Preparing to move? Here’s what you need to do.

Are you planning to move to a new home?

You might be planning to move to another town or country due to different reasons. While some do it due to renovation, others are changing employment, leaving a spouse or simply in need of a change. While the thought of moving to a new place might be thrilling, the process of sorting through your things and packing up can be less exciting.

Apart from packing and preparing your family to move, you will also have to adjust the new place to fit your expectations. Doing all those things can be daunting, and you might fail to do some things. Relocating involves planning, packing and moving out.  Before stepping out, ensure that you do the following things.

Preparations in your old home?

• De-clutter your home

When planning to move out, you need to pack your belongings well. However, it can be a waste of time and money if you pack some things that you don’t need. Before de-cluttering your home, consider whether you love those things, whether you use them and whether you need them.

You can get rid of clutter by holding a garage sale. De-cluttering your home helps you to save space in your new home and reduce packing and traveling expenses.

• Label each box

If you want to make things easier, you can pack room by room. Pack items that go to a specific room together and label them. For example, you can put all the toys together and mark the box. You can also pack all your children’s clothes or books together and label the box and where you would like to put them in the new house. You might need a relocation checklist in order to get things in order.

You may number each box according to how you will you pack them immediately you enter your new home. To stay more organized, track everything that you pack on a spreadsheet so that you can mark them immediately you start arranging them in your new place.

• Keep important items aside

Most people lose essential items when moving out. Things such passports and other official documents like birth certificates can easily get displaced. Always separate them from your other daily belongings. You can have a document wallet for them and keep them in a specific box which you will need to label too.

• Consider storage

If you are moving to a faraway place, you may not be able to move everything with you at that time. You might want to store some things at a nearby storage unit and pick them later when you are ready. You can sort out belongings you don’t urgently need and keep them in a nearby storage unit.

• Take care of utilities

You need to plan how your utilities such as cable TV and electricity are going to be disconnected or transferred after you move out of your home. Preparing for this in advance will help you to access such services after moving out.

• Eliminate distractions

When you are moving out, pets and children can be a distraction. You may want to move them before starting to move other things from your home. Doing that will ease you the constant worry of hurting them when moving stuff out of your home.

Preparing the new home:

After organizing everything in your old home, you will be ready to move to your new home? Have you checked the condition of the house? Whether it is a newly constructed house or a used apartment, you need to ensure that it fits your needs and preference.

You may want to change the paint, add some shelves among other stuff. Keep reading to find out what to do to your new home before moving in.

• Painting

It is always easy to paint an empty room. Painting your new home before moving in can be easy. Ensure that you paint the ceilings and the walls. Painting can consume a lot of time and needs to be done professionally, not to mention the hassle and effort of choosing the right colour.

If you are not an expert in this, you can consider hiring professionals to do it for you. Ensure that you choose the right type of paint according to your preferences.

• Clean up the house

While some folks can clean up a house before moving out, not all will do it. Even if they clean it, you might want to clean it again to be sure that everything is clean. You might have to clean the cabinets, shelves, bathroom, kitchen and all the other rooms. If you feel that time isn’t on your side, you can hire a home cleaning service to help you do it.

• Change the locks

It is crucial to change all the locks especially the ones on the exterior doors of your new home. According to Adam, a professional locksmith at First Security Services, you never know who has the keys to your house and that’s one of to most common reasons behind burglars breaking into newly populated homes. You can install new ones to be sure that everything is safe.

• Install closet systems

Having proper closet systems helps you to stay organized. If you are moving to a slightly older house, you might get closets with simple pole and shelf. Consider installing closet systems with double hanging poles. You can hire multiskilled home improvement professionals like the tradesmen to assist.

• Install new switch plates

If you are moving to an older home, you may realize that it has undergone a series of renovation. Switch plates are one of the devices that might not be alike. Some might be old and dirty while others discolored. You may want to replace all of them to make everything uniform.

• Prepare the garage storage

Where will you pack your car in your new home? If you choose to wrap it in a garage, you might want to keep other stuff in that garage too. You can create more space in your garage by constructing storage shelves where you can keep some things.

• Think about energy efficiency

To look into how well you’re new home will perform in terms of efficiency is a crucial task to consider.  Check how much appliances use, how much water you shower head uses, external insulation, window frames, and the list goes on. True low carbon buildings can offer incredible ROI and results in the long term.

• Get the garden in shape

Does to property have its own garden or are you living in semi-detached house? Either ways, considering the least a decent zero turn lawn mower to keep the front yard in shape.

Final remarks,

Moving to your new home should not be a scary activity. The most important thing is to prepare your old home and your new home. Pack your properties well and keep crucial documents at a safe place. Ensure that you move out your pets and children so that you may not be distracted when moving out. You can then enjoy walking to your new home.