June’s theme – Moving:
Our guide to securing your property, checking your utilities, and setting yourself up for a stress-free transition.
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Moving day is exhausting, and it is entirely normal to feel a bit overwhelmed when you look at the sheer volume of things to unpack. Instead of trying to organize every room at once, it helps to focus on a few basic tasks that protect your family and your investment. From changing the front door locks and locating your main water shut-off valve to updating your address with the province, this week’s post breaks down exactly what you should prioritize during your first few days in a new house so you can settle in with genuine peace of mind.
10 things to do after you move
The day you finally get the keys to your new house is a huge milestone. You’ve spent months dealing with paperwork, packing up your life, and managing the stress of a real estate closing. When you finally walk through the front door as the official owner, there is a massive sense of relief. But once the initial excitement settles and the moving crew leaves you surrounded by towers of cardboard boxes, a whole new to-do list begins to take shape.
For a lot of families and first-time buyers, the first 48 hours in a new house can feel completely chaotic. It is easy to get distracted by unpacking clothes or figuring out where the couch looks best, causing you to overlook some of the fundamental tasks that keep your home safe and running smoothly.
Instead of treating the move-in process like a frantic race, it is much better to take a breath and approach your first week with a simple, practical game plan. Taking care of a few mechanical, safety, and administrative tasks right out of the gate will save you a massive amount of time and frustration down the road.
Here are our team’s ten most straightforward, real-world steps you should take right after moving into your new house to get organized and make the space truly yours.
1. Change the Locks and Update the Garage Codes
The very first thing you should do when you take possession of a house is change the locks on all the exterior doors. Think about how many people have had a copy of those keys over the last few years: the previous owners, their family members, cleaning staff, contractors, home inspectors, and various real estate agents. To ensure your family is completely safe, you need a clean slate.
You can either hire a local locksmith to rekey the existing deadbolts, or you can head to the local hardware store and buy completely new locksets yourself. If you have been thinking about upgrading to smart electronic locks, this is the perfect time to do it. Smart locks are incredibly convenient for busy professionals and families because you can create temporary codes for dog walkers, service workers, or out-of-town guests, and you never have to worry about losing your keys on a run.
While you are securing the doors, do not forget about the garage. Walk into the garage and look at the main overhead motor unit mounted on the ceiling. There is usually a button that allows you to clear the memory of all previous remote controls. Clear the system and reprogram your specific clickers. If there is a keyless entry pad mounted outside on the garage frame, change that PIN code immediately so no one from the past can stroll right into your home.
2. Find Your Main Water Shut-Off and the Electrical Panel
You do not want to be searching for a utility shut-off valve in the middle of the night while water is actively rushing out of a broken pipe. One of your top priorities on day one should be finding exactly where your utilities enter the house and making sure every adult in the home knows how to turn them off in an emergency.
Start by looking for the main water shut-off valve. In most houses around the Ottawa area, this is located in the basement, usually along the front wall facing the street, near the water meter. It is typically a small wheel valve or a lever. Once you find it, give it a gentle turn to make sure it isn’t rusted solid. Then, wrap a piece of brightly colored tape or hang a tag around it so it stands out immediately in a dark basement.
Next, find your electrical breaker panel. Open the metal door and take a close look at the directory. In a lot of homes, the handwritten labels on the breakers are either completely faded, missing, or inaccurate because a previous owner renovated a room and forgot to update the chart. Spend some time with a family member testing the switches to ensure the labels actually match the rooms and major appliances. Having an accurately labeled panel makes it much safer and easier to handle future electrical work or reset a tripped breaker.
3. Check and Test Every Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm
Personal safety is something you can never take for granted when you move into a your new home.
In Ontario, the law is very specific about fire safety: you are legally required to have a working smoke alarm on every single story of your home, and they must be installed outside all sleeping areas. If your home has a fuel-burning appliance—like a gas furnace, a gas water heater, or a fireplace—or if you have an attached garage, you are also legally required to have working carbon monoxide alarms near all bedrooms.
Do not assume the previous owners left you with functional, up-to-date detectors. Walk through the empty house and physically press the test button on every single alarm to make sure they beep loudly. Take the units off the wall or ceiling brackets and look at the back to check the manufacturing date. Smoke detectors are generally only good for 10 years, and carbon monoxide detectors usually expire after 5 to 7 years.
If the alarms are still within their lifespan, put brand-new batteries in all of them so you know exactly when they were last changed. If any unit looks old, discolored, or fails the test, replace it entirely before you spend your first night sleeping in the house.
