Your Moving Checklist

So you got an accepted offer, went thru a home inspection with which any luck went well.  You met with your lawyer and signed the contracts which means now it is a waiting game until you close.  There is not much left for you to do, and your mortgage broker and lawyer will really be handling 98% of what is going to get you that new home, and your Realtor is now for the time being on the back burner.  You will usually have between 90-120 days before you close on your new home but you have started a new phase of the home buying process so I decided to take the time to give you some advice for your "Moving Checklist"!

90 - 120 Days Before Closing 

• It is time to sort and purge ! This is the time to clean out the closets, get rid of any of the junk that you are not going to be taking to your new house.  Go thru your basement, garage, and attic to see what it is you will be taking and what you will need to put into movable containers.  
• Organize ! All those important papers that you may have scattered around the house, make sure that you have everything in one place.  If your anything like me you have alot of important papers, to make your life easy I suggest simply picking up an inexpensive 2 drawer LOCKABLE filing cabinet.  It keeps the items safe, and they won't be disturbed during the move! 
• Research ! You will want to find a reputable, and fairly priced moving company waiting till the last minute is never a good idea.  If you plan on having work done to the home before you move in like painting you will want to take the time to get estimates from them as well.  Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is one of the few companies that have made these things much easier by having our "Concierge Services" for our buyers and sellers.

60 - 90 Days Before Closing

• Order Supplies ! Moving boxes, tape, bins, you will always find yourself needing more than you may have originally expected.
• Use it or lose it ! This may sound silly but all that frozen meat in your freezer, start using it up so you don't need to worry about packing an entire cooler to transport a ton of food.  I personally come from a large family where having 2 refridgerators is very common, so we usually have quite a bit more food than you may think.  
• Measure it ! You will want to make sure that your furniture is going to fit into your new home, I usually suggest to buyers while we are in the home for the home inspection that they take actual mesurements of the rooms this way they can have a good idea of what needs to fit where.  
• Moving Sale ! If your having a moving sale it is time to set up the date/time, and what you will be doing with the things that you don't want if they don't sell.

30 - 60 Days Before Closing

• Pack Up ! Start packing all those things that you don't often use, leaving yourself with just the necessities and a "limited" wardrobe.  Make sure that you clearly label all of your boxes appropriately, do not mix fragile items in with the blankets it is a disaster waiting to happen.  
• Change Your Address! Now don't stop your mail coming to your current home as of yet, but many local post offices will allow you to set a date when to stop your mail from coming to your current home.  As a back up plan talk to your neighbors and ask them to keep an eye out for your mail, or if your home will have new owners leave some self addressed envelopes with your new address for them to forward your mail if any comes to them.  You will want to update your workplace, and your childrens schools.  
• Utilities ! You will want to get on the phone with your utilities companies, cable company, telephone company so they will be aware of the change of address and service.  Sometimes they will need notice in order to prevent any delay in service to your new home.

2 Weeks Before Closing

• Re-Confirm Everything ! All those appointments you made reconfirm every single one of them, make sure your closing date has not changed, and that your job is aware of how many days you will not be at work. 
• Take Inventory! You want to take count of how many boxes you have and in some way organize them, this way when you get to your new home and everything is unloaded your will be positive everything made it.  

At this point you will be going thru the last steps for the purchase so the best advice I could give you is to stay organized, and try to keep calm !!