June 27, 2024 • 24 mins
It’s normal for your new space to take a while to really become home. To assist in this transition, we are sharing the top recommendations on essential items for new homeowners. From practical things like tools and a first aid kit to more personal touches like comfy decor and houseplant we share must-haves buyers consider a priority when moving into a new home.
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You are listening to the Remax realEstate Insights Show, where you get real
talk by real agents brok to youby Remacs of Southeastern Michigan. Hello and
welcome to the Remax real Estate InsightsPodcast. So you've just bought a new
home. Congratulations. Now comes thefun part making it your own and ensuring
it's equipped with everything you need.In today's episode, we're diving into the
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top ten essential items for your newhome, from must have tools and smart
gadgets to everything in between. We'recovering it all. So maybe reb a
pendant paper or open up the notesapp, whichever you prefer, because you're
not going to want to miss thislist. I'm your host, Janet Schneider.
I am the president of Remas ofSoutheastern Michigan, and it's my pleasure
to share housing tips and trends withyou. Normally I have a guest in
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the studio had a little bit ofa scheduling issue, so you have just
me today and we're going to gothrough this list, probably relatively quickly.
So whether you're moving into your firsthome, maybe you're upgrading a bigger space,
there are certain essentials that you alwayswant to have on hand to make
that transition into your new home assmooth as possible. And we're going to
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kick off the list with maybe somethingthat doesn't necessarily come top of mind,
but it's a quality tool set.A comprehensive tool set is a definite must
when you're tackling handling any minor repairs, any do it yourself projects around the
new house, or perhaps you needto assemble some furniture. Maybe you're you
know, kind of tweaking a leasey, leaky faucet, whatever it is,
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you're going to want to have thosetools right at your fingertips because it's going
to save you time and money.If you don't have it, you're going
to end up running out to thestore to buy something that you probably really
don't need. You just don't knowwhere it went to. So think of
this as your first line of defense, you know, against household mishaps and
against spending money you don't need.So if you're a first time buyer,
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you know, get a kind ofa basic tool kit. Put together hammer,
you know, uh, screwdrivers,you know, things of that nature
or that you're going to need,maybe a level if you're going to be
hanging some pictures, you know,anchors things of that thing and get a
toolkit put together, because I guaranteeyou you're going to need one relatively quickly
upon moving in. If you currentlyown a home and you're upsizing or you're
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downsizing, the thing that you're goingto want to do is make sure you
know where that toolkit is. Ifyou've got the toolbox or if you have
it, you know, if you'restore it in some other way, just
make sure it's labeled and make sureyou know where that lands at the new
house, because the last thing youwant to do when you're looking for something
is you know, kind of meanderthrough the house. Where did that box
go? Is it in the gruage, is it in the basement? Uh,
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You're not quite sure where it is. So that would be something to
label and have handy and have readyto go right from the start. Okay,
So that's the first thing. Thesecond thing on our essentials list,
and again this may not be whatyou think of when you're moving into a
new home. It's a first aidkit. You know, we always want
safety to be a priority, anda fully stocked first aid kit is going
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to be essential for any home.Ensuring that you're prepared for you know,
those minor injuries, those maybe littlethe hammer missed the nail and nailed your
thumb instead and you kind of cutit open, or you have some other
type of an accident. You wantto make sure at a minimum it's going
to include bandages, antiseptic whites,probably tweezers in case you get a splinter,
you know, in their ice pack, some other essentials so that you're
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ready for any situation. Because muchlike the toolkit is for the house,
the safety kit, the first aidkit is for us as humans. Right,
it's natural you're lifting boxes, you'reyou know, maybe you're you know,
putting things together. You've got kidsrunning around in a yard and a
house that's unfamiliar to them. Itall just puts an environment that makes you
know, a little mishap, alittle something more likely to happen than a
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regular day. So having a firstaid kit and again knowing where it is
is going to be incredibly important.It may not be something that you think
is a high priority as priority aslikes say maybe sheets on the bed or
you know, some dishes to eatoff of, but knowing where that first
aid kit is when you get toyour new home and making sure everybody knows
where it's located. Is another essentialas you're moving in, all right,
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so let's go to the next thing. Now, this might be a little
bit more on your list when you'rethinking about moving into home. The third
essential is cleaning supplies. You know, you want your new home to be
clean. You want to keep itclean, so having things like vacuums,
brooms, dust pans, mops,surface cleaners, you know you want all
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of that you know readily available.Now, most purchase agreements are going to
call for a home to be leftbroom swept, which really means the seller
should be leaving this in pretty goodcondition for you. However, one person's
version of clean and broom swept maynot necessarily be your version of clean in
broom swept. So you're going towant to have these supplies handy. Other
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cleaning related items that will certainly becomein hand You're going to be trash rags,
sponges, paper towels, you know, toilet bowl cleaners, a scrubbrush,
rubber gloves, bucket, vinegar,baking soda, any other cleaning supplies
that you might use. But havingall of that handy, so if you're
going to come into a new home, and no matter how clean it is,
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some of us just like to comein and make sure it's you know,
we've cleaned it with our products andwe know that it's clean. So
if you're that type of person,you know, then you're going to want
to have all of those things handy. And you know, I'll admit that's
what we did. I think ifif you've been listening to the show this
year, we moved in February,the home was very clean. It had
been vacant for a while. I'massuming they paid some company to come in
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and you know, certainly paint itand likely clean it before they put it
on the market. But it hadso empty too, you know, so
mopping of the floors and cleaning outof the kitchen cupboards, while there was
no obvious signs of you know,past people living there, I just felt
better knowing that I had cleaned itand before I put my dishes in there,
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before I put my stuff in thelinen closet. And so if you're
like me, having the having thecleaning supplies handy, and it's easy to
kind of pack some of that stufflike in a bucket. So if you
are going to be moving. Ifyour first time buyer and you're buying it,
buy a bucket and then you cankind of put all the other stuff
in there. Well, not avacuum, but you know, all the
smaller stuff in there, the rubbergloves, the scrub brushes, you know,
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paper towels, things of that nature. And then the bucket can really
become kind of the method to getit to the new house. And if
you already have a home, considerpacking that way. You know, pack
the cleaning supplies you know, ina bucket, and that makes it.