4. Double-Check Your Utility Accounts and Take Meter Readings
Your real estate lawyer and your real estate team generally handle the official notifications to switch property tax and utility ownership over to your name, but it is always your responsibility to verify that the accounts are set up correctly. In the Ottawa region, this means ensuring your accounts are active with Hydro Ottawa, Enbridge Gas, and the City of Ottawa for your water and sewer bill.
Log into your online utility portals or give them a quick call to ensure your start dates match your official closing day. On the day you move in, walk around and take clear cell phone photos of your electric meter, gas meter, and water meter. Having a timestamped visual record of the exact numbers on those meters protects you from being mistakenly billed for energy or water consumed by the previous owners before you took possession.
For white-collar professionals who work from home or rely heavily on technology, setting up your internet service should also be a day-one priority. Coordinate with your telecom provider early so that your routers and fiber-optic lines are active before you need to log into a remote work meeting or set up your home office.
5. Give the House a Good Scrub While It’s Completely Empty
Okay, so this one isn’t exactly pre-move. It’s something to do between when you get the keys and when the moving truck arrives.
It is infinitely easier to clean a house when there is absolutely no furniture or clutter in the way. Even if the sellers left the home looking clean and tidy, performing your own thorough deep clean gives you a healthy, fresh start in the space.
Focus your energy on the areas that will soon be blocked by heavy appliances or furniture. Wipe down the inside of all the kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, clean out the tracks of the windows, and sanitize the inside of the refrigerator, oven, and dishwasher.
If your new house has carpeted rooms, consider renting a professional carpet cleaner from a local store, the Ottawa Tool Library or hiring a local service to steam clean the floors before you set up your beds and couches. This is incredibly important if anyone in your family has allergies or if you are moving in with pets, as it strips away the dust, deep-down dirt, and pet dander left behind by the people who lived there before you.
6. Change Your Address with ServiceOntario Within Six Days
When you relocate, you have a massive list of businesses and institutions to notify about your new address, but government identification comes with strict legal timelines. In Ontario, you are required by law to update the address on your driver’s license and your Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) card within six days of moving.
Thankfully, you do not necessarily have to stand in a long line at a physical building to get this done. You can update your address for your license and health card online through the ServiceOntario website in just a few minutes. Keeping these records updated ensures you don’t miss important health communications or vehicle renewal notices.
Once the provincial identification is taken care of, you can systematically work through your other accounts over the next few days:
Banks and Credit Cards: Update your primary billing address to prevent statement delivery issues and ensure your credit card fraud protection matches your new location.
Auto and Home Insurance: Notify your insurance provider right away. A change in postal code can alter your auto insurance premiums, and your home insurance must be active on the new property from closing day onward.
Your Employer: Ensure your workplace has your updated address for tax slips, payroll, and corporate mailings.
Online Shopping and Subscriptions: Update your shipping addresses on sites like Amazon or food delivery apps so your packages do not accidentally end up on the doorstep of your old house.
To make sure nothing slips through the cracks, head to the Canada Post website and purchase a temporary mail forwarding service for 6 or 12 months. This gives you a comfortable safety net while you verify that every single sender has your correct address.
7. Do an Empty Walkthrough to Check the Condition of the House
When you did your final pre-closing viewing of the house, the property was likely still filled with the seller’s furniture, rugs, and wall decorations. Now that the house is completely empty, it is the perfect time to walk through every single room and perform a detailed inspection.
Check the walls, baseboards, and floors for any major scratches or dents that might have occurred while the sellers were moving their heavy furniture out. Make sure all the appliances and fixtures that were explicitly included in your Agreement of Purchase and Sale—like the refrigerator, stove, washer, dryer, and light fixtures—are actually there and working properly.
Run the kitchen and bathroom faucets to check for leaks under the sinks, flush the toilets, and turn on the appliances through a quick cycle. If you find any significant damage or notice that an appliance isn’t working as agreed upon in the contract, take clear photos and contact your real estate agent and lawyer immediately so they can help you resolve the issue with the seller’s legal team.
8. Change Your Furnace Filter and Adjust the Thermostat
Your heating and cooling system is the heart of your home’s daily comfort, and it is also the biggest driver of your monthly utility bills. The physical process of moving—with people walking in and out, doors staying wide open, and boxes shifting around—kicks up an unbelievable amount of airborne dust, dirt, and lint.
