The apartment moving checklist for DFW
Planning · STORVA Editorial Team · 2026-07-14
Four weeks out to move-in night, with the DFW-specific details — elevator reservations, HOA gate codes, and packing around a 105-degree afternoon.
Apartment moves fail on logistics, not on effort. The packing is rarely the problem — the elevator that is booked until 4 p.m., the gate code nobody gave the truck, and the loading zone that turns out to be a fire lane are the problem. This checklist is organized around the DFW specifics that catch renters out.
Four weeks out
- Read your lease's move-out clause. Most DFW properties want written notice 30 to 60 days ahead. Missing it is the single most expensive mistake on this list.
- Ask the leasing office three questions: is there a designated moving elevator, does it need to be reserved, and are there permitted move hours? Many mid-rise and high-rise buildings in Uptown, Victory Park, and downtown Dallas restrict moves to weekday business hours, which changes everything about your plan.
- Ask about a certificate of insurance. Buildings that require one from a moving company usually want it a week or more in advance.
- Book your truck or crew. The last weekend of the month is the busiest in the metroplex by a wide margin.
- Size your containers. Use the calculator or the room-by-room counts in how many totes do I need.
Three weeks out
- Reserve the elevator the day reservations open. In competitive buildings the good weekend windows disappear immediately.
- Start with what you do not use. Off-season clothing, books, decor, the closet shelf. This is roughly a third of your total volume and none of it will be missed.
- Schedule your tote delivery for about a week before move day, so you can pack at a normal pace instead of an all-night one.
- Set up utility transfers. Oncor or your retail electricity provider, water through the city, and internet. Internet installation windows in newer North Texas developments can run two weeks out.
- Photograph the current unit — every wall, the carpet, the appliances. This is your deposit evidence.
Two weeks out
- Confirm gate and access details in writing. Gated communities across Frisco, Plano, and Las Colinas each handle visitor access differently — some use a code, some a call box, some a guard list. Confirm which, and get the truck on the list if there is one.
- File your USPS change of address, and update your bank, employer, insurance, and any subscription that ships you something.
- Pack the kitchen except for what you use daily. Kitchens take longer than anyone expects.
- Measure doorways and the elevator opening for large furniture. A sectional that fit into a garden apartment does not automatically fit into a mid-rise elevator.
One week out
- Finish everything except daily essentials. By this point only the bathroom, the coffee setup, and a week of clothes should be unpacked.
- Label by destination room, not by contents. Whoever is carrying the tote needs to know where it goes, not what is inside.
- Pack a first-night tote and mark it clearly: sheets, towels, phone chargers, medications, toilet paper, a knife, coffee.
- Confirm your elevator window and your truck time with a real human at the building.
- Deep clean as rooms empty out. Cleaning an empty apartment on move-out morning is a bad use of the one morning you cannot spare.
Move day, DFW edition
Beat the heat
From June through September, a North Texas afternoon will hit the triple digits and an un-airconditioned stairwell will be worse. Start at 7 a.m. Have the heavy carrying done before 11. Keep a cooler of water by the door, not in the kitchen where you will not walk to it. Electronics, candles, and anything with adhesive should not sit in a parked truck through the afternoon.
Protect the building
Most properties require floor protection in the lobby and corridor and will charge for scuffed paint in the elevator. Ram board or moving blankets on the floor, blankets on the elevator walls if the building does not supply pads. A four-wheel dolly does less damage than dragging; one is included with 1-bedroom and larger packages.
Load in the right order
Furniture and the heaviest totes first and against the cab. Uniform totes stack tight, which is where they earn their keep — fewer trips through a shared elevator means less time in a reservation window. Mattresses and soft goods last, filling the gaps.
Move-out inspection
- Return every key, fob, remote, and mail key. Unreturned fobs are one of the most common deposit deductions.
- Photograph the empty unit in the same order you photographed it before.
- Get the forwarding address on file in writing so the deposit reaches you. Texas landlords generally have 30 days from surrender to refund, and they need a written forwarding address.
- Confirm the final utility read dates so you are not paying for the next tenant's first week.
The first week in the new place
Unpack the first-night tote, make the bed, and stop. Then work room by room in the order you use them: bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, everything else. Set your empty-tote pickup for the day after you expect to finish, not the day of — and if you finish early, tell us and we will come sooner at no change to the price.
Ready to size an order? Start with the calculator, or see what a package costs on the pricing page.