Every May, the U-Haul trucks start showing up on our block, double-parked with their hazards on, and someone is always carrying a mattress up a stairwell at an angle that looks physically impossible. I watched it happen across the street last weekend and felt a wave of sympathy, then a second wave of relief that it wasn't us. Our move into this apartment was in October 2023, and I still remember how the first week felt: tired, a little giddy, and constantly realizing I'd forgotten something.
So this is the checklist I made after the fact, the one I'd hand to anyone signing a lease this season. It's in rough order of urgency.
Day one: before you unpack a single box
- Photograph and video everything. Every wall, every corner of the floor, inside the oven, under the sinks, the bathtub caulk, the window screens. Date-stamped. We did this, and I'm convinced it's why we'll get our deposit back eventually. When I moved out of my old studio, I hadn't, and I got $410 of a $500 deposit back, partly over two bent blind slats I'm pretty sure were there before me.
- Fill out the move-in condition form. If your landlord gives you one, be picky. "Small scratch on the bedroom door, left side" is better than "door fine."
- Find the breaker box and the water shut-off. Ours is in the hall closet behind a panel I didn't notice for two weeks.
- Test the smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector. Press the button. If nothing happens, ask for a new battery or unit in writing.
- Change the locks or confirm they were changed. Ask the landlord. Don't swap them yourself without permission.
Days two and three: making it livable
Set up the boring accounts
Electricity, internet and renters insurance. Electricity should be in your name by move-in day so there's no gap. Internet installation appointments book up fast in moving season, so if you can schedule before you move, do it. We spent four days tethering laptops to our phones, which I don't recommend for someone who works from home.
Bed, bathroom, kitchen, in that order
Get the bed assembled before anything else. Then the shower curtain, towels and toilet paper. Then enough of the kitchen to make coffee and one simple meal. Everything else can stay in boxes for a few days and you'll be fine.
Check every faucet and drain
Run each one for a minute. Look under the sinks while the water runs. Flush the toilet a few times. We found a slow drip under the kitchen sink on day two and reported it right away, which meant it was clearly a pre-existing problem and not something we caused.
By the end of the week
- Update your address with the post office, your bank, your employer and anything you get by mail.
- Introduce yourself to one neighbor. Ours, across the landing, told us which washers in the basement actually work and which eat quarters. That tip alone was worth the awkward knock.
- Learn the building rules. Trash day, recycling, where packages go, whether you can use the roof or the yard, and quiet hours.
- Make a "to report" list. Anything broken or odd goes on one list, and you send it to the landlord in a single polite email by the end of the first week. One clear email is easier for them to act on than six texts.
- Measure the windows and the walls before buying curtains, rugs or furniture. I bought curtains for our north windows based on a guess. They were four inches short.
What can absolutely wait
Art on the walls. The perfect rug. Matching storage bins. Repainting (which you'd need permission for anyway). Our whole move cost $640 with the van rental, pizza for the friends who helped carry, and supplies, and almost every regret I have from those weeks came from buying things for the apartment before I'd actually lived in it.
Live there for a month. Notice where you drop your keys, where the light is good in the afternoon, where the cat decides she lives. Then decorate. The boxes in the hall closet will forgive you.
