The move is in three weeks. You have quotes from two of the four movers you reached out to, a half-finished spreadsheet of what's in which room, three saved tabs about utility transfers in the new city, an email thread with the landlord about the security deposit, a note on your phone about the school enrolment deadline, and the address-change list you drafted last weekend has already gone out of date because you remembered two more accounts. The next three weeks are going to be made of small decisions you'll forget you made by the time the truck pulls up.
Most people moving run into this version of the problem. There's nothing structurally hard about a move — it's just a lot of small parallel threads (logistics, vendors, paperwork, utilities, schools, mail, deposits) that all have to land roughly at the same time and don't talk to each other. The day you most need to find a specific record is the day your hands are full of moving boxes.
A vault that holds the move's threads in one place, with the agent doing the searching when something comes up, fixes most of it.
One move, one parent page, with everything underneath
In Docapybara, the move gets its own parent page. Pages nest with no depth limit, so the move page can have child pages for Inventory, Movers and quotes, Utilities, Address changes, Old place (deposit, walkthrough, lease end), New place (lease, deposit, walkthrough, keys), Schools and registrations, Pets, People to notify, and Day-of plan.
For international or long-distance moves with extra paperwork — visa updates, customs forms, vehicle registration, professional license transfers — add child pages for those. For the immigration-paperwork side specifically, see How to Use AI Notes for Immigration and Visa Documentation — the move documentation and the immigration documentation often overlap, but they're worth keeping in their own scopes.
For the broader settling-in side once you've arrived, Apartment Hunting and House Buying: A Calmer Way to Keep Track covers the lead-up; this guide picks up at the we're doing this, here's the plan stage.
Inventory — what's in the house, what's going where
The inventory is one of the highest-payoff documents for two reasons: it gives you leverage with movers (binding quotes need a real list), and it becomes your insurance documentation if anything is lost or damaged in transit.
An inline database via the :::database::: directive on the inventory page handles it. Columns for room, item, condition, approximate value, photo (or photo reference), and disposition (taking, selling, donating, trashing). The agent can update it from voice or text. "Add the dining table — solid oak, six-seat, very good condition, taking it, photo on the page." Row appears.
For valuable or fragile items, a brief voice note while photographing them on your phone catches the condition for the record. "Couch — leather, three-seat, small scuff on the right armrest from the cat last year, otherwise good condition." The transcript drops; the photo lives on the same page; together they're a much more credible record than either alone.
The agent can pull cuts of the inventory on demand. "Total approximate value of items going on the truck." "List everything in the kids' room that needs to be packed in a special box." "Show me what we said we'd donate but haven't actually moved out yet."
Mover quotes, scoping calls, and the contract
Most people compare two or three movers and pick mostly on price. The cheaper choice often costs more in surprises — additional charges for stairs, extra insurance, packing supplies, longer carry distances. A Movers and quotes page with one child per company keeps the comparison honest.
For each mover, the page holds the quote PDF (PDFs convert to markdown automatically, so the agent can read the line items and any small print), the scoping call notes, the company's reviews you've checked, and the rate sheet for any additional services. Voice notes after the scoping call capture what they said about your specific situation. "Call with [mover] this morning — they said the stairs at the new place would add roughly $200, that they don't pack flat-screen TVs without an extra charge, and that the binding quote will lock in if I sign by Friday."
When you've picked a mover and signed the contract, the contract drops on the page. The agent can answer questions later. "What does the contract say about the cancellation window?" "What's the time window we agreed for the truck to arrive?" The answer comes back grounded in the actual document.
For complaints or claims after the move (lost item, damaged item, hourly overage), the inventory + quote + contract trio is the documentation that resolves the conversation faster.
Utility transfers, address changes, and the systems running in the background
The two parallel checklists most movers underestimate are utility transfers and address changes. Each is full of small moving parts. Each is most painful when you forget one until two months later.
For utilities, a Utilities page with two sections — Cancel/transfer at old place and Set up at new place — covers it. Electric, gas, water, internet, garbage, security system, anything else. Each line has the provider, the account number, the date you need them by, the date you actually scheduled, and notes from the call.
