How to Ensure You Settle into a New House Quickly
Settle into your new home with ease using these practical tips for unpacking, organizing, and creating a comfortable, welcoming space from day one.
Home, new home! Buying a new home is one of the most important ‘adulting’ things you will ever do, and often tends to represent the single most expensive thing you own (even if, technically, the bank sort-of owns it first for a while). Getting on the property ladder is no mean feat, thanks to ever-rising house prices and the growing cost of pretty much everything else – while wages stay about the same. So, if you’ve managed to cross that seemingly-impenetrable barrier into the world of homeownership, here’s a firm welcome to the club.
The stress of managing the buying of a new home is only matched by the stress of moving into it. With this in mind, the following words are designed to help you find your feet in your first buy, and get setting as quickly and constructively as possible.
1. Prioritise Essential Utilities and Services
The first item on your list should be the address-ment of your home’s utilities and services – and this is something you should start as far in advance as it is possible for you to do. You’ll need to be set up with all the vital services: gas and electricity, water, and broadband.
You can do this after you move in, but be prepared to be without internet for a bit – and be prepared to be charged through the nose by the previous gas and electricity suppliers on a rolling contract. For minimal fuss, you would usually pre-arrange for your gas, electricity and broadband providers to follow you to your new home, even if it means renegotiating a new contract.
However, this could also be a good time to play the field a little; if you switch broadband provider, for instance, you could secure a better deal right off the bat! Whatever you do, make sure you take gas and electricity meter readings the moment you get the keys to your home, so as not to be charged for energy you didn’t use. Also, double-check whether or not there is a water meter, for the same reason!
2. Unpack Strategically for Immediate Comfort
Moving your belongings from rental to first-home is extremely exciting, of course, but also extremely stressful. Try organising your packing around what you’ll need first, as opposed to room by room. This way, you can ensure the first items in your home are the first items you’ll be relying on – whether for essential provisions like that first cup of tea, or for creature-comfort items that will make your new house feel like home quickly.
3. Secure Your New Home
For peace of mind, you should also make it one of your first jobs to change all door and window locks shortly after moving in. Previous occupants or others may still have keys, and while it is unlikely they’ll try to use them, this isn’t something you necessarily want to test!
4. Personalise Your Space
Personalising your home is a lifetime’s work, really – but there are small things you can do up-front to make life easier. Try painting rooms before you move boxes into them, for a swift refresh that puts the home more in line with your own aesthetic values. Plus, there’s nothing like the smell of fresh paint in a home you own!
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