Buy a House in Colorado – Moving Checklist

This is the ninth post in a series for people wanting to buy a house in Colorado. I’ve already covered Getting the Loan, Finding the House, Offer/Counter Offer, Inspection and Negotiation, appraisal, and closing. Read the first post, and find links to the rest of the series here.

Moving – well, this is where the ‘rubber meets the road’. You’re maybe still a little ‘high’ from the excitement of getting that house and all the hopes and dreams it holds for your plans and your future. But now, there’s a lot of work to be done and it’s not very glorious.

Things to do ahead of time:

• Schedule movers (My daughter said, “Be sure to tell them movers are totally worth it!”)
• Schedule phone, internet, television, and power services
• Schedule any repairs you want completed immediately, such as radon remediation
• Transfer your mail
• Get a Home Warranty
• Regarding trash collection – if your house is in a subdivision with a homeowner’s association, they will tell you when trash day is. But if not, you will choose a trash collection service. Just call around, ask about fees and how much they’ll pick up, and they’ll tell you which day they’ll be by. Sometimes, it’s good to ask the neighbors who they use and use the same one.
• DON’T transfer the water into your name, the closing company will do that. (Water is the only utility that can create a lien against a house in Colorado, so it’s handled differently from the others.)

Once you get all these people and events scheduled, it can be very annoying if your closing doesn’t happen on time and you have to re-schedule. So be sure to keep a notebook or file handy, with all the contact information, and make sure it doesn’t get packed away into a box somewhere.

Sometimes, the buyer and seller have agreed that the seller has a couple of days after closing to move out. I’m not going to say a lot about that here, but obviously it can be very, very annoying when the seller doesn’t get themselves out of there on time. Things can get ugly fast. If this happens to you, please call your real estate agent before you do anything that requires the intervention of law enforcement.

Another annoying thing that can happen, is you arrive at the house to find the seller took something they weren’t supposed to. I’ve only had this happen with small items, such as window well covers. But I’ve heard of appliances going missing, thermostats being switched out to cheaper models, etc. Again, call your real estate agent. Please.

My clients haven’t experienced a lot of annoyances about the house itself after or during a move, but it’s not terribly unusual for an appliance that was working the day before, to suddenly have a hiccup. The best way to protect yourself is to buy a Home Warranty. All warranties are different, so talk to your gent well ahead of time, and go over the contract to be sure you’re getting all the coverage you need. The way it works is if a covered appliance or system breaks down you pay a fee of around $60, and the item is repaired if it can be, or replaced if it can’t be fixed. Home warranties are a good thing.

I write posts on real estate issues and local events in the Denver metro area, especially those *communities between Denver and Boulder, as a public service. My hope is to give people an idea of the ‘flavor’ of our community, in case they’re new or moving to the Denver area.

I am a residential real estate agent, happily helping folks buy a house or sell a house in the beautiful and friendly *suburbs northwest of Denver.

*Arvada, Broomfield, Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, Westminster; also Thornton, Golden, Wheat Ridge, Northglen, Lakewood

Read more about Arvada Colorado, a historic small town between Denver and Boulder.

Find Homes for Sale, no Matter Who Listed Them, at Dream House Hunting.

Gardeners – please visit my blog about high plains gardening, Beauty of Gardening.

Copyright © 2011 Joetta Fort