What do we need to do after closing the house? (Lawn: for sale, insurance)

[newhome1234]

First time home buyer here .. and new inventory house as well ..
We know there's lot to do ..
But please help us complete the list if we miss any .. and advise what should be more priority

Thank

1. Utility -- Transfer Name or what to do?
2. Lawn Mower -- Recommend a brand please. Our yard is small .. about 4000 sq ft
3. Window covering -- Not sure what we want yet
4. Water softener
5. Washer and Dryer
6. Refrigerator and/or Freezer
...
List goes on and on

[jtothemak]

Window covering, Fridge and Washer and Dryer make the builder include as these are easy items to get them to ad in as these cost them next to nothing instead of you spending easily over $1000 for each of these items.

Just something to consider, lawn service for a small yard can be $20 a service. But if you want lawn equipment to do it yourself, hit Home depot or Lowes and find what is on sale. For a small yard buying the best of the best does not matter as it does not get hard core use. Noticed in Sears they had their model 50% off right now being winter.

Water Softener we went threw this and gave up, prices are all over the place and every one of them will make you sit threw those in home high pressure scam sales. Also if you are not plumbed for a water softener you will have to turn it off every time you water your yard as the salt will kill your grass.

For Utilities your builder should give you contact information for your utilities.

[Svensk08]

Immediately change the locks on all exterior doors (DIY or call a locksmith) and reset the garage door opener codes. There's no telling who has a key to your house. Next, consider an alarm system.

[beasleb]

Originally Posted by Svensk08

Immediately change the locks on all exterior doors (DIY or call a locksmith) and reset the garage door opener codes. There's no telling who has a key to your house. Next, consider an alarm system.

Definitely get a security system. Most homeowner's insurance policies will give you a discount around 20% if you install a security system. Taking into account the savings on my homeowner's insurance policy, the security system costs $5.00 per month!

[ethanw]

No need to change you l too locks :-) We live in 21st century mate. After the constructions is done they reset the locks from the master key to the normal and unique key for that house. Usually the sales person does it in the presence of the buyer. If they didn't it probably done before the sale took place. Don't PANIC :-) Just ask the builder before you change all your locks.

Originally Posted by Svensk08

Immediately change the locks on all exterior doors (DIY or call a locksmith) and reset the garage door opener codes. There's no telling who has a key to your house. Next, consider an alarm system.

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by ethanw

No need to change you l too locks :-) We live in 21st century mate. After the constructions is done they reset the locks from the master key to the normal and unique key for that house. Usually the sales person does it in the presence of the buyer. If they didn't it probably done before the sale took place. Don't PANIC :-) Just ask the builder before you change all your locks.

True this.

On the water softener, this can be added if you really need it later. Try the water first without it - not all areas need them.

If your lot is that small, you might consider an electric mower. That size lot will be pretty cheap to contract out to a lawn service, too.

Change of address - you can do it online.

If you have already signed the contract - it is too late to get the refidgerator and w/d included. You can certainly add them now, but at an inflated price add-on.

[kreeyax]

You'll probably want a sprinkler system too, if the house doesn't have one already. I had the sprinkler system installed first, then the water softener later so the water softener guys could easily bypass the sprinkler system. You don't want to be wasting soft water on lawn irrigation. Also, most people have a reverse osmosis system installed for drinking water at the same time as the water softener installation since the water softener adds sodium to the water.

Don't forget rain gutters to keep the mulch and soil from washing out of your beds.

As for the mower, in my last house I had a self-propelled mower since my lot was about 1/4 acre. It worked great for that lawn, but when I tried to use it on my tiny postage stamp lot I have here it was just too heavy and unwieldy. Bought a cheap, lightweight $99 mower from Home Depot and it improved the ease of mowing by at least 100%. So make sure you buy the right mower for the job.

[lhafer]

We always either paint, or hire painters the day of closing or the day after. It's much more a PITA to paint after your stuff is moved in - especially heavy furniture like couches or beds.

Do you at least have blinds on the windows? If so, you don't need to worry about curtains, etc until you know what you want. If the windows are bare, get the builder to work with you on getting some.

Washer/Dryer/Frig - I would look for sales at Lowes/Home Depot/Fry's/Conn's/etc.

Utilities, etc the builder should give you the information on.

You don't need a heavy duty mower for that sized yard as other's have stated. If you want to do it yourself, look into cheap options. If you want to hire lawn help - just know that they usually don't charge less than $20 for their services.

[newhome1234]

Thank you very much .. Great tips

The house came in with the Dish Washer, Oven, Microwave, and sprinkler system already ...
We closed the house last week so we can't asked anymore from builder ..

I'll check out the electric lawn mower .. Do you recommend any brand?

Beside Reliant for light, do you recommend any other?

[Shark01]

Just a hint for future buyers (won't help the OP). Unless you want to go high dollar right away, ALWAYS get the builder to throw in 2" faux wood blinds. Its a great last minute negotiation tool, costs the builder almost nothing (because they do so many) and saves the buyer not only the money ($2-3k) but the hassle of having to do this immediately when you are doing a bunch of other stuff.