That way, everything stays in oneplace. You're not looking for some items
in a box while something else isover here. So again just some thoughts
on that. A tidy living space, of course looks great, it continues
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to it, excuse me, contributesto a healthier home. So you know,
even if you don't love cleaning,I think we all have that sense
of accomplishment when it's done. Thehouse smells fresh and clean. You know
it's fresh and clean. You feelcomfortable, you know, unboxing your belongings
and putting it in there. Sothat's the third thing that we would say
is an essential as you're moving intoa new home. The fourth thing.
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I think we can probably debate ifit's essential or not. But when we
were compiling data from a variety ofdifferent places, clothing hangers and storage bind
you know, ranked relatively high becauseit's easier to stay organized if you do
it from the get go. Andso you want to stock up if you
need hangers, you know, goahead and get some. I know some
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people are very particular. They wantto have all their hangers be the same
style, you know, things ofthat nature. If that's you, you
can stock up on what you need. Perhaps what you need is some storage
bins. Depending if you're downsizing,maybe you're going to you know, a
home that has fewer closets or maybesmaller space. You might need some storage
bins where you can store the outof season clothes in bins under the bed
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or in a different closet, orin a basement or something like that.
So you want to make sure thatyou've got the supplies that you're going to
need. And I just had alaugh when I saw those clothing hangers,
because when we were moving earlier thisyear, that was the one thing I
didn't need to get. It seemslike somehow the hangers had got together in
the closets and multiplied. I actually, you know, got rid of a
bunch of hangers. But you know, depending on who you are and if
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you're you know, where you're movingto and from, maybe you've had a
lot of clothes in dresser drawers andnow you're going to have a larger closet
and you have you know, youhave the ability to hang things that you
didn't before. This might be atip that comes in handy for you.
Okay. The fifth thing on ouressentials list when you're moving into a new
home is window treatments. You know, installing window treatments, you know,
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whether it's curtain or blinds. Youcan do it for privacy, you know,
and or light control, especially ifyou're in more of a let's say,
a subdivision or a closer knit neighborhoodwhere you do have neighbors you know,
to the sides, the back,the front of you. Having drapes
or blinds can certainly make your newhome not just more comfortable and you know,
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look more homey from the inside.It can help you a lot with
privacy. It can also help yoube you know, more secure. So
you want to consider, you know, the orientation of your windows and kind
of where the light do you facenorth or southeast or west? What type
of light are you going to get? Is it going to be more important
in the bedrooms to get those kindof light blocking if you face you know,
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if you face to a side,you know where you're going to get
a lot of early morning light.You know, different factors to consider.
If the house doesn't come with windowtreatments, you know already there. It
is common if there are window treatmentson a house, you know, for
them to be left to a largedegree, unless maybe they paid for some
custom drapery you know that they're goingto say is going to come with them.
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You know that should be articulated ina purchase agreement optimally, but it
is something to consider. And againjust pulling from personal experience here recently we
a lot of the blinds and mostof the windows were left, but there
was a big sliding door on themaster bedroom or the primary bedroom that didn't
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have anything left. And when wemoved in in winter, it wasn't a
huge deal because it's dark out atfour o'clock, so you have not a
big big deal. But it wasthe first thing that we bought as far
as window treatments, to make surewe could get something up on that window
so that we did have privacy,you know, so that we you didn't
have to worry about things. Sothat was number five on the list of
essentials as you're moving in, isto consider what you might need for window
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treatments. He going on to numbersix and we're going to kind of get
into the more practical things again.So the list kind of ebbs and flows,
I think between practical things and maybethe things that you'd like to have.
This is more practical, but flashlightand batteries. You know, you
want to make sure that you don'tget caught in the dark should there be
a power outage, you know,whether that's just you know, navigating your
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house as a whole. Maybe you'retrying to get down to a dimly lit
basement if there's you know, nopower, you don't want to be doing
that, especially in a home thatyou're not overly familiar with yet in the
dark. So you want to makesure you have a reliable flashlight and if
that flashlight comes, you know,with batteries, make sure you know that
you've got some spare batteries as well, so that you know, you might
need to change them out, youknow, things of that nature. And
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in the case of a potentially prolongedpower outage, as they do sometimes happen
this time of the year, maybeyou have some other backup options for lighting
as well that could involve some candles, you know, things of that nature.
It's just we're kind of speaking aboutlighting. Another thing to consider is
having some light bulbs handy when you'removing in. You don't know how long
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the bulbs in the house that you'removing into have been there. You don't
know when they're going to potentially,you know, meet the end of their
livelihood or their their lifespan. Sohaving a good you know, some you
know, general sixty watt bulbs orforty WAP bulbs you know, kind of
available to use if you need themis never a bad idea. Now,
this doesn't happen often, but itcan and it has happened where a seller
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has taken light bulbs out of thehome and they've left. Again, this
would not be normal. I don'tthink most people do it, but has
it happened. It has, soagain, something else just to consider is
making sure you're bringing a few lifebulbs with you into the into the new
home, so that in the caseof oh, you know, oh no,
a light, you know blue,you have that ready to go as
well. So that was number six. Flashlight and batteries. The other thing
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to consider on this one, andthis again I'm going to just share from
personal experience, was that last winor not, not just like six months
ago, but the winner before whenwe had a couple of the ice storms
that took a lot of power outand we happened to be where we lost
power, you know, twice inrelatively close proximity, and had gone to
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the store got a flashlight. Ididn't think and I will say this was
me, you know, kind ofyou know, pulling a blonde if you
will. I didn't realize when Ibought the flashlight that it wasn't battery operated.
