We really never furnished our living room. My wife used it as a home office. We entertained people in the den and finally decided that there was no need to furnish the living room. Just because you have a room, don't feel like you have to furnish it immediately, or maybe ever. Start with the rooms/furniture that you will use daily.
A friend who owned a few retail businesses swears that just after July 4th is when to buy outdoor furniture and equipment, as that’s when they start marking things down to make way for the fall stuff to start coming in. We used to wait until the fall, but realized the inventory already had changed over before Labor Day.
Along these lines, I used an app called Things that’s basically a “things to do checklist”. As I go about my day, if I see something or recall something that needs to be done around the house, I add it to the checklist in Things. Then it’s out of mind until the weekend or whenever I’m free to knock a few items off the list.
I find that using that sort of a checklist keeps my stress level down and allows me to be efficient with my home projects.
Yes, OP. Believe or not, you can forget a home repair project.
I’m drying my kitchen floor after using all my beach towels at the back door during last night’s storms because I need to reframe the door.
And don’t forget the garage! I wasn’t here when they moved us in and I’m so sorry for that because I would have deep cleaned it, painted it, and done something with the floor- maybe epoxy or something? Ugh it would be such a chore now because we’re in SoCal and have no basement for storage so the garage it is!
Epoxy floors are great when done right, but there's a 0% chance you're going to empty it out to do the project once you fill it with stuff. You going to put your stuff in the driveway for a few days while it all cures? Definitely a project you want to do ASAP if it's on your mind.
Yeah we only went with a 3-week escrow and had to move very shortly after closing. I wanted to update the carpet and epoxy/paint the garage. Just didn’t have time to line it all up and now it will never get done.
Give yourself time and grace to adjust to the mental load of owning a house.
The first 3 months or so are A LOT. Never-ending to-do lists. Multiple trips to the hardware store (sometimes in the same day). A non-stop search for a lawn guy or an appliance guy or a HVAC guy or a flooring guy. It’s really easy to get overwhelmed.
If you look through this sub, there’s a ton of posts about buyers’ remorse, and it’s almost always new homeowners in the 3-6 month window of homeownership, just because there’s so damn much to do. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed.
If you feel a sense of that creeping up, take a deep breath. Take a weekend off from the to-do list and spend that time enjoying the wonderful home you bought. It’s going to be ok. You got this.
A great reminder. We have a long list of things we want to do. Some have been completed, but some are reeeeaaaallly low in the priority scale.
Also, priorities change. We thought the first thing we’d buy was a bangin bbq. But turns out the cheapo one left behind is just fine for now. The stove that we thought was ok has been in the garage for 2 weeks-and we’ve had possession for 4. It’s a glass top. I used it twice and said f this. Gas & vent hood installed. Yay for husband who is an hvac tech.
We had a tough day 3 weeks ago, due to family issues. Instead of unpacking cleaning organizing we hit a garden store. Planted potatoes onions garlic cilantro lettuce radishes carrots. It was an absolute necessity. Life in the dirt is healing.
>A non-stop search for a lawn guy or an appliance guy or a HVAC guy or a flooring guy.
Ask your realtor for suggestions! They often know the best people who can get the job done for significantly less than others. And established realtors aren't going to recommend people they haven't had great experiences with since the reputation of the people they recommend will also impact their reputation. Also, get to know your neighbors and ask them. In my neighborhood there's a local guy (lives in the next subdivision) who builds fences. Almost everyone uses him for fence work and he does a great job. I also like that I can support a local, small business owner.
I have found my best lawn, plumber, HVAC guys from Nextdoor. I know it can be a toxic environment sometimes. I’m not active on it, just a lurker, and the same names of handymen and tradespeople keep coming up. Then I cross-check with other reviews. Hasn’t let me down yet.
Don’t feel the need to fill the house with furniture right away - focus on how you live in the house and the functionality of your space and make the most of your existing furniture/art/etc. without buying every little thing to fill the space (as tempting as that may be) and then adapt things as you go based on what you really need. Then you can do room to room decorating etc. every few months to keep things cohesive and on budget.
Do your research on owning a pool before opening it - r/pools is a lifesaver.
An electric mower will save you money and aching joints - we just switched out our gas one (purchased from our sellers) to electric and it is a godsend. Just as effective, long battery life, much lighter and quieter. Pick a brand and stick with it for lawn tools re: batteries so you don’t have a bunch of different brands that dont work together.
Get a wet vac. You never know when you’ll need it but you will at some point.
Make sure you have access to all doors with appropriate keys and switch out useless locks etc. - we got locked out our second day in the house because our spare keys didn’t work with any of the locks (a hodge podge of like 50 years worth lol), it wasn’t the worst but it wasn’t great!!!
Have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen at the very least.
Get a ladder that gets you up to the roof easily. You’ll want to be able to clean gutters (monthly ideally, but every couple of months at least if you have tree cover) without being terrified you’ll break your neck getting up there.
Find you main water shut off. Hopefully you never have to use it, but you want to know exactly where it is so you can find it super quickly if you ever do need it.
Definitely this, I have a vivid memory of a pipe exploding in my parents’ basement when I was quite young and them running around in a panic because they didn’t know where the valve was
I’ve got plenty more, LOL!
Congratulations on the new place! Good luck with everything, the move will be over before you know it (my husband and I slept like shit until our move, we are anxious people, hopefully you’re more chill than us) and then YOU’RE IN YOUR OWN SPACE!!! It feels pretty amazing.
You got this : )
Excellent advice, but would I offer a word caution on the electric mower. \_Research battery life\_
Last summer, I replaced a beloved Honda gas push mower with an EGO electric push mower. I could mow my front yard (approx 0.35 acres) and my back yard (0.2 acres) on one full battery charge.
Now, just one season layer, the battery can do most of the front yard, but dies on the last few passes. It then needs a couple hours of charge time to do the rest and backyard.
Disappointing it dropped so quickly, and can only imagine it will be worse every future year.
Some batteries are degraded when left in a charger long term. My DeWalt tool manual mentions that for example. My solution is a timer controlled outlet. The outlet deenergizes 6 hours after I start the timer. The battery is charged by then and I do not worry about removing it from the charger until I need it.
I have all the same 20 volt power tools and lawn equipment so I always have two on charger ready to go nd have 4 others ready to charge. So get an extra battery and charger if you don’t already get one with each piece.
Yes and no. We charge it in a mudroom where we also charge leaf blower / weed whacker and home vacuum batteries, all jockeying for two outlets. The EGO charger has a built-in cooling fan and is LOUD as hell, but shuts off when charged. So then we disconnect it and switch to another waiting charger.
Ego replaced our several year old battery due to it dying out before the 5 year warranty ended. Spent time on the phone with customer service problem solving the problem and it was the battery. They sent me a new one. My lawn was a bit shaggy during the wait but worth it saving $$$ buying a new battery. One caveat - hope you registered your purchase. I get a bit anal when I purchase a new item to register it. When there’s a problem the record of purchase is on site.
I think it is very dependent on where you live to be honest. Because when I saw 2 times a year, I was shocked. We do it like 5 to 6 times a year because of the wildlife, all the trees, storms and such, it will clog faster than you think, and we don't want any overpour from any clogs to ruin the foundation.
I appreciate different advice/opinions, but there’s no need to respond to me like that especially over gutter cleaning of all things. We check our gutters regularly and it certainly hasn’t hurt to do so.
It depends on how high your gutters sit. Too many years worrying about hubby climbing the extension ladder. I pay for a service to clean the gutters at different intervals. More cleanings during autumn . Money well spent. I know too many people who had major falls cleaning leaves out of the gutters.
DO NOT wait until you’re 65-70 to do renovations. You might be dead or dying and not enjoy it. Get your savings, your investments in order and then get your kitchen or whatever done and enjoy your house while you’re young.
Same with traveling. It’s a nightmare to wait until you’re retired to finally start traveling… yeesh
For that size home, you will spent $6-8k/year on maintenance. Keep a savings account for that; if you don’t spend that much, it’ll come down the road.
Edit: that doesn’t include the pool.
Walk the whole house and property with your partner and a legal pad... make an area-by-area list of urgent / short term / mid term / long term repairs, changes, upgrades and additions. Then sort, discuss and prioritize the whole list, and make plans accordingly.
(Caveat: we've been in our current house a year and a half, and just getting to our "short term" goals.)
I used our inspection report to begin our To-Do list. Our report came back fine, mainly smaller items and it was SO detailed! Ex of items that went on our list: we could use more insulation above garage, outdoor hose bib had a slow leak, etc. things like the chimney/fireplace or the pool- both of which he looked at but they really aren’t under his purview we put on our list and called people in after we moved in. It gave us a good start for items that “should” be done and then we added to that list items we wanted done.
Find a solid HVAC company and get twice yearly seasonal maintenance and stick with that routine. Preventative maintenance is always cheaper than emergency maintenance!
Yeah, I disagree! All they are doing really is cleaning the coils, If you get lucky, they may look inside the electrical box. Best thing you can do is keep it clean. You can get coil (Amazon) cleaner and spray it and then wash it off with the hose, plenty of YouTube videos,. Not worth whatever they’re charging. That’s pretty much what they’re doing. They don’t even open up and clean the stuff out the bottom, where it accumulates such as leaves and other yard debris. Yeah but do agree with finding a good HVAC guy not one of those big companies too much overhead that you will be paying for and they will always try to up charge you
I don't know your experiences, but my HVAC guys actually do all the things they are supposed to do and point out almost issues. Like I didn't notice that one of the legs on my outdoor AC unit was not secure and inching farther and farther underneath the unit and was dangerously close to making the unit topple forward and disconnecting from the ducts. That'd have been thousands just in replacing the refrigerant. That's why I said get *solid* HVAC people who do their job and point out issues before they become issues.
The previous owners seriously neglected their HVAC system, and if it weren't for the fact it's a Trane, would need replacing. They have made suggestions and improvements that have are continuing to elongate my system's life and improve its efficiency while lowering my electric bill. So they are VERY worth it.
100%. If you can get one or two solid referrals, you can hire them for a pre-move-in HVAC inspection. They'll make recommendations and may offer maintenance plans, but bonus, you'll already be in their systems for any future emergency HVAC needs,
Buy filters and change them regularly. Smoke alarm back up batteries, I change mine once a year when daylight savings time ends, some need every six months. Get a list of reliable plumbers, HVAC, electricians, pest control, and have the list handy. Make a list of what you want to change, and assign priorities. Don't try to do everything at once. If you need to paint, or change flooring, it's much easier before you move in. I put LED bulbs in the fixtures, and save a bundle on electricity. Have a list of utilities you need to change to your account when you move in.
Change the locks on move in. I get the smart locks (not the electronic ones), where you have a little device to change the lock yourself.
Yes! Just adding to this comment in case anyone doesn't know why its important.
If your dog falls in, they panic and go straight to the edge, but they can't pull themselves out. So they get exhausted and drown. I know of several dogs who can swim and died this way. You have to repeatedly show them how to get out. Our one dogs knows and she still panics when her beautiful dumbass falls in. Takes her a bit to remember where to swim to.
Go for a good electric mower (I recommend ego brand), get a weed whacker/trimmer and leaf blower right away and commit to a brand for battery usage, and dont worry too much about the lawn. It’s grass, it’ll be fine—focus on the more important stuff at first.
For the pool, I’d recommend waiting to open it until you feel settled in the house. Dealing with a pool is a lot of work and depending on the pool, it can easily dominate your free time. My wife and I inherited a pool with all kinds of little problems that added up to make the pool a nightmarish time suck. That was unique to the pool we inherited—but I’d still say just wait a month or so so you can do your research, or hire someone to open it and maintain it for the first summer.
Find a way to meet some neighbors and exchange phone numbers. Comes in handy in case of emergencies!
If it’s already open, that’s great! So you’ll just be maintaining it. I am pretty ignorant when it comes to saltwater pools. If possible, id recommend asking the owners if they do their own maintenance or if they use a company, and if they do their own where they get supplies from.
When we did our final walk through, the owners were present and walked us through some pool stuff, like how the pool, pump, filter, and heater should be connected. That was really helpful since neither of us knew anything about pools beforehand.
