With more than two million residents, the Houston metro area is the fourth largest in the country. This is a beautiful, eclectic, and active city that provides residents with incredible job opportunities and plenty of culture and recreation to enjoy in their free time. If you’re moving here, you’ll find that there is a lot to love! Plus, you will be a short drive away from Galveston, Kemah and other Gulf Coast locations. However, before you can get fully settled in and enjoy all that Houston offers, you will need to tackle a few important post-moving tasks.
Relocation can be tricky. Even after you’ve done all the packing, moved everything and started tackling the mountain of boxes that need unpacking, there are still lots of other moving-related things to get done. Our friends at Cheap Movers Houston, one of the top moving companies Houston has, helped us put together a list of some of these to-dos. Here is their guide to completing your Houston relocation:
Update Your Insurance Policy
Your insurance provides you and your loved ones with incredible benefits and financial protection. You may have life, auto, and home or renter’s insurance as well as other types of coverage. Make a list of all your insurers, and change your address with each one. Remember that your premiums may change for your auto and property insurance because of your change of address. Here are some great tips for updating insurance during a move.
Get a New Driver’s License
You will also need to make your residency in Houston official by requesting a new driver’s license. Texas driver’s licenses are issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety. There are several DPS offices located in convenient locations throughout the Houston area. Ensure that you bring the proper documentation with you to the DPS by reviewing the requirements online as a first step.
Notify the Post Office
It is important that you continue to receive all your mail, and the post office can facilitate this process. You can simply visit the post office’s website to file a change of address or mail forwarding form. This will provide you with mail forwarding service for several months. When you get mail that has been forwarded to your new address, take the time to contact each sender individually to notify them of your new address.
Contact Your Creditors and Financial Institutions
You should also make a list of all the creditors and banks that you do business with. This may include credit card companies, your auto loan lender, the bank where you have a checking and savings account, your stock brokerage or retirement account broker and more. For many of these companies, you will be able to access your account online and update the information yourself in a matter of minutes. Simply go down your list item by item to ensure that all your financial contacts have updated contact information for you.
Enroll Your Kids in School
If you have children, you will need to enroll them in a local school. There are several very reputable private schools throughout the metro area, or you can choose to send your kids to public school. Because of the size of the metro area, there are numerous independent school districts including the Houston Independent School District, the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District, and the Katy Independent School District, among others. You can ask your landlord or real estate agent which public schools your home is zoned for, and you can research registration documentation required by visiting that school district’s website. Typically, a birth certificate, proof of residency, and immunization records are all that is needed to enroll a child in a new school.
Life in Texas can be amazing, and most Texans would not choose to live in any other location. Walk through these simple post-moving steps, and you can sit back and relax as an official Texan.