6 Tips for Settlement Day

Moving into a new home should be an exciting time for you, so plan ahead so you aren’t leaving it until the last minute and putting yourself under pressure. 

Here are some quick tips for the big day…

1. You will have boxes lying around the house for a while, but this is also a good chance to re-clutter and get rid of some of that stuff that you never actually use anyway.

2. Consider what day you want to settle.  If you settle on a Friday when there may be a chain of settlements happening and there is a problem with one of those settlements, this may mean that you cannot settle on your property therefore making you in default on the property you are buying.

If you settle prior to Friday where the following day is a working day, this allows any issues to be sorted out a lot quicker than having to wait until after the weekend for your lawyer.

2. Settlement can happen at any stage on settlement day up to 4pm.  So if you are booking a furniture truck or hiring a moving company, please be aware that your new home might not be ready to move into until this time (otherwise they could be unpacking the truck on the street!!).

3. Don’t forget to redirect your mail.  We have had  purchasers drop bags of mail off at our office!

4. Arrange your utilities and home service connections prior to settlement day to take the pressure off.

5. Leave a note for the new owners for rubbish day, recycling day, forwarding address etc.  Or alternatively your real estate agent may able to provide you with this.

6. Lastly, remember we have very strict rules as to when we can release the keys.  We can only release the keys once the vendors lawyer has advised us to do so.  Even if the house is vacant prior to you moving into it, we cannot allow you to move anything onto the property prior to settlement taking place without written authority from the vendors solicitor.

Anita Dobson – Harcourts Whangaparaoa