It was going to be you youknow, you plug it into a
UBC outlet and it was going tocharge that way. That works great if
you have power, not so greatif you don't have power. So when
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you're taking a look at the flashlights, you want to make sure that you're
getting something that you can you mustsay, charge, but that the flashlights
that you can work through excuse meto use the batteries that you can work
through should you need to in theevent of a storm. All right.
Item number seven is fire safety gear. Again, probably not the most exciting
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thing to talk about when you're talkingabout moving into a new house. So
this is practical. This isn't goingto be necessarily the thing you go running
to the store to want to do. But the first step to protect yourself
and your home is by having thenecessary smoke detectors for your space. Now,
according to experts, at a minimum, you want to have one smoke
detector on every floor, in onein every bedroom. Next is they had
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the appropriate number of carbon monoxide alarms. Like smoke detectors, you want one
of those on every floor as well. Also near or over any attached garage,
and within ten feet of any bedroomdoor. So those are kind of
what the experts are are recommending.The home you're moving into may already have
all of this in place. Hopefullyit does. If it doesn't, it's
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likely the home inspector may point thatout to you, but it's something that
you can go through and kind oflook, you know, on your own.
If the home has more than onefloor, is there is there a
smoke detector on, you know whatever. However many floors that you need them
on is there one in a bedroom? And same with the carbon monoxide detectors.
In the last year, I've knowntwo different families that have had carbon
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monoxide issues. In both cases somebodywas sent to the hospital. In one
case, the person was fine,just needed a little oxygen and you know,
was back at it. In theother it had some lasting ramifications,
you know, from being exposed tothat. So this is something that you
definitely want to take seriously. Soonce we get past the alarms, whether
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we're talking smoke detectors and carbon monoxidedetectors, the next thing you want to
make sure you have in your homeis a fire extinguisher. Fires start in
the kitchen, so having a fireextinguisher near that room or in that room
is going to be ideal. Othercritical spots to consider having an extinguisher handy
is going to be, you know, near laundry rooms, fireplaces, the
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garage. You know, experts suggestagain you know this is going to come
from the fire professionals, that havingan extinguisher on every level of the home
would be ideal. You never knowwhere a fire is going to break out.
If you're on the let's say upperfloor in the bedrooms and for some
reason the stairs are blocked, itdoesn't do you a whole lot of good.
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If the fire extinguisher is in thekitchen at that point, you're not
probably going to be able to getto it. So just some things to
consider, especially for your first timebuyer. You know you probably don't have
a fire extinguisher, that would besomething you want to go get. And
then you want to walk through andkind of take a look at the positioning
of the smoke detectors and carbon monoxidedetectors. And then the next thing you
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want to make sure that you dois if they are powered by batteries,
whether only by batteries or battery backup, you know, type of a system,
change the batteries. You have noidea how long those batteries have been
in there, You have no idea, you know how you know faithful the
previous sellers were to changing those outevery year, so you want to make
sure you're taking control of that.And you know, similar if you're coming
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from a previous home, bring thefire extinguisher with you and again do the
checking for the smoke detectors and changethose batteries. All right, So item
number eight on the list of essentialsfor when you're moving into a new home
is going to be kitchen staples.Now as fun and convenient as eating out
or takeout can be, you getto the point where you're done with that,
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and if you've been moving, you'veprobably doing a fair amount of maybe
eating out or takeout just because it'seasier to do it when you're starting to
pack up the kitchen. But havingthe new kitchen stocked so that you can
prepare some of your favorite home cookedmeals or treats is going to be helpful.
If you already have a home thatyou're moving from, you want to
pack and label. You'll the cookwhere you tend to use more often.
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We all have things that are kindof our go to things that we need,
stuff that we maybe use more onoccasion. The stuff that you use
on occasion can be you know,kind of packed, labeled, and dealt
with when you're ready to But thingslike pots, pans, you know,
your cutlery, things like that,you want to label and put those in
a box where they're going to beopened. You know, on the front
end of things and pack those firstso you have access to them. If
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you're a first time buyer who maybeyou don't have all of these items,
purchasing just a few of these basicsto get you started is recommended. You
know, maybe you have a familymember or an older sibling you know that
that's looking to upgrade some stuff andthey can kind of, you know,
pass some things down to you.If that's not the case and maybe money
is an issue, you don't needto buy a full set of pots and
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pans to get started, just acouple of things to get you know,
to get you through, to makewhat you need to make is good enough
to get you to get you going. It's also helpful to stock up on
basics like you know, spices,baking supplies, condiments, you know,
some of the more standard dry goodsand you know, or if you're moving
them from your house again put thosein a box that's labeled, you know,
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kind of open on the front endof the move, so all of
that stuff can get out and youknow where it is. I know,
again speaking from experience, I makea homemade granola that I really like.
It's part of my breakfast daily andit was the first thing that I made
in the new house. It wasrelatively easy to make. It got me
to be able to test out thenew oven. And it only took a
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few ingredients, you know, likefrom for mine as you know, oats,
syrup, cinnamon, coconut, almondsand dried fruit. Doesn't really take
a whole lot. But I wasable to make something, you know,
that I wanted. And the upsideis it made the new house smell you
know, nice and homie. Soagain, kitchen Staples was number eight,
number nine, and you again kindof doing you know, just kind of
going to a variety of different sourcesto kind of say, okay, you
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know, what are some of thethings that people consider essentials. And I'll
admit this one would not necessarily havebeen on my top ten list. However,
it was on a lot of people'sand that was to have house plants.
