New Home’s To-Do List: Utilities, Keys

Q: I’m about to close on my new house. Do I need to transfer all of the utilities? How does this all work?

A: First of all, congratulations on the new house and on buying in such a great market. Now you have to deal with the details of getting moved in. This means you’ll have a laundry list of things to get done, in addition to just getting moved in, including change of address forms, utilities and more.

Some of the utilities automatically go to the house rather than the person, so there’s nothing to really change. These are the city utilities such as the water, sewer and trash. If you wanted to make sure they have the right contact information on file, you might want to call them anyway, but you don’t have to. You will, however, need to call the gas company and the electric company to get those utilities transferred. Assuming the utilities are still on in the house you’re purchasing, you should call them in advance of closing so you can avoid paying a turn on fee.

But utilities aren’t the only things you’ll need to change. Don’t forget to bring a change of address form to the post office and to send out change of address cards to all of your creditors and anyone else from whom you receive mail on a regular basis. This includes magazine subscriptions, catalogs (if you want to keep getting them), family members, friends and more.

There are a few more things to consider. If your neighborhood has a homeowners association, be sure to find out if the title company is updating them with your information. They often do, but if they don’t for some reason, the former owner will keep getting the bills. If you don’t get a bill your first month in the house, you might want to call them to make sure they’ve updated their records.

Finally, if you have a mailbox with a key that’s not right on the property, the former owner will likely be required to return the key they have, so you’ll have to go to the post office to get a new one.

Some things you’ll have to go do before closing and some after, but don’t let the little annoying details ruin your excitement about your new house. Soon you’ll be able to move in and make it a home.

Talia Freedman is a Realtor with Signature Southwest Properties.
— This article appeared on page 20 of the Albuquerque Journal