Posts Tagged ‘ Tips ’

After the Move

Once your household belongings are in the new home and pretty much in place, you will have to give closure to the relocation experience at least from the practical point of view. Follow this concise after the move guide for some helpful advice on how to perform some smart moves to finish the moving in, and begin a new life.

Take care of your children needs

Adapt the new home to your children so that they feel home. Arrange their rooms, make space for their games, if you need any security features like safety gates, now is the time to have it done.

Call the new school to double check everything is in order with your children’s records and to find out about social activities like sports, dance classes, or a reading club for your children. In addition, contact the Chamber of Commerce for information on children and teenager’s hobby stores, adventure parks, libraries, clothing stores, etc. Look on the Internet for local associations, groups or places offering cultural, social and sport activities for children in your kids’ age group.

Set up, register, and transfer

If you did not do so before the relocation, you will have to take care of it after the move. Contact the local board of elections and inquire about procedures for registration to vote. Once registered, ask them to notify your preceding voting district about the change of voting districts. If you have experienced an out of state move, you will need to contact the local Department of Motor Vehicles to request a new driver’s license and license plate/tag. Transfer and up date your insurance through a local insurance agent according to the new needs and possessions you may have. Set up new accounts for online and offline services like electricity, gas, water, bank accounts, veterinarians, doctors, subscriptions, memberships, deliveries, etc. Go to the post office and fill-in a change-of-address form. Get all your medical records transferred to your new health care practitioners no matter if you experienced a local or an out of state move.

Get acquainted with the neighborhood and the area

One of the best moving tips to follow is to get out of your home and begin exploring the new area you live in. Start talking with your new neighbors, parents at your children’s school, co-workers, etc. about the new neighborhood and begin familiarizing yourself with the lifestyle of that particular area by becoming part of a social, cultural and/or sport-like activities.

Call the local Department of Sanitation to be informed on which days the garbage is collected and whether there are recycling programs in the community. It is recommended that after your house moving you find out where the closet police station, hospital, fire station, gas station and food store are.

The period right after the move may be the hardest part of the relocation process, but with a good disposition and some work you will be leaving the moving boxes behind and heading into a new life.

What about teens

When it comes down to your teen children, moving can get as challenging as it gets. Because many emotional changes, fears and anxieties are closely related to moving away at this crucial age, you must pay especial attention to your teens. The good news is that, with a little planning, a lot of patience and a some good sense, you will help you children overcome their teenager moving anxiety.

Make them participate

The most effective key in moving pre-teens and teenagers to a new home is to delegate some of the responsibilities to them and make them feel they are in charge of part of the process. Depending on their age, have your moving teens help you organize the relocation logistics by researching for information, guiding their siblings, and perhaps even doing their own packing and unpacking. Most moving teenagers will love taking part in choosing new items needed at the new home or in their own new rooms, so if you can allow for it, permit them to be responsible for this section of the moving.

Provide them with enough time and tools to get use to the idea of moving

If it a local relocation, tell your teenage kids your are moving at least three months before you move; take them to the new home if feasible, and show them around the neighborhood (the new school, sport center, shopping malls, beaches, etc). If we are talking about relocation abroad or to a different part of the country, try to break the news as soon as you can. Explain the whole relocation will be a positive change for the whole family and that you will be there to help in any possible way. Either ways, provide your teen with practical positive tools to fight teenager moving anxiety by allowing him to vent his/her worries, and even consider the help of a counselor or guide to help your moving teenager make the transition. Also, emphasize the positive aspects of the moving and talk about the new place in terms that will result interesting to your teen.

Give time to say good-bye

Permitting for some farewell rituals like parties, extra time together with special friends, sleeping over nights with pals, etc helps moving teens give closure to the process of moving away in their own terms and turf. If probable, talk to your moving teens about nice options like coming back to visit friends, or guarantying Internet access for them to remain in touch with friends via e-mail or messenger. Teens moving anxiety is eased when they know for sure they can remain in touch with things, people and situations they know, even when your sociable teen will most likely start making a new life in at the new place quite soon. In any case, guarantee and overlapping of contexts to make things easier.

Be ready to listen and to be flexible.

Moving teens from one place to another is not easy and can take some time for them to get rid of their teenager moving anxiety. Keep your ears open and be prepared to offer a little bit more room than usual, your teen will certainly need it.

Moving with Kids

The array of mixed feelings when relocating may become even more complicated when moving with kids is on the list. To help you and your kids deal with this significant change read on and follow our moving with children advice.

Notify the kids far in advance about your relocation plans

No matter what the reasons for your relocation, the best thing is to always make the children in your family part of the news by letting them know soon enough they will be moving into a new home. Make the breaking news reach their targets by speaking positively about change and the new home. Accentuate the positive features of the new home and neighborhood and comfort your child/children by telling them the family nucleus will remain intact.

Take your children for a test drive

If time and distance permit it, take your children for a ride in the new neighborhood and show them their new home, school, park, etc. Moving away with children tends to be a lot easier when they become part of the process and know in advance what to expect and how things will look. Talk to them about the new place and neighborhood and ask them what they think their new life will be like. If possible, have them help you make some of the moving decisions like choosing the wall color in their rooms. These sort of dialogs and participation will help you recognize any anxieties and worries your kids may have regarding moving to a new place and will help you assist them in overcoming them and embracing the change.

