The Ultimate Checklist for a Smooth Move-in at Your Community
One resident moving in after another.
Email after email, asking you all the same questions.
Excel sheets, scattered project management systems, and your trusty pen and paper.
Sound familiar?
You deserve a gold medal for helping your residents get through one of life’s most stressful events: moving. With so many move-in tasks to keep track of, it can get exhausting.
The good news? We’re here to help you retire your sticky notes and spreadsheets. This ultimate resident move-in checklist will boil down the most important required move-in tasks, plus the nonessential tasks we know your residents will be asking you about.
The ultimate resident move-in solution
Before we dive in, we want to make sure you know about Updater’s new resident onboarding features built especially for multifamily partners. With Updater, onsite teams manage the move-in process in one place to ensure residents have completed required move-in tasks on time. Here are just a few things you can do with Updater’s resident onboarding product:
- Send a digital welcome letter with the tools to accomplish everything in it
- Personalize the Updater experience to meet your own, unique move-in requirements
- See what’s in motion and help residents stay on track
- Review tasks completed by future residents and approve or reject as needed
- Eliminate misunderstandings with clear communication channels
Learn more about Updater for multifamily partners here. If you’re already an Updater partner and want to get started, please email your Success Manager directly or [email protected] to get moving… pun intended!
In the meantime, use this checklist as a guiding light during resident move-ins. Take a deep breath and rest easy knowing that we’ve got you covered with the ultimate moving checklist for you and your residents.
4 pre-move essentials for your residents
- Sign the lease
You know this step better than anyone. After prospective tenants tour an apartment and confirm they want to move in, you need a signed lease. If you’re partnered with us, once a resident’s lease is signed, we’ll automatically invite them to Updater via a custom digital welcome letter configured for your unique move-in requirements. Let the time-saving magic begin!
- Set up utilities
Your resident can’t move in unless their fridge is running and the lights turn on. Helping your residents connect gas, electricity, and other utilities is one of your most important tasks pre-move-in. You’ll need to let incoming residents know who provides utilities for your community and what they need to do to get set up.
Updater streamlines the utility set-up process, saving you tons of back-and-forth with your residents. We’ll have providers listed within Updater, but you can easily customize your community’s providers and then we’ll help your future residents get connected.
- Purchase renter’s insurance
Next, you’ll need to assist your future residents with renters insurance. You might email them your community’s recommended providers and remind them of the requirements. Then, you’ll need to keep track of when they submit their proof of insurance. If you don’t receive that proof of insurance, you’ll need to follow-up until you get it — all before their move-in date.
Updater can help with this, too. In fact, your residents will love Updater because it has all the information they need in one place — plus, it streamlines task completion. You can configure your property’s insurance requirements and providers, and then residents can shop for policies directly within Updater.
Finally, once your new residents have purchased insurance, you’ll automatically get an alert that they’ve done so. Did we mention you can also use your Updater dashboard to send renters reminders if they haven’t completed this task? Say good-bye to endless emails and follow-ups!
- Pay prorated move-in costs
Incoming residents are probably asking what, how, why, and when about prorated move-in costs. You’ll need to calculate those costs for each future resident, share the details with them, and then follow-up to make sure they make a payment before move-in.
You can streamline this communication by adding move-in costs to Updater and using our prorated calculator for rental move-in fees. From there, we’ll provide a direct payment link that results in faster payments. You can keep track of your residents’ task progress, and as we mentioned above, send reminders if needed.
9 more tasks for residents before move-in
Both you and your incoming residents probably have hundreds of tasks to complete before move-in. Besides the required items above, there are tons of little details that can quickly get overwhelming. The good news is that there’s plenty you can do to manage the chaos.
This checklist will cover everything you and your residents need to do before move-in. With this list in hand, you can ease your own stress while making resident move-in a world-class experience.
- Plan move-in logistics
The physical moving of belongings is probably the most exhausting part of moving. For everyone involved, moving requires lots of logistics. We know you want it to be a seamless process for you and your residents, so here’s a quick moving logistics checklist to help you out:
- Provide a list of suggested moving companies to your residents
- Coordinate the moving company’s schedule with your onsite team — no one wants 10 moving trucks in the loading dock at the same time
- Manage elevator reservations so that residents are still able to get in and out while move-ins are happening
Within Updater, residents can book and schedule moving services without ever leaving the app. Residents can use Dolly, a leading provider of on-demand local moves, to instantly book moving services including same-day service.
