Moving into a new home is an exciting prospect, but it can also get overwhelmingly fast. Particularly if you haven’t prepared well pre-move, you may find yourself running into many unexpected setbacks and problems when you try to transition to the new home. It’s easy to get tunnel vision, after all, if you’re focused on the new job you landed that’s required you to move or if you need to move quickly for any other reason.

Move-in day is always going to be stressful for you and your family members; there’s just no getting around it. However, with proper preparation, you can keep it from being a complete disaster. Here are some of the most important items that should be on your checklist when you’re moving into your next home.

Make sure you’ve conducted a thorough inspection.

It’s true that homes generally have to be inspected by the pros before they’re put up on listings, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t conduct your own home inspection to ensure you won’t have big problems when you move in. One thing you definitely need to check is the HVAC system. If you’re moving during the summer, the last thing you need is for your air conditioner to break down right away as the thermometer rises.

The thermostat can be a tell-tale sign of whether you can expect trouble. Signs you need a new thermostat include inaccurate readings, difficulty cooling certain rooms in the house, or an inability to complete a cooling cycle. Any of these signs could mean you need a new thermostat, or you may need a technician to make other HVAC repairs. If you replace the old thermostat with a smart thermostat, you’ll be able to program your cooling system while you’re away, so you can save money on your utility bills.

Transfer your utilities in advance.

Speaking of utility bills, you don’t want to keep paying them at your old home while your new home goes neglected. You’ll need to contact your energy company, internet service provider, phone company, and everyone else who provides important services to your house. Try to have your utilities canceled at your old house the day before you move into your new home. That way, all your services will resume at your new home the day you move in.

While you’re at it, go ahead and file for a change of address as well. This will make things much easier moving forward since you won’t need to track down every single person who will need to be notified of your move-in.

Take photos to commemorate the move.

During a move, you may want to take photos to document this big moment or even to keep a record of your most valuable items. Either way, keep high-quality photos of your items on your smartphone, in storage options like Dropbox or Google Photos, or print them and keep them in a folder. You may find that you need a new photo storage solution if you have too many photos to store once you start taking new photos of the house as well.

With the Shutterfly free photo storage service, you’ll have unlimited storage to preserve all of your life’s most important moments. You’ll even have easy access to them on any device, whether that’s your smartphone, tablet, or laptop. You can even opt into the automatic upload feature, which will automatically upload any photo taken on your smartphone to free online storage. It’s not just about saving your photos, either. You can also use your photos to create custom products like coffee mugs, photo blankets, canvas wall art, photo books, and much more. Any of these could make perfect decorations for your new home.

James Montano