I am not a fan of moving. At least not of the moving process. Packing up boxes, transporting them, only to unpack them again isn’t an activity that I consider to be fun. It’s a lot of work and always takes longer than I want it to.
Since the time I moved away from home to go to college I have lived in several apartments and each one has handled the moving process in a different way, though they have had the basics in common-
Handed me a move-in checklist so that I could inspect the unit and let them know of problems with the apartment within the week
Informed me about laundry facilities
None of my moving-in experiences have been bad but none of them have been fabulous either. If I could have someone like Disney’s Snow White and her animal friends help me out with the moving process, that would be my definition of fabulous. If you watch the movie, Snow White and the animals were able to clean up the whole cottage, put everything in its place, do the laundry, add a nice touch with a vase of flowers, and have a hot dinner ready all by the end of the day.
Though this would be the dream for a move-in experience, I’m not about to expect my future landlords or property managers to do this for me, especially since I hate it when other people do my laundry. But here is a list of little things landlords could do to help make the move-in process just a little bit easier for new tenants-
Tell me where to park the moving truck so I'm not in everyone's way (this is a big issue where I live)
Let me know what fees my rent doesn’t cover, like internet or electricity. Not every landlord has let me know these and as a fresh college student I didn’t know to ask.
Be upfront about your rules regarding guests, even if you’re a stickler like Grumpy when he says, ‘Now I’m warnin’ ya, don’t let nobody or nothin’ in the house!’
Tell me about other rules that you notice are commonly broken. I probably didn’t read every detail of the lease to know these for myself.
A welcome gift, which doesn’t have to be anything big or fancy like the one Honey gives in Fresh off the Boat. Simple items like toilet paper, a detergent packet, and a snack or two would be a lifesaver.
I do understand that the move-in process can be stressful for landlords/property managers as well, so I won’t request you to whistle while you work on top of all of this. Happy moving!
