You have just closed and moved into your Spring Texas home and now you are dreaming of ways to personalize and make it yours. But before you get your paint buckets out, complete the following 5 must dos:
Change your locks – at closing you got the keys and the garage door code from the previous owners. They seemed like nice people and for that matter they probably are. But what you don’t know is who has a copy of your house key. Did they give the key to someone to walk their dog when they were out of town? Or what about their maid service, or the contractor who did repairs on the house, or prior tenants, do they still have a key? You have know way of knowing who previously had your house keys in their possessions. So do yourself a favor and get the locks changed and change the garage door code.
Collect all warranty documents and instruction manuals – Place them in a box or drawer just by themselves. That way whenever you need any instruction manual or warranty document you know exactly where to look.
Complete the change of ownership form from the local taxing authority – To assure that you will receive the upcoming year’s tax bill complete the change of ownership for a real property account from the county in which your Spring Texas home resides whether that be Harris County or Montgomery County. Just like when you were in school and the teacher did not accept the “dog ate my homework” as an excuse, the county taxing authority does not accept “I did not receive my tax bill” as an excuse for not paying your tax bill. They will charge you interest if your tax bill is not paid on time.
Collect all your closing documents – File them in a safe place. You will need to be able to locate them when you file your federal income tax return for the year.
Locate the utility main disconnects and your home’s circuit breaker box – Educate the adults living in your household on where the gas and water main disconnects for the house are located and how to turn them off. You don’t want to waste time locating them when an emergency occurs and every minute counts. Also don’t forget about locating the home’s circuit breaker box. Make sure you have easy access to the box. You don’t want to have to move 10 boxes in the dark just to get to it.
Congratulations on your new home!!
We entrusted Jill Wente with the sale of our current home and purchase of a new home. From the beginning... read moreWe entrusted Jill Wente with the sale of our current home and purchase of a new home. From the beginning she was extremely up front and honest about exactly what we would need to do to get our house sold. We had an incredibly tight timeline, that she explained would be difficult to make - but she helped us make it happen and our house sold in 2 days! She had recommendations for all our home repair needs and they were all professional and fairly priced. She worked hard to really sell our offer for our new home - she was able to pull off the tight timeline, securing a rent back from our old house so we had time to move out, and a contingency for our new home. Definitely exceeded our expectations. She was so helpful along the way - as first time home sellers we really relied on her and we feel lucky to have worked with her! You will not regret working with Jill! read less