The records to collect when you move into a home.

Some records exist only with the people leaving. Ask for them before completion or the end of the old tenancy, while they're still answering messages. If an agent or solicitor is handling the move, ask them to pass the request on.

Don't worry if the answer is "we never kept that". Knowing it's missing is useful too, because you can plan a service or an inspection instead of assuming one was done.

Left-behind manuals tend to turn up in a kitchen drawer, a cupboard under the stairs or next to the boiler. Put them in one place now, before they're recycled with the moving boxes.

When a manual is missing, the model number is usually enough to download it from the manufacturer's website. Note where you saved the file, because you'll want it again when something needs cleaning, resetting or repairing.

Repairs, spare parts, recalls and warranty checks all start with these two numbers. Reading them now is easier than reading them from behind a broken machine, and a photo of each rating plate saves copying mistakes.

Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms often have a manufacture or replace-by date printed on them, so write that down at the same time.

To put each appliance's details, warranty and repairs on one printable page, use the free appliance passport.

Some appliance warranties cover only the original buyer, or need the original receipt or registration. Read the terms before you assume an appliance is covered, and ask the seller for the receipt if it is.

Guarantees for building work, such as new windows, a roof or damp-proofing, can sometimes pass to a new owner. The paperwork says whether they do and who to contact. Write down each start date, end date and contact while you have the documents in front of you.

The last service date tells you when the next one is due. That matters most for heating, hot water and anything with a filter, and some warranties require regular servicing to stay valid.

If there's no history, treat the date as unknown. Book a service or check the manual's schedule rather than guessing, then keep a simple log from here on: the date, what was done, who did it and what it cost.

To turn recurring jobs such as filter changes and services into calendar reminders, use the free maintenance calendar.

In a leak or a power cut, nobody wants to search for the stop valve. Find each of these in your first week, label it if you can, and take a photo so anyone in the household can find it.

Take meter readings on the day you move in, with a dated photo of each meter. Your first bills then start from the right figures.

A plumber who fitted the boiler, or the company that installed the alarm, already knows the system. Their name and number are worth more next to that system than in a list of phone contacts you won't recognise in two years.

A single folder with a section for each room or system works well on paper. Photograph or scan the important pages too, so one spilled glass or a second move doesn't lose them.

However you keep it, give each appliance or system one record: model, serial number, purchase date, warranty, where the manual is, who services it and what's been done. If you'd rather keep that on your iPhone, Kopti keeps each item's history, receipts and reminders together.