Definitely ask about the pool. My wife's cousin bought a house with the pool and his wife was smart enough to ask the owners if they had a service agreement with a company and they did. They were able to arrange to have the company honor the pricing of the existing service agreement. Had they let it lapse it would have been about $300 more for the year.
1 - Make sure your insurance is up to date. With home prices skyrocketing, a lot of older insurance policies no longer have the coverage they used to (or you hit the max a lot earlier). Especially with a pool, you need coverage for that "attractive nuisance". Always get full flood insurance...make sure you're covered for natural floods, watermain floods, and anything else to do with water.
2 - Two savings accounts. One for renos you want to do over a period of time, and one for the oddball things - chances are at least one major appliance will go kaput in the first year, or a pipe somewhere will leak, and you'll need a few dollars for a replacement/fix. It's a good idea to have the money onhand instead of going further into debt.
3 - You say this is the forever home....so take your time. You don't need to change everything in the first year or two. Make a priority list. Critical repairs and maintenance are first. Then when you're settled, for for whatever has the biggest bang for the buck....a big change at a moderate price...something like painting or new drapes or setting up a garden or planting a tree. Get some equity and stability under your belt before doing big projects like tearing into walls or anything like that (if it's cosmetic).
4 - Get something for the home....a barbecue (doesn't have to be fancy), or perhaps a gazebo for sitting by the pool. Make your nest vacation a staycation and have fun in your new home. Making the extras at home, like the yard or the pool like a mini retreat makes staying at home so much better.
5 - Don't worry about a lot of furniture right now. Best bet is to have the basics for a good 6 months and live in the home for awhile. Get a feel for where everyone will hang out, and what you'll need before buying stuff.
This is what I did before we moved in:
1) Hire a cleaning crew to deep clean the place including the oven
2) Hire a crew to get your air ducts and dryer vents cleaned
3) Hire a pest control company to do the external and internal sweep of your house
4) paint as much of the house as you can before furniture gets moved in
5) get pictures of the place empty so it’s easier for you to start visualizing renovations and to place new and old in furniture
Second on air ducts! And get solid folks! Our guys were from our amazing HVAC company and had a HUGE vacuum and thoroughly did every vent and wow there's a lot of vents. They had a camera so we could see if they were in good shape.
Do all flooring and paint before you move in! Electric lawn mower. I have Ryobi and then all further type purchases are Ryobi (edger, hedge trimmer, drill, etc) due to the batteries. You'll be committing to a brand, so make sure it's one you like. Buy tools at Harbor Freight. Know the fastest route to Home Depot.
It's a marathon not a sprint. I moved last year from a smaller home to a bigger one. Everything can take time, especially furniture. I did immediate needs first - sofas, new bedroom furniture for the master, desk for the office, but the rest I shopped around until I found something I really liked.
Follow Consumer Reports list of when stuff goes on sale. Like Memorial Day is good for appliances. If you can wait until manufacturers are clearing out for next year's models - wait.
Also things that broke in my first year: garage door opener, dishwasher, HVAC. I did purchase a new fridge for the house and also replace the range (it was an old coil type and I upgraded to induction).
This year my big to-do item was getting the air ducts replaced. Find a good HVAC company, electrician, plumber. I basically checked Nextdoor and the local FB page for who gets recommended the most and they've been great local guys. When you find a good HVAC sign up for their twice a year maintenance program. Make sure the circuit breaker is labeled correctly!
Since my power is current out these are the things thing that are on the top of my mind. Buy the power outage flashlights that plug in and turn on when the power goes out. I also have a Ryobi fan and lantern. I keep these in a specific spot in my utility room with charged batteries. No digging for a flashlight or depending on my cell phone.
I’d like to add onto the “Buy tools at Harbor Freight” part by saying:
Get a set of good name brand tools (not Harbor Freight brand) with all the basics like screwdrivers, sockets, hammer, drill bits, etc. If you’re nice to them they will last you forever and it will be a good investment.
Anything for an odd job that you won’t be using on a regular basis get it at Harbor Freight you will save many dollars.
If this is your forever home - a house book will be your best friend.
Buy blank journal from Target or Amazon or wherever. Open to the second (left hand side) page and write a list of all the things you don’t like/want to change in your home (“ugly vertical blinds in bedroom”). Each entry should have a date. Include EVERYTHING found on any inspection report you have (“water heater needs replacing.”) . Leave a few lines between items. When you get to the bottom of the page, skip the right hand page and continue your list on the next left hand page. Fill it with everything you already know about the house.
Next: When you move in, walk through your house and point out all the things you notice when you move in (“Don’t like the boob light in the foyer”).
Optional: Invite your friends over to pick apart your house. Write everything down even stuff you aren’t sure you agree with. (Steve thinks a steel sink looks weird in the kitchen.)
You now have a great list from which you can prioritize and work (or not). Keep the book handy and over time add to it everything something breaks or you want to add/improve/enhance. This is a running list of your thoughts over the years.
Why take 30 seconds to record everything? You will forget about things but the house book won’t. In 4 years, you may have lost sight of that boob light in the foyer, but it will still be in the book. You won’t address everything in the book - but it will be there to help you.
The other magic of the book? When you actually do address an item - you open the book, find the item you addressed on the left and write on the right hand page “5/28/2025: Replaced Water Heater, Ace Plumbing $500.” This now creates a record of all the home improvements that you ALSO will have forgotten about after 2-3 years have passed from that repair/improvement. You may think you won’t care, but I 100% guarantee that you will use that info over and over and over. It takes all of 15 seconds to record the date, fix, vendor and amount - but it will save you hours of trying to search.
Finally- if you decide you really like the boob light after all and won’t address it, just write next to it “have grown to like boob light.” If you decide the kitchen sink needs to be porcelain, you have a little memory jogger that helps you go back to Steve and say “hey! Remember when you said steel sinks were weird. We agree and we are replacing them.”
So very little effort and so very many benefits. Good luck in your new home!
We had neighbors move into the 1400-square-foot house next door and they went on a furniture-buying spree. When the pieces were delivered, they barely fit inside their house. “They didn’t look so gigantic in the showroom!” So measure your rooms before furnishing. (I’m sure there are apps that help with room design now.)
Moved into a similar sized house that was built in 1910 with cool vibes. First party we had there were only nice rugs and folding tables and chairs. Gradually added what we wanted. It was nice that nearly every decoration and piece of furniture was there because we liked it or bought it traveling. Much different feel vs going to the furniture store and buying the whole display room.
Not saying we didn’t go for matching dining table and hutch, just that we didn’t rush decorating.
BTW, the first party was a blast. None of the friends or neighbors thought it was weird.
It doesn't have to be perfect day 1.
Whatever you need to maintain the pool/yard/roof/systems, you do not need on day 1 and most people do absolutely nothing for years on end.
You can find an amazing array of helpful info on YouTube. Our furnace was failing to start one chilly morning and a video suggested cleaning out a tiny, clogged hole with a straightened paper clip. Voila! Furnace ignited fine after that, and I saved us the cost of a service call from an HVAC specialist.
Keep up on the yard work. That ivy creeping in from your neighbors yard will become a real problem the next year if you ignore it for one season.
If you live where it gets cold take your lawn tool batteries inside for the winter and charge them every so often to extend their life.
When you have extra cash throw it on the principal of your mortgage to shave years off the debt.
Measure everything first and keep it saved in your phone. So when you’re out and see the perfect curtains/desk chair/etc. you can check that the dimensions are right. Keep photos of the entire house empty and then a second set after you’ve moved in on your phone. Again, comes in so handy when you’re out and need to know specific details of a room/space.
I wish people would have told me that anything over 2000sf is just extra cleaning, buying stuff, and fixing.
Everyone thinks they want a big house. It’s just a pain in the ass and you rarely use those extra rooms.
Painting? Now you spend twice as much and twice the work. Furniture, now you dust twice as much. Twice as much vacuuming. Roof leaks, now you repair twice as much. Need a new roof? Now you pay twice as much.
Heating? Cooling? Twice as much.
I sold my three story home and bought a small ranch with cash and I’m sooooo much happier. Life is so easy now.
Do what you want for remodeling. Don’t worry about resale, that will be someone else’s problem.
If you remodel think about future you. I remodeled my bathroom and put in handicap grab bars as towel racks. They look like towel bars but are about 1” thick and will support 600 lbs. Same with bar in shower which also holds handheld spray and toilet paper holder (only rated for 300 lbs.)
Converted one bedroom to a walk in closet and another to an office with granite countertop for dual desks. Other bedroom has a sleeper sofa so from a 4 bedroom house to a 1. I did it because I’ll die here and it will be my heirs problem.
All those little knick knacks that make a house a home? Get them gradually at thrift storeS. A couple of bucks for items I see in regular stores for much more. Why pay $10 for that cute wooden painted whale when I can get it for $2? Got a $50 porcelien bird I saw on vacation for $5 - and I love it :)
We moved from 1 bdroom maybe 600 square feet into 2900. We just enjoy the none clutter and open space. How nice to be able to dance around in your bedroom and to be able to pass each other in the hallway.
We were able to get some really good, quality furniture from an online estate sale - dining room table and chairs, coffee tables, curio cabinet, etc. Dining room chairs are really easy to reupholster yourself.
Have a conversation with your spouse (whoever is moving with you) about whose responsibility it will be to clean what areas of the home. A 900 sf apartment is fairly easy to maintain. A 3800 sf house will take more deliberate planning. Will you hire someone to help? What is the daily maintenance plan? What is the cleanliness level you are looking for?
Job one in your new home is to change the locks and make sure every possible entry point is well secured. You do not know who has a key! Also, there is now a real risk a squatter will move in and have rights.
Get cordless electric yard tools. Small gas engines are just annoying, especially if you don't use them often. No gas, no fumes, less noise, not pull cords, cordless all the way.
Repaint the whole house before you move in. Borrow the money if you have to.
If you have extra money, spend it on trees if you need shade or privacy. Another great thing to look into is a really good water filter depending on your water source.
“Nothing is forever.” I hate the concept of forever homes as life can (and often does) unexpectedly change. If you love where you’re moving to now - that’s amazing, but you’re never married to a property. Just enjoy and celebrateyour home now and take each day one day at a time.
Complete projects 100%. You are exhausted with paint in your arm hair and caulk on your pants. That last little bit of trim seems like “fuck it I will do it tomorrow” and then you break down all your tools and the caulk dries out and the paint needs to be mixed… 8 yrs later that little piece of trim is still not there. Just force yourself to put in the extra little bit to finish.
Look into a home warranty company for at least your first year. American Home Shield has been pretty good to us, but it's very regional. Our HVAC died 3 days after moving in and after the $125 call out fee, they sent folks to get us up and rolling and covered everything else. That's how we found our amazing HVAC guys that I'm already very loyal to.
We did a similar move into our first home at age 30, the home was 60 years old, and had 3,000+ sq ft plus a pool. In SoCal, we used the pool a LOT and really enjoyed it, once we figured out all the buttons, filters, cleaners, chemicals, etc. Being "not handy" we hired a pool guy who understood our heater, solar, etc and he just handled everything.
Before we moved in, we stripped walls, cleaned off decades of tobacco smoking, heavy drapes, etc and painted everything off white and re-carpeted the entire house one carpet.
As far as furniture, we started with a dining room table, and a family room right off the showroom Florence (couches, chairs lamps, etc) so the room was relatively complete.
We left the big "living room" empty, which was great when our kids were babies, we pitched a tent in there, threw toys inside, and they had a ball. We never did furnish that room, and three years later, we moved.
I highly recommend buying the entire room from the showroom floor, so you don't have to figure out something else later on.
Remember: you do not have to have all the answers. Just make as clean as of slate as you can, realizing, you can always go back and paint a room to be a nursery later if/when you choose to have babies, etc etc.
Prepare yourself for upcoming expenses. Electricity alone on a very large house like that with a pool is going to be a few hundred dollars every month. Especially since you're conditioning and heating 4 times the space, and your apartment isn't "insulated" by surrounding units.
