Before You Move In FAQ

Closing day is busy but a handful of tasks matter more than the rest. Before leaving the closing table, confirm you have every document including the deed, title insurance policy, closing disclosure, and any warranties transferred from the seller. Pick up all keys, remotes, access codes, and any garage door or alarm documentation.

The same afternoon, try to do these: - Change or rekey every exterior lock. Previous owners, contractors, cleaners, and neighbors may all have keys. Locksmiths charge $75–$200; DIY rekey kits run $15–$30 per lock. - Reset garage door codes and clear all previously programmed remotes from memory. - Locate your water main, gas shutoff, and electrical panel. In a middle-of-the-night leak, you do not want to be searching. - Confirm utilities have transferred to your name. Call providers directly if power or water is not on. - Do a walkthrough looking for any differences from your final walk-through—missing fixtures, damage from the seller's move-out, or unreported issues. - Take photos and videos of every room in move-in condition. This documentation protects you for insurance claims and future disputes.

If you are not moving in the same day, confirm homeowner's insurance is active and that any vacant-property provisions are acceptable. Some policies restrict coverage if a home is vacant for more than 30 days.

Yes—and it should happen the day you close, not the week after. You have no idea how many copies of the existing keys exist. Previous owners likely kept a set. Their cleaning service may have one. Past contractors, the dog walker, a neighbor for emergencies, adult children who moved away, real estate agents who showed the house—all of these people may still have keys.

You have two real options:

- Rekey (recommended): A locksmith rekeys your existing locks so your old keys no longer work. Cost: $75–$200 for a whole house. Takes 30–60 minutes. DIY rekey kits from Kwikset or Schlage cost $15–$30 per lock and take 15 minutes with basic tools.

- Replace locks: Remove existing hardware and install new locks entirely. Cost: $40–$150 per door depending on quality. Good option if you want to upgrade to smart locks or change style.

Beyond exterior doors, also consider: side doors, garage entry door to the house, pet doors with passcodes, mailbox locks, and any outbuilding or shed locks. A whole-house rekey job should cover every exterior entry.

Smart locks are worth considering as a replacement option. Schlage Encode and Yale Assure Lock 2 run $200–$300 and add remote access codes, guest codes, and activity logs. You can also revoke codes instantly when a babysitter or contractor's work ends. The premium over traditional locks is meaningful but the flexibility is worth it for most homeowners.

Call utility providers 1–2 weeks before closing. Most utilities have next-business-day activation, but some require specific appointment slots, on-site meter reads, or identity verification that can take days. Don't wait until the day before closing—you risk arriving to a dark, cold house.

Utility-by-utility timing:

- Electric: 3–5 business days notice. Most providers can activate service at closing with a phone call. No technician visit needed for homes already wired and metered. - Natural gas: 5–10 business days. Often requires an in-person meter read or safety inspection, especially if service was shut off by the seller. - Water/sewer: 3–5 business days. Local municipalities handle transfers and may require a final reading on the seller's bill before activating yours. - Trash and recycling: Varies widely. Some municipalities include it in property taxes; others require separate billing through a private hauler. Call your local public works or waste management. - Internet and cable: 2–3 weeks if you need new service, 1 week for transfers. Provider availability drives timing—check serviceability for your address before closing. - Home security: Same-day or next-day for existing systems. Contact the seller's provider or cancel and install a new system.

Set up auto-pay for every utility immediately. Missed first-month payments are a common mistake and can trigger late fees, service disruption, or a report to the tenant-screening services. Keep the confirmation numbers and representative names until the first bill arrives clean.

Deep clean before furniture arrives. An empty home is accessible in ways it will never be again. You can reach every corner of every cabinet, clean behind and underneath appliances, steam clean carpets without moving sofas, and paint without covering furniture. The same cleaning takes 10x longer with your belongings in place.

Recommended timing: clean 1–3 days before moving day so paint has time to cure and floors dry completely. The order that works best:

1. Top to bottom. Start with ceiling fans, light fixtures, and vent covers. Dust falls downward—reverse order means cleaning twice.

2. Walls, baseboards, trim, and inside cabinets. Wipe baseboards, door frames, outlets, switches, and the interiors of every cabinet and closet.

3. Major appliances. Refrigerator interior (pull out shelves and drawers, wash with vinegar), oven (self-clean cycle or cleaner overnight), dishwasher (vinegar cycle), and washing machine (tub cleaner cycle).

