Home, Real Estate

Top Tips For A New Home Owner

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You’ve just purchased your first home, congratulations, this isn’t something that everyone manages to achieve. It’s a very smart investment to purchase your own home and it most definitely offers a lot of benefits for you and your family. However, there are also a lot of disadvantages that people don’t think about such as the repairs and maintenance falling on your rather than a landlord meaning that owning a home is always going to an ongoing cost.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, have a look at these top tips for a new homeowner to help you along the way.

Build A House Folder

If you haven’t already you will soon, but before, during and after buying a home you accumulate a hell of a lot of paperwork. All of it is important too. Before you even move into your new home, think about creating a folder for important documents, such as your mortgage, house insurance documents, deeds and utility set up.

Once you’re moved in, you can start to use the folder to store all of the guides and warranties for your new appliances. Store receipts for any furniture and other house purchases too. You’ll want to hang on to these for your taxes. It’s a good idea to start collecting numbers for people such as contractors too. Especially if you’re going to start renovating any time soon.

Build An Emergency Fund

One downside to owning your own home is the fact that not only do you never know when something may go wrong you also have the sole responsibility of fixing it. You also never know how much it is going to cost. A useful homeowner tip is to start an emergency savings account as soon as possible., for those just in case moments. Unfortunately the longer you are living in your home the more likely you’re to experience a surprise such as the boiler giving up, water pipe bursting or your tiles coming loose. If you start saving straight away you don’t need to stress at a later date.

Get To Know Your Neighbors

Most homeowners will tell you that there’s nothing worse than having bad neighbors and it can often make your living situation less pleasant. You may already have people knocking on your door to introduce themselves with a Money Plant in hand, which is lovely however you should work at being good neighbors too.  Building a relationship with your neighbors will help you to learn key facts about your neighborhood, find reliable contractors and also provide you with the details about local amenities. Try the gesture of a welcome by ordering online flowers to thank them for the warm welcome or invite them round for an evening of dining. You will find that knowing your neighbors and getting along will help with any issues that could arise in the future, such as property line disputes or noise levels.

Hold Off On Big Projects

As a new homeowner, you’re probably inexperienced in the world of DIY and renovation projects. One thing you should know is that quite often home improvement projects are expensive. You should try to avoid unnecessary projects when you first move in, that is unless it’s not livable, once you’ve lived in the house for a good 6 months you will know which projects should be looked at first. If it’s possible you should try to complete smaller projects such as new flooring, painting or wallpapering as it’ll be a lot easier than covering all your floors and furniture.

Only Do One Project At A Time

A huge mistake that some homeowners do is to start more than one project at a time. This just confuses things such as where funds should be spent and you end up with several uncompleted projects instead of completing one and moving on to the next. Yes, you want your projects completed as soon as possible, but this isn’t the answer. You are just going to make it unlivable and the aim is to keep most areas of the home livable, especially if you’re completing projects such as bathrooms and kitchens.

Learn About The Water Valve

You may have heard horror stories about people waking up to find that their home has been flooded from a burst water pipe this isn’t something that is fictional, it actually happens! It’s a very good idea to locate this valve as soon as you move in and learn how it works, you’ll be thankful for it during an emergency. Learn how to shut off your power and gas lines while you’re at it.

 

There sure is a lot to know when becoming a homeowner but don’t let it get too much for you, There’s always someone to offer tips and advice. Do you have any things that you picked up when you became a homeowner that would be useful to know? Please share them in the comments section below.

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