Your home has sold, and now, it’s time to get ready to move. While moving can be exhilarating, preparing for your move – sorting through your belongings, packing boxes and loading vehicles – can be a lot less exciting, and at times, frustrating.

To ensure your move goes more smoothly, use this task list to help you prepare.

1. Sort through your belongings. Decide what you’re going to keep, sell, donate or trash.
2. Choose a moving company. Get an on-site estimate of costs. Get a written confirmation of your moving date, costs and other details. Make arrangements for payment and tips.
3. Create a moving binder to keep track of everything, including estimates, receipts, phone numbers and an inventory of all the items you’re moving.
4. Purchase supplies, including boxes, packing tape, Bubble Wrap, unprinted newsprint, permanent markers and labels. Get more than you think you’ll need. You can always return unused supplies.
5. Use up items that won’t be packed, like food, cleaning supplies or car maintenance items. Or, donate them.
6. Pack room by room. Keep items that go together, like appliances and extension cords. Put picture hooks, brackets, bolts and other small items in resealable bags and tape to the back of the item it goes with. Label each box with a number, its contents and the room where it’s supposed to go. Record this information on a master list in your moving binder. Apply color-coded labels to each box to quickly identify the room it belongs to, like green for the kitchen and blue for the bedroom. Items you need immediately after you arrive at your new home, mark “Open First” on them. Note any items that may require additional insurance and purchase through your mover. Pack personal items for each family member in suitcases or plastic storage containers.
7. Pack valuables and important paperwork separately, such as electronics, jewelry, passports, checkbooks, medications, your moving binder and documents. Plan to transport these items with you.
8. Schedule the disconnection or transfer of utilities, like cable TV, electricity or trash removal.
9. Fill out change of address forms with the post office; banks and other financial institutions; insurance and utility companies; and magazine and newspapers. Have your medical records forwarded to new health-care providers or get copies.
10. Clean out your safe-deposit box.
11. Clean your home and appliances before leaving as a common courtesy.
12. Take a final walk-through of your home to make sure nothing was forgotten. Sign the mover’s bill of lading and keep a copy with you.
13. Document the condition of the home (photos or video) before you leave to avoid any disputes from the buyers about possible damage.

Before you pack and move – and even before you look for your new home – contact a trusted mortgage broker, like Grandview Lending, to get approved for your new mortgage loan. Our skilled mortgage specialists will discuss your needs and review all your options with you, so you can choose the right mortgage solution for your needs. Contact us today at 866.690.4920.

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