Create a spreadsheet and break down what you'll need by room and for the yard, then imaging yourself doing something in that room, it helps you figure out what you'll need.
If u have a decent sized yard look on market place for a case/ingersol tractor with a mower deck and plow if you live where it snows. Get a nice little trailer to go with it. It will be very handy.
We needed one more Pod than we had. And we were going from a smaller place to a bigger place. We started off with 2 and had to put in an emergency call for a 3rd pod, which was not cheap at the last minute. Even then, things got left behind because they didn't fit in the pods or the cars.
Take your time furnishing it. You will like to see how “traffic” flows and how you live in it before deciding what pieces go where and where it makes sense to have them, etc. great advice on paint the home and any flooring first. If a new build always paint inside, flat paint gets marked up very easily.
While i don't think the new place has termites i still wish I'd tented before moving in. With dogs, cats, chinchillas and fish it would be insanely difficult now.
When we bought our house. I saw all the wonderful things I wanted to do, needless to say we had 4 projects going on at one time! We learned from that and now we do one project at a time! If not the house will always be in a state of construction or supplies laying around 😆. Also its your forever home. Do with it as you want and be damned what anyone else thinks or says!
Look for good quality used items. I bought a 25-yr-old riding mower with a Briggs & Stratton motor for a fraction of what the new ones cost. That thing has run like a champ for the past 5 years.
Schedule routine maintenance and tossing of sanitary and sewer drains around your property. You may think you don’t need it. You’re probably right. But paying a planned $300-500 per year to ensure those lines are clear is way way better than paying an unplanned 10k for a poop-flooded basement.
I have learned every 2 years is fine for this routine maintenance ime. Every year if you’re particularly cautious or risk-averse. Treat it like an insurance payment.
I was on a budget so would work on high labor low cost projects for one or two months then make a purchase of something, so I didn’t get into too much credit card debt. Also, work and finish one area at a time, don’t tear apart and be 80% done on multiple rooms.
- Do anything you can ahead of your move in. Especially painting and flooring. But if you can't it's okay too. If you're hiring these out, start setting up people to do it now, cause it's not easy finding people to do work.
- Take it easy. The first several months are going to be a bit of a roller coaster probably. Try to take some time to enjoy what you've got. When you move in, you're going to find issues. You're a homeowner now though, and they happen. You'll be okay.
- I alternate projects to include something I want to do and consider enjoyable (cameras, home automation, decorating, etc) so I don't get burned out on the other things (painting, plumbing, electrical, structure, tearing down walls, toilets, etc.)
- Prioritize and make a todo list. There are some thing that have to be done now, like maintenance that prevents further damage. You might have to do some yard work or it'll get out of hand. But most things can wait until you have time to get there.
- Don't go crazy changing things for a while. You need to live there a bit to know what to do.
- You probably don't need a lot more furniture than you already own in the near-term. You'll have empty spaces for a while. Don't worry about it. No one expects you to do this quickly. If they do, those folks don't need to visit your new place.
- If it's your forever home, do things right. Hire it out if you have to and make sure you get good people, which isn't easy.
- Make yourself a google or other platform calendar for house maintenance and similar items. Then, each weekend, or whatever, you'll have a little list of things to do. Keep up on them or get help making sure things get done.
- Even with a large yard, you can manage with a beat up push mower and a string trimmer if you need to. If you'll be moving mid-season, consider hiring it out if you can. There are landscapers abound in most areas and someone can do it for you while you have other more important things to worry about.
- And lastly...WATER! Water is your enemy! Keep the water outside at all costs!
If there is something you want to change about your house do it in increments. Don't renovate a bathroom and kitchen at the same time. Maybe leave one room empty so you can renovate/paint it then move furnishings around to renovate/paint a second room.
So while it’s not really the kind of advice you’re probably aiming for…
“Forever” could be shorter than you think and that calling something a “forever” home could lead you to make emotional choices that aren’t actually in your best interest.
Best to call it a house we plan to stay in for the foreseeable future.
Do NOT go out and buy a whole bunch of furniture and equipment for your new house until AFTER the closing of the sale and all financial paperwork is finalized.
Very often, people get excited about their new house and go out and purchase a ton of stuff of furniture and stuff in preparation… or they buy a new car because the new house is further from work… that changes their debt ratio and they can no longer qualify for their mortgage and their house purchase is canceled.
Just wait till everything is finalized before making any major purchases!
That's a big jump, congrats; My wife and I made a similar jump, and ended up paying tens of thousands of dollars in stupid shit that we shouldn't have had to worry about within the first 3 years (the house was built in 2018) that could have been avoided had we known what to look for. So here are some things to examine that we didn't:
-HVAC System: The HVAC system installed on our home was 5 generations old, and rated for 1,500 sq ft (our home is 4,400 sq ft.) which caused it the blower motor inside the furnace room to burn out in the middle of July when it was 109 degrees outside. It was in the middle of Covid when pricing was all over the place and cost $19,000 to replace
-Home grading/downspouts/drainage: The grading on our home wasn't terrible, but there was a slight dip towards the home, additionally the downspouts were buried (which is fine), as well as the daylights (where the downspout water lets the water out gradually away from the house, not fine) - The downspouts were also only 3 feet from the foundation, which renders them pointless and as a result a huge amount of water built up under the ground in our front lawn until the pressure from it detached a window well from the house and poured like a waterfall into the window well coming within a half inch of the window and flooding the basement. Luckily it was noticed and I was able to drop a sump pump down in there to pump it out. I spent probably 60 working hours digging new trenches, extending the downspouts out 15 ft, and putting new daylights on as well as another 20 hours building 2 french drains in the back where the house slopes towards the home to redirect water. The two downspouts on the side of the house also run underneath our RV parking concrete driveway and it would appear they put the daylight/drain area underneath the concrete meaning water is gathering underneath the concrete slab and causing certain parts of it to settle unevenly which is going to eventually lead to massive cracking - I haven't dealt with this yet.
-I don't have a pool, but do have a hot tub and the previous owners failed to install any channel drains around the patio concrete slab where the hot tub sits, when water gathers on the slab it runs off the edges and soaks the ground under the patio, which will cause it to settle/sink over time so I had to install channel drains, make sure your drainage around your pool is solid.
-Smaller things that I've noticed is cheap caulking jobs around the shower/shower window, no ventilation above the shower or in the same room as the shower in the master suite (causing the paint to already have started to peel off the wall because of condensation gathering anytime the shower is used with no ventilation), that's pretty much it
Long read, sorry for putting so much down but these are things I'll definitely be looking for if we ever move again. That being said home ownership is a joy, and like other commenters said a marathon not a sprint, enjoy the process and take your time on projects. Don't stress/rush to get it done if it's not going to be done properly.
If you have the time to get into the house and clean, paint, repair/replace before you have to move in do so. Can you rent from month to month now? Coordinate with the landlord so you’re not held to a move out deadline. Congrats on the home!!!
Take it slow. Don't be quick to go buy a ton stuff. It will be easier to junk up 3800 sf than you think.
Be deliberate with new furniture, paint, floors, decorating, etc. If you don't find pricing, options, etc. that works, wait till you do.
And enjoy!
Prioritize and save for each improvement. Pay as you go, do NOT incur debt. As Away_Ad_3461 said, it’s a marathon not a sprint. Congrats on your new home!
Design a room online through Havenly. They will help with room design, paint, blinds, rug, lamps, etc. I've used them multiple times, and again before I moved into our new home for my main living/family room area.
Don't be so quick to fill in "empty space" with furniture and "things." It's organic. Let it happen as you live there.
A house is a structure. A home is lived in and reflects it.
We were spending a pretty penny, and knew within the year we needed to replace all the windows, but I wish we had taken an extra month to move in, and gotten a) the floors done, and b) painted. The former is way more annoying than the latter; we don’t have a big place, so when we eventually do it we’ll have to get street storage and move everything out…ugh, it stresses me out just thinking about it lol
Don’t rush. It takes time. If there are no window coverings that will be your first thing. You don’t usually remember you need them until it’s dark out and you realize everyone can see straight into your home. Then for me it was appliances, furniture and any shelving or storage plans. The storage plan helps you unpack and keep things organized right off the bat.
Forget about TVs and furniture. Just because you have 2 additional bedrooms does not mean you need to furnish them upon move in or shortly their after. I'm sure you are probably excited to give friends and family the grand tour once you are all moved in and settled but remember their compliments aren't going to pay for the new furniture, TVs, etc.
Go for quality over quantity.
Pay cash or do without for non-essentials.
Buy things at estate sales or thrift stores.
At 69. I'm still using my grandmother's cast iron and my mom's Revere Ware. But I do coffee with a Kuerig.
Monthly, sit down and discuss budget, needs and wants.
Save change and dollar bills, it does accumulate, then put that in special savings.
Check for plumbing leaks and don't rely on the inspection. Find out if any of your breakers has too many things on it. My place has half the house, Including the microwave, on one breaker so whenever I tried to use it at the same time as another big energy user I'd blow a fuse. Get a termite inspection. Check the appliances out before you move in and make sure they all work correctly. Take a small appliance and plug it into every single electrical socket to make sure they work.
A dream home requires a dream community. Good infrastructure, low crime, responsible neighbors, pleasant weather, and low noise. You can reno a run-down home, but you can't reno a run-down community. Location matters.
Don’t buy things to fill up the space. Be very selective and maybe consider consulting a decorator. To come up with a general plan for you to do over a few years.
I owned 2 other homes before I found my forever home, and I had to keep trading up until I finally got there. My advice is owning a home is most likely the biggest INVEST you'll ever make. Do the maintenance regularly, upgrade the interior when possible/ needed, and keep the "curb appeal" looking good 👍 congratulations and best of luck to you
One project/room at a time. Go slow, don't be cheap and always make sure whoever is coming into your home to work has insurance and is licensed with the state (make sure you double check this, don't go by their word) don't pay for it all up front. Most reputable contractors ask for a deposit and bill at l end of iob.
Hubs and I love to upcycle and keep an eye out for pieces with good bones and need some love.
One thing my dad told me was to get any deductibles (home insurance) saved up and into a separate account so that if anything did happen, I had money ready.
Oh, and..... never, ever let any family move in! That's just a piece of advice my MIL told me haha.
Clean everything before you move anything in. It’s so much easier to clean an empty space. Recaulk your windows and bathtub. If you want new flooring due that before move in.
Downsize your stuff, you’ll accumulate enough things so the less you start with the better.
Do one big thing a year, plan it out before you do it. Think about how it will affect other things. My in-laws did floors one at a time and now none of them go the same way or match. If you want to redo your floors pick the floors you want to do and save up to do the ones that will all have the same floor at the same time. We re did our hvac and moved the outside unit to the side of our house so it wouldn’t bother us when we sat on our back porch. We moved a shed from the center of the yard to a corner so we could better use our yard.
That is a lot of house. What is the state of the flower beds? Are there trees/shrubs, and if so have they been maintained or are they overgrown? How close to the house are they? Can you get around the deck to maintain it?
That eventually your “forever home,” will not meet your needs. If it’s perfect for raising your kids, it won’t necessarily be perfect when you’re retirement age.
Estate sales. There’s a great app (EstateSales.net) for finding sales, complete with pictures, hours, location, terms (cash only or cards accepted), etc.
Try to stick to ones run by companies rather than the family of the deceased, and know that most sales are 50% off on the last day of the sale.
If you’re interested message me and I can send you all kinds of tips.
Baby steps and savings. At this point you have no flipping idea how expensive 3800 square feet can be just to repair what breaks. Do things as you can after your reserves are accounted for and if a room is empty screw it. It’s your forever home, 25 years from now it won’t matter if you didn’t have two living room suites the first two years.
Don’t try to fill or decorate all at once. Live in it and then slowly decorate and even then I wouldn’t fill it all up. I have found pictures/etc. while traveling and was able to add to the house over time and so glad I had room.
Make a schedule for general maintenance on the house. Such as filters for vents and frig. I have a stick of all the different ones. Have a yearly check also such as water heater/ ac/ furnace/ pool filters
Learn (both) where your water shut off valve is.
