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First time homebuyer who just closed on a house, does anyone have any general advice?
I'm thinking first order of business is cleaning and then I'd like to paint, and then cleaning up the unkept yard. But I still haven't even moved yet and I know reality will be different.
Does anyone who's been in this situation before have some general advice?
I like your thought process. I have two pieces of advice.
First, if you are financially able to, wait to move your stuff into the house until after you have updated the rooms to your liking. For example, painting an empty room is way easier then a room full of furniture. This is the same for floor treatments.
Second, only tackle one project at a time. It stinks to have 4 projects all at different percentages of completion. Tackle one project, get it 100%, then move onto the next project.
Congrats on home ownership. I hope you enjoy the adventure.
+1 on these here. Being able to do things like painting and floors is WAY easier without covering/moving furniture (if that's an option).
As you mentioned, cleaning is a great place to start. Also would suggest prioritizing based on need, stuff like leaky plumbing or unsafe electrical getting the top of the list. Outside of that, it's a journey, there will always be something you'd LIKE to accomplish competing with stuff you NEED to accomplish, just roll with it. :)
And congrats!
This has been one of my biggest mistakes. This also often leads to projects taking much longer than they need to because I'm working on 9 different projects.
In my experience, it's the 100% complete aspect that's critical. We got 2 or 3 recent projects to 95% and got complacent. There's a section of floor that doesn't have carpet, a door that doesn't have trim, a section of ceiling that needs its mud sanded and painted, and a shower that needs grout/sealant just outside the shower doors. Eventually, those unfinished bits disappear from your view, but will be obvious to visitors.
This is my entire house
This is exactly what I was looking for. Especially that second one. Right now it feels like everything needs done, but it's a good reminder to take things one project at a time.
And paint closets while they are empty!
New home owner here. I thought about painting first then realized I don't know how I'm going to live in the space. I'm moved in and still figuring out what I like where. By moved in I mean boxes abouts. I like living in the space before deciding colors. And I don't have much stuff so not too worried about moving it around to paint.
Start a maintenance fund. A little put aside every paycheque will help if you have a disaster like a boiler needing replacing or a leaky roof.
And on the topic of maintenance, try to make it a habit to check things regularly - being able to fix something that’s almost broken is often easier and cheaper than replacing something that’s totally broken.
This needs to be the highest rated comment. All the advice so far has been great, but having a maintenance and repairs fund is going to be a life saver. Ever since I started putting a little bit of money every paycheck in my "maintenance and repairs fund," I never have problems paying for random maintenance or repairs.
For example, just last week, my tankless water heater stopped working. Called a few plumbers. One of them showed up. Fixed it. The bill ended up being $275. No problem! Because I had enough money in my "maintenance and repairs fund" to cover it!
Yep, I was speaking from experience too! We actually ended up selling our house because we could see that it was on the verge of costing more in maintenance than we could save for, and we didn’t want to end up down the line having to sell for less due to not keeping up with it. We actually rent now, and not needing to worry about things like that is such a relief
OP, build up your house maintenance fund to be 1% to 3% of the value of your house. We are using ours - literally as I type - to replace the siding on one side of our house and put in a new door. If we didn't have that saved we would've had to take out a loan (the siding was in terrible shape). Please note that the value of your house will likely increase each year, so the amount saved will need to increase (it tracks with the cost of contractors and material increasing each year). ETA: Anticipate replacing mechanicals every 8-12 years (that was an estimate given to us as a rule of thumb and has proven true - not everything goes at the same time but they tend to start going at the 8 year mark).
We overestimated closing so we have a little some cash in the bank already. We're pretty responsible these days too and don't spend much. We waited for a house in our budget in solid shape to minimize our up front repair costs but with a house I know you have to expect the unexpected.
That’s a nice start but I generally suggest banking 20% of mortgage+escrow per month for maintenance.
Improvements are on top of that.
You will need to replace screens, that one weird window, the dead bathroom fan, and get that fixed plumbing brought up to code once some touches it for a water heater and it is no longer grandfathered in.
These things come in large bursts. Best to build it up regularly. Yes, everything will cost more than you expect when it is urgent.
Edit plumbing, not numbing
20% of the mortgage is probably a bit high, particularly now that rates are closer to 6% than 3%. Our home is over 100 years old and we still don't spend quite that much.
Fire extinguishers and plungers are things you should have around as soon as possible.
