Buying a New Home? Expect Lots of Mail

Buying a new place is exciting. You get to decorate, meet the neighbors, and make that new house a home. 

One thing you may not expect, though? That’d be all the mail that typically comes with it.

Are you moving into a new home soon? Here’s what to be on the lookout for. 

Types of mail you might get after buying a new home

There are generally three categories of mail you’ll get after moving. The first? Ads for home services and products. 

When you buy a new home (and get a mortgage), some of your records become public information. When that happens, related businesses may try to reach out and sell you their services. These often include home warranty companies, insurers, and services to file your homestead exemption, among others. If you ever receive mail that references Embrace and you have any questions, reach out to your loan officer.

You also might get local business mailers (these usually go out to the whole neighborhood), or the previous owner’s mail if they didn’t alert the USPS of their change of address.

A quick note: You may also get mail alerting you that your loan has been transferred to a new servicer. This is not junk mail, and you’ll want to keep it on hand for reference. When your loan changes hands, you’ll need to change who you make your monthly payments to.

How to handle all that mail

So, what do you do with any mail you’re not interested in? There are three common options: 

1. Opt out (if you want): Head to the Data and Marketing Association and opt out of mailed advertisements based on your public data. You can also opt out of prescreened offers (like insurance quotes, refinance opportunities, credit card offers, etc.) here.
2. Send it back: If the mail you’re getting is the previous owner’s, just write “Return to Sender” on the envelope and put it back in the mailbox for pickup. This won’t stop all their mail from coming, but it will alert any senders that the recipient has changed addresses.
3. Shred it and recycle it: For anything that you just want to toss, make sure to run it through a shredder first. This keeps your personal information safe after you’ve sent it out with the trash or recycling.

The bottom line? You’ll probably get a lot of mail when you move into a new home. Fortunately, handling it is pretty simple.