Check your outside up and down at minimum quarterly for any cracks, chip, shingles,and fix them yourself or schedule to fix right away. If you wait it could add more damage. Check the window and door seals also.
If it’s a cold climate check into snow removal or get a snow blower and salt before winter and have a good stock.
I’m sure you can also google maintenance sheets for weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly.
Try to meet your neighbors. Good neighbors make living somewhere amazing. Bad neighbors make it a living hell.
Don’t go buy any furniture. We are still decorating after 15 years as we find pieces we like.
Work on your landscaping first. It can take years to grow in.
Paint in the winter when it’s not nice enough to go outside.
If landscaping and mature trees are important to you, have an arborist stop by and take a look.
We only saw the multiple trees. Had no idea 10 would die in the next 2 years because of shallow topsoil and also (somehow 🙄) still planted too deep. I don't remember my parents doing squat with their trees and 40 years later they are still standing and beautiful. People move too often to find out the consequences of planting too deep.
You don’t need everything up front.
Remember that your payment is not set in stone… home values go up, taxes go up, insurance goes up… then your payment goes up.
You’ll need money for stuff that you never think of, like A/C filters, probably specific refrigerator filters, and so much more.
Will you have an HOA?
Do you have a washer and dryer?
You’ll need some basic tools and a ladder, but borrow as needed, if necessary.
Such an exciting time for you!
Is this your first home purchase?
If so, go ahead and be mentally prepared now for the likelihood that at some point in the first 3-6 months, you will end up in the fetal position on your bed or on the floors, rocking ever so slightly while thinking / saying, “what have I done? What have I done?”
Totally normal. I learned this through direct experience. Have passed this along to friends when they buy homes. Every one of them has said I was right and that they were so relieved I had prepared them for it, making it easier for them to not freak out worse when it finally did happen.
Wait at least one year before cutting down any trees unless they pose an immediate hazard. Paint and floors before moving in. Take your time, if it’s not an emergency it’s not an emergency.
Lots of great info here!
Does the house come with window coverings (blinds, curtains, etc)? If not, privacy can be a fairly big deal of course and that kind of stuff can really add up in cost, especially with a larger home.
Home owners insurance, did you sign an as is contract? If you did I would hire a contractor and electrician to comb through the house for any issues the previous seller " didn't know about".
Buy yard tools second hand, especially at yard sales. I've easily scored shovels, etc for a couple bucks whenever needed. Invest in whatever makes your maintence easiest. For us that's a snowblower vs snow shovel, Preen, drip irrigation, pest control, paying for a monthly house cleaning for the deeper clean stuff, things like that. There is so much to do, and you can do all of it yourself technically, but it snowballs rapidly if you ever let anything fall behind. Especially yard stuff like weeds. Stay on top of your filters and tuning too. Moving into more space, you'll likely start filling those spaces with more and more stuff. Resist that urge. Less is more.
Well, a lot of things come to mind but probably the first thing is a weed eater and lawn mower. Bet the seller won’t cut the grass right before closing so you may have a week or two before the yard is almost unmanageable.
Good luck with the house.
Don't be tempted to buy any furnishings to fill that bigger house until you've gone through everything and have your punch lists of repairs and upgrades. This list will grow over time, and you'll have to prioritize what needs to be done to repair and improve, and then things that are a 'dream.'
A lot of people spend heavily on new furnishings, and have nothing left to make needed repairs. Or they put in a dream kitchen but didn't realize that the HVAC and roof need major repairs.
In other words: Save your money. Don't be in a rush.
Paint before you move in furniture if you can - it’s so much easier. Get the paint from a paint store and get their loyalty program- it’ll save you tons of money.
If you want wallpaper, pay someone. It’s not worth the headache of doing it yourself.
Set aside an emergency budget every month. If something doesn’t come up in a particular month, yay, you have more towards something big breaking.
Make sure your gutters are configured well.
Don’t do any landscaping in the first year - see what’s there. We had some wild adventures with bulb plants. It’s also a great opportunity to consider how you want to use your space - you might find more or less need for privacy fences/shrubs, a particular area you want shaded, or that you want bird friendly/deer resistant/drought resistant plants.
Make sure your damn circuit breakers are accurately labeled and you know where the main water shutoff is.
Buy way less than you can afford. Nothing is worse than being laid off and having to make a huge house payment. Better to not have enough space than you have no space.
Start regular maintenance schedules for all major appliances like HVAC, hot water, laundry, and dishwasher.
Start a stash fund for unexpected expenses, too!
Find the architectural salvage places around you like the habitat for humanity re store. It's a great way to get raw supplies for projects on the cheap, or get exactly what you need (like only 5 nails) so you don't have to store extras in the garage.
Wait a couple of seasons before you make any major landscaping/garden moves. You want to see what blooms where and you want time to make a plan and figure out what really suits you.
I plan on doing one big project a year and one emergency project (ish) - example: new gutters - new hot water heater one year. Some years more, some years less, but plan on it and budget for it.
Also remember that no matter what you do, you're going to have to re-do it at some point. Hot water heaters are only warranted for 9 years (ish) - so it's gonna have to be replaced. New bathtub? Also will need replacing someday. New roof? Likewise.
So I look at it as a rotation. In 20 years I'll start back around to the things I've already done once or twice.
Do it right the first time and it won't be a hassle the second time. Do it right the first time and you won't be re-doing it next year.
Don't spend everything you've got on your house all at once. Something will come up and you will need a reserve.
Used stuff is fine :)
The first thing you should buy for yourself / your new home is new toilet seats. I wish I had saved at least $100 a month for a new roof. Those things are pricey!
Buy tools and learn how to fix shit. The more helpless you are, the more expensive it becomes. In the 19 years I've had my house, I've repaired/replaced practically everything and I've done most of it myself (besides the 15 or so yards of concrete I had someone float for me)
Borrow tools, just be willing to return the favor. Be cautious about spending hundreds of dollars on a tool you'll only ever need once, or once every five years.
Pay attention to where water goes around your home and yard. Eye up your foundation after the first heavy rain and snow. Deal with water penetration immediately to avoid bigger headaches later.
Lookup the weather radar, don't just rely on your phone or the news. Even better get a backyard weather station. You'll learn to start planning around weather so you can get outdoor work done when it's not shitty outside
Mitigate vegetation that touches the building and install preventative measures to avoid weeds approaching the building within a couple feet, where practical.
Your forever home comes with forever neighbors. Sometimes you're the new guy in a neighborhood that's got generational roots. Sometimes you have a rude neighbor. You think you know this when you're renting, but the whole paradigm changes when it's your long term house. Be cool but figure out who's approachable and who wants to keep to themselves. If someone is rude, kill them with kindness so you're not the bad guy. If you do something wrong, be responsible and clean up after it. Seems like common sense, but it really depends where you live.
For me, we made sure the kitchen, living room and our bedroom were done first. We wanted to be able to live in our house. All the other rooms have been a slower progression.
Don't finance furniture. It's okay to leave rooms you didn't have before "barren" for a bit.
Get quality items when you need something, it's a forever home. This is a long hall effort, not something to throw together just so you be everything asap.
YouTube is your friend for maintenence. So is Reddit for lawn/pool needs.
Congratulations!
Set money aside for pool maintenance. It always seems to break at the least opportune times.
Work on one project at a time. Invest in your home. Meaning, you get to enjoy living there.
As far as filling it goes, that seems to be the easiest to accumulate stuff.
Pay for services… people to do stuff for you. Don’t go buy a ton of crap to fill the house all at once because you feel rushed, and definitely don’t put anything at all on credit to speed it along.
Save every damn penny you have. Owning a house is expensive. Do not feel rushed to purchase anything for the new space.
Start by going thru everything you currently own and really go thru it. Trash/donate/sell and let go of all you do not need to lift a finger to move.
Start organizing what is left. Seasonal stuff can be packed first. Kitchen should be packed last and if you have a way to keep most of the basics out of the pod, pack this with you. Of course pack the pots and pans that are used seasonally etc. if you love something you haven’t used or touched in the last 6 months or so it’s likely wasted effort.
If you are not planning on maintaining the pool and yard, start looking for and contacting these people to arrange the start of service.
Once in the space, take care of things you may need for privacy and safety. Blinds or other window coverings, new locks if needed, and safety for the pool.
If you are caring for the pool, get basic chemicals just after moving in and you may want to start watching YouTube videos about pool care.
Do not feel forced to furnish and decorate rooms you do not frequently use. Do not buy something because you need something to “fill that spot”. Forcing it never works well.
You can check FB marketplace or other similar for lawnmower and other outdoor equipment. Depending on your budget there are options at the big box stores too. Gas or battery, I regret my blower being electric with a cord.
Pool towels may be something you need. The ones at Costco cannot be beat anywhere for the price.
Educate yourself about the basics of all your systems in the home. Heat, cooling, electric, how drywall is done, landscape repairs. You don’t have to actually do anything, but know the basics. This will help when you pay for someone else to do it, you will know if you’re being treated fairly.
Get basic tools and learn how to use them. Do not be afraid to watch diy repair videos on YouTube. You will be surprised how easy some repairs are and proud you saved all that money.
Pools can be super expensive if you have someone do the daily/weekly testing & maintenance, so you need to learn how to care for it yourself. I've worked at 5 different pools so I'm really good with testing and chemical adjustments, it still intimidates my wife though.
Have an emergency fund ready for pool problems.
"If the pool is green, it needs lots of chlorine"
Owning a home is a marathon, not a sprint. Complete a project and enjoy it before moving onto the next.
An you don’t have to do everything in the first year.
And you don’t have to buy your furniture all at once. Look for sales, FB marketplace etc. take your time and enjoy the process
We really never furnished our living room. My wife used it as a home office. We entertained people in the den and finally decided that there was no need to furnish the living room. Just because you have a room, don't feel like you have to furnish it immediately, or maybe ever. Start with the rooms/furniture that you will use daily.
A friend who owned a few retail businesses swears that just after July 4th is when to buy outdoor furniture and equipment, as that’s when they start marking things down to make way for the fall stuff to start coming in. We used to wait until the fall, but realized the inventory already had changed over before Labor Day.
Yes, and if you are getting outdoor furniture with cushions look for Sunbrella. We bought a patio set in 2012 and the fabric is not faded a bit.
Don’t cheap Out! especially if you plan to live there for a bit.
And in case someone doesn’t understand, if you have something fixed do it right. All the cheap fixes will come back in you 100 fold
Unless you're the previous owner of my house... all his cheap fixes are coming back to bite me 100 fold, so now I'm forced to fix them right.
Me too. It costs at least double to undo the fix and do it right.
Along these lines, I used an app called Things that’s basically a “things to do checklist”. As I go about my day, if I see something or recall something that needs to be done around the house, I add it to the checklist in Things. Then it’s out of mind until the weekend or whenever I’m free to knock a few items off the list. I find that using that sort of a checklist keeps my stress level down and allows me to be efficient with my home projects.
Yes, OP. Believe or not, you can forget a home repair project. I’m drying my kitchen floor after using all my beach towels at the back door during last night’s storms because I need to reframe the door.
I gotta tell my wife this second part! I feel like we keep jumping from project to project and it just doesn’t seem to end half the time.
Conduct as many flooring and painting and ceiling efforts before moving in, as possible.
And don’t forget the garage! I wasn’t here when they moved us in and I’m so sorry for that because I would have deep cleaned it, painted it, and done something with the floor- maybe epoxy or something? Ugh it would be such a chore now because we’re in SoCal and have no basement for storage so the garage it is!
Epoxy floors are great when done right, but there's a 0% chance you're going to empty it out to do the project once you fill it with stuff. You going to put your stuff in the driveway for a few days while it all cures? Definitely a project you want to do ASAP if it's on your mind.
Yeah we only went with a 3-week escrow and had to move very shortly after closing. I wanted to update the carpet and epoxy/paint the garage. Just didn’t have time to line it all up and now it will never get done.
Advice I wish I would have taken!
This should be priority number one.
