Steps to Follow after Closing On Your New Home
Congratulations! You are now officially the proud owner of your very own house. This new space is where you and your close ones will create memories, grow, and spend time together. This might be your very first home purchase or maybe even your third. Finding the perfect home is not easy, especially not in today's market, and it takes many hours of research and calls with your trusted realtor to finally find the perfect place for you. Good thing is, you have made it to the finish line! It feels like the end of a long journey, but now what?
The work is not done yet as it’s time to start and tackle the first tasks of new homeownership.
In this article, you’ll find a checklist of the most important tasks to do once you have closed the deal on your new home. Read below!
🔒 Change all locks
The keys to your new home are right in the palm of your hand! Now we need to change them. Before those keys were yours they were in the hands of tons of realtors, multiple prospective buyers, and previous owners. You never know who else may have access to the keys to your new home, that’s why one of the most important steps is to purchase and install new locks to change them, including the garage, back, and side door locks.
Pro tip: Don’t forget to change the codes on any doors that have a keypad.
📑Put your Closing Packet in a Safe Place
Make sure that your closing packet is organized and properly put in a safe spot. This includes the mortgage documents, promissory notes, deeds, and closing disclosure. Your purchase agreement, seller disclosure, title insurance policy, and the home inspection report should also be inside this folder. Don’t forget to make copies of these documents and place them in the safest place you can find. You can buy a fireproof safe or put them in a safe deposit box at your bank.
Pro Tip: Scan all your documents and store them on a secure cloud-based platform such as Dropbox or Google Drive. It’s free.
🏡Alert Others To Your Change Of Address
You’d be surprised by how many important people and companies you need to alert about your new home. Once you’ve closed on your new property, you need to inform utility companies, your bank, post office, tax agency, insurance company and debit card providers to name a few. The list also includes the Department of Motor Vehicles and any subscription providers. The first one you should alert is the United State Postal Service to avoid important mail to go undelivered. You can do it directly from the USPS website, here.
🔌Set up your Utilities
Make sure that all utilities are in your name and turned on, even if you are not yet moved into your new house. This can include everything from gas to water to electricity and internet.
🔧Turn your Home Inspection report into a Maintenance To-Do List!
Your home inspection report is the perfect list of things you need to fix! There you’ll find a number of issues that the prior owners did not address, like overstuffed gutters, windows that need to be resealed, and leaky pipes. Avoid feeling overwhelmed and try to focus on one thing at a time. Make a list of all flagged items on the inspection report in priority order and get started on the items that could save you money in the future. Not addressing these things right away might result in very expensive repairs in the long run.
✅Start a New Home Maintenance List
Right after you finished with the tasks from your Home Inspection report, you can start to write down the next maintenance list. It’s a good idea to split your list by seasons or months. For example, you can create a list to prepare your home for the cold winter weather. You can create the list on a very detailed spreadsheet, on your to-do app on your phone, or on a piece of paper, the important thing is to start planning all upcoming maintenance tasks to reduce repairs and expenses in the future.
🛡Consider Smart Home Technology
If you have the budget, turning your house into a smart home can allow you to improve your safety and security, and have greater control of your energy use. Smart home technology can help you identify areas where you are using more energy than what you need and help you cut back and save money.
🗑Find out about your weekly trash schedule
You can go online and search your city’s trash schedule to find out the best time to place your garbage outside. Make sure to use the City’s provided contact information if you have any questions or to report missed pickups.
Last but not less important, enjoy your brand new home, say hi to your new neighbors, and take time to customize this new space to make you and your close ones feel at home!
Do not doubt to reach out to our team if you’re considering selling or buying a property! We will be happy to assist you!