Here’s how it works: first, users tell Dolly when, where, and what they need help with and receive an upfront price quote. Then, within minutes, they will connect with a Dolly Helper, who will help them move their items. The entire experience can be tracked and communicated through the Dolly smartphone app, making moves easy, affordable, and safe.
With Updater, your residents will have access to everything they need for a seamless transition into your community. That makes you look good while truly making your re sidents’ lives better.
- Purchase boxes and start packing
If you’ve ever moved, you know how frustrating it can be to find boxes and get everything packed on time. You can be a valuable resource to your incoming residents by helping them out with this.
Once your residents are within Updater, they’ll be able to order eco-friendly packing kits tailored for their needs and apartment size. Plus, getting their packing materials will be a breeze with fast, free shipping.
- Set up TV & Internet
A resident’s worst nightmare is moving into a new apartment without WiFi. In fact, you’re probably all too familiar with panicked last minute emails as overwhelmed movers try to get things set up at the last minute.
You can help stressed-out movers by making information about TV & Internet options clear and accessible. You’ll need to tell them what your preferred or available providers are, as well as share what they need to do to set things up.
Our multifamily partners love Updater because right within the app, residents can select their TV & internet plans and easily schedule set-up. Did we mention you can easily set your pre-approved providers from your Updater Pro dashboard? No more last-minute phone calls from residents scrambling to figure out their TV & internet options.
- Log into the online portal or app
Before residents move-in, they likely need to be set up in your community’s online portal or app. There, they can access helpful information — and most importantly, pay their rent. Make sure you provide your new community members with everything they need to log in here.
If your property has an online portal or app, Updater will help you prompt movers to log in. The step will show a link to your portal, guiding incoming residents right where they need to be. That’s one less taks for you — and your movers — to remember.
- Plan for pets, parking, and other community necessities
We know every community has different requirements for incoming residents. Whether it’s registering a pet or a vehicle, you’ll probably need to remind your tenants a few times to get these tasks completed. Here’s a quick checklist to help you out:
- Ensure residents’ vehicles are registered with the apartment community and a parking pass is provided, if needed
- Make sure pets are registered, including getting vaccination records and photos of the pet, having pet deposits paid, and having a DNA sample if your community requires that
- Inform residents of any other community requirements, like trash valet fees and logistics, pool or clubhouse hours, etc.
We’re super proud to be able to help you out with these tasks via Updater. Just like other tasks, you can configure your property’s specific requirements for pet and vehicle registration right within Updater. Then, you can track resident progress and send them reminders. Hooray for managed move-in chaos!
- Update addresses and forward mail
Want to earn bonus points with your residents? Remind them to update their address and forward their mail. These are two of the most important, yet easily forgettable, tasks when it comes to moving. Before move-in, you can help incoming residents with this address update checklist:
- Forward mail with USPS
- Update voters registration
- Update drivers license and registration information
- Update billing information with banks and subscription services
- Update magazine and product subscription delivery addresses
One of Updater’s most popular features is our forward-your-mail step. Residents can easily use Updater to forward their mail with USPS for free and without ever leaving the app!
- Prepare their current apartment for move-out
Your residents are saying goodbye to their old home — but there’s a lot they need to do first. If you want to help them remember all the tasks they need to do, go ahead and share this move-out checklist:
- Give proper notice to their landlord
- Order new furniture and sell old furniture
- Schedule shut-off of utilities and TV & internet services
- Patch up holes in the wall and any other damages
- Clean the apartment from top to bottom
- Schedule a final walkthrough of the apartment
- Return keys to community manager
- Prepare for moving day
Your residents have survived moving chaos so far. Now, they need to feel confident moving into their new home. Here a few tasks to keep in mind as they prepare to arrive at your community:
- Review the new apartment’s floor plan and dimensions to ensure their items will fit
- Plan where everything will go so that they can direct the movers on moving day
- Make sure to pack their most important items separately so they can easily access the essentials on moving day
- Walk through the apartment on move-in day with their new community manager
Want to prepare your residents even further for moving day? Share this ultimate moving checklist with them.
- Hand off the keys and enjoy a seamless moving experience
Finally, the day is here! Your new resident is moving in, and you’ve both enjoyed a seamless process so far. Now it’s time to hand off the keys and welcome them to their new home.
Don’t forget to be on call for any last minute resident questions and inform them of what to do if they lose their keys.
Moving forward
If you want to stand out as a community and give residents an exceptional experience, there’s plenty of opportunity. Use this checklist to keep track of everything you and your new residents need to do prior to move-in.
Ready to streamline resident move-in with Updater? Learn more about Updater for Multifamily here.
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