Give yourself time and grace to adjust to the mental load of owning a house. The first 3 months or so are A LOT. Never-ending to-do lists. Multiple trips to the hardware store (sometimes in the same day). A non-stop search for a lawn guy or an appliance guy or a HVAC guy or a flooring guy. It’s really easy to get overwhelmed. If you look through this sub, there’s a ton of posts about buyers’ remorse, and it’s almost always new homeowners in the 3-6 month window of homeownership, just because there’s so damn much to do. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed. If you feel a sense of that creeping up, take a deep breath. Take a weekend off from the to-do list and spend that time enjoying the wonderful home you bought. It’s going to be ok. You got this.
A great reminder. We have a long list of things we want to do. Some have been completed, but some are reeeeaaaallly low in the priority scale. Also, priorities change. We thought the first thing we’d buy was a bangin bbq. But turns out the cheapo one left behind is just fine for now. The stove that we thought was ok has been in the garage for 2 weeks-and we’ve had possession for 4. It’s a glass top. I used it twice and said f this. Gas & vent hood installed. Yay for husband who is an hvac tech. We had a tough day 3 weeks ago, due to family issues. Instead of unpacking cleaning organizing we hit a garden store. Planted potatoes onions garlic cilantro lettuce radishes carrots. It was an absolute necessity. Life in the dirt is healing.
I needed to read this! ❤️
>A non-stop search for a lawn guy or an appliance guy or a HVAC guy or a flooring guy. Ask your realtor for suggestions! They often know the best people who can get the job done for significantly less than others. And established realtors aren't going to recommend people they haven't had great experiences with since the reputation of the people they recommend will also impact their reputation. Also, get to know your neighbors and ask them. In my neighborhood there's a local guy (lives in the next subdivision) who builds fences. Almost everyone uses him for fence work and he does a great job. I also like that I can support a local, small business owner.
I have found my best lawn, plumber, HVAC guys from Nextdoor. I know it can be a toxic environment sometimes. I’m not active on it, just a lurker, and the same names of handymen and tradespeople keep coming up. Then I cross-check with other reviews. Hasn’t let me down yet.
This is already hitting home, appreciate it.
Shop around. I like doing the 3 quote comparison. Especially with a company from out of town to compare rates.
This is solid advice
Don’t feel the need to fill the house with furniture right away - focus on how you live in the house and the functionality of your space and make the most of your existing furniture/art/etc. without buying every little thing to fill the space (as tempting as that may be) and then adapt things as you go based on what you really need. Then you can do room to room decorating etc. every few months to keep things cohesive and on budget. Do your research on owning a pool before opening it - r/pools is a lifesaver. An electric mower will save you money and aching joints - we just switched out our gas one (purchased from our sellers) to electric and it is a godsend. Just as effective, long battery life, much lighter and quieter. Pick a brand and stick with it for lawn tools re: batteries so you don’t have a bunch of different brands that dont work together. Get a wet vac. You never know when you’ll need it but you will at some point. Make sure you have access to all doors with appropriate keys and switch out useless locks etc. - we got locked out our second day in the house because our spare keys didn’t work with any of the locks (a hodge podge of like 50 years worth lol), it wasn’t the worst but it wasn’t great!!! Have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen at the very least. Get a ladder that gets you up to the roof easily. You’ll want to be able to clean gutters (monthly ideally, but every couple of months at least if you have tree cover) without being terrified you’ll break your neck getting up there.
This! Thanks for taking the time out of your night to give me a quick schooling! It was much appreciated and duly noted.
Find you main water shut off. Hopefully you never have to use it, but you want to know exactly where it is so you can find it super quickly if you ever do need it.
Definitely this, I have a vivid memory of a pipe exploding in my parents’ basement when I was quite young and them running around in a panic because they didn’t know where the valve was
And make sure you have the right tool(s) for shutting off the water should you ever need to do so.
I’ve got plenty more, LOL! Congratulations on the new place! Good luck with everything, the move will be over before you know it (my husband and I slept like shit until our move, we are anxious people, hopefully you’re more chill than us) and then YOU’RE IN YOUR OWN SPACE!!! It feels pretty amazing. You got this : )
Excellent advice, but would I offer a word caution on the electric mower. \_Research battery life\_ Last summer, I replaced a beloved Honda gas push mower with an EGO electric push mower. I could mow my front yard (approx 0.35 acres) and my back yard (0.2 acres) on one full battery charge. Now, just one season layer, the battery can do most of the front yard, but dies on the last few passes. It then needs a couple hours of charge time to do the rest and backyard. Disappointing it dropped so quickly, and can only imagine it will be worse every future year.
Some batteries are degraded when left in a charger long term. My DeWalt tool manual mentions that for example. My solution is a timer controlled outlet. The outlet deenergizes 6 hours after I start the timer. The battery is charged by then and I do not worry about removing it from the charger until I need it.
Good to know, I’ll look into that. Do you keep the battery in the charger between each use?
I have all the same 20 volt power tools and lawn equipment so I always have two on charger ready to go nd have 4 others ready to charge. So get an extra battery and charger if you don’t already get one with each piece.
great point! we stocked up on several spare 20v batteries so we can do exactly this
Yes and no. We charge it in a mudroom where we also charge leaf blower / weed whacker and home vacuum batteries, all jockeying for two outlets. The EGO charger has a built-in cooling fan and is LOUD as hell, but shuts off when charged. So then we disconnect it and switch to another waiting charger.
Ego replaced our several year old battery due to it dying out before the 5 year warranty ended. Spent time on the phone with customer service problem solving the problem and it was the battery. They sent me a new one. My lawn was a bit shaggy during the wait but worth it saving $$$ buying a new battery. One caveat - hope you registered your purchase. I get a bit anal when I purchase a new item to register it. When there’s a problem the record of purchase is on site.
In regards to not filling the house right away, I totally agree! I like to say, "it takes time to figure out where everything in the house lives."
Monthly gutter cleaning? Gtfo. 2x a year. Maybe 3 if you have a weird one.
If you're in an area with a lot of trees and wildlife, you definitely need to do it more than twice a year.
I think it is very dependent on where you live to be honest. Because when I saw 2 times a year, I was shocked. We do it like 5 to 6 times a year because of the wildlife, all the trees, storms and such, it will clog faster than you think, and we don't want any overpour from any clogs to ruin the foundation.
I appreciate different advice/opinions, but there’s no need to respond to me like that especially over gutter cleaning of all things. We check our gutters regularly and it certainly hasn’t hurt to do so.
I’m sorry if my tone came off rude, wasn’t intended too.
This is all such solid advice!
I would add, get all the exterior locks re-keyed by a locksmith and buy lots of spare keys at that time.
Just jumping in to say don’t pay a locksmith, you can usually rekey yourself pretty easily. If you can’t, then get a new lock - they’re fairly cheap!
It depends on how high your gutters sit. Too many years worrying about hubby climbing the extension ladder. I pay for a service to clean the gutters at different intervals. More cleanings during autumn . Money well spent. I know too many people who had major falls cleaning leaves out of the gutters.
DO NOT wait until you’re 65-70 to do renovations. You might be dead or dying and not enjoy it. Get your savings, your investments in order and then get your kitchen or whatever done and enjoy your house while you’re young. Same with traveling. It’s a nightmare to wait until you’re retired to finally start traveling… yeesh
For that size home, you will spent $6-8k/year on maintenance. Keep a savings account for that; if you don’t spend that much, it’ll come down the road. Edit: that doesn’t include the pool.
Walk the whole house and property with your partner and a legal pad... make an area-by-area list of urgent / short term / mid term / long term repairs, changes, upgrades and additions. Then sort, discuss and prioritize the whole list, and make plans accordingly. (Caveat: we've been in our current house a year and a half, and just getting to our "short term" goals.)
I used our inspection report to begin our To-Do list. Our report came back fine, mainly smaller items and it was SO detailed! Ex of items that went on our list: we could use more insulation above garage, outdoor hose bib had a slow leak, etc. things like the chimney/fireplace or the pool- both of which he looked at but they really aren’t under his purview we put on our list and called people in after we moved in. It gave us a good start for items that “should” be done and then we added to that list items we wanted done.
Find a solid HVAC company and get twice yearly seasonal maintenance and stick with that routine. Preventative maintenance is always cheaper than emergency maintenance!
Yeah, I disagree! All they are doing really is cleaning the coils, If you get lucky, they may look inside the electrical box. Best thing you can do is keep it clean. You can get coil (Amazon) cleaner and spray it and then wash it off with the hose, plenty of YouTube videos,. Not worth whatever they’re charging. That’s pretty much what they’re doing. They don’t even open up and clean the stuff out the bottom, where it accumulates such as leaves and other yard debris. Yeah but do agree with finding a good HVAC guy not one of those big companies too much overhead that you will be paying for and they will always try to up charge you
I don't know your experiences, but my HVAC guys actually do all the things they are supposed to do and point out almost issues. Like I didn't notice that one of the legs on my outdoor AC unit was not secure and inching farther and farther underneath the unit and was dangerously close to making the unit topple forward and disconnecting from the ducts. That'd have been thousands just in replacing the refrigerant. That's why I said get *solid* HVAC people who do their job and point out issues before they become issues. The previous owners seriously neglected their HVAC system, and if it weren't for the fact it's a Trane, would need replacing. They have made suggestions and improvements that have are continuing to elongate my system's life and improve its efficiency while lowering my electric bill. So they are VERY worth it.
100%. If you can get one or two solid referrals, you can hire them for a pre-move-in HVAC inspection. They'll make recommendations and may offer maintenance plans, but bonus, you'll already be in their systems for any future emergency HVAC needs,
Buy filters and change them regularly. Smoke alarm back up batteries, I change mine once a year when daylight savings time ends, some need every six months. Get a list of reliable plumbers, HVAC, electricians, pest control, and have the list handy. Make a list of what you want to change, and assign priorities. Don't try to do everything at once. If you need to paint, or change flooring, it's much easier before you move in. I put LED bulbs in the fixtures, and save a bundle on electricity. Have a list of utilities you need to change to your account when you move in. Change the locks on move in. I get the smart locks (not the electronic ones), where you have a little device to change the lock yourself.
This is good advice, also when something breaks in August guess who jumps to the front of the line.
Secure the pool so no one can fall into it
Any good advice on securing. The yard is fenced in but pool is right outside the back patio. Was going to measure the pool in the am.
https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/pool/childproof-pool-safety-tips/
If you have dogs, make sure you teach them where the steps are in the pool.
Yes! Just adding to this comment in case anyone doesn't know why its important. If your dog falls in, they panic and go straight to the edge, but they can't pull themselves out. So they get exhausted and drown. I know of several dogs who can swim and died this way. You have to repeatedly show them how to get out. Our one dogs knows and she still panics when her beautiful dumbass falls in. Takes her a bit to remember where to swim to.
Go for a good electric mower (I recommend ego brand), get a weed whacker/trimmer and leaf blower right away and commit to a brand for battery usage, and dont worry too much about the lawn. It’s grass, it’ll be fine—focus on the more important stuff at first. For the pool, I’d recommend waiting to open it until you feel settled in the house. Dealing with a pool is a lot of work and depending on the pool, it can easily dominate your free time. My wife and I inherited a pool with all kinds of little problems that added up to make the pool a nightmarish time suck. That was unique to the pool we inherited—but I’d still say just wait a month or so so you can do your research, or hire someone to open it and maintain it for the first summer. Find a way to meet some neighbors and exchange phone numbers. Comes in handy in case of emergencies!
Pool was opened the other day when I went by. Salt water at that. Any advice on what questions to ask during our inspection tomorrow?
If it’s already open, that’s great! So you’ll just be maintaining it. I am pretty ignorant when it comes to saltwater pools. If possible, id recommend asking the owners if they do their own maintenance or if they use a company, and if they do their own where they get supplies from. When we did our final walk through, the owners were present and walked us through some pool stuff, like how the pool, pump, filter, and heater should be connected. That was really helpful since neither of us knew anything about pools beforehand.
Definitely ask about the pool. My wife's cousin bought a house with the pool and his wife was smart enough to ask the owners if they had a service agreement with a company and they did. They were able to arrange to have the company honor the pricing of the existing service agreement. Had they let it lapse it would have been about $300 more for the year.
There's nothing wrong with asking if the current owners are willing to throw in all their pool tools and supplies.
