So, I just bought my first house this last month and oh boy was it an experience.

Lots of stuff to get done and lots of paperwork and what not to fill out. Anyone else a homeowner right now? Any interesting experiences to tell?

I have some stories already but I won't get into them right away

I bought a house three years ago with my wife.  The process can be long, start to finish.  Closing was the easiest thing and our realtor got us a nice bottle of wine after we signed the paperwork.

The trick is keeping water out of your house.  Look at the drainage in the yard, watch what the roof and eaves do during winter, fight off ice dams as best you can, and keep water out of the basement and away from the foundation.  If you can do that, you win half the battle.  I turned off the humidifier to the furnace too to keep as little water as possible out of the furnace.

You can also start the improvements as quick as possible depending on how old the house is.  I cut away some of the runners in the attic to increase air flow to decrease freezing and thawing.  We did some work on the yard the first year and planted a vegetable garden the second year.  I'm going to put a hammock in this spring for my wife.

Houses are tough and I have some decent experience.  I'm comfortable enough to do wiring, some light plumbing, and I can play with the fuses but I'm no master tradesman.  Get a few books, watch Youtube videos, and you'll be set working on anything you like.

I like to do a few things every year to improve the value of the house and work on the aesthetics.

If you want to know anything, ask me.  If I can't help, I'll direct you.  I have some experience.

Me and my wife bought a house about ten years ago now.  All in all, we love the house, but the buying experience was a real pain.  The whole experience can be a little overwhelming until you get things figured out.

Some things to keep in mind:

-Round up the amount you pay each month to the nearest 5/10/15/25 dollars or whatever you can afford.  In the long run, the extra money to the bank against your principle will save you a fortune in interest on your loan.

-Shop around every couple of years for home owners insurance.  The people you got your loan from will most likely NOT be your best, or cheapest option.  And just like car insurance, the prices can fluctuate from company to company over a few years time.

-Keep a little fund on the side for emergencies.  Having $500 or more setting in a separate account for emergencies can be a life saver when something goes wrong.  The first year we were in our house, we had our basement flood, our sewer backed up/old clay pipes collapsed in the yard, the furnace quit working, and the hot water heater died on us.  And those are just the big things. 

-Keep an eye out for potential problems.  Its MUCH cheaper to fix things early most of the time than it is to wait until the problem starts to get bad.

-If you are able, fix small things yourself.  This last fall, I lost a couple of shingles from my roof.  When I called around, I was quoted over one thousand dollars for the repair work.  I ended up fixing it myself with the help of a friend (Needed someone to hold the ladder and call 911 if I fell, didn't I?) for less than twenty dollars.  warmaker: has it perfectly right, I'm no tradesman either, and I approach house repairs and work the same way, a few beginners guides and some online videos and how-to guides can be a huge help for small projects.  Also, if you know anyone who has experience with that you want to do, ask for help, and feed them a nice meal at the end of the day as a thank you.  I was quoted at about $2500 to completely wire my garage the way I wanted it.  In the end, I got a friend (Who is an electrician) to do it for about 1/4 of that and a $15 steak dinner.

-In most cases, really big repairs to your home (If your furnace dies and needs replacing, major wind damage to your roof, or something else really big like that) your home owner's insurance will cover it.  It never hurts to call and ask if you come up with a big expense.

-If you want plants in your yard (Especially trees) try to get them planted early.  It takes years for bushes and trees to put down good roots and start growing to any real size.

-While home improvements are great, and you should do what you can to make your home into exactly what you want it to be, keep in mind that if you increase the value of your home substantially, it can drive up your property tax, and your home owner's insurance.

-If you have questions about ANYTHING to do with your home, or about repairs, take a few minutes to look things up, get informed, and ask for help if you might need it.

-Clean your gutters every year, it will help water flow from the roof and can potentially save you a lot of time and money.  If gutters overflow, that water can set on the roof or flow down the side of the house, doing damage to both the roof and the walls that can be VERY expensive to fix.  An ounce of prevention can save a pound of pain, and all that.

-If you EVER get moisture in your basement, consider a dehumidifier and/or a sump pump.  Check any time it rains (About a day after it rains) and after a good snow melt for signs of moisture.  If you find a wet spot, you should keep it in mind.  A little moisture isn't always a bad thing, but you should keep it in mind.  A hint of moisture after a hard rain in an unfinished basement probably inst a problem, but standing water, or constant dampness is a pretty good sign that you should do something about it.

-Keep a notebook.  Mark dates for what was worked on when.  If the item
is old, it may be better to replace it than keep fixing it, or vice
versa.  Keep a list of potential problems and keep tabs on them, if you
know where your potential problems are, you can plan your budget a
little better for when things will need to be replaced.  I do a 10-15 minute walk through of our property about once a month looking for potential problems, and I know for a fact that its saved me hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in repairs because I caught one problem or another before it got bad, and was able to fix it for little to nothing.

Owning your own home can be a great experience, but you have to remember, you are now your own landlord.  Take care of your home, make sure things get done right, and save money where you can (But never at expense of cutting corners or doing a sub standard job at something.)  EVERYTHING I have listed above is something that I have learned through hard earned (And often expensive) experience.

Don't let it overwhelm you, and enjoy your new home!

None, sorry. I rent. I dont see myself buying a house just for myself. Not even an appartment.

The tips you guys put up are part of the "why not". It dosent sound much like the "simple life" it is supposed to be.

Brigand :   Home ownership isn't for everyone, it does require a lot of responsibility.  But there is a lot of comfort in knowing that your home is yours, you can make any changes to it that you want to without needing to get permission. 

And most importantly, its something that you invest in over time.  If you ever want to move, you can get most, if not all of your money back out of it if you have taken care of your home.   Besides, if you stay in your home long enough to pay it off, your cost of living goes WAY down!


Being single and not wanting to have the additional responsibilities of taking care of your home, or if you move regularly, then home ownership may not be a good idea.  But if you can afford it, have the time to care for it, and you plan to live in one place for a decade or more, then I highly recommend home ownership.

GateKeeper_A :

Oh true. But there have been enough people in my family who I have seen doing nothing but fixing their houses and never finishing them. Only to start twenty years later where they first started to see it as a fools errand. I am not saying that what you say doesn't sound sweet but in my eyes all this is just endless work that never pays off in the end.

Nothing wrong in that since the rest of my family especially I guess on one side likes fixing houses but I swore in my teens that if there is not an end to it, I rather not even start. If I would have a family, I would rather live smaller and spend more time with the kids than doing something onmy spare time that is... never going to get finished.

Please dont be offended. This is just a childhood trauma or some such.

Brigand :   Not a problem at all.  Different strokes for different folks!  I agree that home ownership is not for everyone, and on occasion, some people have bad experiences with home ownership.  But most of the home owners have been very happy with their homes.  As for myself, I love being a home owner and I wouldn't change it for anything.

My personal feelings are that a small amount of work is a small price to pay for what most people get out of the arrangement.  For me, I have a lot of fond memories of helping my parents build their home as I was growing up.   And even afternoons painting the house, or fixing a leaky faucet are simply fond bonding experiences with my father that I hope to someday share with my own children some day.

I think its great that renting works well for you, the most important thing about anyone's living arrangement is that they are comfortable and happy in the place they call home, be it a house, an apartment, or anywhere else that you may call home.