Ultimate List of 12 Things to Do Upon Arrival at Your New Home

Moving day is almost here! All the planning and organizing are about to pay off as you get ready to settle into your new home. Upon arrival, the first thing to do is a complete walkthrough to ensure everything is as it should be and expected. Once you clear this step, you can start on this list of 12 things to do upon arrival.

1. Take Care of Paperwork

Chances are you’ll already have gone through a lot of paperwork by this point, but be sure to read and sign anything left. You may have to sign last-minute documents or agreements for your purchase, rental, or with your residential moving company.

2. Protect Your Floors

Moving, especially in the damp fall or winter, often gets messy. If you are managing a DIY move, plan to cover your floors to protect them from damage. Otherwise, your professional movers will likely ensure they are protected as they move your things in.

3. Let Movers Know Where Items Should Go

Give your movers a list and mark where boxes and furniture items should go. They’ll be happy to place your belongings wherever you prefer, and it’ll save you the stress of having to shuffle everything around once you’re trying to settle in.

4. Unpack First-Night Kit

Be sure to place your suitcases, boxes, or other containers filled with items for your first-night essentials kit, where you can easily access them to unpack.

5. Do a Deep Clean

Ideally, you’ll want to scrub down your new place before bringing in all your possessions. However, this isn’t always possible. If not, plan to do this before you start unpacking boxes.

6. Test Smoke Detectors

To keep everyone in your home safe, check all smoke and carbon monoxide detectors when you arrive to ensure they work correctly before your household sleeps. This way, you have time to replace batteries or detectors if needed.

7. Make Up the Beds

Once you assemble your beds with sheets, blankets, and pillows, this will help everyone get a good night’s rest – your household members have a lot of work ahead of them!

8. Set Up the Bathroom

Upon arrival, ensure your bathroom has stocked toilet paper, towels, soap, bath mat, and shower liner/curtain.

9. Put Up Window Treatments

Hang up blinds, shades, and curtains so you and your household members have a little privacy as you settle in. This will also help avoid sleep disruption because it’ll block out light pollution or the morning sun.

10. Change House Locks

If you’re renting, you don’t usually have control over this, but if you’ve purchased a home, change the locks. It’s better to be safe than sorry because you won’t know how many copies of your keys the previous owner distributed.

11. Explore your Community

Find out which grocery stores, pharmacies, parks, and restaurants are nearby. Getting settled into a new place is exciting, but exploring the area and meeting the neighbors is also important

12. Other Important Tasks to Place On Your To-Do List

  • Child and pet proof (if needed – you’ll want to move this higher on your list if applicable)
  • Prioritize repairs and schedule home improvements
  • Go grocery shopping
  • Assemble non-essential furniture and shelving

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Are you planning your move? Our professional movers can help you get the job done efficiently and seamlessly. Contact us today to obtain a free quote!