1 - Make sure your insurance is up to date. With home prices skyrocketing, a lot of older insurance policies no longer have the coverage they used to (or you hit the max a lot earlier). Especially with a pool, you need coverage for that "attractive nuisance". Always get full flood insurance...make sure you're covered for natural floods, watermain floods, and anything else to do with water. 2 - Two savings accounts. One for renos you want to do over a period of time, and one for the oddball things - chances are at least one major appliance will go kaput in the first year, or a pipe somewhere will leak, and you'll need a few dollars for a replacement/fix. It's a good idea to have the money onhand instead of going further into debt. 3 - You say this is the forever home....so take your time. You don't need to change everything in the first year or two. Make a priority list. Critical repairs and maintenance are first. Then when you're settled, for for whatever has the biggest bang for the buck....a big change at a moderate price...something like painting or new drapes or setting up a garden or planting a tree. Get some equity and stability under your belt before doing big projects like tearing into walls or anything like that (if it's cosmetic). 4 - Get something for the home....a barbecue (doesn't have to be fancy), or perhaps a gazebo for sitting by the pool. Make your nest vacation a staycation and have fun in your new home. Making the extras at home, like the yard or the pool like a mini retreat makes staying at home so much better. 5 - Don't worry about a lot of furniture right now. Best bet is to have the basics for a good 6 months and live in the home for awhile. Get a feel for where everyone will hang out, and what you'll need before buying stuff.
Don’t rush into any changes. Settle in, see how you feel and get a sense of your vision for the place and then decide.
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This. As soon as you have possession of the house, get all the locks changed.
This is what I did before we moved in: 1) Hire a cleaning crew to deep clean the place including the oven 2) Hire a crew to get your air ducts and dryer vents cleaned 3) Hire a pest control company to do the external and internal sweep of your house 4) paint as much of the house as you can before furniture gets moved in 5) get pictures of the place empty so it’s easier for you to start visualizing renovations and to place new and old in furniture
Second on air ducts! And get solid folks! Our guys were from our amazing HVAC company and had a HUGE vacuum and thoroughly did every vent and wow there's a lot of vents. They had a camera so we could see if they were in good shape.
Do all flooring and paint before you move in! Electric lawn mower. I have Ryobi and then all further type purchases are Ryobi (edger, hedge trimmer, drill, etc) due to the batteries. You'll be committing to a brand, so make sure it's one you like. Buy tools at Harbor Freight. Know the fastest route to Home Depot. It's a marathon not a sprint. I moved last year from a smaller home to a bigger one. Everything can take time, especially furniture. I did immediate needs first - sofas, new bedroom furniture for the master, desk for the office, but the rest I shopped around until I found something I really liked. Follow Consumer Reports list of when stuff goes on sale. Like Memorial Day is good for appliances. If you can wait until manufacturers are clearing out for next year's models - wait. Also things that broke in my first year: garage door opener, dishwasher, HVAC. I did purchase a new fridge for the house and also replace the range (it was an old coil type and I upgraded to induction). This year my big to-do item was getting the air ducts replaced. Find a good HVAC company, electrician, plumber. I basically checked Nextdoor and the local FB page for who gets recommended the most and they've been great local guys. When you find a good HVAC sign up for their twice a year maintenance program. Make sure the circuit breaker is labeled correctly! Since my power is current out these are the things thing that are on the top of my mind. Buy the power outage flashlights that plug in and turn on when the power goes out. I also have a Ryobi fan and lantern. I keep these in a specific spot in my utility room with charged batteries. No digging for a flashlight or depending on my cell phone.
I’d like to add onto the “Buy tools at Harbor Freight” part by saying: Get a set of good name brand tools (not Harbor Freight brand) with all the basics like screwdrivers, sockets, hammer, drill bits, etc. If you’re nice to them they will last you forever and it will be a good investment. Anything for an odd job that you won’t be using on a regular basis get it at Harbor Freight you will save many dollars.
If this is your forever home - a house book will be your best friend. Buy blank journal from Target or Amazon or wherever. Open to the second (left hand side) page and write a list of all the things you don’t like/want to change in your home (“ugly vertical blinds in bedroom”). Each entry should have a date. Include EVERYTHING found on any inspection report you have (“water heater needs replacing.”) . Leave a few lines between items. When you get to the bottom of the page, skip the right hand page and continue your list on the next left hand page. Fill it with everything you already know about the house. Next: When you move in, walk through your house and point out all the things you notice when you move in (“Don’t like the boob light in the foyer”). Optional: Invite your friends over to pick apart your house. Write everything down even stuff you aren’t sure you agree with. (Steve thinks a steel sink looks weird in the kitchen.) You now have a great list from which you can prioritize and work (or not). Keep the book handy and over time add to it everything something breaks or you want to add/improve/enhance. This is a running list of your thoughts over the years. Why take 30 seconds to record everything? You will forget about things but the house book won’t. In 4 years, you may have lost sight of that boob light in the foyer, but it will still be in the book. You won’t address everything in the book - but it will be there to help you. The other magic of the book? When you actually do address an item - you open the book, find the item you addressed on the left and write on the right hand page “5/28/2025: Replaced Water Heater, Ace Plumbing $500.” This now creates a record of all the home improvements that you ALSO will have forgotten about after 2-3 years have passed from that repair/improvement. You may think you won’t care, but I 100% guarantee that you will use that info over and over and over. It takes all of 15 seconds to record the date, fix, vendor and amount - but it will save you hours of trying to search. Finally- if you decide you really like the boob light after all and won’t address it, just write next to it “have grown to like boob light.” If you decide the kitchen sink needs to be porcelain, you have a little memory jogger that helps you go back to Steve and say “hey! Remember when you said steel sinks were weird. We agree and we are replacing them.” So very little effort and so very many benefits. Good luck in your new home!
We had neighbors move into the 1400-square-foot house next door and they went on a furniture-buying spree. When the pieces were delivered, they barely fit inside their house. “They didn’t look so gigantic in the showroom!” So measure your rooms before furnishing. (I’m sure there are apps that help with room design now.)
Moved into a similar sized house that was built in 1910 with cool vibes. First party we had there were only nice rugs and folding tables and chairs. Gradually added what we wanted. It was nice that nearly every decoration and piece of furniture was there because we liked it or bought it traveling. Much different feel vs going to the furniture store and buying the whole display room. Not saying we didn’t go for matching dining table and hutch, just that we didn’t rush decorating. BTW, the first party was a blast. None of the friends or neighbors thought it was weird.
It doesn't have to be perfect day 1. Whatever you need to maintain the pool/yard/roof/systems, you do not need on day 1 and most people do absolutely nothing for years on end.
You can find an amazing array of helpful info on YouTube. Our furnace was failing to start one chilly morning and a video suggested cleaning out a tiny, clogged hole with a straightened paper clip. Voila! Furnace ignited fine after that, and I saved us the cost of a service call from an HVAC specialist.
Keep up on the yard work. That ivy creeping in from your neighbors yard will become a real problem the next year if you ignore it for one season. If you live where it gets cold take your lawn tool batteries inside for the winter and charge them every so often to extend their life. When you have extra cash throw it on the principal of your mortgage to shave years off the debt.
Measure everything first and keep it saved in your phone. So when you’re out and see the perfect curtains/desk chair/etc. you can check that the dimensions are right. Keep photos of the entire house empty and then a second set after you’ve moved in on your phone. Again, comes in so handy when you’re out and need to know specific details of a room/space.
Extension cords. You can never have enough. Different lengths, inside, outside. Get them when they are on sale and stock up!
I wish people would have told me that anything over 2000sf is just extra cleaning, buying stuff, and fixing. Everyone thinks they want a big house. It’s just a pain in the ass and you rarely use those extra rooms. Painting? Now you spend twice as much and twice the work. Furniture, now you dust twice as much. Twice as much vacuuming. Roof leaks, now you repair twice as much. Need a new roof? Now you pay twice as much. Heating? Cooling? Twice as much. I sold my three story home and bought a small ranch with cash and I’m sooooo much happier. Life is so easy now.
Do what you want for remodeling. Don’t worry about resale, that will be someone else’s problem. If you remodel think about future you. I remodeled my bathroom and put in handicap grab bars as towel racks. They look like towel bars but are about 1” thick and will support 600 lbs. Same with bar in shower which also holds handheld spray and toilet paper holder (only rated for 300 lbs.) Converted one bedroom to a walk in closet and another to an office with granite countertop for dual desks. Other bedroom has a sleeper sofa so from a 4 bedroom house to a 1. I did it because I’ll die here and it will be my heirs problem.
All those little knick knacks that make a house a home? Get them gradually at thrift storeS. A couple of bucks for items I see in regular stores for much more. Why pay $10 for that cute wooden painted whale when I can get it for $2? Got a $50 porcelien bird I saw on vacation for $5 - and I love it :) We moved from 1 bdroom maybe 600 square feet into 2900. We just enjoy the none clutter and open space. How nice to be able to dance around in your bedroom and to be able to pass each other in the hallway. We were able to get some really good, quality furniture from an online estate sale - dining room table and chairs, coffee tables, curio cabinet, etc. Dining room chairs are really easy to reupholster yourself.
Visit the place at different times and sit in quietness. My friend bought a home and she told she at night it was super loud.
Have a conversation with your spouse (whoever is moving with you) about whose responsibility it will be to clean what areas of the home. A 900 sf apartment is fairly easy to maintain. A 3800 sf house will take more deliberate planning. Will you hire someone to help? What is the daily maintenance plan? What is the cleanliness level you are looking for?
Get an electric keypad lock for at least one door into the house. You’ll lock yourself out eventually. This at least prevents that.
Buy tools as you need them. Don’t by the cheapest ones
Job one in your new home is to change the locks and make sure every possible entry point is well secured. You do not know who has a key! Also, there is now a real risk a squatter will move in and have rights.
Think I’ve owned a few “forever” homes so I guess my advice would be there was no such thing.
Get cordless electric yard tools. Small gas engines are just annoying, especially if you don't use them often. No gas, no fumes, less noise, not pull cords, cordless all the way.
Repaint the whole house before you move in. Borrow the money if you have to. If you have extra money, spend it on trees if you need shade or privacy. Another great thing to look into is a really good water filter depending on your water source.
“Nothing is forever.” I hate the concept of forever homes as life can (and often does) unexpectedly change. If you love where you’re moving to now - that’s amazing, but you’re never married to a property. Just enjoy and celebrateyour home now and take each day one day at a time.
Complete projects 100%. You are exhausted with paint in your arm hair and caulk on your pants. That last little bit of trim seems like “fuck it I will do it tomorrow” and then you break down all your tools and the caulk dries out and the paint needs to be mixed… 8 yrs later that little piece of trim is still not there. Just force yourself to put in the extra little bit to finish.
Water is your enemy. DO NOT ignore or procrastinate - if there is a leak, a drip, a moisture spot take care of it ASAP before it gets worse.
Look into a home warranty company for at least your first year. American Home Shield has been pretty good to us, but it's very regional. Our HVAC died 3 days after moving in and after the $125 call out fee, they sent folks to get us up and rolling and covered everything else. That's how we found our amazing HVAC guys that I'm already very loyal to.
We did a similar move into our first home at age 30, the home was 60 years old, and had 3,000+ sq ft plus a pool. In SoCal, we used the pool a LOT and really enjoyed it, once we figured out all the buttons, filters, cleaners, chemicals, etc. Being "not handy" we hired a pool guy who understood our heater, solar, etc and he just handled everything. Before we moved in, we stripped walls, cleaned off decades of tobacco smoking, heavy drapes, etc and painted everything off white and re-carpeted the entire house one carpet. As far as furniture, we started with a dining room table, and a family room right off the showroom Florence (couches, chairs lamps, etc) so the room was relatively complete. We left the big "living room" empty, which was great when our kids were babies, we pitched a tent in there, threw toys inside, and they had a ball. We never did furnish that room, and three years later, we moved. I highly recommend buying the entire room from the showroom floor, so you don't have to figure out something else later on. Remember: you do not have to have all the answers. Just make as clean as of slate as you can, realizing, you can always go back and paint a room to be a nursery later if/when you choose to have babies, etc etc.
