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We’ve compiled 17 quick tips to think about prior to moving, during your move, and after moving into a new apartment. Tips such as notifying your landlord, changing your address, what to pack first, and more.
Before Moving Into a New Apartment Tips
Notifying Your Current Landlord
Before moving into an apartment, you’ll need to notify your current landlord you’re not renewing your lease. You’ll have to look at your lease to see how much notice time your landlord requires from you. For example, you might have to give 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days of notice.
You also want to give your landlord a written notice, and it’s recommended to send it by certified mail with a return receipt, so you have proof your landlord received the notice.
Make a Moving List and Budget
You want to create a moving list of the items you’ll need to help you move into your new apartment. This is a great time to create a budget, so you know how much you can spend on your move, whether that includes all the fancy moving supplies or hiring professional Moving Help Service Providers from the Moving Help® Marketplace.
Change Your Current Address to Your New Address
You eventually need to change your current address to your new address. You’ll want to make sure it gets changed with your bank accounts, driver’s license, the United States Postal Service, utilities, and anywhere else that uses your address. You don’t want to wait until the last minute to do this task because otherwise you might have delays.
Rent a Moving Truck
You need to rent your moving truck in advance. You can rent a moving truck from U-Haul. A moving truck might not be your best option, which is why U-Haul also has trailers and U-Box storage containers to best fit your needs. Once you know how you’ll transport your belongings to your new apartment, make sure you reserve your moving equipment.
Hire Moving Help Service Providers or Ask For Help
If you want to save time and money, you can hire Moving Help Service Providers on the Moving Help Marketplace. Our professional moving labor companies can save you time and money by moving you efficiently in a couple of hours vs. you spending the whole day getting it done by yourself or with friends and family members.
Clean and Repair Your Apartment
You’ll need to complete a deep clean of your apartment. You need to fill any nail holes with spackle or bar soap. If you got permission to paint your walls, you’ll need to paint it back to the original color. The more time you spend cleaning and repairing your apartment, the higher chance you’ll have of receiving your security deposit with no problems.
Measure Your New Apartment’s Space
Before moving into your new apartment, you should measure the space to make sure all your furniture and belongings will fit into the new space. Nothing will be worse than moving a heavy couch only to realize it won’t fit, and you could’ve sold it for some money. You only want to move items that’ll fit in with your new living arrangement.
Packing Tips for When Moving Into Apartments
Declutter Your Space
You should never pack items that you don’t use now for your new space. It’ll be a waste of time and money. Before you begin packing, you should start decluttering your space. If you need help, invite a friend to your apartment. Anything you don’t use now should be donated, sold, or thrown away.
Buy New or Gently Used Moving Boxes
You can buy brand new moving boxes in bulk at U-Haul – which you can return and receive a refund with your receipt for unused boxes — or buy the specific number of moving boxes. You also can score gently used moving boxes with the U-Haul Take A Box, Leave A Box program at any U-Haul location. Grocery stores and big box stores might have free boxes for you to take as well.
Label Boxes and Color Code Boxes
You want to carefully label your moving boxes. If you write “Kitchen” on five moving boxes, that won’t be helpful when unpacking. If you describe what’s in the box, such as “Kitchen — knives silverware, and plates,” you’ll know what’s exactly inside of each box.
In addition to labelling, you can also try color coding your boxes by room. This will help your movers, Moving Help Service Providers, or whoever’s helping you know where to place your boxes in your new apartment.
Pack From Nonessential to Essential Items
When you start packing, you should start packing from nonessential items to essential items. You can put seasonal or holiday decorations in moving boxes first. You can pack your few remaining kitchen items into your moving boxes last.
Apartment Moving Tips for After Your Move
Clean Your Old Apartment
If you want to have a better chance of receiving your entire security deposit, you’ll want to start by deep cleaning your old apartment. You also can hire someone professionally to clean the apartment. Either way, the cleaner the apartment, the less likely your landlord will charge you a cleaning fee out of your security deposit.
Walk Through Your Old Apartment With Your Landlord
After completing a deep clean of your old apartment, make sure you have a walk-through with your landlord. This way, you can go over any potential damage or expenses, so you aren’t surprised down the road. This also is an opportunity to dispute prior damages that were noted in your move-in inspection.
Clean Your New Apartment
If needed, you should clean your new apartment right before moving into it. Otherwise, a good cleaning will be helpful after moving into your new apartment with all the moving boxes and moving equipment used to move you into your new apartment.
Move Moving Boxes Into Your Apartment and Unload and Unpack
After cleaning your apartment, you can move your moving boxes and furniture into your new apartment. You should unload and unpack as quickly as possible. Life gets busy, and you don’t want to constantly stumble into moving boxes because you didn’t unpack right away.
Track Tax-Deductible Expenses
Depending on your move, it could be tax deductible. You should keep track of your tax-deductible expenses, so you won’t have to find them later when filing taxes.
Celebrate!
Moving isn’t always easy, and it’s definitely emotional to move everything you own at once. After you’re settled into your new apartment invite some friends over to help you celebrate.
Use Our Apartment Moving Tips
If you use our Moving Help apartment moving tips, you’ll be able to stay on track for moving into a new apartment. These 17 tips for moving into an apartment will help make it easier to guide you as you transition into your new apartment. You’ll have tips for before you move, packing tips, and tips to help you out after you move.