Lots of things that people pay lots of money for are surprisingly easy to do yourself. My partner and I built a patio and rewired most of a basement. (I mostly don't mess with plumbing, though. Electricity lets you know right away if you screwed up; plumbing lets you know several days later by covering your floor in water.)
To restate a good point: fire extinguishers and plungers are things you want to have before you need them, so you absolutely want them as soon as possible.
Electricity scares me, so I might outsource that one too but I intend on doing most of the landscaping and masonry repair myself eventually. Plus anything else I find myself comfortable with that pops up.
Definitely. Big Portions = Big Shits
I have never actually used a fire extinguisher, but I'm glad they exist.
I have used plungers many times, including one time when I was moving to a new apartment and had to drive to the old one in the middle of the night because I suddenly found myself in need of a plunger.
I don't know, maybe US plumbing just sucks?
A handy friend is the best, to show you the ropes, but youtube is your next best friend for maintenance. There are SO many things you can do yourself that will save you a ton of money in the long run, but it takes a little time to learn how to do them. But there's a video for just about everything online these days.
Case in point - my last repair was removing a knife and small paint brush from a p-trap under the kitchen sink. Fairly simple job but unfortunately I was out of town and had to call a plumber instead. Turned out when the knife dropped it cracked the p-trap so it had to be replaced. That would've taken me a trip to Home Depot for a new trap and some PVC glue and about an hours work. Instead I had to pay a plumber to do that plus apparently a second guy to go get the part, so the tidy bill was $650.00. Ouch.
At the same time, major plumbing and electrical jobs are often really not worth doing yourself. Tradesmen train as apprentices for years for good reason, and not accidentally killing themselves, killing someone else, or damaging client's property is chiefly amongst them. :P
E.g. My last landlord tried his hand at electrical work, and accidentally reversed the polarity on some of my apartment outlets... which fried my brand new laptop and TV, and ended up costing him about $3k to replace them. The electrician he hired to fix the issue also tore him a new asshole when he figured out what was wrong, and found out my landlord did it himself, since he said it could have killed me, someone else, or even set the house on fire.
Good point. Know your limits. There are often some funny and sometimes shocking posts on r/askanelectrician and r/askaplumber labeled "Homeowner Special" or "Landlord Special" that illustrate what happens when a novice goes beyond their expertise in order to save a buck.
To be fair, if your landlord was trying his hand at electrical work and didn't do the absurdly basic check with one of those $10 automatic "plug in the outlet" circuit testers when he was done, that is not really because he was untrained, he was just lazy.
1st rule of DIY is buy the cheap equipment that tells you if you did stuff correctly. A level, a gas detector, and that plug in socket tester are like day 1 purchases if you are going to tackle a project yourself.
I would also add that often times if the only thing stopping you doing it yourself is that you don't have the tool needed consider that the tool is usually cheaper than one visit from a professional! As one example, you can buy a pole to wash your second floor windows for $20-$40. It will cost much more than that to pay someone else to wash them.
but you must balance the rest of that cost with the value of your time, effort, perhaps personal safety, potential lack of experience (quality of results), and insurance that could pay for mistakes. also explained by cfabbro below.
Sometimes you don't even need to buy the tool big box stores allow you to rent some tools and some local libraries have a tool loan program. If those don't fit your needs you don't need to buy the top of the line tool, Ryobi and harbor freight work perfectly for home owner use.
My rule with tools is if I cant rent then, buy the cheapest possible. If I use it enough to break then I get a high to mid range replacement
I would only advise applying this mantra for tools that you aren't going to be putting tons of force into.
Any manual tool that has a chance to fail catastrophically, while you are applying a lot of force with your body, has the potential to cause a serious injury.
This is really good advice. Not only will you save money but you'll also chip away at the fear of "oh no, what if XYZ goes wrong?". And yes, once something goes wrong and you don't know what to do, you will develop that fear. In addition to working on your home maintenance/repair skills, I recommend planning ahead for the tools you will likely need. Being able to patiently wait for these to go on sale and buy them before you need them can save you even more money.
Replace all the toilet seats.
Good call. Also change the locks.
It's not necessarily the 68 year old Mr. Clarkson that you have to worry about. What if Mr. Clarkson develops dementia, comes "home", and walks in on you while you're pooping? Who else did they give keys to, and do those people even know that there are new owners now?
