Congratulations! You’ve bought the house of your dreams, but now it’s time to learn the responsibilities of being a homeowner. Not many people talk about this enough, so it’s common to make some mistakes after buying a house for the first time. Here’s a guide on how you can avoid that.

Calling The Right People

If you’ve gone through house inspections before buying your house, skip to the next tip. If not, you should read this part as it could be crucial to your home value and safety.

It’s very common that potential buyers will waive home inspections before buying a home, and that’s their right. It’s the quickest way to get your offer accepted. However, it’s a process that all homeowners have to turn back to eventually. Going through open houses and looking at potential homes can be overwhelming and tiresome, so it’s easy to overlook some safety hazards on the first visit.

Now that you’ve bought the property, you must get in contact with a professional inspector that can identify those hazards and fix them right away. Make sure they know what’s going on and have them walk you through it so that you don’t run into any future problems again.

Do not call “a friend of a friend” to handle these issues. While recommendations with a cheaper quote are always helpful and enticing, licensed workers are credible and always provide up-to-date replacements or recommendations.

Budgeting Is Your Friend

Now that you’ve bought your first house, it’s safe to assume that you’re capable of paying your mortgage and utilities bills on time. That’s awesome, but now you have to budget in other for expenses as a homeowner. These expenses can cover property taxes, HOA fees, and insurance.

Not entirely sure what that looks like with your kind of property? Have an open conversation with the previous homeowner. Ask them about any fees regarding the property over the last year or so. They’ll have first-hand knowledge of everything that was necessary when maintaining the house. They could tell you about the water bill or who was best to reach out to for regular maintenance needs. Information like this can save you money, cut down on time for research, and, if possible, help you find more reasonable and affordable resources.

Preparing For The Cold

Many first-time buyers aren’t aware of winterizing and other necessary tactics that’ll help you get through the winter. If your house comes with a lot of landscape attractions, then get in touch with a gardener or invest in some landscaping necessities like a leaf blower or a snowplow.

If that’s not the kind of house you bought, then there’s less for you to worry about. Instead of external care, your main focus should be internal. That means checking on your pipes, water heater, boiler, and other stuff you’ve got going on in your basement. Don’t forget about insulation and removing window air conditioners. 

Team Effort

If you’ve bought a home with your partner, make sure you both are willing to put in the effort when turning your house into a home. That means dividing up the responsibilities of a homeowner equally and coming together on an agreement when it comes to deciding what’s best for the house. 

Talk to each other about renovations and other projects that come with a big price tag. These conversations need to be thought through carefully. For example, if your partner decides on installing a pool, above ground or in-ground, with the money going towards replacing the broken garage motor, that’s a big issue. The two of you should prioritize what needs to be dealt with first before acting on it. 

Got any stories about what it was like buying your first home? Let us know in the comment section!