With closing day just around the corner, the excitement is likely building for the day when you will move into your new home. You probably have a lot on your mind to prepare for moving day, and you may even have a list of priorities you want to accomplish within the first weeks or months in your new place.
No one can blame you if your new home to-do list includes items like painting rooms, adding shelving or buying new dining room furniture. However, you might be overlooking some more important issues you need to deal with right away for your own safety and well-being.
Starting off fresh
Your home might be new to you, but if someone has lived there before, you can bet they have left evidence of themselves behind. It might be distasteful to imagine, but it is definitely something you should confront. For example, your appliances may be only a few years old, but you will have more peace of mind if you take each of them through a deep cleaning before you use them for your own family’s needs. Some examples include the following:
- Clean out your dryer vent.
- Run about a quart of bleach through your washing machine.
- Turn on the self-cleaning option for your oven.
- Pull out your refrigerator and vacuum the coils behind it.
- Add vinegar to your dishwasher’s dispenser and run it while empty.
- Put new air filters in your HVAC system.
While you are at it, learn about the important elements of your home’s systems, such as where to shut off the main water source, which breakers connect to which rooms, how your furnace works and where the hot water heater is located. Knowing these things will save precious time if you should have an emergency.
Protecting yourself
You may not know how many house keys the previous owner handed out. Some of those keys could still be in circulation, and this could be a risk to you and your family. As soon as possible after closing, call a locksmith and rekey or replace the locks.
Additionally, inspect every smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector in the house. Insert fresh batteries or replace the alarm altogether if it is older than 10 years. Invest in a fire extinguisher if the home doesn’t have one. These steps might mean postponing the fun projects you have planned, but they could also give you added security and peace of mind in your new home.