11 Ways To Move To A New House

Aug 19, 2020, 1:34 PM

My family and I moved houses about this time last year, still in the same city, and only 5 minutes away. That made it easy and convenient to transport a few boxes every evening after work. On that last night before the moving truck came to pick up the beds and the dining room table, there wasn’t much left. I got up, moved the last few boxes out, and that was that. The very last thing that we took was a vacuum cleaner — we didn’t want to start the new owners out with a dirty house. 



You’re making a lot of changes when you move to a new home. One thing you don’t want to change is the insurance that protects you. Consistent, reliable coverage is what you’ll find in your Hastings Mutual Homeowners policy. We feature coverage for natural disasters and other perils, and we also offer discounts for a new home, like having a central station fire alarm. Talk with your local independent insurance agent about the discounts and credits you can earn for your home.

Before you get to that new home, though, you need to make the big move. Here’s a checklist to keep you focused as you deal with all the changes that come with moving day.

1. Create a schedule for the move and for packing. You know the day you get the keys to the new house, of course, and the day you scheduled the moving truck to come. But what about packing? Identify the rooms that can be packed first and take out things that aren’t in use every day. All that stuff in the basement and attic that’s just in storage, for example.
2. Go through your stuff to donate or trash what doesn’t need to be moved. Save even more time by getting rid of things before they make the move to the new house. This is a little challenging now because places that accept donations might not be open.
3. Pack chargers and cords. You’ll want these easily accessible or you won’t have access to your phone for long.
4. Label your boxes by room, or at least put them in the right room when you get to the new house. If you can’t stop until everything is in the right place, you’re a step toward getting things put away properly. If you tend to be a little messier… well, at least the boxes are in the right room. Taking things out of the boxes might be a different story!
5. Use good boxes. A box seems like such a simple thing, but a box that’s not the right size isn’t very usable. You might need to find packing material to keep your items from shifting around as they’re being carried in and out of the moving truck. You’ll need lids for your boxes too or you can’t rest anything on top of them. Stores sell well-made boxes that you can reuse after the move is done. Also ask at shops that regularly get boxed shipments, like bookstores or even grocery stores. They usually recycle or trash perfectly usable boxes as soon as their products are on the shelves.
6. Take photos or write instructions on how to rebuild a piece of furniture before taking it apart. Knowing exactly how to reassemble furniture saves hours.
7. Fill out change of address forms. Remember all the businesses and government organizations that play a part in your house — water, gas, trash, and even the people that change your address on your driver’s license. A simple phone call or online update will take care of many of these issues, but it’s easy to overlook one until it’s time to pay the bill.
8. Know your moving contract and your apartment lease so you leave accurately. If you’re leaving a lease to live in your own house, you have to operate under the restrictions of your lease. You probably don’t remember the details of the contract you signed when moving into your apartment. Talk with your landlord to find out when you can leave, well ahead of your plans to move out.
9. Don’t worry about cooking. This is a great recommendation — you’ll be busy enough managing the move that you don’t want to worry about fixing dinner every night. On the night of the move and maybe the day before, get takeout food. Easy to clean up with no cooking required on your part.
10. Check in with Hastings Mutual. You’re changing your address, so you need coverage on the new place. Confirm with your agent that your information is accurate, and make sure your policy is accurately covering your house. Your family probably isn’t in the same place it was when you bought your insurance policy. Maybe your job changed, maybe your son or daughter started their own home.
11. Do a final clean up before you say goodbye to the old house. It’s only polite.

Do you have any tips for moving day? Let us know in the comments. 

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