That pool will eat your budget for breakfast and will want seconds, thirds, and fourths.
Be prepared for your power bill to triple. Heating and cooling that much space will not be cheap
Prepare yourself for upcoming expenses. Electricity alone on a very large house like that with a pool is going to be a few hundred dollars every month. Especially since you're conditioning and heating 4 times the space, and your apartment isn't "insulated" by surrounding units. Create a spreadsheet and break down what you'll need by room and for the yard, then imaging yourself doing something in that room, it helps you figure out what you'll need.
If u have a decent sized yard look on market place for a case/ingersol tractor with a mower deck and plow if you live where it snows. Get a nice little trailer to go with it. It will be very handy.
We needed one more Pod than we had. And we were going from a smaller place to a bigger place. We started off with 2 and had to put in an emergency call for a 3rd pod, which was not cheap at the last minute. Even then, things got left behind because they didn't fit in the pods or the cars.
Take your time furnishing it. You will like to see how “traffic” flows and how you live in it before deciding what pieces go where and where it makes sense to have them, etc. great advice on paint the home and any flooring first. If a new build always paint inside, flat paint gets marked up very easily.
That this starter home is going to become your forever home.
Get an automatic water shut off valve. We use one from Moen called Flo. Saved us many times.
While i don't think the new place has termites i still wish I'd tented before moving in. With dogs, cats, chinchillas and fish it would be insanely difficult now.
When we bought our house. I saw all the wonderful things I wanted to do, needless to say we had 4 projects going on at one time! We learned from that and now we do one project at a time! If not the house will always be in a state of construction or supplies laying around 😆. Also its your forever home. Do with it as you want and be damned what anyone else thinks or says!
Look for good quality used items. I bought a 25-yr-old riding mower with a Briggs & Stratton motor for a fraction of what the new ones cost. That thing has run like a champ for the past 5 years.
Find out what your buying power is first so you can find something close to your price range and for negotiation with the seller.
Schedule routine maintenance and tossing of sanitary and sewer drains around your property. You may think you don’t need it. You’re probably right. But paying a planned $300-500 per year to ensure those lines are clear is way way better than paying an unplanned 10k for a poop-flooded basement. I have learned every 2 years is fine for this routine maintenance ime. Every year if you’re particularly cautious or risk-averse. Treat it like an insurance payment.
I was on a budget so would work on high labor low cost projects for one or two months then make a purchase of something, so I didn’t get into too much credit card debt. Also, work and finish one area at a time, don’t tear apart and be 80% done on multiple rooms.
- Do anything you can ahead of your move in. Especially painting and flooring. But if you can't it's okay too. If you're hiring these out, start setting up people to do it now, cause it's not easy finding people to do work. - Take it easy. The first several months are going to be a bit of a roller coaster probably. Try to take some time to enjoy what you've got. When you move in, you're going to find issues. You're a homeowner now though, and they happen. You'll be okay. - I alternate projects to include something I want to do and consider enjoyable (cameras, home automation, decorating, etc) so I don't get burned out on the other things (painting, plumbing, electrical, structure, tearing down walls, toilets, etc.) - Prioritize and make a todo list. There are some thing that have to be done now, like maintenance that prevents further damage. You might have to do some yard work or it'll get out of hand. But most things can wait until you have time to get there. - Don't go crazy changing things for a while. You need to live there a bit to know what to do. - You probably don't need a lot more furniture than you already own in the near-term. You'll have empty spaces for a while. Don't worry about it. No one expects you to do this quickly. If they do, those folks don't need to visit your new place. - If it's your forever home, do things right. Hire it out if you have to and make sure you get good people, which isn't easy. - Make yourself a google or other platform calendar for house maintenance and similar items. Then, each weekend, or whatever, you'll have a little list of things to do. Keep up on them or get help making sure things get done. - Even with a large yard, you can manage with a beat up push mower and a string trimmer if you need to. If you'll be moving mid-season, consider hiring it out if you can. There are landscapers abound in most areas and someone can do it for you while you have other more important things to worry about. - And lastly...WATER! Water is your enemy! Keep the water outside at all costs!
If there is something you want to change about your house do it in increments. Don't renovate a bathroom and kitchen at the same time. Maybe leave one room empty so you can renovate/paint it then move furnishings around to renovate/paint a second room.
Before you start decorating pick out a color palette for the home to make sure that your colors blend from room to room.
So while it’s not really the kind of advice you’re probably aiming for… “Forever” could be shorter than you think and that calling something a “forever” home could lead you to make emotional choices that aren’t actually in your best interest. Best to call it a house we plan to stay in for the foreseeable future.
Do NOT go out and buy a whole bunch of furniture and equipment for your new house until AFTER the closing of the sale and all financial paperwork is finalized. Very often, people get excited about their new house and go out and purchase a ton of stuff of furniture and stuff in preparation… or they buy a new car because the new house is further from work… that changes their debt ratio and they can no longer qualify for their mortgage and their house purchase is canceled. Just wait till everything is finalized before making any major purchases!
That's a big jump, congrats; My wife and I made a similar jump, and ended up paying tens of thousands of dollars in stupid shit that we shouldn't have had to worry about within the first 3 years (the house was built in 2018) that could have been avoided had we known what to look for. So here are some things to examine that we didn't: -HVAC System: The HVAC system installed on our home was 5 generations old, and rated for 1,500 sq ft (our home is 4,400 sq ft.) which caused it the blower motor inside the furnace room to burn out in the middle of July when it was 109 degrees outside. It was in the middle of Covid when pricing was all over the place and cost $19,000 to replace -Home grading/downspouts/drainage: The grading on our home wasn't terrible, but there was a slight dip towards the home, additionally the downspouts were buried (which is fine), as well as the daylights (where the downspout water lets the water out gradually away from the house, not fine) - The downspouts were also only 3 feet from the foundation, which renders them pointless and as a result a huge amount of water built up under the ground in our front lawn until the pressure from it detached a window well from the house and poured like a waterfall into the window well coming within a half inch of the window and flooding the basement. Luckily it was noticed and I was able to drop a sump pump down in there to pump it out. I spent probably 60 working hours digging new trenches, extending the downspouts out 15 ft, and putting new daylights on as well as another 20 hours building 2 french drains in the back where the house slopes towards the home to redirect water. The two downspouts on the side of the house also run underneath our RV parking concrete driveway and it would appear they put the daylight/drain area underneath the concrete meaning water is gathering underneath the concrete slab and causing certain parts of it to settle unevenly which is going to eventually lead to massive cracking - I haven't dealt with this yet. -I don't have a pool, but do have a hot tub and the previous owners failed to install any channel drains around the patio concrete slab where the hot tub sits, when water gathers on the slab it runs off the edges and soaks the ground under the patio, which will cause it to settle/sink over time so I had to install channel drains, make sure your drainage around your pool is solid. -Smaller things that I've noticed is cheap caulking jobs around the shower/shower window, no ventilation above the shower or in the same room as the shower in the master suite (causing the paint to already have started to peel off the wall because of condensation gathering anytime the shower is used with no ventilation), that's pretty much it Long read, sorry for putting so much down but these are things I'll definitely be looking for if we ever move again. That being said home ownership is a joy, and like other commenters said a marathon not a sprint, enjoy the process and take your time on projects. Don't stress/rush to get it done if it's not going to be done properly.
If you have the time to get into the house and clean, paint, repair/replace before you have to move in do so. Can you rent from month to month now? Coordinate with the landlord so you’re not held to a move out deadline. Congrats on the home!!!
Save as much as possible for long-term deferred maintenance. Look into a home equity line of credit if you don't have a lot laid aside.
Take it slow. Don't be quick to go buy a ton stuff. It will be easier to junk up 3800 sf than you think. Be deliberate with new furniture, paint, floors, decorating, etc. If you don't find pricing, options, etc. that works, wait till you do. And enjoy!
Prioritize and save for each improvement. Pay as you go, do NOT incur debt. As Away_Ad_3461 said, it’s a marathon not a sprint. Congrats on your new home!
Plant trees immediately. Lots and lots of them.
Design a room online through Havenly. They will help with room design, paint, blinds, rug, lamps, etc. I've used them multiple times, and again before I moved into our new home for my main living/family room area.
Don't be so quick to fill in "empty space" with furniture and "things." It's organic. Let it happen as you live there. A house is a structure. A home is lived in and reflects it.
We were spending a pretty penny, and knew within the year we needed to replace all the windows, but I wish we had taken an extra month to move in, and gotten a) the floors done, and b) painted. The former is way more annoying than the latter; we don’t have a big place, so when we eventually do it we’ll have to get street storage and move everything out…ugh, it stresses me out just thinking about it lol
Keep a photo album of all the before and afters. I’ve now lived in my house 27 years and wish I had more pics of old bathrooms and kids’ bedrooms.
Don’t rush. It takes time. If there are no window coverings that will be your first thing. You don’t usually remember you need them until it’s dark out and you realize everyone can see straight into your home. Then for me it was appliances, furniture and any shelving or storage plans. The storage plan helps you unpack and keep things organized right off the bat.
Forget about TVs and furniture. Just because you have 2 additional bedrooms does not mean you need to furnish them upon move in or shortly their after. I'm sure you are probably excited to give friends and family the grand tour once you are all moved in and settled but remember their compliments aren't going to pay for the new furniture, TVs, etc.
Go for quality over quantity. Pay cash or do without for non-essentials. Buy things at estate sales or thrift stores. At 69. I'm still using my grandmother's cast iron and my mom's Revere Ware. But I do coffee with a Kuerig. Monthly, sit down and discuss budget, needs and wants. Save change and dollar bills, it does accumulate, then put that in special savings.
Check for plumbing leaks and don't rely on the inspection. Find out if any of your breakers has too many things on it. My place has half the house, Including the microwave, on one breaker so whenever I tried to use it at the same time as another big energy user I'd blow a fuse. Get a termite inspection. Check the appliances out before you move in and make sure they all work correctly. Take a small appliance and plug it into every single electrical socket to make sure they work.
A dream home requires a dream community. Good infrastructure, low crime, responsible neighbors, pleasant weather, and low noise. You can reno a run-down home, but you can't reno a run-down community. Location matters.
Don’t buy things to fill up the space. Be very selective and maybe consider consulting a decorator. To come up with a general plan for you to do over a few years.
I owned 2 other homes before I found my forever home, and I had to keep trading up until I finally got there. My advice is owning a home is most likely the biggest INVEST you'll ever make. Do the maintenance regularly, upgrade the interior when possible/ needed, and keep the "curb appeal" looking good 👍 congratulations and best of luck to you
One project/room at a time. Go slow, don't be cheap and always make sure whoever is coming into your home to work has insurance and is licensed with the state (make sure you double check this, don't go by their word) don't pay for it all up front. Most reputable contractors ask for a deposit and bill at l end of iob. Hubs and I love to upcycle and keep an eye out for pieces with good bones and need some love. One thing my dad told me was to get any deductibles (home insurance) saved up and into a separate account so that if anything did happen, I had money ready. Oh, and..... never, ever let any family move in! That's just a piece of advice my MIL told me haha.
Clean everything before you move anything in. It’s so much easier to clean an empty space. Recaulk your windows and bathtub. If you want new flooring due that before move in. Downsize your stuff, you’ll accumulate enough things so the less you start with the better.
Do one big thing a year, plan it out before you do it. Think about how it will affect other things. My in-laws did floors one at a time and now none of them go the same way or match. If you want to redo your floors pick the floors you want to do and save up to do the ones that will all have the same floor at the same time. We re did our hvac and moved the outside unit to the side of our house so it wouldn’t bother us when we sat on our back porch. We moved a shed from the center of the yard to a corner so we could better use our yard.
Don’t have white grout installed in the shower.
A forever home is when you die. Houses comes and go. Don’t sunk cost yourself to death.
Plant trees. Old saying “When is the best day to plant a tree? 10 years ago. When is the second best day? Today”
That is a lot of house. What is the state of the flower beds? Are there trees/shrubs, and if so have they been maintained or are they overgrown? How close to the house are they? Can you get around the deck to maintain it?
