5 Often Overlooked Apartment Moving Tips

Oct 2, 2017

Searching for a New York City luxury apartment, packing and moving are all very stressful. While exploring your new city your new city can be fun, the rest of the process can tax even the most organized person – there is A LOT to remember to do. From inspecting delivered furniture to knowing which boxes to unpack first, take advantage of our 5 tips that are often overlooked during the moving process.

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What to Ask During an Apartment Tour

Are you checking out luxury apartments in New York City? Keep this list handy as you schedule those tours!

Make a To Do List

A full moving to-do list can be quite extensive. In some cases, we’ve seen detailed lists longer than this blog post! Here are some points that are often overlooked:

• Inspect your furniture (and boxes!) before the movers leave, if possible
• Unpack your essentials first
• Childproof your apartment
• Complete a walk through of your new apartment with the property manager
• If possible, take all important documents (birth certificates, etc.) with you, and don’t give them to the movers
• Activate your renter’s insurance plan  (Ideally before you move, so you don’t have a lapse in coverage)
• Gather important documents, receipts, and lease/building rules from your new landlord and movers
• Update friends and family of your new address (in case they send an apartment warming gift!)
• Make sure your old landlord has your new address so he/she can send you back your security deposit

Inspect Furniture and Boxes Before the Movers Leave

Keeping track of the items you’re relocating is an important step of ensuring nothing is left behind, misplaced, or unaccounted for during a move. In preparation for your move, snap pictures of valuable items that will be transported. Do the same for furniture pieces, to document their condition before you move. Do a box count to help determine if you received everything that went on the moving truck.

A helpful tip is to measure large items and ensure they will fit though your new apartment’s door or entry way (think: large televisions, dining room tables, and bedroom furniture sets). Keep in mind that long items (sofas, TVS, beds, etc.) may be turned on their end to fit around corners, etc. You should ideally have these measurements with you when doing your apartment search. Don’t wait until AFTER you sign the lease!

Also, the movers will have you sign a form stating you’ve received everything in good condition. Make sure you look over all of the furniture, and take a quick look at the boxes to make sure none look damaged in transit. You can always file a claim later for concealed damage, but you should report any obvious problems with the mover while he/she is still there to verify it.

If you’re doing a “local” move to one of Glenwood’s Upper West Side luxury communities, there are a wide variety of West Side moving companies who can help with prepping, wrapping, and transporting all of your possessions from point A to B!

Unpack the Essentials First

Everything has a place in your new apartment, and unpacking the essential items first will create a better sense of organization. Plus you won’t have to be opening tons of boxes to find the toilet paper, or soap! Before tackling the mountain of boxes in your living room, keep your eyes open for labeled containers with items you’ll need right away: cleaning supplies, garbage bags, snacks, bottled water, change of clothes, toiletries, etc.

A creative way to stay organized is to label each box, by room, with a marker or colored stickers as you pack. This way you’ll know exactly where boxes belong in your new apartment. Use a special color or sticker for your essentials.

Hint: mark the top AND all sides of the boxes. That makes it easier to identify when they are stacked on top of each other. If doing a medium or long haul, the movers may have more than one household’s items in a large truck. In those instances, it’s best to put your name and new address on every box as well.

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The Lucerne – Luxury Apartments in the Upper East Side

Offering spacious 3 and 4 bedroom luxury apartments, The Lucerne provides upscale amenities to meet your New York City lifestyle. Take a tour of available units today.  

Childproofing Your Apartment

If your toddler has figured out how to open kitchen cabinets, it’s time to childproof your apartment. While structural modifications to your apartment are limited, there are plenty of quick fixes before baby explores their new stomping ground:

• Ensure all electrical outlets are properly covered
• Secure bookshelves, entertainment centers, and other heavy pieces of furniture from toppling over
• Set up baby gates for areas with stairs
• Adhesive magnets to secure kitchen and bathroom cabinets

For Glenwood residents of The Bamford, The Belmont, Paramount Tower, and The Bristol in Midtown Manhattan, nearby buybuy BABY is stocked with decorative baby gates, bed rails, and video monitors to childproof every room of your home.

Do a Walkthrough with Your New (and Old) Landlord

Even though the following isn’t exactly unknown to many people, it’s surprising how many people don’t follow this advice. Perhaps with all of the stress of moving, and things to do, these get overlooked, or don’t seem important at that moment when you’re about to move. But failure to follow them could cost you big money!

New apartments are exciting, but don’t forget to clean up your previous apartment before handing in the keys. You want to make sure the landlord doesn’t subtract money from your security deposit for cleaning! If you have a roommate in New York City and are tackling chores as a team, equally split up the cleaning list. Each person should maintain their own bedrooms, and communal areas like the bathroom, kitchen, and living room would be shared. If you have the time, clean AFTER you’ve moved everything out – it’s much easier.  

Again – document the condition of the apartment with photos. If possible, do a walkthrough with the old landlord and have them sign a document stating the apartment was left clean and without damages. If they refuse to sign, it’s doubly important that you take pictures.

If you’ve painted your apartment (with permission, of course), most landlords will require you to paint it back to white (or a similar light, neutral color) before your lease is done. Failure to do so will usually cause money to be withheld from your security deposit.

Once you have the keys to your new apartment, do a walkthrough, with the landlord if possible. Some landlords will instead give you a form to fill out on your own and return, noting any damages or issues that you have uncovered—or stating that everything is fine when you moved in. Again—document any problems with pics!, Be sure to check the functionality of appliances, light switches, faucets, and door/window locks, windows and window screens, as well as looking for issues with painting or damages.

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NYC Apartment Moving Checklist

So you decided to move to the Big Apple, eh? Congrats, and welcome to the city! Your first order of business is to find a place to live. Keep our apartment moving checklist close at hand to easy your search!

Have you recently moved to one of Glenwood’s luxury buildings? What often overlooked-moving tips do you have to share with future tenants? Share on Facebook and Twitter!