It’s such a great feeling when your realtor calls to announce that your offer was accepted and you’re one step closer to becoming a homeowner. Making the final decision to purchase a home as either a first-time buyer or a seasoned homeowner often seems to be the easiest and most fun step. From the acceptance offer on, the remaining moving process quickly becomes overwhelming if not properly planned. We are here to help! Below, we provide ten steps guaranteed to help organize and plan the perfect move for you and your family this year.
Step 1: Know Your Closing Date
Planning the perfect move begins with this easy step. Before packing and completing address change forms, you need to confirm the closing date on your new home. Be sure that your realtor, the current homeowners, their realtor, and the attorney all know the moving day. Scheduling your closing early in the process helps make sure that the title company has a convenient slot open. You cannot buy a car without obtaining a title, and you can’t close on a house without one either.
Step 2: Get an Appraisal
With your loan considered for approval, the lending institution usually requests an appraisal, or home value assessment, on the property as part of the closing process. This is done to see if the property appraises at the sale price or higher. In the event that the valuation of the home proves significantly less than the purchase amount, a home appraisal contingency allows you as the buyer and opportunity to back out of the sale. However, if the appraisal shows no red flags, you can move to the next step.
Step 3: Have an Inspection
Most residential real estate contracts contain what’s known as a home inspection contingency, which allows you as the potential buyer to back out of the sale of the home, should the house require significant repairs the seller is unwilling to make. Once you place a deposit on your house, schedule the home inspection. Typically, the inspection takes place within a week to 10 days after your offer is accepted. After the home inspector evaluates the home, he writes up a report documenting his findings.
Step 4: Confirm a Clear Title on the Home
This step is imperative when purchasing a home and planning the perfect move. Without a clear title, you cannot—and should not—close on a home. Once your offer is accepted, an escrow agent, title company, or your agent will order the title report to identify any title issues such as trust complications, unpaid balances from lenders, or even outstanding property taxes. Again, if the house has any liens, judgments, or debts attached to the property, it cannot be sold. Unfortunately, you will need to begin looking at other housing options or wait for those issues to be resolved.
Step 5: Purchase Homeowner’s Insurance
Just as car insurance is crucial when acquiring a new vehicle, home insurance is necessary to purchasing a home. Securing home insurance is a vital step in the home-buying process. Before deciding on one insurance plan, obtain and compare quotes from different providers to ensure you don’t overspend and purchase inadequate coverage. Finding an insurance agent you can trust will help create an insurance plan that covers every item needed.
Step 6: Set Up your Utilities Account
Moving into a home with water and electricity can only be made possible if you set up your utilities prior to your moving date. To do so, you can ask for the utility providers that the previous homeowners used if more than one provider services your area. Then, you can either call or visit the provider’s website to request a new account or transfer your current account to the new address. Don’t forget to set up utility accounts for gas, cable, internet, phone, and waste management, if applicable!
Step 7: Prepare Change of Address Forms
Though you still have time before the closing date, preparing your change of address forms before the move will really help. Before the boxes, labels, and tape, take a few minutes to list every subscription, utility bill, and account with your current address. Then, complete a change of address form prior to your last day at your current home and bring it to your local post office. That way, you won’t miss any bills or subscriptions!
Step 8: Pack Up Your Home
For some people, packing up your home is the most stressful step due to owning too much or having items that require delicate handling. If this is your first move, you might wonder how to pack everything safely and efficiently. Whether packing with or without additional help, coordinating your items and furniture by room will help keep everything organized. This is a great opportunity to sort through everything you own and see where you can downsize.
Step 9: Make a Moving Day Checklist
With a busy life filled with work, school, doctor appointments, and grocery shopping, it’s hard remembering all the final moving day tasks. Do you have enough boxes and bubble wrap? Have you purchased moving tarps and furniture straps? Therefore, creating an organized checklist will help you remember items commonly forgotten on moving day.
Step 10: Hire A Professional Moving Service
Choosing to receive help from a moving company will help make your moving transition much easier. Moving trucks have more space than cars and pickup trucks, so you can fit more things in one vehicle and take fewer trips. At Alliance Moving and Storage, we are dedicated to providing exceptional service in all that we do. With our trained movers prepared to help in any step of the moving process, we want to help make your move seamless so that you can focus on the new adventure ahead. Contact us today to receive a free quote for our services.
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