Plan on creating some rituals

To make the moving away with children smother, pay special attention to the little family or individual rituals that take place in your family and give them special attention during the last few weeks before moving. Likewise, create some fun moving rituals that will help the kids come to terms with the fact that they are moving away. In addition, once the moving with kids is over and you arrive in your new home, try to provide the proper conditions to recreate all, or most of the rituals your family carried out at your previous home. This will help the relocation with kids as seamless as possible. It is also recommended to create a welcoming ceremony in which all family members will participate. Some sort of nice surprise like balloons or a new pet is in order. An extra piece of advice for this part of the relocating with children logistic: keep it simple, loose, and cheerful.

Make them part of the moving

Although the actual moving with kids may be not recommended, have them pack their own rooms and help unpacking them. If they are too little to help, arrange for them some activities in the neighborhood while assembling their rooms first so they can come to their own room at the new home once they finish with their activities.

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Apartment Hunting Tips

Looking for a place to live is turning more and more difficult with every passing day. With climbing prices for leasing apartments, high demand, and increasing check-ups performed upon the leasing party from the side of the property owners, the market has become a real battleground. To prepare you better for combat, read the following practical apartment hunting tips.

Prior to the search

A) Wish list

Sit down and make a wish list about the apartment you have in mind. State clearly all the elements you are looking for: parquet floors, high ceilings, ample kitchen, wall-to-wall carpet, etc. Like wise, establish what kind of special features are you looking for: parking place, laundry rooms, fitness facility, cable hook up, etc. In addition, think about the desired location of the new home. Also, decide if you want or not to make use of an apartment real state service or apartment brokers. Finally, determine a tentative rent sum you are able and willing to pay and whether you are looking for the utilities to be included or not. This kind of brainstorming will help you concentrate on the apartment for rent you are looking for, thus saving you time and effort in the search.

B) Proof of financial stability and other documents

Organize some information to have handy the moment the landlords inquire about your financial stability and background. Prepare a resume, the first two pages of last year’s tax refunds, letter from your employer (or from a CPA if you are a freelancer or entrepreneur) stating your monthly income/salary and salary slips, recent bank statements, recent pay stubs, and credit card and bank account numbers. Likewise, prepare a valid photo ID (driver’s license), letters and numbers for personal and business references, two certified checks in case you decide to close the deal with the property owner on the spot, and co-signer information in case you will need it.

The search

Look for the apartment for rent of your dreams through the online or offline Classified Ads, landlords, apartment real state and management companies, sites and publications, and flat free agencies (non-realtor free listing resources that charge a membership fee of approximately $60-250).

Set a few appointments to see a diverse number of leasing apartments on the same day/week. One of the best apartment hunting tips is to create and bring an organized comparative table where to write the details of each apartment for later reference and evaluation. Try to see the apartments during day time, and preferable during the busy hours of the day to assess the noise, air quality, and light levels as well as to make sure you will see any actual flaws or damage that could later on be awarded to you. If you take the apartment, attach to the lease a list of any elements and features needing repair. Check the apartment (water pressure, electrical outlets, closet space, capacity of the water heater, heating system, etc) and ask as many questions as you like about the lease and/or the apartment. Read the lease carefully before signing it.

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Moving Checklist

As you very well may have learn from previous relocating experiences, only one word in the dictionary can successfully be synonymous with triumphant moving: organization.

There are so many things to check and keep track of during any given moving process that only by keeping things organized you will avoid loosing your head.

The main key element in relocating organization is the creation of a complete, yet concrete moving checklist.

How to start your moving check list?

Any moving checklist should start by listing the steps to follow in hiring a competent moving company. Make sure your relocation check list includes the following items:

  1. Check on the Internet or on the yellow pages for a couple of relocation companies that seem professional and reliable to you.
  2. Check the companies’ legal status on the AMSA, the HHGFAA, or/and the FMCSA’s (SaferSys) sites.
  3. Call the Secretary of State and inquire about the relocating companies.
  4. Call the companies and verify:
    • DOT and MC numbers.
    • Insurance information.
    • DBS (doing business as), address, phone numbers.
  5. Ask each of the companies for:
    • a. In-house quote.
    • Different kinds of rates and services they offer.
    • Number of extra services (and their fees).
    • Insurance coverage.

Right Packing is Very Impotent

The next set of check off items on your moving checklist should belong to the packing order:

  1. Assess household belongings.
  2. Categorize household belongings according to their weight, shape, size, material and function.
  3. Make a list of needed packing materials to buy (bubble wrap, carton boxed, labels, etc.)
  4. Buy packing materials.
  5. Packing schedule (set a day and time for each individual room in the house).

When the check list for moving is complete in the packing department, proceed to list out the things you will need to be doing a few days before the relocation up until the night before the moving itself.

Remember to add the following items to this area of your household moving check list:

  1. Notify the post office, legal bodies, work and friends of your change of address.
  2. Stop by your new residence to check everything is order there.
  3. Arrange for food for the following days.
    4) Arrange baby sitting/activities for the kids on the day of the moving.
  4. Fill up gasoline tank.
  5. Balance and close/cancel all payments related to current residence.
  6. Arrange for services (phone, electricity, Internet, etc) for the new home.

Finally, your moving checklist should sport a few entries devoted to the things you should do and check on the day of the moving:

  1. Take basic toiletries to the new home.
  2. Have keys to new home available.
  3. Have the documents signed with the relocation company at reach, but guarded.
  4. Bring water.
  5. Ask for the relocation company’s drivers contact number.
  6. Bring the phone number of a local, reliable take out restaurant in case food is needed.

You will probably need to make a sub moving check list for a few of the sections of your main relocation check list, listing on a separate piece of paper particular tasks or items. Nonetheless, the main house move checklist will help you navigate through your relocation logistic with a proper sense of purpose and direction.