Real Estate with Dallice: Post Closing
Post Closing you are the new kid on the block. Statistics tell us that it takes on average, 14 months to settle into a new community. For those with kids in school or social work environments nearby, you’ll be on the low end of that. But folks that are retired, work from home or have out of area work places, don’t have kids or significant others to help with the blending, it could take much longer. It can be hard… lonely…terrifying to move into a new community.
Meet the neighbors
My advice – based on my own experience – meet the neighbors. Bake the brownies, invite those strangers for a glass of wine or have a house warming event.
These are going to be the people who you’ll say hi to in passing at the beginning. But later, will borrow a cup of sugar from, feed their dog when they’re running late, rely on to shovel snow with on freezing days and start some sort of informal tool sharing arrangement with.
The flip side of not being friends with those who live next door, could be a lack of understanding when there are noise issues, parking issues or no-one to water your plants when take that long weekend in mid summer.
In aviation we call this Cockpit Resource Management. Vital and valuable for safe flight, it’s the ability to effectively use what you have immediately around you, for the greater good of the flight. Your neighborhood is your cockpit. Enough said.
Post-moving Checklist
Ok, moving on… there are a couple of other important things on your post-moving checklist.
- Change the door locks and door codes. This important for your security and that of your stuff. Whether or not the seller has another copy of the key he gave you or would use the garage code, is almost irrelevant. You don’t know who else has access – past babysitters, dog sitters, roommates, family members etc.
- Set up auto-payments for mortgage, HOA. The HOA should send you a welcome packet in the first month, however if you don’t receive anything, do reach out to them. A late or missed HOA payment in the first month is not uncommon… and yep, they will fine you anyway.
- Arrange lawn care, dog walking etc