It brings a touch of nature indoors. It can help purify the air.
It certainly adds, you know,some beauty to the home. Now,
maybe you're lucky and you get afew housewarming or maybe you might get
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a few plants as a housewarming gift. That can be great as well.
Gives a little greenery gives a littlepop of color in some of the rooms.
If you're choosing plants for yourself,you want to choose plants that suit
your lifestyle, that suit your lightingconditions, you know, to kind of
enhance your living space. And youknow, if this time of the year,
because we're recording this in the summertime, if you already don't have flowers
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blooming in your yard, you cancertainly buy a porch pot. It's not
going to be inside the house,but you can certainly buy porch pots and
things of that to put on adeck, to the front porch, things
of that nature, to quickly andeasily add some color to the exterior of
your home that doesn't need a wholelot of upkeep. So those are some
thoughts. As far as item numbernine, Item number ten is going to
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be considered home comfort and decor.So you know, up until now we've
done a combination and of talking likesafety tips, like with fire extinguishers and
smoke detectors. We've talked about havingtools and first aid kits handy. Those
are more practical things. Home comfortinto cour is certainly more of a desire,
a want thing. You want tocreate a cozy home, something that
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reflects your style that's essential to yournew place feeling like yours. There's a
variety of ways you can go aboutdoing that. Some of it's going to
be maybe, you know, comfortablefurniture, whether that's a sofa or a
chair, or it's new bedding.But then there's also personal touches, like
you know, photographs, artwork,things of that nature can relatively quickly transform
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you know, the beer bones housethat you bought into what's truly your home
now. Most of us can't necessarilyrun out and buy all new furniture or
all new furnishings right away. We'veall been saving money to buy the house,
so that may not be in yourbudget right away. But if you
wanted to just do a couple oftouches, focus on the rooms that you
use most first. Typically for manypeople, this is going to be the
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living room and the bedroom, andyou can start with a couple of smaller
items. If you're bringing the furnitureyou've had for a number of years with
you, that's great. You canadd something small like a throw blanket,
maybe some new throw pillows, rugcandles, just little things like that that
maybe it's a new color scheme you'regoing to have in your new home.
You maybe you just you get someseasonal you know, colors in there for
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the time of the year that you'vemoved in, just to freshen things up
a little bit. You can dolittle things like that that will start making
it feel like your home relatively quickly. So those are the top ten things
that are you know, kind ofessentials when people look at moving into the
new home. I do have abonus tip, So I'm going to give
you a bonus tip, and thatis to get an extra spear key made
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and hide it somewhere that you canaccess it should you need to. When
you're moving, there's typically a varietyof people coming and going from your house,
especially like you know on or aroundmoving day, you're going to maybe
have family, friends, professional movers. There's going to be a lot of
coming and going. On top ofthat, you may have some you know,
service professionals, whether it's painters oran electrician or a plumber you know,
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coming out to do some work aswell. There's going to be more
than normal activity going on at yourhouse, and likely your routine is a
little unusual. And if you addto the fact if you've got, you
know, kids and other family members. Maybe the pattern at the old house
was to you know, lock thedoor on your way out. Well,
with a new house and people comingand going, maybe that was done a
little prematurely and your keys are stillinside. To avoid being locked out of
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a new house, get a sparekey, you know, find a good
place to kind of hide it,be that in a garage or wherever it
might be for you, and youknow that way, you've got it should
you need it, because the lastthing you want to do is have to
call a locksmith out to, youknow, to help you out when you're
moving in the process of moving.So that's it. Those were the ten
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essentials for when you're moving into anew home, with the one bonus tip
of getting a spare key. Weknow, we certainly know here at Remax
that buying a new home it's anexciting chapter in your life, you know.
And it doesn't matter whether it's yourfirst home, your forever home,
a move up home, a downsizinghome. It makes no difference. When
you're moving and you're moving into anew place, it's exciting. It's a
new chapter in your life. Wejust wanted to keep in mind these essentials
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you know that can help you,you know, safely and efficiently you'll get
into your new home, equip yourspace, you know, so that it
becomes all yours as quickly as possible. Well, thanks for listening today.
We certainly appreciate having you with us, and we are going to be just
to tease kind of what's going tobe coming up here in future episodes.
In the month of July, we'relooking at doing a couple of different things.
(23:41):
I'm excited to say that Shannon forMojo in the Morning is scheduled to
be with us in uh I thinka couple of weeks she's going to be
in studio talking about how do youyou know, how do you deal with
when you've got maybe two people cominginto a second marriage, both own homes,
or doesn't have to be a secondmarriage, it could be a marriage
or a partnership, you know,whatever, both parties own a home and
(24:03):
now you're coming together as a familyunit. How do you decide what you're
going to do? Do you bothsell and get a new home? Do
you keep you know, the homethat maybe best suits your needs out of
the current ones that you own?How do you navigate all this, and
then you can add on top ofthat. If they're in different cities and
it involves schools, and it involvesother lifestyle issues, it can really be
something that you have to consider.So that's going to be coming up in
(24:26):
July, as are some moving tips, because we know there's a lot of
people on the move right now,especially if you're with families. You'd like
to get moved during the summer sothat your set when school comes, and
that'll be here before we know it. So we're going to have some moving
tips coming up for you as well. Again, thanks so much for listening.
We look forward to chatting with youagain soon. We hope you enjoy
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today's episode. Don't forget to subscribe, write a review, or rate the
show, as it helps us reachmore people. You can also follow us
on Facebook and Instagram.