For address changes, a Address changes page with a database. Columns for entity (USPS, IRS, DMV, banks, brokerages, employer payroll, healthcare, insurance, professional licenses, subscriptions, family and friends, magazine subscriptions you forgot you had), priority (legal, financial, personal), date changed, and notes.
The agent can pull what's left. "What address changes are still outstanding from my list?" "Which utilities haven't I confirmed transfer dates for at the new place yet?" You get the gap, not the whole list. That's the version that's actionable.
The old place — deposit, walkthrough, repairs
Getting your deposit back is its own small thread. The lease end date, the walkthrough appointment, the cleaning, the small repairs, the photos before you hand over the keys. An Old place page holds the lease (PDF — the agent can read it), the security deposit terms, the move-in condition report from when you started the lease (essential if there's any dispute about pre-existing damage), the cleaning checklist, and the move-out walkthrough notes.
Voice notes during the walkthrough are the part most people skip. "Walking through the bedroom with the landlord — they noted the small nail holes don't count as damage. Confirmed the kitchen tile chip was already there. Said the deposit return should arrive within 30 days." Two minutes; transcript on the page; documentation if anything is contested. Photos of the empty unit drop on the page with timestamps.
The new place — keys, walkthrough, first weeks
The New place page is the mirror — lease, security deposit terms, move-in condition report (so future-you isn't charged for pre-existing damage), key handover notes, photos of the move-in condition. Photographing the unit before any of your stuff goes in takes 20 minutes and pays off if anything's contested. Drop the photos with a quick voice caption.
For the first few weeks, a running list of things that need attention or warranty calls — the dishwasher that doesn't drain right, the bedroom outlet that's loose — keeps the punch list visible. By month two, the list is mostly resolved; without it, the items just become things you've gotten used to. This is also where AI Notes for Homeowners: Maintenance, Contractors, and Renovations starts to apply, if you've moved into a place you own. The move-in notes graduate into the homeowner's vault.
Schools, pets, and the family side. For families with kids, a Schools and registrations page holds the enrolment paperwork, the timeline, transcripts requested from the old school, the new school's onboarding documents. The agent can pull deadlines on demand. For the broader version of tracking your kid's school journey across years, see How to Document Your Child's School Journey — the move enrolment is the start of a new chapter. For pets, a Pets page holds vet records for any travel, updated tags with the new address, the boarding plan for the move day itself, and the new vet's contact info if you've researched one. The broader pet-records shape lives in Notes for Pet Owners: Vet Records, Feeding, and the Daily Details.
Day-of plan and the things that always go sideways
The day-of plan page is short but worth writing the night before. The schedule (mover arrival, drive time, expected arrival at new place, key handover, where the kids and pets are during the day). The contact info for everyone involved. The bag of essentials that travels with you, not on the truck (medications, important documents, chargers, a change of clothes, snacks). The cash for tips.
Voice notes during the day capture what actually happens. "Truck arrived 45 minutes late, foreman is [name], started loading at 9:15. Crew of three. They flagged that the couch will need to come out via the balcony because the stairwell is too tight." These notes become useful if anything goes wrong later or if you need to write a review afterward.
A starter shape that fits a six-week move
If you're moving in the next two months:
- A move parent page.
- An inventory database built up room by room over a couple of evenings.
- A movers page with quotes and scoping notes.
- A utilities page for old and new.
- An address-changes database.
- An old-place and new-place page with leases, walkthroughs, and photos.
- A day-of plan drafted the week before.
That's it. No template, no project management software, no checklist app. The vault grows as the move does; the agent finds what you need when you need it.
The point isn't to make moving into a project-management exercise. It's that the small amount of structure you keep means the move arrives at its end with the deposit back, the utilities transferred, the address changes done, and the new place set up — and the records to back it all up if anything's ever contested.
Try Docapybara free — start with the inventory tonight, and the rest of the move's threads will land on the vault as they come up.