Definitely paint as much of the interior as you have time for before move-in.
It's worth checking out what a cleaning service would charge to do a deep clean. I was really surprised when we ended up paying I think $120 for a crew to come in and bang out our 2500 sq foot place. Worth it for the time we saved to do other things, but maybe we got lucky with the pricing.
If you have forced air heat or air conditioning, check the filters. Same with any water softeners or purifiers that might be installed, and thoroughly clean any humidifiers or dehumidifiers.
Learn where the main shutoffs are for any utilities that come into the house: electric, water, natural gas if you have it. Make sure everybody who lives in the house knows, and try to remember to inform any future house-sitters you may have, or if somebody comes over to feed pets or something while you go away.
Make a map of what all your circuit breakers are connected to. It's kind of a fun activity to do with somebody, one of you go around with a light plugging it into sockets and flipping lightswitches while the other trips the breakers and you yell at each other or text or whatever until you have figured out what they all are and know how to power down anything in the house when you need to work on it. This is easier to do before you start plugging in electronics and setting them up, so you don't have to set them up again after.
Exactly what we did as well. We got there a few days before our POD arrived. Had it cleaned that morning while we went out for brunch and then came back and started painting. We had enough clothes for the first week and slept on an air mattress but we were able to paint the bulk of the house, baseboards, and doors in those first few days. It would have been a nightmare if all our stuff had been moved in.
As a former electrician, I would advise leaving electrical and plumbing work to the pros, personally. Since leaving the trade, I pay licensed, insured, and bonded professionals because it's worth it. Each of those words means a higher price to employ that tradesman, but also means a safe home when the work is done.
Yeah I can handle most cosmetic and maintenance items, maybe some masonry in the backyard, but plumbing, electric, and HVAC is definitely something I wanna leave to the pros.
Know your maintenance
Clean gutters in the fall when you put up holiday lights, if you do.
Crawl space? Open/close vents
Hot water heater? Drain? Sacrificial rod?
Central air filters
Check for wasp nests and carpenter bees in the spring or whatever you do for where you live
Good call on checking for bees. There's a couple of nooks and crannies I could see them forming in I'll have to keep an eye on.
If you are concerned, spray some of that barrier insect spray in those spaces every year and it should guarantee they don't set up shop.
Speaking of bugs, get on a regular maintenance plan with a local exterminator and get periodic barrier sprays done around the house to prevent infestations. Termites and carpenter ants can do a huge amount of costly damage to a house before you even realize they're there - the best cure is prevention.
It can be tempting to think you need to buy new tools for everything you now have to handle in your house (drill, lawn mower, etc). This can add up fast. Buy cheap tools to start. If you find yourself using something a lot, especially if you use it enough that it breaks, then replace it with a more expensive, better quality tool.
Adding on to this, if you live in the US, Harbor Freight Tools is a new home-gamer's best friend. Their stuff is cheap and does the job. If you wear something out, buy a nicer brand next time.
Pay attention to water around your home. Are your gutters and downspouts flowing properly? Is there standing water anywhere near the foundation or in the yard after it rains? During heavy rains, where does the water from the downspouts go? Unaddressed drainage problems in and around your home can cause major damage over time.
Case in point, our back patio has sunk over the years and is now collecting water right next to our foundation. Hydrostatic pressure can cause foundation issues and water intrusion if you have a basement.
We also had a downspout that was dumping water right onto the driveway for years. This eventually eroded a trench underneath the driveway causing some major cracks and setting in the concrete. We've since redirected the downspout into the yard, well away from the house and driveway.
I haven't been at the house during a rain storm yet but as I mentioned in another comment we had a huge storm the day before our final walkthrough and the space was dry and there wasn't too much silt or moisture in the backyard. Neighbor concurred and said flooding is rare. It's weird I hated doing all this stuff as a kid at my parents house but I'm weirdly excited to take care of this place. Thanks for the advice!
Hey, i asked a pretty similar question a year or so ago!
House advice thread
After a year and some change, I agree with pretty much everythong said here so far. Paint (and change carpets if needed) before moving in, look where the downspouts are throwing water out of, CHECK YOUR GUTTERS FOR CLOGS (currently dealing with a home imsurance claim about this one), and make friends with your neighbors if you have them! Our nextdoor neighbors are people that know people so instead of needing to hire someone to come out and clean the gutters, they asked another owner in the area to borrow their 30 footer, and we took care of both our houses in the process!