You are listening to the Remax realEstate Insights Show, where you get real
talk by real agents brok to youby Remacs of Southeastern Michigan. Hello and
welcome to the Remax real Estate InsightsPodcast. So you've just bought a new
home. Congratulations. Now comes thefun part making it your own and ensuring
it's equipped with everything you need.In today's episode, we're diving into the
(00:24):
top ten essential items for your newhome, from must have tools and smart
gadgets to everything in between. We'recovering it all. So maybe reb a
pendant paper or open up the notesapp, whichever you prefer, because you're
not going to want to miss thislist. I'm your host, Janet Schneider.
I am the president of Remas ofSoutheastern Michigan, and it's my pleasure
to share housing tips and trends withyou. Normally I have a guest in
(00:47):
the studio had a little bit ofa scheduling issue, so you have just
me today and we're going to gothrough this list, probably relatively quickly.
So whether you're moving into your firsthome, maybe you're upgrading a bigger space,
there are certain essentials that you alwayswant to have on hand to make
that transition into your new home assmooth as possible. And we're going to
(01:08):
kick off the list with maybe somethingthat doesn't necessarily come top of mind,
but it's a quality tool set.A comprehensive tool set is a definite must
when you're tackling handling any minor repairs, any do it yourself projects around the
new house, or perhaps you needto assemble some furniture. Maybe you're you
know, kind of tweaking a leasey, leaky faucet, whatever it is,
(01:32):
you're going to want to have thosetools right at your fingertips because it's going
to save you time and money.If you don't have it, you're going
to end up running out to thestore to buy something that you probably really
don't need. You just don't knowwhere it went to. So think of
this as your first line of defense, you know, against household mishaps and
against spending money you don't need.So if you're a first time buyer,
(01:53):
you know, get a kind ofa basic tool kit. Put together hammer,
you know, uh, screwdrivers,you know, things of that nature
or that you're going to need,maybe a level if you're going to be
hanging some pictures, you know,anchors things of that thing and get a
toolkit put together, because I guaranteeyou you're going to need one relatively quickly
upon moving in. If you currentlyown a home and you're upsizing or you're
(02:14):
downsizing, the thing that you're goingto want to do is make sure you
know where that toolkit is. Ifyou've got the toolbox or if you have
it, you know, if you'restore it in some other way, just
make sure it's labeled and make sureyou know where that lands at the new
house, because the last thing youwant to do when you're looking for something
is you know, kind of meanderthrough the house. Where did that box
go? Is it in the gruage, is it in the basement? Uh,
(02:36):
You're not quite sure where it is. So that would be something to
label and have handy and have readyto go right from the start. Okay,
So that's the first thing. Thesecond thing on our essentials list,
and again this may not be whatyou think of when you're moving into a
new home. It's a first aidkit. You know, we always want
safety to be a priority, anda fully stocked first aid kit is going
(02:58):
to be essential for any home.Ensuring that you're prepared for you know,
those minor injuries, those maybe littlethe hammer missed the nail and nailed your
thumb instead and you kind of cutit open, or you have some other
type of an accident. You wantto make sure at a minimum it's going
to include bandages, antiseptic whites,probably tweezers in case you get a splinter,
you know, in their ice pack, some other essentials so that you're
(03:22):
ready for any situation. Because muchlike the toolkit is for the house,
the safety kit, the first aidkit is for us as humans. Right,
it's natural you're lifting boxes, you'reyou know, maybe you're you know,
putting things together. You've got kidsrunning around in a yard and a
house that's unfamiliar to them. Itall just puts an environment that makes you
know, a little mishap, alittle something more likely to happen than a
(03:46):
regular day. So having a firstaid kit and again knowing where it is
is going to be incredibly important.It may not be something that you think
is a high priority as priority aslikes say maybe sheets on the bed or
you know, some dishes to eatoff of, but knowing where that first
aid kit is when you get toyour new home and making sure everybody knows
where it's located. Is another essentialas you're moving in, all right,
(04:10):
so let's go to the next thing. Now, this might be a little
bit more on your list when you'rethinking about moving into home. The third
essential is cleaning supplies. You know, you want your new home to be
clean. You want to keep itclean, so having things like vacuums,
brooms, dust pans, mops,surface cleaners, you know you want all
(04:30):
of that you know readily available.Now, most purchase agreements are going to
call for a home to be leftbroom swept, which really means the seller
should be leaving this in pretty goodcondition for you. However, one person's
version of clean and broom swept maynot necessarily be your version of clean in
broom swept. So you're going towant to have these supplies handy. Other
(04:51):
cleaning related items that will certainly becomein hand You're going to be trash rags,
sponges, paper towels, you know, toilet bowl cleaners, a scrubbrush,
rubber gloves, bucket, vinegar,baking soda, any other cleaning supplies
that you might use. But havingall of that handy, so if you're
going to come into a new home, and no matter how clean it is,
(05:12):
some of us just like to comein and make sure it's you know,
we've cleaned it with our products andwe know that it's clean. So
if you're that type of person,you know, then you're going to want
to have all of those things handy. And you know, I'll admit that's
what we did. I think ifif you've been listening to the show this
year, we moved in February,the home was very clean. It had
been vacant for a while. I'massuming they paid some company to come in
(05:33):
and you know, certainly paint itand likely clean it before they put it
on the market. But it hadso empty too, you know, so
mopping of the floors and cleaning outof the kitchen cupboards, while there was
no obvious signs of you know,past people living there, I just felt
better knowing that I had cleaned itand before I put my dishes in there,
(05:53):
before I put my stuff in thelinen closet. And so if you're
like me, having the having thecleaning supplies handy, and it's easy to
kind of pack some of that stufflike in a bucket. So if you
are going to be moving. Ifyour first time buyer and you're buying it,
buy a bucket and then you cankind of put all the other stuff
in there. Well, not avacuum, but you know, all the
smaller stuff in there, the rubbergloves, the scrub brushes, you know,
(06:14):
paper towels, things of that nature. And then the bucket can really
become kind of the method to getit to the new house. And if
you already have a home, considerpacking that way. You know, pack
the cleaning supplies you know, ina bucket, and that makes it.
