FTB - what do we do next?

paulkaty

Hi
we are currently in process of buying our first house, our solicitor advised us to buy our home insurance to start on friday, which we have now done. So i think we could be fairly close to being able to move in although we havent been given a date yet. What do we do from here? Is their anything you lot can think of to get sorted before we get in ther? we are getting someone to check over the boiler as the house hasnt been lived in for a year. Is ther anything obvious we have forgotten about? how soon before moving in do we need to inform the electric company that we are ther? Sorry for all the questions!! Its all a bit scary to us!

jhe

i would advise finding out who the gas/electric suppliers are. on completion contact them with your metre readings. i photographed the metre and readings just incase there is any future problems. council tax and water authority. phone line supplier. and i would get my post redirected from my previous address[ although reading threads on here thats not always succesful]
when you move you need to notify bank, car insurers,credit card companies of change of address

pie81

Sounds like you are probably going to exchange contracts on Friday then, as exchange is when buyers need to get buildings insurance.

You should agree a completion date (ie move in date) with the sellers before you exchange contracts. Ask your solicitor to put forward some suggested dates for completion to the other side - a few weeks after exchange is normal but it depends on your and their position really.

Other things to get sorted: Do not start ordering anything/committing to any fees etc until you have exchanged and know you are definitely buying the place. Once you have exchanged, some things to think about are:

- giving notice on your current rental (assuming you're renting)
- choosing an internet and phone provider and calling them to organise connection once you've moved in
- same re cable/sky tv if you want it
- Re electric/water/gas, if the place hasn't been lived in for a year then some of these services may have been disconnected. So give them a call and find out what will need doing to reconnect, get them started on that so that you have heat and light when you move in!
- you might want to ask the EA if you can visit again to measure up for curtains, furniture etc.
- if you have lots of stuff to move, start looking into van rental or removals companies.

paulkaty

thanks for that, some useful info!