At Texas Best Home Buyers, we buy homes in any condition and in any situation in Tarrant County Texas. We are not just in the business to buy people’s homes; we want to help people out as much as we can. If we do buy your home, we don’t say goodbye after we close. Most of the time we try and help people find their next house. Once we help someone find their next house, here are some great moving tips. If you or someone you know needs to sell your house fast [market city], check out our homepage here to find out more about us.
If you recently have purchased a house or you are currently under contract on buying a home here are a few tips you might find useful to help the moving process go more smoothly.
Change the Locks!
The first thing all new homeowners should do is change or rekey the locks on your house. The reason you should change your locks is because the previous owners may forget to give you all of the keys to the house. Also, if the previous owners did any remodeling before selling the house to you, there is a chance that they gave a key to the contractors. You honestly do not know who has had access to your house before you moved in. To keep your family safe, it would be wise to make sure that all exterior door locks are changed or rekeyed. You should also reset your garage door openers to a new code to make sure your garage is secure as well. Doing these things will keep your home secure and your family safe.
Turn on All Utilities
At Texas Best Home Buyers, we highly recommend you have your electric, water, and internet/cable turned on before you move into your house. Normally utilities take 24-48 hours to turn on and activate. To keep you and your family happy, you should be proactive in turning these on. It would be terrible, especially in Texas, to have no power for 48 hours in the middle of the summer.
Hire an Exterminator
Even if you have not seen any bugs, preventative extermination treatment before moving all of your stuff into your new house is a smart thing to do. As the temperatures start to rise in Texas bugs start looking for water and your new house can be a great source for this. Also, as temperatures start to fall as we approach the winter, bugs look to come into the house to stay warm. There are tons of great pest control companies in Tarrant County. We recommend Joe Bernal at Latin Pest Control. You can look up his company on Facebook here or call (817) 966-0771. Mention Texas Best Home Buyers to Joe and receive a great discount on your pest control. We personally use him to spray our houses, and we refer everyone we know to use him.
File Change of Address with the US Postal Service
Before moving into your new home, you should make sure that your mail is being forwarded from your previous house to your new house. The post office makes this very simple to do. All you will need to do is go to https://moversguide.usps.com/. After completing the 5 easy steps, your mail will now be sent to your new house and not get lost. If you prefer you can also go to one of the many USPS stores and ask for a change of address form that you can fill out in person.
File for your Homestead Tax Exemption
If you have just purchased a house, that you will be occupying, you should immediately file your Homestead Exemption. The Homestead Exemption is way to lower your property taxes by filing with the county your intent to occupy the house, as your primary residence. By occupying the property, you automatically qualify for the Homestead Exemption. This can be done by completing the form from here. Once you click this link you will need to scroll down to find additional resources. Click the middle link that says: Form 50-114, Application for Residence Homestead Exemption (PDF). Open this form up and you will need to check some boxes that apply to you. The form that you have to fill out is 2 pages long but it is a quick fill out. The third page of the form is a page of important information. One thing that you need to know is you have to own the property as of January 1st of the year you are filing and you must file by April 30th. Also, you will need a copy of your driver’s license before you can send this form. The address on your driver’s license must match the address you are applying for your Homestead Exemption. Once you have completed the Homestead Exemption form you can either mail the form to your local appraisal district office or you can take it to their office personally. On the third page you will also see a place that has the address that you can drop off the Homestead Application form to. Once the exemption is filed, you could save up to 20 percent of the total value of your property, on your property taxes. Also once you have filed your Homestead Application you will never have to file it again for the property you filled it out for.