A Checklist for New Homeowners
As a home inspector and avid blogger, I often receive calls from people all around the country seeking advice regarding their home purchases. New homeowners have a lot going on at the time of the sale, and sometimes the details of a move-in are left out. Similar to knowing what to do when you have your first child, it would be nice to have an operator's manual to come with the house.
Devil in the details
You have your keys, and excitement mounts as you envision your plans for your new home. During all of this, the previous owner may have left the utilities on for the week after your purchase. I like to remind my clients that they should make arrangements immediately to ensure continuous service. Generally, several electrical companies will be competing for your business, so you need to ask for information to check their plans.
Water could be provided by a municipality, by a firm hired by a municipality or by a well. Hopefully, your inspector would have mentioned if you obtain water from a well or not. To find out the firm or department responsible for water in your neighborhood, go to your city's Web site to find the water and sanitization department. Some people think that they do not need gas, but check your home inspection report. The inspector should mention if you have any gas appliances, like a heater.
If your dream home has a pool, I recommend that you immediately contact a pool service company to clean the pool and go over the equipment with you. Pools can be expensive to repair when they are not maintained.
I find that creating a simple fact sheet with an introduction to the neighborhood, which should include some utility phone numbers, can be very helpful to the new homeowners. It makes a nice impression, and it's something simple that you can provide to the buyer.
Get to know your home
Do you know where your breaker box is? How do you shut the water off and on for the entire building? (There are usually two valves for this task.) Where is the gas meter? I like to point out these items to my clients. You may believe that these answers are obvious, but a buyer who has lived in an apartment may not have never seen this equipment before. Have your home inspector walk you through the home to go over key components. He could also draw a map of the home so you can keep it as a reference. In Texas, we have to list these locations on our report next year. There are parts of the country where the breaker box (service panel) is placed on the exterior of the home.
Home winterizations
Finding service technicians can be difficult, and typically there are no 'home winterization specialists' listed in the phone book. Your best resource is finding a local association of a trade group. For example, quality roofers would belong to a roofing association. But for those odd home repairs, call your home inspector and ask him or her to suggest someone. As for home winterizations, you will find home inspectors or general contractors generally take care of that task for foreclosures.
Just realize that it takes awhile to settle into a new home. That means, even after the boxes have been packed, you still have more work to do before you're fully settled. Good luck.
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