In most cases, moving to a new home proves to be a big change in a person’s life.
A house move can be the start of an independent life or it can mark the beginning of a new life chapter for a family. Either way, many things are likely to change after the relocation is complete.
Depending on a few important variables, the changes after a house move can be either good or bad. Or they can be neither good nor bad – just a different post-relocation setting to which you will have to adapt quickly and painlessly.
Ultimately, moving house is all about changes regardless of whether you welcome those specific alterations with open arms or whether you feel scared of what the new future has to offer you.
But what do you have to change when you move house? Are those house-moving changes as scary as you might think?
Here are the top 10 things you change when you move into a new house:
1. Job
One of the most common reasons people move to another part of the country is because of a new job. But if you have just moved to a new city or town without a job, then, unless you’re a retiree or a university student, you’re going to have to find employment.
In the case of a job-related relocation, two things will be different for you after you move: your workplace and your work colleagues. It’s quite a serious change to deal with but oftentimes, you just won’t have a choice but to accept things are they are and do your best to adapt as fast as you can to the new work environment.
Changing jobs can be a real challenge, especially if the new line of work is vastly different from your old one. If you haven’t secured a job yet, then it’s time to initiate a job hunt by researching carefully the professional areas you prefer to work in and have the required qualifications for.
As a job seeker, you should definitely check the top job search websites that can help you find a suitable position after you move. Also, it’s a good idea to visit the official website of the U.S. Department of Labor.
And yet, friends and their friends in the new city can prove to be the most helpful tool to find a good job after the move.
One thing that will surely change when you move house is your postal address. It’s quite clear that it’s impossible to keep the same address when you move to a new place, so you have to remember to change your address (preferably before the move) so that you don’t lose any important pieces of mail in the meantime.
Luckily, the change of address procedure is pretty straightforward and you can easily change your address with the United States Postal Service (USPS) prior to moving away by using one of these 4 options:
Change your address online. This method of changing your address will save you time and offers a great level of convenience since you can do it from the comfort of your own home. Just visit the official USPS website to initiate the COA (Change of Address) procedure.
Change your address in person. Simply visit the nearest USPS office whenever you find some free time in your moving schedule and fill out the PS Form 3575 to start the COA procedure.
Change your address over the phone. Call 1-800-ASK-USPS and follow the recorded instructions to initiate the COA procedure.
Change your address by mail. It’s hardly surprising that you can change your postal address by mail. All you need to do is download the PS Form 3575, print it out, fill it out by hand, and then post it with a First Class postage to: POSTMASTER, United States Postal Service.
Don’t forget to change home utilities to your name after moving to a new place.
Another thing you should change when moving house is to change the home utilities – that is, to cancel them at the place you’re leaving (or have just left) and set them up at the new home.
Switching home utilities seems like a simple task but it’s not – oftentimes, it will require much more time and effort than you initially planned for it. Follow these logical steps to change utilities in the most efficient way possible:
Create a list of all the utilities that you wish to change or transfer to the new place: electricity, water and sewage, gas, Internet, cable TV, telephone, etc.;
Go over the list and see whether you need all of those utilities in the new home. Remember that now is the time to save money by canceling any utility services you don’t really use;
Contact your current utility providers and schedule the disconnection of the home utilities in the place you’re moving out of. You should do it 3-2 weeks prior to Moving day so that you can schedule a date for disconnecting the utilities roughly 1 day after you move out;
Pay any remaining bills with your current utility companies and get back any security deposits you may have left with them when signing up for their services;
Find reputable utility providers in the new state and arrange the service activation in the new place.
Keep in mind that after you move to another state, you will have a specific period of time to register your vehicle in the destination state. The car registration window will depend on the state you’ve just moved to, ranging from around 10 days to 30 days.
So, to avoid getting fined, contact the DMV office of the new state soon after the move to learn more about the car registration requirements.
There are a few important things you should know after moving to a new state with a car:
The thing is that you must register your vehicle in the new state (only after a permanent move and not a temporary one) despite the fact that your current car registration has not yet expired – that is, it’s still valid. This is because it is illegal to live in one state and have your personal car registered in another state.
You must purchase new auto insurance from the destination state before you can register your car there. In other words, you will be asked to present proof of insurance bought in the new state in order to register your vehicle in that same state.
You’re going to need the following documents to register your car in a new state: a certified copy of the car title certificate, current car registration, insurance card, driver’s license, and proof of paid tax in the destination state.
When moving house with school-age children, one of the most important things you’ll have to do is change the school for your kids so that they can continue their education. That is, unless you’re moving just across town, in which case, you may be able to keep your children at the same educational institution.
Changing schools can be a very difficult time for your little angels – not only will they have to say heartbreaking goodbyes to their school friends, but they will also need to go through a stressful adaptation period at the new school.
Therefore, your critical mission as a parent is to make sure your son or daughter has a relatively smooth transition between the two educational institutions.
