The Post-Move Paperwork: Details You Can’t Skip

2016-01-24

The Post-Move Paperwork: Details You Can’t Skip

Well, you can, but it’s a REALLY bad idea.

A person with a desk full of paperwork.So you just moved into one of our many rental properties, and while you’ve gotten the furniture moved and the basic utilities established, you’re not sure that you remembered all the little details. No problem! Here’s a quick checklist of things that people often forget to do that you really should take care of post-move.

Update Your Contacts — Incoming and Outgoing
Get out whatever you use to keep track of phone numbers and addresses — probably a Contacts app, but hey, kudos if you still know how to use a Rolodex — and go through it carefully. Make two lists: the “People who need to know I moved” list and the “Numbers that existed at my old house but aren’t relevant here” list. Send your new information (including, when important, your work contact information) to the first list, and then grab (Siri/Google/a phone book) and get new numbers for the second list. Make sure your second list includes at least a number for the cops, the fire department, an ambulance, and your landlord.

Government-Related Necessities
It’s time to update your vehicle registration, which means a new driver’s license, registration, and possibly a new license plate and/or tags. While you’re dealing with all this, take the time to register to vote, update your insurance, and snag a library card.

Make Sure You’re Going to Keep Living
Get yourself established at a local clinic, including getting assigned a primary care provider. If there’s a waiting list, get on it and gather information about the local walk-in clinics to tide you over. Finally, pick a pharmacy near your home and start communicating with them about any potential future drug pick-up needs.

Map Out Your Route to Work
You should have three alternative ways to get from your home to work, just in case one of them is jammed up by construction and the second one has a wreck on it. Test the time it takes to travel by each route, and establish junctures at which you can switch quickly from your default route to either backup, just in case.

Test Your Mail Forwarding
Send yourself a postcard at your old address to make sure that it’s getting to your new post-move address. If it’s not, you’re going to want to know sooner rather than later! If it doesn’t make it back to you within a few days, talk to your postman and try to figure out why.

Get Your Various ‘Club Cards’
Seems like almost every grocery store, gym, and coffee shop has their own cards these days, whether they’re of the ‘get 10 punches to get one free’ variety, or more like a grocery store where you need to scan your card to get the ‘best’ sales. Figure out where you’re most likely to shop, and get familiar with what they don’t have good deals on, so you know if you’ll need to add a second or third stop to pick up any vial necessities.

 

Whew! That’s quite a bit to think about! But if you dedicate a day to getting it all done, you’ll be able to stop worrying about it and start enjoying your new post-move home. That’s worth quite a bit.

One thought on “The Post-Move Paperwork: Details You Can’t Skip

  1. froggie / I’d agree with your husband. I don’t think it’s a satlbe investment especially since you won’t be there to see to the property. Invest your money elsewhere and save the money for your down payment when you can buy a house. Can you imaging flying to Texas or Colorado when ever you have tennant issues.

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