Congrats, you got approved for your apartment! Now comes the stressful process of moving in. Maybe this is your first apartment or maybe you’ve done it once or twice before but had someone hold your hand through the process. Don’t worry, I’ll guide you through some of the steps on what you need to do beforehand.
ANY FEES OR PAPERWORK LEFT?
Find out what other fees and paperwork are necessary to pay/fill out before management hands over the keys.
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- Have you paid the deposit yet?
- The pet deposit?
- Do you have to provide proof that your pet has been vaccinated?
MAKE SURE THE MOVE-IN DATE WORKS FOR YOU
Double check the correct move-in date and make sure you have enough time to move out of your old place. You don’t want to find out your lease ends on the 15th and your new place’s lease begins the same day. If so, you’ll have almost no time to move out and clean the apartment without losing your mind.
MOVE YOUR SERVICES FROM ONE APARTMENT TO THE OTHER/TURN ON SERVICES
I personally had no idea this was something you were supposed to do, but it totally makes sense. Once you move out of your apartment, make sure you call the different services you have and let them know you will either be disconnecting the service or moving it to your new home.
Services you may need to do this for include:
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- Cable/internet
- Water
- Gas
- Electricity
If you move cities or states, the services may be different than the ones you have currently so it’s important to know these ahead of time. Even moving across town can have a different electricity provider.
CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS VIA THE US POSTAL SERVICE
This step is quite important because you might still have mail going to your old address once you move. This can be done by going to the USPS website at USPS.com/move
There are scammers/third parties that will say they’ll take care of it all for you for quite a bit of money. Don’t do that. You’re smart and can do it all on your own!
After going to the website and following the steps, it will require you to pay a $1 fee just to verify it really is you. This part is not a scam.
In addition to this being an important thing to do, I just recently found out that it is your legal responsibility to update your address. Probably so they can track you down if you ever commit tax fraud or something 😝
LOOK INTO HIRING MOVING SERVICES IF YOU THINK YOU NEED IT
Anyone can vouch me on this, moving can be stressful. Packing all your belongings into boxes, carrying your furniture, leaving the place spotless in order to get your deposit back – it can take its toll. Hiring movers or moving services can be one of the things you might want to splurge on because of how much it can ease your life.
On the other hand, however, services such as those can be fairly expensive. Movers may charge you by the mile, how much stuff you have, if you have specialty items like a piano, and by the hour. Because of these reasons hiring them may become incredibly expensive fairly quickly.
Enticing a few friends with free food may be a more cost-effective way to move. And if they do help you out, do the same for them in case they need it. A friend that helps you move is a friend for life!
Your needs may vary a bit so this may not be everything you need to do before moving in, but it should get your brain thinking! I will be updating this document as I think of things.
