The Stress-Free Apartment Moving Checklist

Moving is a lot easier when you break it into steps. Use this checklist to stay on track from the day you sign your lease to your first night in your new apartment.

30 days before

• Give written notice at your current place if required by your lease.
• Book movers or reserve a truck, and line up friends to help.
• Start decluttering: donate, sell, or toss anything you don't want to move.
• Collect boxes, tape, markers, and packing paper.

2 weeks before

• Set up electricity, internet, and any other utilities to start on your move-in date.
• Submit a change of address with USPS and update your bank, employer, and subscriptions.
• Pack rooms you use least first: storage closets, books, decorations.
• Label every box with its room and a short list of what's inside.

The week before

• Confirm your move-in date and key pickup with the leasing office.
• Pack an "open first" box: toilet paper, towels, sheets, phone chargers, basic tools, snacks, medications, and a change of clothes.
• Measure large furniture and check it will fit through doors.
• Clean out the fridge and use up food you don't want to move.

Move-in day

• Walk through your new apartment and note any existing issues on your move-in inspection form. Take dated photos.
• Test lights, faucets, and appliances.
• Make the bed first. You'll thank yourself at midnight.

The first week

• Unpack the kitchen and bathroom first; they're the rooms you use most.
• Get renter's insurance in place if you haven't already.
• Save the leasing office number in your phone for maintenance requests.

Looking for your next place in Wichita? Eagle Trace offers one- and two-bedroom apartments at prices that leave room in your budget.