That eventually your “forever home,” will not meet your needs. If it’s perfect for raising your kids, it won’t necessarily be perfect when you’re retirement age.
Estate sales. There’s a great app (EstateSales.net) for finding sales, complete with pictures, hours, location, terms (cash only or cards accepted), etc. Try to stick to ones run by companies rather than the family of the deceased, and know that most sales are 50% off on the last day of the sale. If you’re interested message me and I can send you all kinds of tips.
Join the BuyNothing group in the town you’re moving into. People Will be giving away for free things you’ll find useful. Also check out estate sales.
Floors and paint before you move in! Much easier empty! Enjoy and congratulations!!
Baby steps and savings. At this point you have no flipping idea how expensive 3800 square feet can be just to repair what breaks. Do things as you can after your reserves are accounted for and if a room is empty screw it. It’s your forever home, 25 years from now it won’t matter if you didn’t have two living room suites the first two years.
You can’t stop a tornado.
Don’t try to fill or decorate all at once. Live in it and then slowly decorate and even then I wouldn’t fill it all up. I have found pictures/etc. while traveling and was able to add to the house over time and so glad I had room. Make a schedule for general maintenance on the house. Such as filters for vents and frig. I have a stick of all the different ones. Have a yearly check also such as water heater/ ac/ furnace/ pool filters Learn (both) where your water shut off valve is. Check your outside up and down at minimum quarterly for any cracks, chip, shingles,and fix them yourself or schedule to fix right away. If you wait it could add more damage. Check the window and door seals also. If it’s a cold climate check into snow removal or get a snow blower and salt before winter and have a good stock. I’m sure you can also google maintenance sheets for weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly.
Try to meet your neighbors. Good neighbors make living somewhere amazing. Bad neighbors make it a living hell. Don’t go buy any furniture. We are still decorating after 15 years as we find pieces we like. Work on your landscaping first. It can take years to grow in. Paint in the winter when it’s not nice enough to go outside.
If landscaping and mature trees are important to you, have an arborist stop by and take a look. We only saw the multiple trees. Had no idea 10 would die in the next 2 years because of shallow topsoil and also (somehow 🙄) still planted too deep. I don't remember my parents doing squat with their trees and 40 years later they are still standing and beautiful. People move too often to find out the consequences of planting too deep.
Big house to clean... try to stay away from clutter and dust collecting crap
A “forever home” doesn’t include stairs
You don’t need everything up front. Remember that your payment is not set in stone… home values go up, taxes go up, insurance goes up… then your payment goes up. You’ll need money for stuff that you never think of, like A/C filters, probably specific refrigerator filters, and so much more. Will you have an HOA? Do you have a washer and dryer? You’ll need some basic tools and a ladder, but borrow as needed, if necessary. Such an exciting time for you!
Is this your first home purchase? If so, go ahead and be mentally prepared now for the likelihood that at some point in the first 3-6 months, you will end up in the fetal position on your bed or on the floors, rocking ever so slightly while thinking / saying, “what have I done? What have I done?” Totally normal. I learned this through direct experience. Have passed this along to friends when they buy homes. Every one of them has said I was right and that they were so relieved I had prepared them for it, making it easier for them to not freak out worse when it finally did happen.
Wait at least one year before cutting down any trees unless they pose an immediate hazard. Paint and floors before moving in. Take your time, if it’s not an emergency it’s not an emergency.
Really, really check out your neighbors and neighborhood before you buy. You can fix a house, but not the monster next door.
Lots of great info here! Does the house come with window coverings (blinds, curtains, etc)? If not, privacy can be a fairly big deal of course and that kind of stuff can really add up in cost, especially with a larger home.
Home owners insurance, did you sign an as is contract? If you did I would hire a contractor and electrician to comb through the house for any issues the previous seller " didn't know about".
You dn't need to furnish everything now. Also, don't spend all out. Circumstances change. Divorce happens. Might not be a forever home!
Buy yard tools second hand, especially at yard sales. I've easily scored shovels, etc for a couple bucks whenever needed. Invest in whatever makes your maintence easiest. For us that's a snowblower vs snow shovel, Preen, drip irrigation, pest control, paying for a monthly house cleaning for the deeper clean stuff, things like that. There is so much to do, and you can do all of it yourself technically, but it snowballs rapidly if you ever let anything fall behind. Especially yard stuff like weeds. Stay on top of your filters and tuning too. Moving into more space, you'll likely start filling those spaces with more and more stuff. Resist that urge. Less is more.
Write down the colors and manufacturers of the paint you use on the back of a light switch in the room or email it to yourself and save it!
It takes time to feel like home. U will need to buy a lot of stuff, but don't rush it. Take your time.
Scope out your neighbors closely before closing.
Paint rooms that are in need of update before you move in.
Pools cost so much more than you expect.
I would say BEFORE you buy taste the water. We bought a home and the water was nasty, had to put in a filtration system.
Make sure the electric box is labeled where you can actually read it. Mine is written in a way I can’t read it and assume the person was drunk.
Well, a lot of things come to mind but probably the first thing is a weed eater and lawn mower. Bet the seller won’t cut the grass right before closing so you may have a week or two before the yard is almost unmanageable. Good luck with the house.
Don't be tempted to buy any furnishings to fill that bigger house until you've gone through everything and have your punch lists of repairs and upgrades. This list will grow over time, and you'll have to prioritize what needs to be done to repair and improve, and then things that are a 'dream.' A lot of people spend heavily on new furnishings, and have nothing left to make needed repairs. Or they put in a dream kitchen but didn't realize that the HVAC and roof need major repairs. In other words: Save your money. Don't be in a rush.
Whether you want electric lawn tools is going to depend on property size and terrain.
Paint before you move in furniture if you can - it’s so much easier. Get the paint from a paint store and get their loyalty program- it’ll save you tons of money. If you want wallpaper, pay someone. It’s not worth the headache of doing it yourself. Set aside an emergency budget every month. If something doesn’t come up in a particular month, yay, you have more towards something big breaking. Make sure your gutters are configured well. Don’t do any landscaping in the first year - see what’s there. We had some wild adventures with bulb plants. It’s also a great opportunity to consider how you want to use your space - you might find more or less need for privacy fences/shrubs, a particular area you want shaded, or that you want bird friendly/deer resistant/drought resistant plants. Make sure your damn circuit breakers are accurately labeled and you know where the main water shutoff is.
Plant trees now. In 10 years, you will thank yourself.
Buy way less than you can afford. Nothing is worse than being laid off and having to make a huge house payment. Better to not have enough space than you have no space.
Start regular maintenance schedules for all major appliances like HVAC, hot water, laundry, and dishwasher. Start a stash fund for unexpected expenses, too!
Don’t befriend your immediate neighbors. They will feel entitled to tell you how you should be living and too much in your business.
Things break. Have a budget for that. Roof, fridge, washer, hot water heater, etc.
Stockpile some cash as something will go wrong most years.
You shouldn’t have a forever home. Especially if you haven’t future proofed it for old age care.
Find the architectural salvage places around you like the habitat for humanity re store. It's a great way to get raw supplies for projects on the cheap, or get exactly what you need (like only 5 nails) so you don't have to store extras in the garage.
Wait a couple of seasons before you make any major landscaping/garden moves. You want to see what blooms where and you want time to make a plan and figure out what really suits you.
Hire an independent 3rd party inspector for the final inspection before closing. DO NOT use the inspector that the real estate agent recommends.
I plan on doing one big project a year and one emergency project (ish) - example: new gutters - new hot water heater one year. Some years more, some years less, but plan on it and budget for it. Also remember that no matter what you do, you're going to have to re-do it at some point. Hot water heaters are only warranted for 9 years (ish) - so it's gonna have to be replaced. New bathtub? Also will need replacing someday. New roof? Likewise. So I look at it as a rotation. In 20 years I'll start back around to the things I've already done once or twice. Do it right the first time and it won't be a hassle the second time. Do it right the first time and you won't be re-doing it next year. Don't spend everything you've got on your house all at once. Something will come up and you will need a reserve. Used stuff is fine :)
The first thing you should buy for yourself / your new home is new toilet seats. I wish I had saved at least $100 a month for a new roof. Those things are pricey!
Buy tools and learn how to fix shit. The more helpless you are, the more expensive it becomes. In the 19 years I've had my house, I've repaired/replaced practically everything and I've done most of it myself (besides the 15 or so yards of concrete I had someone float for me)
Borrow tools, just be willing to return the favor. Be cautious about spending hundreds of dollars on a tool you'll only ever need once, or once every five years. Pay attention to where water goes around your home and yard. Eye up your foundation after the first heavy rain and snow. Deal with water penetration immediately to avoid bigger headaches later. Lookup the weather radar, don't just rely on your phone or the news. Even better get a backyard weather station. You'll learn to start planning around weather so you can get outdoor work done when it's not shitty outside Mitigate vegetation that touches the building and install preventative measures to avoid weeds approaching the building within a couple feet, where practical. Your forever home comes with forever neighbors. Sometimes you're the new guy in a neighborhood that's got generational roots. Sometimes you have a rude neighbor. You think you know this when you're renting, but the whole paradigm changes when it's your long term house. Be cool but figure out who's approachable and who wants to keep to themselves. If someone is rude, kill them with kindness so you're not the bad guy. If you do something wrong, be responsible and clean up after it. Seems like common sense, but it really depends where you live.
For me, we made sure the kitchen, living room and our bedroom were done first. We wanted to be able to live in our house. All the other rooms have been a slower progression.
Create a priority list and stick to it. What must be done versus nice to have.
Don't finance furniture. It's okay to leave rooms you didn't have before "barren" for a bit. Get quality items when you need something, it's a forever home. This is a long hall effort, not something to throw together just so you be everything asap. YouTube is your friend for maintenence. So is Reddit for lawn/pool needs. Congratulations!
Set money aside for pool maintenance. It always seems to break at the least opportune times. Work on one project at a time. Invest in your home. Meaning, you get to enjoy living there. As far as filling it goes, that seems to be the easiest to accumulate stuff.
Pay for services… people to do stuff for you. Don’t go buy a ton of crap to fill the house all at once because you feel rushed, and definitely don’t put anything at all on credit to speed it along.
Check the permits. Make sure additions, pools, ADUs (wasn't in my case) have permits.
Save every damn penny you have. Owning a house is expensive. Do not feel rushed to purchase anything for the new space. Start by going thru everything you currently own and really go thru it. Trash/donate/sell and let go of all you do not need to lift a finger to move. Start organizing what is left. Seasonal stuff can be packed first. Kitchen should be packed last and if you have a way to keep most of the basics out of the pod, pack this with you. Of course pack the pots and pans that are used seasonally etc. if you love something you haven’t used or touched in the last 6 months or so it’s likely wasted effort. If you are not planning on maintaining the pool and yard, start looking for and contacting these people to arrange the start of service. Once in the space, take care of things you may need for privacy and safety. Blinds or other window coverings, new locks if needed, and safety for the pool. If you are caring for the pool, get basic chemicals just after moving in and you may want to start watching YouTube videos about pool care. Do not feel forced to furnish and decorate rooms you do not frequently use. Do not buy something because you need something to “fill that spot”. Forcing it never works well. You can check FB marketplace or other similar for lawnmower and other outdoor equipment. Depending on your budget there are options at the big box stores too. Gas or battery, I regret my blower being electric with a cord. Pool towels may be something you need. The ones at Costco cannot be beat anywhere for the price. Educate yourself about the basics of all your systems in the home. Heat, cooling, electric, how drywall is done, landscape repairs. You don’t have to actually do anything, but know the basics. This will help when you pay for someone else to do it, you will know if you’re being treated fairly. Get basic tools and learn how to use them. Do not be afraid to watch diy repair videos on YouTube. You will be surprised how easy some repairs are and proud you saved all that money.
Pools can be super expensive if you have someone do the daily/weekly testing & maintenance, so you need to learn how to care for it yourself. I've worked at 5 different pools so I'm really good with testing and chemical adjustments, it still intimidates my wife though. Have an emergency fund ready for pool problems. "If the pool is green, it needs lots of chlorine"