First Time Buyers: First Things To Do When Moving Into Your New Home in Hackney

Moving into your first home is one of the biggest and most exciting life events that you’ll go through, but with so much to take in it can be difficult knowing where to start.

This handy guide will take you through some of the key things you’ll need to do when you’re moving into your new home in Hackney.

Before Moving Day

• Start Packing Early

You’ll be surprised at how quickly your moving date arrives, and you don’t want to be rushing around the night before only to find you don’t have enough boxes or bubble wrap. If you start boxing up your belongings early it will help completion day go that little bit smoother.

• Pack a Box of Essentials

It’s unlikely you’ll be unpacking everything on the day you move in, and even if you do, you’ll find that things are buried in certain places and you won’t remember where you’ve put everything. For that reason, it’s a good idea to have a box just for the essentials you’ll need on day one, such as a kettle, tea bags and coffee, cups, a phone charger, some cleaning products, and bin bags. Having a box of essentials to hand will save you rummaging around, while everything else can wait.

• Change Your Address and Redirect Your Post

Think of all the companies that you have regular contact with and let them know your new address in advance. Some of them aren’t particularly urgent, especially if most of your communication with them is online. However, things like your bank, mobile phone provider, and credit card companies should be top of the priority list. Make sure you get your post redirected by Royal Mail too. There are always one or two companies that slip the net so having this in place will make sure you cover all bases.

• Take Final Meter Readings

If you’re currently renting, it’s important you let your utility providers know you’re leaving your rental property and on which day. After all, you don’t want to be paying for someone else’s electricity. Make sure to take meter readings just before you leave so you can get an accurate final bill.

• Have Your Insurance In Place

It’s likely that you’ll already have buildings insurance in place before you move as it’s usually a condition of lenders before granting you a mortgage.

However, contents insurance isn’t usually insisted on, but it’s just as important. Many movers wait until they’ve been in their new home for a few weeks before getting it, but with all the shifting of boxes and furniture on moving day, it’s not worth taking the risk of having all your valuables uninsured.

On Moving Day

• Locate Your Home’s Essentials

Some of the most important things you’ll need to find in your new home are the stopcock, thermostat, and gas and electricity meters. You may have a water meter too that you’ll need to locate. It’s important that you find these as soon as you can, as you’ll need to give meter readings to your utility suppliers, and you don’t want to wait until you have a leak before finding out where your stopcock is!

• Take Meter Readings

As soon as you’ve found your meters, make sure you make a note of the readings, ideally by taking a picture on your phone as you’re less likely to lose that than a piece of paper, and it’s timestamped.

You’ll need to submit these to your new energy suppliers to ensure you’re only paying for the energy you’ve used.

The previous homeowners will have submitted their final meter readings, in which case you should have letters waiting for you from the current energy suppliers. If this isn’t the case then you’ll need to do some digging online or by phone to find out who supplies the energy to your home, but whatever you do, make sure you’ve got those meter readings as soon as you can on moving day.

• Introduce Yourself to The Neighbours

Ok, this tip is not as vital as the others but it’s a good idea to knock next door and say hello sooner rather than later!

Meeting the neighbours will help you to settle in more quickly and it’s easier to meet them on moving day than a few weeks later when you need to collect a parcel from them.

They’ll also be able to give you some useful tips about the area, such as which restaurants, gyms or pubs to try out – and avoid – and what day the bins are collected if you don’t already know.

First time buyers in Hackney often ask the question “What should I do first when moving into my new home?” and at Amar Mustafa - The REAL Estate Agent, I know exactly how to answer! Call me on 020 3150 5007 or email amar@therealagent.co.uk to find out more.