4. Bathrooms. Toilets, tubs, tile, grout, shower doors, exhaust fans. This is one of the few times you have clear floor space to scrub properly.

5. Floors last. Vacuum, then mop hard surfaces, then steam clean carpets. If you hire professionals for only one thing, make it the carpets.

Budget: $50–$80 for supplies if you are starting from scratch, or $300–$500 for a professional move-in deep clean for a typical 2,000 sq ft home. Professionals save 6–10 hours and use commercial-grade equipment that outperforms home gear.

A standard HO-3 policy (the most common homeowner's policy) covers six main categories. Understanding each helps you know what to verify and where gaps may exist.

1. Dwelling coverage: The structure of your home itself. Typically set at replacement cost. Make sure this number can rebuild your home from scratch including current labor and material costs, not the home's market value.

2. Other structures: Detached garages, sheds, fences, driveways. Usually 10% of dwelling coverage.

3. Personal property: Your belongings inside the home. Often 50–70% of dwelling coverage. High-value items (jewelry, art, collectibles) may need scheduled endorsements because standard policies cap payouts.

4. Loss of use: Pays for temporary housing if your home becomes uninhabitable. Typically 20% of dwelling coverage.

5. Personal liability: Pays if someone is injured on your property or if you damage someone else's property. Recommended $300,000–$500,000 minimum; consider an umbrella policy for high net-worth households.

6. Medical payments: Small amount ($1,000–$5,000) for minor medical expenses of guests injured on your property without legal findings of fault.

Notable exclusions to know about: - Flooding is never covered. Separate NFIP or private flood policy required. - Earthquakes are excluded in most states. Separate endorsement or policy required. - Sewer backup often needs a separate endorsement ($50–$100/year). - Wear and tear, pest damage, and gradual leaks are excluded—insurance covers sudden accidental events, not maintenance failures.

Review your declarations page and talk to your agent. Know your deductible (typically $1,000–$2,500) and set up auto-pay to avoid lapses.

A standard professional pest inspection runs $75–$150 for a typical home. The price varies by home size, region, and scope. Here is how the costs break down:

- Standard visual inspection: $75–$150. Inspector walks through accessible areas (attic, basement, crawl space, kitchen, bathrooms, garage, foundation exterior) and provides a written report. - WDO (wood-destroying organism) report: $100–$200. Includes findings on termites, carpenter ants, wood-boring beetles, and fungus. Some lenders and insurers require this at purchase. - Specialty inspections: Bedbug inspection is typically separate and costs $100–$200. Mosquito and rodent-focused inspections run $100–$250.

Be skeptical of free inspections offered by pest control companies. They are usually sales tools—the inspector has an incentive to find issues that require treatment. Paid inspections from independent inspectors or home inspectors with pest certification give more objective results.

What treatments cost if issues are found: - Perimeter insect spray: $100–$250 one-time, $200–$500/year for quarterly service. - Rodent baiting and exclusion: $300–$800 depending on home size and severity. - Termite treatment: $600–$3,000 depending on method (liquid termiticide, bait stations, or tent fumigation). Annual termite warranties run $200–$400/year. - Bedbug treatment: $1,000–$3,000 for heat treatment on a whole home.

For any treatment over $500, get three quotes. Prices vary dramatically and so does scope, chemicals used, and warranty terms.

Photos and videos of your empty new home are one of the highest-value 30-minute investments you can make. They protect you in three important ways.

1. Insurance documentation: If a pipe bursts, a tree falls on the house, or a fire damages the structure, insurance adjusters need to know what the home looked like before. Pre-move-in photos establish a clear baseline. They also document the condition of floors, walls, and fixtures in case of warranty claims against builders or manufacturers.

2. Seller disputes: Sometimes issues emerge after closing that the seller should have disclosed or repaired. Photos timestamp the condition of items like appliances, HVAC systems, water heaters, and major fixtures. If an appliance stops working within days of closing, photos plus receipts establish your position.

3. Home improvement planning and resale: Before-and-after photos dramatically increase resale value. Documented improvements raise the cost basis for capital gains tax calculations.

What to capture: - Every room including closets, walls, and floors from multiple angles. - All appliances with their model and serial number plates photographed. - HVAC units, water heaters, and electrical panels. - Any existing damage, no matter how small. - Condition of carpets, hardwood, and tile. - Windows and doors, focusing on existing scratches, dents, or hardware wear. - Exterior from multiple angles, including roof condition and siding. - Meter readings for gas, electric, and water at move-in.

