[Jennifer]

I just bought my first house (literally 2 days ago!) Any tips (financial or general) for a first-time home owner?

Or things you wish you would have known!

[Norma]

I would put a few hundred towards the principle each month if you can afford it!

[Stephen]

Start and FINISH one project at a time. Look for sales, and buy the right product….use utube university.

For example large format tile thinset is way different than general thinset.

Follow directions. Choose what to improve based on your expected time span in the house.

Good Luck!

[Sean]

If u can, pay extra 200 or 300 more a month into principle, that will knock down alot of interest

[Holli]

Learn to fix and take care of your house. YouTube is your friend

[Aimee]

Go over your home insurance every single year! The price to rebuild (everyone I know, the insurance doesn’t cover the rebuild cost right now! No one !!!)

[Amber]

Your mortgage payment WILL go up if you included your escrow in it. This one caught me by surprise.

[Myrissa]

Clean your vents, change your air filters, drain your water heater (yearly), snake the drains, seal the grout (grout isn’t waterproof without sealants), re-caulk your windows with caulk made for the job, look for any obvious leaks, re look over your inspection report.

This is a small idea of some regular maintenance that’s good to do

[Simeon]

Best generic advice I can give is: it’ll cost more than you think to maintain so save accordingly

[Susan]

Learn where you water shut-off valve is and how to turn the water off in an emergency

[Courtney]

Save now lol. 1.5 years of owning our house and we need a new roof, new ac, added driveway expansion and removed tree and bush.

Kitchen remodel (mold) but had to pay deposit to insurance.

[Allison]

Have a genuine emergency fund. For me, I looked into what the price of the largest repairs what be – roof, central air, etc and I made sure to have that kind of money in my emergency fund on top of a few months of expenses.

[Tyler]

shop marketplace before retail. you wouldn’t believe what people want to get rid of

[Mary]

Don’t go with roof/windows from guys who have door to door salesmen. They have an up charge just to pay those salesmen.

Go on your neighborhoods facebook page and get recs from local people in your community instead.

Also, congrats!

[Dan]

Congrats! Build an emergency fund if you don’t already have one. (With at least 3 months expenses) to cover any unexpected big stuff.

Within the first 2 years of owning our home, we replaced the roof (unexpected), then the boiler and well pump not too many years after that.

It’s a beautiful thing to avoid financing everything when you have the cash to pay for it. Wishing you all the best!

[Michele]

Mark your calendar to change your filters every 3 months…whole house water filter and heater filter!

[Al]

Things are gonna break. A stove, a leaky roof, have money in reserve. People on your property is a liability, limit it and make it safe.

[Sunny]

Don’t be afraid to paint. Flooring is doable unless you’re trying to do giant rolls of carpet. Fix what you can. Youtube is your friend. Insulate with expanding foam. Caulk areas inside and outside of the house.

have the furnace and a/c checked.
Don’t waste alot of money on decorating and furniture right away.

You might suddenly need $3000 for a new furnace to know that you just blew it on new tv/couch/entertainment center. Not smart.

Give it a good year before you spend on fun stuff. Unless of course, you have the funds. Then spend away.

[Robson]

File your homestead ASAP! It’s going to save you lots of money in Taxes! You also may get some tax benefits if you work from home, so talk to your accountant as well.

Don’t neglect ac filter changes, you also may want to put solar panels on it.

Payback is only 7years and they last 25y.

[Gloria]

Buy quality, used furniture, reupholster soft goods if needed. Many newer pieces of furniture are poorly made and frankly soulless.

[Lydia]

Your tastes will change over the years. Decorate slowly. Also, don’t rush into a huge renovation until you’ve lived in it at least 6 months or a year.

And when you renovate, know your final realized costs can be 1.5-2 times the quote.

[Charles]

I think emergency funds are key and usually erring on the far more conservative side when you own your own home.

I’ve never felt safe with 3-6 months and will always go between 9-18.

[Darlene]

Pay extra to escrow monthly — or expect (plan for) mortgage payment to go up some hundred/thousand $ every year when they re-adjust for increases in insurance and taxes.

[Deet]

Don’t do any major renovations for at least ac year. See how you live in the space for awhile.

New paint does wonders!!

[Chiew]

if you’re not a handy person definitely consider getting home warranty… it can easily save you 10s of thousands of repairs and appliance replacements

[Francis]

First of all congratulations! Unpack one room at a time starting with your bedroom. Do not feel compelled to fill your house with furniture/art/stuff… having some space and free walls will make it feel more peaceful.

Keep a small file folder with mls listing it builder details of everything your home includes.

Make a list of all the home upgrades you do over time, and save all the manuals for appliances and electronics in there.

If you paint, be sure to list the paint name and brand in the folder in case you need to buy touch up paint. Try to keep the hardware consistent throughout your home.

Always make your payment at least 3 days before they are due to avoid processing issues/delays. Your credit score will likely drop bc of credit utilization so don’t worry if you see that happen.

That is normal if you didn’t pay in cash.

It is more important to have 3-6 months expenses saved (in a hysa) so if you don’t have that, focus on building back that nest egg before spending money decorating your home.

[Author]

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