and make sure you know what all of the switches do, how the furnace works, and more.
Get settled into your new home by making sure everything is working and getting started on turning it into a real home.
