Welcome Home!
You have finally reached the most exciting part of the home-buying process. You have done your final walk-through, signed all your documents at the title company and your Realtor has handed you over the keys to your new home. There are a few things I like to recommend to you before you start moving in all of your items.
1. Change your locks
I always recommend you to change your locks because you never know how many keys to your front and back door are wandering around. It’s better to be safe than sorry!
2. Service your HVAC
This is extremely important because a lot of times on the sellers disclosure, the current owners do not know when they had it serviced last. This means it probably needs to be cleaned and looked at to save you from having to purchase a completely new system sooner rather than later.
3. Paint before unpacking
Painting before unpacking is just going to save you from having to move your furniture around multiple times as well as not getting paint all over your things. I also recommend getting your floors redone if you plan to do that as well.
4. Change your air filters
Who knows when the last time these were changed! This will prevent pet dander, dust and dirt from circling throughout your home.
5. Deep clean your fridge
If you are receiving a refrigerator with the purchase of your home make sure to clean this especially if it was not wiped down after the sellers left the home. It’s not a good idea to place new food in a dirty fridge.
6. Set up mail forwarding
Chances are, you’re going to receive mail addressed to the previous owners just like how some of your mail might get sent to the last place you lived. Make sure you get this switched so you can avoid this problem.
7. Check smoke detectors and carbon monoxide
This is very important because no one wants their house to catch on fire! This is a very quick check and will only take a couple minutes.
8. Locate shutoff valves
It is always important to know where your main water shutoff is located in case you have a leak somewhere. This can prevent flooding.