Store everything in your digital home binder with cloud backup. Video walk-throughs using your phone are faster than individual photos and capture more context. Budget 30–45 minutes to do this thoroughly.

A well-organized home binder contains eight core sections. Build it in the first week and maintain it for as long as you own the home. It becomes one of the most valuable assets at resale.

Core sections:

1. Closing and ownership documents: Purchase agreement, closing disclosure, deed, title insurance policy, survey, HOA documents, and loan documents. Keep originals in a fireproof safe or physical binder.

2. Appliance manuals and serial numbers: Manuals for every appliance (fridge, oven, dishwasher, microwave, washer, dryer, water heater, HVAC). Photograph every serial number plate for quick access.

3. Paint and finishes: For every painted surface: brand, color name, color number, sheen (flat, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss), room, and date painted. Keep touch-up paint cans with labels photographed.

4. Contractor contacts: Plumber, electrician, HVAC company, roofer, handyman, landscaper, pest control, and any specialty contractors. Save numbers, rates, and notes on work performed.

5. Warranties: HVAC (10–15 year), water heater (6–12 year), roof (20–50 year), appliances (1–5 year), and any home warranty policy. File warranty certificates, proof of purchase, and transfer documentation together.

6. Receipts for improvements: All major repair and improvement receipts. These raise your cost basis and reduce capital gains tax at resale. Essential for anything over $500.

7. Maintenance log: Date, task, cost, contractor, and notes. Even a basic log adds real value at resale.

8. Inspection reports: Original home inspection plus any annual or seasonal re-inspections.

Format: hybrid works best. Physical binder or fireproof safe for legal originals. Digital system (Notion, Evernote, Google Drive, Apple Notes) for everything searchable. Password manager for login credentials shared with spouse or partner.

You don't need to paint, but if you plan to repaint any rooms within the next year, doing it before move-in is overwhelmingly the right call. Painting an empty room takes 4–6 hours. Painting the same room around furniture takes 8–12 hours and produces worse results.

Reasons to paint before move-in: - No furniture to shift, protect, or work around. - Full wall access means no behind-the-couch spots get skipped (common with occupied painting). - Easy equipment staging with drop cloths, ladders, and paint trays spread out. - Aggressive ventilation is possible without worrying about drafts on kids, pets, or electronics. - Paint cures for 2–4 weeks after application. Painting before move-in means the home is fully cured by the time you settle in.

Reasons you might skip painting: - Color is fine for now—you can always paint later when you know what styles and furniture you like in the space. - You can't commit to colors under moving stress. - Tight move-in timeline doesn't allow 72 hours for paint to dry before furniture arrives.

Recommended approach: paint only the rooms you are certain about now. The primary bedroom, a kid's room, or a home office. Leave other rooms until you understand how you use the space. At minimum, touch up scuffs from previous owners and any nail holes from removed art.

Always wait 72 hours between painting and placing furniture against walls. Full curing takes 2–4 weeks, but 72 hours prevents paint transfer to furniture, fabric, or plastic. For critical rooms like a nursery, allow a full week of curing if possible.

Build a paper checklist from the purchase agreement and physically verify every repair during the final walk-through. Do not take "we took care of it" on faith.

Steps for verification:

1. Print every relevant document: purchase agreement, inspection response, repair addendum, and the original home inspection report. Highlight each negotiated repair.

2. Physically inspect each repair with a flashlight and outlet tester. Compare to the original inspection photos side by side.

3. Test repaired items under load. Run water at plumbing repairs, cycle HVAC systems, flip breakers at electrical work, operate appliances. A patched leak that looks fine dry can fail the first time the system is pressurized.

4. Collect paid invoices with scope details. Vague receipts like "plumbing repair $450" do not protect you. Full invoices list parts, labor, and description of work.

5. Verify contractor licenses through your state license board. Unlicensed work on electrical, plumbing, HVAC, or structural items can void your homeowner's insurance and future resale value.

6. Request permits where required. Panel upgrades, water heater replacements, roof jobs, and HVAC installs typically require permits. Un-permitted work becomes your problem at resale.

If a repair is incomplete or poorly done:

- Delay closing until the work is finished. The simplest and most effective option. - Negotiate a credit at closing so you can hire your own contractor. - Arrange an escrow holdback (typically 1.5x the repair cost) released to the seller only after verification.

