Purchasing a new home is one of the most exciting and stressful times. It’s both fun for the whole family as well as a giant headache. However, once the process is done and completes you finally get to relax in your new home which is an investment that hopefully lasts for many years if not a lifetime. Before moving in however there are a few things that most professionals will recommend you at least take a look at or fix… because procrastinating and saying you’ll do it later will just mean more headaches and expensive problems in the future. Here is a list of 8 things you should fix/replace before or during the moving in process to ensure fewer problems in the future.

Make sure all appliances are in proper working condition

You’re moving all of your appliances from one home to the other. This is a great time to ensure that your appliances work properly and can still be safely operated. Often times appliances break down during the moving process because they are just so old and used up. This isn’t as noticeable when they are standing in one spot and just serving their purpose.

Inspect your refrigerator, dishwasher, oven, microwave, and any other smaller appliance before plugging them in and using them in your new home. Check for leaks in your dishwasher as some may arise after shifting things around. You don’t want to realize your dishwasher is leaking two weeks after moving in and end up destroying your kitchen floors.

When moving all of the appliances in it’s much easier to replace them with something new or repairing them before installing them rather than having to pull them back out and fix/replace them later.

HVAC is crucial… check it

This is one of the areas where homeowners purchase blindly. You cannot entirely test the heating and cooling system properly when purchasing a home and often times it goes completely ignored. As the new owner of a home, you have no clue how the previous owners maintained the HVAC system. You have no clue if it is running efficiently and you don’t know if the system is releasing harmful gasses, allergens, or dust mites.

Not only can a faulty heating or AC system release harmful particles it can also be a giant energy waster if improperly maintained. As well as potentially hazardous and even a fire hazard.

The biggest reason to check the HVAC system early on is it will save you a ton of money in the future. Paying for a specialist to come out and inspect the system before moving in will cost you just a fraction of the amount it would cost to make an emergency repair three months later in the middle of winter. Not to mention the money you’ll save when your system is running at the highest effMciency.

Mandatory carpet cleaning

If the new home you are purchasing has carpet installed in some of the rooms or throughout the house you must deep wash the carpet before moving in… no questions asked. You have no clue what the state of the carpet was before you moved in and you have no clue what kind of germs can be nestled in those fibers (especially if the carpet is older). It is always a great idea to spend that extra $100 to rent a carpet cleaner and run through all of the carpets a few days before moving in.

This will ensure that you are moving yourself and your family into a healthy environment as well as guarantee a prolonged life for the carpet. After performing a deep clean it will be much easier to vacuum out the dry soils in the carpet as the fibers will be thoroughly cleaned. This means you will have a breeze keeping your carpet in great condition as long as you keep up regular maintenance.

Hardwood refinishing

Buying an older home in the Portland metro area almost guarantees that it has original hardwood floors. We would say that more than half the time the hardwood isn’t always in the best condition nor is it to the liking of the new homeowners. The benefit of solid hardwood floors is that it can quite simply be refinished and once again made beautiful. Refinishing a wood floor is much less expensive and often easier than replacing it.

We wrote a post a few months back on how to determine if your hardwood floors need to be refinished. Often times you can’t tell just by looking at the floors, so take a quick peek at this post to see if you need to refinish your wood floors.

Hardwood floors are a highly valued aspect of any home. According to many realtors and many sources such as HGTV, the NWFA, and Forbes: new or updated floors (especially hardwood) can increase the value of your home in many cases. Hardwood flooring has become a sought-after item for many homebuyers, especially in Portland’s current housing market. Did you know that the current hardwood floors that you have can be refinished to almost any look for cheap?

Re-paint to your style

It’s a lot easier to paint an empty room. Moving furniture taking down drapes, and emptying the closets is a pain in the butt to do. A couple of weeks before moving in it’s a great idea to repaint all of the rooms or at least some of them. You may not think it’s a big deal, to begin with, but if you aren’t entirely satisfied with the color scheme in your home it’s a good idea to change it as soon as possible. If you are purchasing a new home you want it to look and feel perfect.

If the colors are not to your liking it isn’t too expensive to have it repainted and made exactly as you want it. Like we already said it’s much better to do it earlier on rather than later when all of the furniture is already in and getting in the way.

Change the locks

This one is just a generally good idea for anyone to do when moving houses. You have no clue who has had keys to the house from before and sometimes that just isn’t a risk you want to take. We recommend replacing all of the door locks to the outside of the house before moving in. This way you will have peace of mind and know for a fact that you, your belongings, and your family is safe.

Locate main water shut off valve

In the event of an emergency, every homeowner must know where the main water shut-off valve is located. You never know when something will begin to leak or when a pipe may burst. Shedding as many seconds or minutes off of your reaction time is important. So if you find out where it’s located early on you will save yourself from disaster in the future.

Not only should you locate your main water shut-off valve but we also recommend you inspect the piping in and around the house. Check for any leaks or any areas that may seem problematic in the future. This is also one of those things that is much better to get fixed earlier to avoid costly damage later on.

Make your home safe

By this we mean to ensure that all of your smoke alarms are working properly (all the batteries are new). Make sure that you have all necessary alarms installed in the home (carbon monoxide detector, burglar alarm, etc). If you find that you need them to install security cameras, these can be bought for a pretty low cost either online or at a local store.