Here are a few steps that will help you find the best school for your children after moving:
Seek recommendations for a good school in the new city or town from current teachers, friends and relatives, or even real estate agents in the destination area;
Use online resources to find more relevant information about each school in the area you just moved to. Do a comparison of the various educational institutions to shortlist the best one for your kids;
Visit the short-listed schools in person together with your children (schedule a school tour) to meet with the school administration and some of the teachers, as well as to check out the facilities andfeel the school atmosphere in general.
You’re going to need to find a new dentist after the move as well.
What do you need to change when you move house?
The answer’s simple enough: health care providers for you and your family in the destination place.
Before you start the hunt for a good doctor, you’ll need to know whether you will be looking for a primary care doctor (a family physician) or a specialized doctor.
When you have that figured out, then follow the next basic steps to find a new doctor after moving:
Pay a visit to your current doctor prior to moving away. This way, you’ll be able to get your medical records from them and ask them for potential recommendations for doctors in the area you’re moving to.
See if you can get any recommendations for highly skilled doctors from your friends, neighbors, and colleagues at work. That should give you some names of good doctors in the new city.
Use trusted online resources to look for primary care doctors, specialists, and dentists in the new area.
Visit some recommended doctors personally to meet the specialists and see whether they will be the right ones for you. A few brief meetings should be enough for you to make up your mind.
Look for a recommended vet if you’ve just moved with a cat, a dog, a bird, or another type of pet animal.
When you move to another state, one of the things you’re going to have to change is your health insurance. When you’re about to start looking for a new job, you’re beginning work at a new company, you’re working part-time, or you’re self-employed, then you’ll have to get a new health insurance plan.
Mind that you won’t need to change your current health insurance place only if you’ve been sent from your company to another office of theirs in another state. In other words, if you’re not changing your employer, then you can keep your current health insurance policy.
By law, health insurance is guaranteed in every U.S. state for all who wish to get adequate health insurance for themselves. As long as you have a valid health insurance plan in the state you’re about to leave, then the fact that you’re moving to a new state is considered a qualifying event.
What all this means is that after you move to another state, you are given a 60-day enrollment period to find a new health insurance plan for you and your family. And to do it, you’re going to need to start a new Marketplace application and enroll in a new health insurance plan in the destination state.
Log into your personal account at HealthCare.gov to get new health coverage after moving.
When you move to a new place, then you will have to register to vote in that new location provided that you wish to remain a registered voter. By law, you are not allowed to vote in more than one place so as soon as you register to vote in the place you just moved to, then the new election office will get in touch with your old election office so that your old voter registration can be canceled.
When you move to a new state, you will have to change your voter registration within 2-4 weeks prior to an election regardless of its nature – federal, state, local, primary, general, or special elections. Keep in mind that North Dakota is the only U.S. state that does not require people to register when they wish to be eligible voters in the state.
All in all, you have 3 options when you want to change your voter registration:
Register to vote in person. Here you can find the state and local election offices where you can change your voter registration in person.
Register to vote online. Visit the Can I Vote webpage to start your online voter registration (currently only available in 37 U.S. states).
9. Change (upgrade) the security of the new home
Change the door locks of the new home to increase its security level.
You’ve just moved into a house or an apartment and the thing is that you don’t know the place well enough – at least not yet.
What this means, among other things, is that you don’t have a good idea about the level of security of the new home.
As you can imagine, one of the prerequisites of turning the new place into your own home is to feel safe in it. And that sense of safety should only be possible when you know that the residence is secure enough against various types of threats and dangers.
One of the things you should change when you move into a house is the locks on all outside doors so that you can be sure that you and your family members are the only ones who have authorized access to enter the place.
So, besides changing the door locks, what else can you do to improve the level of safety of the new residence?
Check all doors and windows to make sure they close tight and are well secured. Additionally, consider installing deadlock bolts on all exterior doors, as well as locks and covers on all windows.
Add extra lights around your home should keep unwanted people away from your property. This is especially relevant for the entrance area.
Consider installing a home security system (aka a burglar alarm system) if the neighborhood you just moved into has a bad reputation.
Install smoke detectors in every room and keep a working fire extinguisher per floor.
Without a doubt, one thing you will have to change whether you want to or not is your daily routine. That’s especially true when you had to move to another part of the country for a new job.
A new job will often require a different daily routine to which you’re expected to adapt quickly enough. The nature of the work, the commute time, your new work colleagues, and the working hours can all be slightly or radically different than the ones you had before the move.
A brand-new daily routine can also lead to a different lifestyle depending on a number of variables. Luckily, you should be able to breeze through most of the minor changes that the house move will inevitably introduce. However, a move can also bring about big changes to which you may struggle to adapt in the very beginning.
The best piece of advice you can ever get after moving to a new home? Arm yourself with patience and don’t rush things. Proper adaptation to a new environment takes time, so give yourself more time to acclimatize to the unfamiliar settings and things should be just fine in the end.
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