For repairs over $2,000 or any life-safety work (electrical panel, gas lines, structural, roof), consider hiring your home inspector to re-verify. A re-inspection costs $150–$300 and evaluates whether the work meets code and addresses the original concern.

The three that can save you from catastrophic damage: water main, gas shutoff, and electrical panel. Find them the day you close. In a 2 AM emergency, you do not want to be searching with a flashlight while water floods the basement.

Water main shutoff: - Usually located where the main line enters the home. Common spots: basement wall facing the street, crawl space entry, utility room, garage, or in a ground-level box near the foundation. - May have a round handle (globe valve) or a lever (ball valve). Turn clockwise to close. - If you can't find it indoors, the street-side shutoff is at the curb stop—a metal cover usually near the property line. This requires a special key and is typically reserved for utility workers. - Tag the shutoff with a visible label so family members can find it fast.

Gas main shutoff: - Located next to the gas meter outside the house. The valve is a small lever or tab. - A gas shutoff wrench (cost: $5–$10 at hardware stores) should live near the meter for emergency access. - Turn the valve 90 degrees (perpendicular to the pipe) to shut off gas. - Never turn gas back on yourself after an emergency shutoff—always call the utility company for safe relighting of appliance pilots.

Electrical panel and main breaker: - Usually in the basement, garage, or utility room. Sometimes in a finished closet. - The main breaker at the top of the panel shuts off all power to the home. Individual breakers shut off specific circuits. - Label each breaker clearly during move-in. Previous labels are often wrong, missing, or out of date. - Know which breakers control: kitchen appliances, HVAC, sump pump, bathroom GFCIs, and your master bedroom. These are the circuits you'll touch most.

Water heater shutoff (bonus): The cold water supply valve above the water heater lets you isolate the heater without shutting off water to the whole house. Know where it is.

Smoke detectors should be replaced every 10 years, regardless of whether they still beep when tested. The sensors degrade over time and become unreliable even when the unit still appears functional. Most detectors have the manufacture date printed on the back—check every unit in your new home on day one.

Signs a smoke detector is past its useful life: - Manufacture date is more than 10 years old. - Yellowing plastic casing (common sign of aging). - Chirps indicating low battery even with fresh batteries. - Sensors fail to detect test smoke during annual testing. - Missing or illegible manufacture date (too old to read).

Replacement costs: - Basic ionization smoke detectors: $10–$20 each. Detect flaming fires best. - Photoelectric smoke detectors: $20–$40 each. Detect smoldering fires best. - Dual-sensor detectors (both technologies): $25–$60 each. Recommended for best coverage. - Combination smoke and CO detectors: $40–$80 each. Required or recommended in homes with gas appliances, attached garages, or fuel-burning heat. - Smart smoke detectors (Nest Protect, First Alert Onelink): $100–$150. Send alerts to your phone when you're not home.

Placement requirements: - One on every level of the home, including basements. - One inside every bedroom. - One in the hallway outside each sleeping area. - Combination smoke/CO detectors near gas appliances, attached garages, and fuel-burning heat sources.

CO (carbon monoxide) detectors have their own 7–10 year replacement schedule depending on brand. Check the manufacture date on every CO detector too. CO is colorless, odorless, and fatal—cheap dedicated detectors are non-negotiable in any home with gas furnaces, water heaters, stoves, fireplaces, or attached garages.

Test every smoke and CO detector before your first night in the home, replace batteries on all hardwired backup and battery-only units, and create a phone-calendar reminder for annual testing.

Industry standard tipping for professional movers is based on the length of the move and the difficulty of the work. Here are typical ranges:

- Half-day move (4 hours or less): $20–$40 per mover. - Full-day move (8 hours): $40–$60 per mover. - Long-distance move with overnight loading: $50–$100 per mover. - Particularly difficult moves (stairs, heavy furniture, bad weather, complex items like pianos): add $10–$20 per mover.

Important tipping etiquette:

- Use cash. Check or credit card tips are often delayed or diverted through company processing. Cash goes directly to the crew.

- Hand tips to each mover individually. Giving a lump sum to the foreman often means unequal distribution. Walking up to each person, handing an envelope with cash, and saying thank you ensures every mover gets what you intended.