That way, everything stays in oneplace. You're not looking for some items
in a box while something else isover here. So again just some thoughts
on that. A tidy living space, of course looks great, it continues
(06:36):
to it, excuse me, contributesto a healthier home. So you know,
even if you don't love cleaning,I think we all have that sense
of accomplishment when it's done. Thehouse smells fresh and clean. You know
it's fresh and clean. You feelcomfortable, you know, unboxing your belongings
and putting it in there. Sothat's the third thing that we would say
is an essential as you're moving intoa new home. The fourth thing.
(07:00):
I think we can probably debate ifit's essential or not. But when we
were compiling data from a variety ofdifferent places, clothing hangers and storage bind
you know, ranked relatively high becauseit's easier to stay organized if you do
it from the get go. Andso you want to stock up if you
need hangers, you know, goahead and get some. I know some
(07:21):
people are very particular. They wantto have all their hangers be the same
style, you know, things ofthat nature. If that's you, you
can stock up on what you need. Perhaps what you need is some storage
bins. Depending if you're downsizing,maybe you're going to you know, a
home that has fewer closets or maybesmaller space. You might need some storage
bins where you can store the outof season clothes in bins under the bed
(07:45):
or in a different closet, orin a basement or something like that.
So you want to make sure thatyou've got the supplies that you're going to
need. And I just had alaugh when I saw those clothing hangers,
because when we were moving earlier thisyear, that was the one thing I
didn't need to get. It seemslike somehow the hangers had got together in
the closets and multiplied. I actually, you know, got rid of a
bunch of hangers. But you know, depending on who you are and if
(08:09):
you're you know, where you're movingto and from, maybe you've had a
lot of clothes in dresser drawers andnow you're going to have a larger closet
and you have you know, youhave the ability to hang things that you
didn't before. This might be atip that comes in handy for you.
Okay. The fifth thing on ouressentials list when you're moving into a new
home is window treatments. You know, installing window treatments, you know,
(08:31):
whether it's curtain or blinds. Youcan do it for privacy, you know,
and or light control, especially ifyou're in more of a let's say,
a subdivision or a closer knit neighborhoodwhere you do have neighbors you know,
to the sides, the back,the front of you. Having drapes
or blinds can certainly make your newhome not just more comfortable and you know,
(08:52):
look more homey from the inside.It can help you a lot with
privacy. It can also help yoube you know, more secure. So
you want to consider, you know, the orientation of your windows and kind
of where the light do you facenorth or southeast or west? What type
of light are you going to get? Is it going to be more important
in the bedrooms to get those kindof light blocking if you face you know,
(09:13):
if you face to a side,you know where you're going to get
a lot of early morning light.You know, different factors to consider.
If the house doesn't come with windowtreatments, you know already there. It
is common if there are window treatmentson a house, you know, for
them to be left to a largedegree, unless maybe they paid for some
custom drapery you know that they're goingto say is going to come with them.
(09:35):
You know that should be articulated ina purchase agreement optimally, but it
is something to consider. And againjust pulling from personal experience here recently we
a lot of the blinds and mostof the windows were left, but there
was a big sliding door on themaster bedroom or the primary bedroom that didn't
(09:56):
have anything left. And when wemoved in in winter, it wasn't a
huge deal because it's dark out atfour o'clock, so you have not a
big big deal. But it wasthe first thing that we bought as far
as window treatments, to make surewe could get something up on that window
so that we did have privacy,you know, so that we you didn't
have to worry about things. Sothat was number five on the list of
essentials as you're moving in, isto consider what you might need for window
(10:20):
treatments. He going on to numbersix and we're going to kind of get
into the more practical things again.So the list kind of ebbs and flows,
I think between practical things and maybethe things that you'd like to have.
This is more practical, but flashlightand batteries. You know, you
want to make sure that you don'tget caught in the dark should there be
a power outage, you know,whether that's just you know, navigating your
(10:41):
house as a whole. Maybe you'retrying to get down to a dimly lit
basement if there's you know, nopower, you don't want to be doing
that, especially in a home thatyou're not overly familiar with yet in the
dark. So you want to makesure you have a reliable flashlight and if
that flashlight comes, you know,with batteries, make sure you know that
you've got some spare batteries as well, so that you know, you might
need to change them out, youknow, things of that nature. And
(11:03):
in the case of a potentially prolongedpower outage, as they do sometimes happen
this time of the year, maybeyou have some other backup options for lighting
as well that could involve some candles, you know, things of that nature.
It's just we're kind of speaking aboutlighting. Another thing to consider is
having some light bulbs handy when you'removing in. You don't know how long
(11:26):
the bulbs in the house that you'removing into have been there. You don't
know when they're going to potentially,you know, meet the end of their
livelihood or their their lifespan. Sohaving a good you know, some you
know, general sixty watt bulbs orforty WAP bulbs you know, kind of
available to use if you need themis never a bad idea. Now,
this doesn't happen often, but itcan and it has happened where a seller
(11:48):
has taken light bulbs out of thehome and they've left. Again, this
would not be normal. I don'tthink most people do it, but has
it happened. It has, soagain, something else just to consider is
making sure you're bringing a few lifebulbs with you into the into the new
home, so that in the caseof oh, you know, oh no,
a light, you know blue,you have that ready to go as
well. So that was number six. Flashlight and batteries. The other thing
(12:11):
to consider on this one, andthis again I'm going to just share from
personal experience, was that last winor not, not just like six months
ago, but the winner before whenwe had a couple of the ice storms
that took a lot of power outand we happened to be where we lost
power, you know, twice inrelatively close proximity, and had gone to
(12:31):
the store got a flashlight. Ididn't think and I will say this was
me, you know, kind ofyou know, pulling a blonde if you
will. I didn't realize when Ibought the flashlight that it wasn't battery operated.
