Moving into a condominium is different from moving into a house, and the difference shows up before the truck arrives. Shared elevators, protected lobbies, neighbors on every side, and a set of building rules written after someone, somewhere, scratched a freshly refinished hallway floor at 9 PM on a Sunday. Learn the system early and move-in day becomes routine.
What do I need to arrange before moving into a condo building?
Three things, ideally two weeks ahead: reserve the elevator or loading dock through the property manager, obtain a certificate of insurance (COI) from your moving company naming the association as certificate holder, and confirm the building's move fee or refundable deposit. Most Chicago buildings restrict moves to weekday and Saturday daytime hours, and buildings with one elevator book fast at month-end — the first and last days of the month go earliest.
Two Weeks Out: The Paperwork Pass
- Elevator and dock reservation. Request your window through management. Buildings pad moves with protective blankets and floor coverings — the reservation is what triggers that setup.
- Certificate of insurance. Professional movers produce COIs daily; a company that hesitates is telling you something. The certificate protects you too — an uninsured mover's dent in a lobby wall otherwise becomes your dent.
- Move fee or deposit. Typical Chicago buildings charge a flat move fee, a refundable damage deposit, or both. Budget for it alongside the truck.
- Street logistics. If the truck must park on a busy street, ask your mover about temporary no-parking permits — Chicago issues them, and movers handle the application routinely.
Move-In Day
Arrive before the truck, walk the elevator and hallway route with your phone camera (a sixty-second video protects your deposit), and keep the freight door propped only with building-approved hardware. Introduce yourself to the door staff or engineer if the building has them — they will save you a dozen times in your first year, and they remember who said hello on day one.
What should new condo owners set up in the first week?
Four things: resident portal access, assessment autopay, your HO-6 insurance policy, and the document download. Portal credentials come from management during onboarding — in Stellar-managed buildings, within the first days. Autopay prevents the one late assessment that turns into a late fee. Your HO-6 should match the association's master policy boundary and deductible. And downloading the declaration, bylaws, and rules while everything is new takes ten minutes that pay off for years.
The First Month: Learn the Building's Rhythms
- Read the rules once, cover to cover. Quiet hours, pet registration, grill policies, renovation approvals — every building differs, and the rules you know can't surprise you. Our guide to common Chicago condo rule violations covers the ones that catch new residents most often.
- Register what needs registering. Pets, vehicles, tenants, and sometimes bicycles. Registration is usually painless; discovery usually isn't.
- Find the shutoffs. Your unit's water shutoff and electrical panel, located before you need them at 2 AM.
- Note the emergency line. In a Stellar building, 773.728.0652 reaches a live person around the clock for floods, heat outages, and elevator entrapments.
- Show up once. Attend one board meeting in your first quarter. You will learn more about your investment in that hour than in any document.
For everything that comes after the boxes — assessments, repairs, insurance, neighbors, and your rights as an owner — The Owner's Companion is the manual nobody hands you at closing. And if your new building's management doesn't work the way this article assumes, your board may want to see how ours does.