With the chaos of a long-distance move, it can be difficult to take the time to find out how you can begin setting up professional services in a new home. From turning on the utilities to getting the kids enrolled in school, there’s a lot to do after the move.

Here are a few tips to help you locate these services and get started setting up your accounts with them.

Setting Up Mail Service

This is probably the easiest part of the process of setting up in a new place. Since the U.S. Postal Service offers nationwide service, you won’t have to worry about switching to a new provider. If you don’t mind paying a dollar or so in fees, you can go online to the USPS website and fill out the change of address request form.

Or, you can go to your local post office and fill out a change of address form in person for free. Be ready to present two forms of identification to prove your identity when changing your address.

Enrolling in a Local School

Getting your child set up in a new school may be a more involved process. If you have the time, consider letting the administrators of your child’s current school know about the move. They may be able to get in touch with the school administration department where you’ll be relocating too. This can make it easier to get settled into a new school right away.

If you don’t have time or aren't able to meet with your current school’s administrators, you can still contact the administrators of the new school yourself to begin the process.

You can usually find out which school district serves your community by searching your community name plus ‘schools’ online. Most school districts have a website with contact information for the administration department, as well as, schools within the district.

Transferring Your Utilities Over to a New Place

Before setting up your utilities at a new place, you’ll need to arrange a shut-off of the utilities where you currently live. Contact your gas and electric utility providers and let them know you are moving. If you are moving within the same region, your utility provider may be the same at the new place. So, the utility provider can just transfer the utilities to your new address.

If you are completing a long-distance move, you’ll probably need to sign up with a different utility company. You can ask your apartment manager who the local utility company is when moving into a rental. If you are completing a household move, you can usually find out who the utility company is from your real estate agent or the previous homeowners.

Same as with the local school district, you can search these companies up online. Most have easy to access websites with contact information for setting up utility connections.

Setting Up Cable/Phone/Internet

Getting phone, cable, and internet service set up may be a little more complicated. There are usually multiple service providers for a region, but not always. Or a major service provider you were familiar with in the old place doesn’t offer service in your new neighborhood.

Try letting your current internet and phone provider know you are moving first and give them the address of your new place. They may be able to transfer services to your new address, like with the utility providers.

If the internet and phone providers don’t offer services in this area, they may be able to let you know which major carrier operates in your new area.

Another option is to go online and search up your new city plus internet, cable, or phone services. You should be able to find plenty of recommendations. Visit the websites of these companies. There are usually online forms you can fill out to check if each company offers services at your new address. From there you can begin the process of choosing your services either online or by calling a number on the website.

Get Started with a Residential Move in Alaska

While we may not be able to take care of transferring your utilities and other professional services to a new home address, Allied Alaska can handle the fine details of your residential move. As Allied Van Lines agents, we have the resources to complete moves near and far for customers.

To learn more about our household moving services, give us a call to set up a free, no-obligation consultation and quote.