It was going to be you youknow, you plug it into a
UBC outlet and it was going tocharge that way. That works great if
you have power, not so greatif you don't have power. So when
(12:54):
you're taking a look at the flashlights, you want to make sure that you're
getting something that you can you mustsay, charge, but that the flashlights
that you can work through excuse meto use the batteries that you can work
through should you need to in theevent of a storm. All right.
Item number seven is fire safety gear. Again, probably not the most exciting
(13:16):
thing to talk about when you're talkingabout moving into a new house. So
this is practical. This isn't goingto be necessarily the thing you go running
to the store to want to do. But the first step to protect yourself
and your home is by having thenecessary smoke detectors for your space. Now,
according to experts, at a minimum, you want to have one smoke
detector on every floor, in onein every bedroom. Next is they had
(13:41):
the appropriate number of carbon monoxide alarms. Like smoke detectors, you want one
of those on every floor as well. Also near or over any attached garage,
and within ten feet of any bedroomdoor. So those are kind of
what the experts are are recommending.The home you're moving into may already have
all of this in place. Hopefullyit does. If it doesn't, it's
(14:05):
likely the home inspector may point thatout to you, but it's something that
you can go through and kind oflook, you know, on your own.
If the home has more than onefloor, is there is there a
smoke detector on, you know whatever. However many floors that you need them
on is there one in a bedroom? And same with the carbon monoxide detectors.
In the last year, I've knowntwo different families that have had carbon
(14:28):
monoxide issues. In both cases somebodywas sent to the hospital. In one
case, the person was fine,just needed a little oxygen and you know,
was back at it. In theother it had some lasting ramifications,
you know, from being exposed tothat. So this is something that you
definitely want to take seriously. Soonce we get past the alarms, whether
(14:52):
we're talking smoke detectors and carbon monoxidedetectors, the next thing you want to
make sure you have in your homeis a fire extinguisher. Fires start in
the kitchen, so having a fireextinguisher near that room or in that room
is going to be ideal. Othercritical spots to consider having an extinguisher handy
is going to be, you know, near laundry rooms, fireplaces, the
(15:13):
garage. You know, experts suggestagain you know this is going to come
from the fire professionals, that havingan extinguisher on every level of the home
would be ideal. You never knowwhere a fire is going to break out.
If you're on the let's say upperfloor in the bedrooms and for some
reason the stairs are blocked, itdoesn't do you a whole lot of good.
(15:33):
If the fire extinguisher is in thekitchen at that point, you're not
probably going to be able to getto it. So just some things to
consider, especially for your first timebuyer. You know you probably don't have
a fire extinguisher, that would besomething you want to go get. And
then you want to walk through andkind of take a look at the positioning
of the smoke detectors and carbon monoxidedetectors. And then the next thing you
(15:54):
want to make sure that you dois if they are powered by batteries,
whether only by batteries or battery backup, you know, type of a system,
change the batteries. You have noidea how long those batteries have been
in there, You have no idea, you know how you know faithful the
previous sellers were to changing those outevery year, so you want to make
sure you're taking control of that.And you know, similar if you're coming
(16:17):
from a previous home, bring thefire extinguisher with you and again do the
checking for the smoke detectors and changethose batteries. All right, So item
number eight on the list of essentialsfor when you're moving into a new home
is going to be kitchen staples.Now as fun and convenient as eating out
or takeout can be, you getto the point where you're done with that,
(16:40):
and if you've been moving, you'veprobably doing a fair amount of maybe
eating out or takeout just because it'seasier to do it when you're starting to
pack up the kitchen. But havingthe new kitchen stocked so that you can
prepare some of your favorite home cookedmeals or treats is going to be helpful.
If you already have a home thatyou're moving from, you want to
pack and label. You'll the cookwhere you tend to use more often.
(17:00):
We all have things that are kindof our go to things that we need,
stuff that we maybe use more onoccasion. The stuff that you use
on occasion can be you know,kind of packed, labeled, and dealt
with when you're ready to But thingslike pots, pans, you know,
your cutlery, things like that,you want to label and put those in
a box where they're going to beopened. You know, on the front
end of things and pack those firstso you have access to them. If
(17:22):
you're a first time buyer who maybeyou don't have all of these items,
purchasing just a few of these basicsto get you started is recommended. You
know, maybe you have a familymember or an older sibling you know that
that's looking to upgrade some stuff andthey can kind of, you know,
pass some things down to you.If that's not the case and maybe money
is an issue, you don't needto buy a full set of pots and
(17:45):
pans to get started, just acouple of things to get you know,
to get you through, to makewhat you need to make is good enough
to get you to get you going. It's also helpful to stock up on
basics like you know, spices,baking supplies, condiments, you know,
some of the more standard dry goodsand you know, or if you're moving
them from your house again put thosein a box that's labeled, you know,
(18:06):
kind of open on the front endof the move, so all of
that stuff can get out and youknow where it is. I know,
again speaking from experience, I makea homemade granola that I really like.
It's part of my breakfast daily andit was the first thing that I made
in the new house. It wasrelatively easy to make. It got me
to be able to test out thenew oven. And it only took a
(18:26):
few ingredients, you know, likefrom for mine as you know, oats,
syrup, cinnamon, coconut, almondsand dried fruit. Doesn't really take
a whole lot. But I wasable to make something, you know,
that I wanted. And the upsideis it made the new house smell you
know, nice and homie. Soagain, kitchen Staples was number eight,
number nine, and you again kindof doing you know, just kind of
going to a variety of different sourcesto kind of say, okay, you
(18:48):
know, what are some of thethings that people consider essentials. And I'll
admit this one would not necessarily havebeen on my top ten list. However,
it was on a lot of people'sand that was to have house plants.