Locate your furnace and slide out the air filter. Replace it with a fresh, clean filter immediately. Starting your time in the house with a clean filter improves your indoor air quality, protects the furnace motor from working too hard, and ensures proper airflow through your vents. Get into the habit of checking this filter every one to three months.
If the house has a programmable or smart thermostat, take a few minutes to set up a schedule that aligns with your family’s routine. Programming the temperature to drop a few degrees when you are out at work or asleep is an easy, practical way to reduce your energy use and lower your monthly Enbridge Gas or Hydro Ottawa bills.
9. Set Up a Centralized Home Maintenance Binder
A house comes with a mountain of paperwork, manual booklets, and receipts. Instead of tossing these documents into various random drawers, save yourself a future headache by creating a dedicated home maintenance binder or a secure digital folder during your first week.
Inside this binder, you should keep:
Property Information: Your home insurance policy, land survey, property tax bills, and your original home inspection report.
Appliance Manuals: The user guides and registration paperwork for your fridge, stove, dishwasher, washer, and dryer.
Warranties: Receipts and certificates for things like roof shingles, new windows, foundation waterproofing, or appliance repairs.
Vetted Contractor List: A list of phone numbers for reliable tradespeople you can call when something goes wrong.
Having all of this information organized in one central location means you won’t have to hunt for a manual or a warranty number when an appliance stops working or an emergency pop-up repair occurs.
10. Walk the Neighborhood and Introduce Yourself to the Neighbors
Getting settled into a new home is about more than just organizing the rooms inside your house; it is also about connecting with the community outside your door. Whether you have moved onto a mature street in Alta Vista, a quiet crescent in Orleans, or a central urban pocket, getting to know your surroundings will help you feel at home much faster.
Take a walk or a drive around your immediate neighborhood to locate the essentials. Find the fastest route to the nearest grocery store, a 24-hour pharmacy, local parks, and the closest urgent care clinic or hospital emergency room. If you are a pet owner, locate the nearest veterinary clinic as well.
Make a point to say hello and introduce yourself to your immediate neighbors when you see them outside. Building a friendly, polite relationship with the people living next door is one of the best things you can do for your peace of mind. Great neighbors keep an eye on your property when you are away on vacation, help grab packages from your porch so they don’t get stolen, and can give you honest, local recommendations for the best snow removal companies or reliable tradespeople in the area.
Even after you move, we'll still be there by your side.
Our philosophy as a real estate team has always been rooted in putting people over properties. That means our relationship with you does not end the moment the paperwork is signed and the keys are handed over on closing day. We know that transitioning into a new house can bring up a lot of questions and unexpected situations, and we are here to help you navigate homeownership for the long haul.
If you are unpacking your things and suddenly discover a leaky pipe, need an honest electrician to add an outlet to your home office, or want a reliable carpenter to build a deck for your backyard, you do not have to guess or rely on random internet reviews.
Our team maintains a thoroughly vetted network of local tradespeople and home professionals who share our commitment to honesty and great service. We are always just a quick phone call or text away, ready to connect you with the right people so you can maintain, protect, and enjoy your home with total confidence.
A Quick Cheat-Sheet for Your First Week
To make things easy while you are busy handling moving boxes, here is a quick, bulleted summary of the priorities we just covered:
Lock Security: Change or rekey the exterior deadbolts and reset the garage door opener codes.
Emergency Shut-offs: Locate the main water shut-off valve, tag it clearly, and check your electrical panel labels.
Safety Alarms: Test all smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, replace the batteries, and check the expiration dates.
Utility Setup: Take photos of your meters on day one and verify your accounts with Hydro Ottawa, Enbridge, and the city.
Deep Clean: Wash the inside of empty cabinets and appliances, and clean the carpets before moving furniture in.
Address Updates: Update your driver’s license and health card online within six days, and set up mail forwarding.
Property Audit: Walk the empty house to test included appliances and check for any moving-day damage.
HVAC Filter: Put a brand-new air filter into your furnace and program your thermostat to save on energy.
Home Binder: Gather your appliance manuals, warranties, and home insurance paperwork into one organized folder.
Community: Find your local emergency services, check out the neighborhood amenities, and say hello to your neighbors.
By breaking down your move-in priorities into these simple, manageable tasks, you can eliminate the stress of the unknown. Taking care of these details during your first week protects your home, keeps your family safe, and lets you focus on the best part of moving: settling in and making the space feel like home. Take it one step at a time, and you will set yourself up for years of happy, hassle-free homeownership.
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