Moving can be a headache, causing you to forget to change or update your information to give important people in your life, or service providers. Use this as a guide once you have moved and settled into your new house.

This is the FIRST place you should notify for a change of address. Any mail sent to your previous address will automatically be forwarded to the new address for 12 months. They make it easy these days so that you can update everything online and set it for a specific start date. Try and set it up at least a week before your scheduled closing.

Everyone dislikes taxes, but it’s a way of life. Next on the list is to notify the IRS by simply filling out a form notifying them of the address change.

If you receive any social security benefits, you will need to let them know you are moving as well. You can fill out the change of address checklist application online rather than going in person.

Unless you want to risk not having electricity or gas at the new house and still paying for services on the old house, get this taken care of ASAP. Here in Houston, the last thing you want is to move in to your new house in the summer, only to find out that you have no electricity or AC. Call your service provider ahead of time and schedule the transfer for the day of closing to ensure there aren’t any delays.

Just like gas and electricity, you can’t go without internet these days, especially if you are working from home. Make sure you notify your provider to schedule a transfer for services the day of closing. And if you need a technician to come out and install services, this needs to be scheduled far in advance prior to the day of closing.

You will also need to let other utility companies know about your move. Sewage, trash, water, etc.. let them know to transfer these out of your name and set up new services at the new address. Keep in mind, you may not have the same providers, so check with your agent or the city the house is located in to find out who to call to set up new services.

If you are using a different insurance agency for homeowners insurance, you need to let your old carrier know that you are cancelling the policy. If it’s the same carrier, then your file should automatically be updated, but give them a call nonetheless to make sure the old one is cancelled and you are refunded any unused portion of your policy that was pre-paid.

In addition to homeowners insurance, if you have a different carrier for auto insurance, life insurance, flood insurance, or windstorm insurance, be sure to notify them as well.

Another important one is your health insurance. Also, if you have dental or vision insurance, those are important to update as well.

And for those of you who have insurance for your pets, don’t forget about your furry friends insurance as well.

Don’t be like us and forget to erase your old address from your Amazon account. My wife bought several items for the new house and accidently shipped it to the buyers at our previous house. 7 boxes showed up at their door! Luckily they were good sports about it, and plus we gave them a heads up that we made a mistake. So, learn from our experience and just delete the old address.

Even if you have direct deposit set up with your employer, make sure you notify them that you are making a move to make sure that they send pay stubs, tax forms, etc. to the right address.

Give your bank a call and let them know that you need to update your address. You may also be able to update your profile online. If they need to send you important or sensitive information, you want to make sure it gets sent to the right place.

Also, make sure that once you update your address with your bank, you are using the updated address/zip code when you are plugging in your card information for any purchases.

Golf clubs, yacht clubs, and any other organizations you are a part of need to know your change of address as well so that they can reach you with mailers and membership information.

This goes without saying, but notify your family and friends of your new address. That way you won’t miss out on everyone’s family holiday photos when the holiday’s roll around. Though, if you are hosting a nice little house warming party, they will find out eventually. And if you are more private and want to stay off the grid so that no one knows where you live, then keep it quiet.

Again, it’s important that sensitive information is sent to the correct address. So notify your family doctors of the move to avoid information getting sent to the wrong place. This includes all of your family members doctors (mom, dad and the kids) and your pet’s veterinarian, if you have any.

For obvious reasons, you need to update your drivers license to reflect your new and current address. If you get pulled over, you could receive a ticket if it’s incorrect. Plus, you will need the correct address on your drivers license to do important things, like financing something. The easiest way to do this is online. No one has the time to wait hours to do this.

Changing your address and updating your contact information does take time, but it is far better to take care of this now before any problems can arise from missing out on mail. So be proactive and get it done!

We tried to cover all of the most important things to update here, but I’m sure we missed some. Every person is different and in today’s world, our information is EVERYWHERE. And everyone always asks for it. So you may come across a few stragglers of things that you missed, but just update those as you come across them and at least you will have the majority of all important information already updated.

If you are ready to make a move, give our team a call or schedule an appointment and we would be glad to meet with you!