It brings a touch of nature indoors. It can help purify the air.
It certainly adds, you know,some beauty to the home. Now,
maybe you're lucky and you get afew housewarming or maybe you might get
(19:10):
a few plants as a housewarming gift. That can be great as well.
Gives a little greenery gives a littlepop of color in some of the rooms.
If you're choosing plants for yourself,you want to choose plants that suit
your lifestyle, that suit your lightingconditions, you know, to kind of
enhance your living space. And youknow, if this time of the year,
because we're recording this in the summertime, if you already don't have flowers
(19:32):
blooming in your yard, you cancertainly buy a porch pot. It's not
going to be inside the house,but you can certainly buy porch pots and
things of that to put on adeck, to the front porch, things
of that nature, to quickly andeasily add some color to the exterior of
your home that doesn't need a wholelot of upkeep. So those are some
thoughts. As far as item numbernine, Item number ten is going to
(19:53):
be considered home comfort and decor.So you know, up until now we've
done a combination and of talking likesafety tips, like with fire extinguishers and
smoke detectors. We've talked about havingtools and first aid kits handy. Those
are more practical things. Home comfortinto cour is certainly more of a desire,
a want thing. You want tocreate a cozy home, something that
(20:15):
reflects your style that's essential to yournew place feeling like yours. There's a
variety of ways you can go aboutdoing that. Some of it's going to
be maybe, you know, comfortablefurniture, whether that's a sofa or a
chair, or it's new bedding.But then there's also personal touches, like
you know, photographs, artwork,things of that nature can relatively quickly transform
(20:36):
you know, the beer bones housethat you bought into what's truly your home
now. Most of us can't necessarilyrun out and buy all new furniture or
all new furnishings right away. We'veall been saving money to buy the house,
so that may not be in yourbudget right away. But if you
wanted to just do a couple oftouches, focus on the rooms that you
use most first. Typically for manypeople, this is going to be the
(21:00):
living room and the bedroom, andyou can start with a couple of smaller
items. If you're bringing the furnitureyou've had for a number of years with
you, that's great. You canadd something small like a throw blanket,
maybe some new throw pillows, rugcandles, just little things like that that
maybe it's a new color scheme you'regoing to have in your new home.
You maybe you just you get someseasonal you know, colors in there for
(21:22):
the time of the year that you'vemoved in, just to freshen things up
a little bit. You can dolittle things like that that will start making
it feel like your home relatively quickly. So those are the top ten things
that are you know, kind ofessentials when people look at moving into the
new home. I do have abonus tip, So I'm going to give
you a bonus tip, and thatis to get an extra spear key made
(21:47):
and hide it somewhere that you canaccess it should you need to. When
you're moving, there's typically a varietyof people coming and going from your house,
especially like you know on or aroundmoving day, you're going to maybe
have family, friends, professional movers. There's going to be a lot of
coming and going. On top ofthat, you may have some you know,
service professionals, whether it's painters oran electrician or a plumber you know,
(22:10):
coming out to do some work aswell. There's going to be more
than normal activity going on at yourhouse, and likely your routine is a
little unusual. And if you addto the fact if you've got, you
know, kids and other family members. Maybe the pattern at the old house
was to you know, lock thedoor on your way out. Well,
with a new house and people comingand going, maybe that was done a
little prematurely and your keys are stillinside. To avoid being locked out of
(22:34):
a new house, get a sparekey, you know, find a good
place to kind of hide it,be that in a garage or wherever it
might be for you, and youknow that way, you've got it should
you need it, because the lastthing you want to do is have to
call a locksmith out to, youknow, to help you out when you're
moving in the process of moving.So that's it. Those were the ten
(22:55):
essentials for when you're moving into anew home, with the one bonus tip
of getting a spare key. Weknow, we certainly know here at Remax
that buying a new home it's anexciting chapter in your life, you know.
And it doesn't matter whether it's yourfirst home, your forever home,
a move up home, a downsizinghome. It makes no difference. When
you're moving and you're moving into anew place, it's exciting. It's a
new chapter in your life. Wejust wanted to keep in mind these essentials
(23:18):
you know that can help you,you know, safely and efficiently you'll get
into your new home, equip yourspace, you know, so that it
becomes all yours as quickly as possible. Well, thanks for listening today.
We certainly appreciate having you with us, and we are going to be just
to tease kind of what's going tobe coming up here in future episodes.
In the month of July, we'relooking at doing a couple of different things.
(23:41):
I'm excited to say that Shannon forMojo in the Morning is scheduled to
be with us in uh I thinka couple of weeks she's going to be
in studio talking about how do youyou know, how do you deal with
when you've got maybe two people cominginto a second marriage, both own homes,
or doesn't have to be a secondmarriage, it could be a marriage
or a partnership, you know,whatever, both parties own a home and
(24:03):
now you're coming together as a familyunit. How do you decide what you're
going to do? Do you bothsell and get a new home? Do
you keep you know, the homethat maybe best suits your needs out of
the current ones that you own?How do you navigate all this, and
then you can add on top ofthat. If they're in different cities and
it involves schools, and it involvesother lifestyle issues, it can really be
something that you have to consider.So that's going to be coming up in
(24:26):
July, as are some moving tips, because we know there's a lot of
people on the move right now,especially if you're with families. You'd like
to get moved during the summer sothat your set when school comes, and
that'll be here before we know it. So we're going to have some moving
tips coming up for you as well. Again, thanks so much for listening.
We look forward to chatting with youagain soon. We hope you enjoy
(24:47):
today's episode. Don't forget to subscribe, write a review, or rate the
show, as it helps us reachmore people. You can also follow us
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