You went to many open houses of homes in your price range and you found it: your dream home. People typically do not fall in love with homes, but you did. You figured out what a comfortable mortgage payment range was your budget and you contacted a mortgage lender to get pre-qualified. Next you contacted a real estate agent. Your credit score was high so you saved money on the interest rate.
You settled on a comfortable total monthly payment including mortgage insurance, property taxes, and current credit card debt. The home inspection passed with flying colors. You raced through the home buying process!
Now you’ve closed on the home of your dreams and completed the home buying process! Congratulations on buying your first home! Now what?
In this blog post, we will offer some first time home owner tips!
- 1 Minute | No Hard Credit Check
1) Meet and Greet Your New Neighbors
We also recommend checking out your neighborhood before you buy the home. However, now that you own a home in the neighborhood we’d recommend getting to know at least your next door neighbors!
It’s a good idea to know who you next door neighbors are to add a bit of community to your new neighborhood. Fellow homeowners are a part of a glorified club and you just gained entry! You can learn more about the neighborhood that you’ve moved into by socializing with your next door neighbors, and can also get an idea of what to expect.
If you have children, they can most likely play with other kids their age in your neighborhood. Knowing your children are safe with a family you know and trust can help relieve you of some stress and give you some free babysitters in the process!
2) Personalize Your Home!
You can now add your personal flair to your home, inside and out! You do not have to seek permission from the pesky landlord nor do you have to fear violating the terms of your lease. Deciding you want to paint your bedroom and bathroom a different color? Nobody is stopping you!
We recommend getting used to the home you have and seeing if there are any renovations you can make. Any remodeling and updating of your current home can increase the value of your home in the future in case you decide to sell. If you do not decide to sell, your home will be more reflective of your wants and be truly the place you call home!
We recommend that you keep proof of all repairs, upgrades and remodeling that you do in your home just in case you need to justify a warranty or prove that you’ve maintained your home. All of these can help with saving you some money, or increasing the amount of equity that is in your home!
However, try not to start a bunch of different projects at the same time. Remodeling your home is not a cheap endeavor, and should be treated with a priority system.
Please read on for Part 2 of our First Time Home Owner Tips!
- 1 Minute | No Hard Credit Check
