Move-in day gets busy fast. Keys, boxes, movers, Wi-Fi, groceries, and a dozen little decisions all arrive at once. Before the furniture comes through the door, though, there are a few things worth doing first.
If you are moving into a PMI James River home, start by bookmarking our Resident Resources page and making sure you can access your resident portal. If you are still sorting out electric, gas, water, trash, or another service, our Richmond-area utilities setup guide can help with that.
Then, before you start unpacking, document the home. This is the one time during your tenancy when every wall, floor, cabinet, appliance, and fixture is easy to see.
Your first five move-in priorities are simple:
- Complete your move-in inspection report before unpacking.
- Check every key, remote, fob, and access code.
- Confirm utilities and basic systems are working.
- Locate the breaker panel, water shutoff, thermostat, and other important controls.
- Make sure your resident portal and move-in records are set up.
1. Complete the Move-In Inspection Report Before You Unpack
This is probably the most important thing to do first.
PMI James River allows residents to complete the move-in inspection electronically through an app or on paper. The format is different, but the purpose is the same: to help you work through the home in a consistent way and create a clear record of the condition in which you received it.
The photos are part of the move-in inspection report, not a separate exercise. As you work room by room, record the condition and photograph anything worth documenting. That can include scratches, stains, chips, dents, cracks, damaged blinds, worn flooring, appliance condition, wall marks, cabinet damage, or anything else that was already present when you received the home.
If you prefer working from paper, PMI also provides a room-by-room move-in checklist that can help you work systematically through doors, windows, walls, floors, bathrooms, electrical items, appliances, and other parts of the home.
Virginia's move-in inspection statute uses a five-day framework for documenting the condition of a rental at occupancy. It also allows a landlord to adopt a written policy permitting the resident to prepare the move-in report. PMI James River uses that resident-prepared approach and gives residents five days to complete and return the move-in report.
Do not put it off until the rooms are full of furniture. Once beds, rugs, couches, boxes, and shelving are in place, it becomes much harder to document what the home looked like when you received it.
Why this matters for your security deposit
The move-in report establishes the starting condition of the home. If a floor already had a scratch, a countertop already had a chip, or a blind was already damaged, the report creates a record that the condition existed before your tenancy.
That is why small items are still worth documenting even when they do not need repair. A condition can belong on the move-in report without being a maintenance issue.
The report helps protect your security deposit by making the starting point clear. At move-out, there is a much better record for separating pre-existing condition from changes that occurred during the tenancy.
If something actually needs repair, report it separately
The move-in inspection report documents condition. It does not automatically create a maintenance request.
If you discover something that actually needs attention, such as a leak, an appliance that is not operating, a door that will not latch, or another repair issue, include it in your move-in documentation and also submit a maintenance request through your resident portal. That gives us a separate work order to act on rather than leaving a repair buried inside the condition report.
2. Check Every Key, Remote, Fob, and Code
Before the movers leave, make sure you can actually get into everything you are supposed to be able to use.
Check the front and back doors, mailbox key, building or gate fobs, garage remote, storage areas, and any other access devices provided with the home. If something does not work, it is much easier to discover that at 2 p.m. than at 10 p.m. with a car full of belongings.
If the home has a garage keypad, change the garage access code when you move in. Do not keep relying on a code that may have been used before your tenancy. Keep the new code somewhere secure and make sure everyone in your household who needs it knows the correct one.
3. Confirm Utilities and Basic Systems Are Working
Your required utilities should already be active according to your move-in instructions, but move-in day is a good time to confirm that everything actually works.
Turn on lights. Run hot and cold water. Flush the toilets. Check that the refrigerator is cooling. Make sure the thermostat responds. If the home has gas service, confirm the systems that depend on it are operating normally.
Utility arrangements vary considerably across Richmond City, Henrico, Chesterfield, Hanover, Petersburg, and surrounding areas. Some services are resident-held, some remain tied to the property, and some depend on the particular building or association. If something about your setup is unclear, use our PMI James River utilities guide rather than guessing.
4. Learn Where the Important Controls Are
You do not need to become an expert on the house. You should know where the basic controls are before you need them.
Find the thermostat and learn its basic settings. Locate the main water shutoff if it is accessible. Know where the smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms are.
Most importantly, find the electrical breaker panel and familiarize yourself with it. Look at the breaker labels and get a general idea of which breakers serve the kitchen, bedrooms, HVAC equipment, garage, and other major areas of the home. You do not need to flip breakers just to test them. The point is to know where the panel is and how it is laid out before a tripped breaker leaves part of the house without power.
Richmond-area rental homes range from newer construction to houses that have been standing for many decades. Controls, panels, shutoffs, and utility layouts are not always in the same places from one home to the next, so a five-minute walk-through now can save a lot of searching later.
5. Set Up the Systems You Will Use During the Lease
Make sure you can log into your resident portal before you need it. Check that your email address and phone number are current, and decide whether you want to set up recurring rent payments.
Keep your lease, completed move-in inspection report, move-in photos, utility confirmations, insurance information, and property-specific instructions together. A folder in cloud storage works well because you can find it later even if the paper copy disappears into a moving box.
It is also worth making a quick note of the little details that become surprisingly hard to remember during a move: trash and recycling days, mailbox location, assigned parking, HOA or building instructions, package-delivery location, and any gate or amenity information that applies to your home.
Then Make the First Night Easy
Once the condition report is done, access works, utilities are on, and you know where the important controls are, you can stop treating the house like a checklist and start settling in.
Keep one clearly marked first-night box or bag with sheets, towels, toiletries, chargers, medications, a change of clothes, trash bags, paper towels, pet supplies if needed, and whatever you want for breakfast the next morning. Moving is much easier when you are not opening six boxes at 11 p.m. looking for a phone charger.
Decorating, perfect furniture placement, and the rest can wait.
A Good Move-In Starts With a Clear Record
Move-in day is the easiest opportunity you will ever have to document the starting condition of your rental. Use it.
Complete the move-in inspection report before the furniture hides the floors and walls. Check your access and change the garage code. Confirm the utilities. Learn where the breakers and shutoffs are. Make sure the resident portal works. Then unpack.
For portal access, move-in resources, payment information, maintenance requests, pet information, and other resident tools, bookmark the PMI James River Resident Resources page.
