When in the closing stages of building your home, there are a few things you should remember. These are the things that new homeowners typically forget but are also the things that are very important in making sure that things will run smoothly after you’ve moved in.
- Make sure you know all the details about the warranty your builder provides – You should know what company carries the warranty that your builder provides. It’s a good idea to walk around the interior of the house and inspect everything from fireplace to air conditioning system, to the water heating system. You should do the same thing to your exteriors; inspect the paint, shingles, garage doors, etc. A good builder will usually have a checklist of things that have warranty and need to be checked. Get a copy of the checklist and keep it in file for your maintenance checks. Remember that as the owner of the house, you have the responsibility to check the parts of your home that is under warranty before the first year has ended.
- Keep yourself on top of the situation when it comes to your builders and his suppliers – Some homeowners prefer to shop for their own appliances, while some opt to have the builders buy the appliances for them so that they’re ready when they move in. Make sure that the appliances are ready when the builders say they would be. If they’re not ready, make sure they have an alternative solution until the appliances are ready. Check with the builders once in a while to make sure that they make good with the promises that they’ve made.
- Make sure that the utilities are already transferred to your name by the time you move in – Builders will usually have utilities under their company name until you move in. Avoid disruptions in your service by making sure that the utilities are transferred to your name before or by the time you move in.
- Check whether or not your furniture will fit into your new home’s door – There’s nothing more frustrating than to realize on the day that you are supposed to move in that your beloved antique living room set won’t fit through your home’s doors. Check your furniture to make sure that they fit so that the builders could make the necessary adjustments on the doorway.
- Mark existing nicks and marks on the walls – If there are nicks and marks on the walls prior to moving; just mark them with something that won’t damage the surface to make sure that the damage was done before you moved in. Marking with painter’s tape is a good idea so that you won’t damage the surface further.
- Check everything before you move in to make sure the builders don’t void the warranty – Do a quick rundown on the day before you move just to make sure that all warranties are intact and have not been voided by the builder. Before you change anything in the house because you didn’t like the way the builder did it, you should also check whether or not what you will do will void the warranty. Before you change anything, check if it can be done by the builders instead of you.
- Make sure you know if you need to finish something before closing – Check whether or not you need to finish an addition to the house or anything else before closing. Some contracts require you to finish everything you need to do (like an additional deck or a gazebo) before you can close.
- File all your warranties in one place – Moving in may become a flurry of paperwork and things that need to be in order. Don’t lose your warranties in the process. Just keep all warranties in one file and in a safe place. Also, you may want to record all the factors that may contribute to the deterioration of the parts that have warranty. Take down notes about extreme weather changes like storms, or other eventualities like earthquakes.
- Have your landscaping done before you move in – It’s best to have your landscaper (if you’ve hired one) do the landscaping a few days before you move in so that you’ll feel like you’re moving in to a complete house already.
- Take future add-ons into consideration – Some people think that choosing the cheaper option is good, but there are times when it’s better to spend what you can now to have the features you want built in on your house. It may be more costly to upgrade or add those features on in the future. For example, it may be more costly to have a fireplace added on to your bedroom later than if you just had the builders add it now.