- Prepare envelopes the night before. Write each mover's general role ("driver," "foreman," "team") on the envelope. This takes the awkwardness out of the final moment.

- Consider food and hydration as supplements, not replacements. Pizza, sandwiches, bottled water, and sports drinks are genuinely appreciated but do not substitute for cash tips.

- Bad service: if the crew was rude, damaged items, or performed poorly, you are not obligated to tip the standard amount. A small tip ($10–$15) for subpar work is still appropriate if they completed the job. File complaints with the company for significant issues.

- Moving company employees vs. day laborers: full-service movers with established companies have more incentive to provide quality service because tips affect reviews. Day laborers or small independent crews often rely more heavily on tips.

Budgeting: for a typical 3-person, full-day move, budget $120–$180 in tips. For a 4-person move, $160–$240. Set aside cash before moving day so you're not scrambling.

Within the first week of moving in is the ideal window. You still look new, people are naturally curious, and the introduction feels timely rather than awkward. After about a month, the window closes and initiating an introduction starts to feel strange for everyone.

Best times to catch people: - Weekend late mornings (9–11 AM) when people do yard work, walk dogs, or bring in groceries. - Early weekday evenings (5–7 PM) when people arrive home from work. - Weekend afternoons in nice weather when neighbors are outside.

Keep the first encounter brief and low-pressure: - "Hi, I'm [name]. We just moved into the [color/description] house." - A wave and a name is enough. If the conversation continues naturally, great. If not, you've opened the door for future hellos. - Focus on the 3–5 households closest to you. These are the relationships that matter day to day.

What to cover in longer conversations: - Exchange phone numbers. Offer yours first: "Let me give you my number in case anything ever looks off or you need something." Most people reciprocate immediately. - Ask about local quirks: garbage days, street sweeping, school bus stops, HOA culture, quiet-hours norms. - Ask about the house history. Neighbors often know things the sellers didn't disclose: past flooding, previous renovations, noisy quirks, or which contractors the house has used over the years. - Ask for contractor recommendations. A good plumber or handyman referral saves hours of research.

What not to do: - Don't bring elaborate gifts. Traditionally, neighbors bring gifts to welcome you, not the other way around. A wave and an intro is plenty. A simple card with your name and phone number is a modern, friendly alternative that doesn't come across as trying too hard. - Don't oversell yourself. Warm, brief, and low-stakes works better than enthusiastic. - Don't wait. After a month, you've missed the natural window and introductions feel forced.

Join Nextdoor, any HOA apps, and relevant neighborhood Facebook groups in the first week. These supplement in-person meetings with local news, recommendations, and alerts.

The single biggest mistake is treating the window between closing and moving day as a break rather than as prime working time. Most new homeowners are exhausted by closing, collapse into the new house, move in, and then spend the next year wishing they had done simple tasks while the home was still empty.

The runner-up mistakes:

1. Skipping lock changes. You don't know how many keys exist. Previous owners, contractors, cleaners, family members, and neighbors may all have copies. $75–$200 for a rekey is insurance against a threat you cannot inventory.

2. Delaying the deep clean. Cleaning an empty home takes 8–12 hours DIY. Cleaning around furniture later takes three times that long and produces worse results. The baseline cleanliness of your new home is set in this window.

3. Not locating utility shutoffs. Water main, gas shutoff, and electrical panel should be found and labeled day one. A burst pipe at 2 AM is not the time to be searching.

4. Trusting verbal repair promises. "We took care of it" and "we'll handle it after closing" have almost no legal weight once funds transfer. Every repair must be verified during the final walk-through, documented with receipts, and backed by contractor warranties.

5. Skipping photos of the empty home. Insurance claims, warranty disputes, and seller issues all benefit from timestamped documentation of move-in condition. 30 minutes of photos can save thousands later.

6. Putting off paint. Painting an empty room is 10x easier than painting around furniture. If you plan to paint within the next year, do it now.

7. Not asking for seller touch-up paint and appliance manuals. These are easy to negotiate into the purchase agreement and are worth hundreds of dollars of convenience over the years.

8. Moving in before utilities confirm activation. Arriving at a dark, cold, or waterless house is common and entirely avoidable with 1–2 weeks of advance planning.

The antidote: treat the pre-move-in window as its own project with a detailed task list. The tasks take 2–5 days of focused work spread over a couple of weeks and set the foundation for everything that follows. Every hour invested here saves 3–5 hours of future frustration.