I haven't been at the house during rain yet but we had a huge storm the day before our final walkthrough and the space was dry and there wasn't too much silt or moisture in the backyard. Neighbor concurred and said flooding is rare. Definitely need to get on a ladder soon and check downspouts. I can actually reach them too!
May seem obvious but I know some people that have been tripped by this. Paint before you move in, it's much easier to do if there's no furniture to worry or move around.
Find out where your water (and gas if applicable) shutoff valves are located. If there’s ever a burst pipe or some situation where water is gushing everywhere you’ll want to know exactly where to run in a panic to shut it all off.
Also I don’t know where you’re located and if it’s required for sellers to take care of this and have a certificate, but I highly recommend checking smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
If you have any kind of forced air heating or cooling, make a note of the filter sizes and be sure to swap them often. I keep a little note on my phone because I have two diff sizes and always forget when I’m at the store.
This might be a weird one, but I always at least try to know my neighbors a little bit. You don’t need to be best friends or hang out or whatever, but if you’re ever in a jam and need an extra set of hands or just somebody that will give a damn if they see something weird at your house when you’re not there… that kind of thing. Just a little bit of a sense of community I guess.
Congratulations on the new home!
I'm lucky I got to meet the neighbors already, they've been living there for awhile and all seem to really know each other so I feel a bit like an outsider but I know if I take care of my yard and be respectful and helpful when possible there shouldn't be issues.
If you have hardwood floors, think about whether or not you want to have them refinished before moving in. You will never get another good opportunity to do it.
This is the one I'm currently thinking over right now. I'm painting next week and it would be nice to do it afterwards as a bit of a final touch before move in.
We also are coming from an apartment with carpet so we don't have many rugs. So I don't think I want to start putting my furniture on a beautifully refinished floor just yet. But I know you're right.
We live in Florida which had really high property insurance costs, so while they weren’t glamour, we really focused our first home projects on things that would pay off in the long run.
Our property insurance was almost $3,500 and didn’t cover our roof or water damage because the roof and hot water heater were both 22 years old. So those were the first things off our list. Our renewal rate for insurance was $4,900, but we were able to get it down to $2,000 after those projects. It lowered our monthly payment and allows us to save more for future projects.
Those two items aren't cheap either. For how expensive hot water heaters are you'd think they'd last longer.
Congratulations on buying the home!
Painting is a good idea, definitely look at all kinds of things pre-move with a critical eye because it'll never be easier to renovate them than in an empty house.
Also I would advise keeping a log book. This home will probably be THE most valuable object you own, why would you not keep a record? This gets particularly useful later on down the line when you've got 2 or 3 years of memories to run through. It doesn't need to be something crazy, just a cheap composition notebook with entries like:
July 11 2023 - Cleared dead plants along the south property line and planted hostas.
July 10 2023 - Turned the furnace fan on to pull cold air out of the basement and circulates it around the house. Worked pretty well, temp outside was 83 and inside it was 71.
July 05 2023 - Put a thumb-size dent in the garage door from one of the fireworks last night. Door still opens and closes fine.
July 01 2023 - Guest shower takes a LONG time to drain. Plunged the drain and cleared it with a bunch of liquid plumber, helped a little. Maybe the drain line has a long horizontal run? Can't find it among the basement joists.
June 22 2023 - One of the moisture packs is already full! Might want to get a humidifier down there.
June 13 2023 - Caught total of six mice in traps, no more seem to be coming around. Leaving traps out.
June 08 2023 - Concerned about mice getting into the basement, swept all the open areas and set out traps. Also put a pair of moisture absorbing packs by the canned goods rack.
I really like this log book idea. I do stuff like that anyway. Didn't think about it for a house but makes so much sense. I think I might tie this in with the other suggestion of keeping a house binder.
I have absolutely terrible memory for things, and after 10+ years in QC labs it just became second nature to keep logs of important stuff.
The $1 black composition notebooks are perfect, they're so cheap you don't mind using them up on all kinds of dumb stuff.
I have one for the house, one for the car, and several for various projects that I periodically drop and return to again. It helps me keep my thoughts organized if I imagine I'm writing notes for a future self who's forgotten everything to catch back up on.
Having recently gone through at the beginning of the year:
Otherwise, hope you like yard work. ;)
I'm glad I'm smart enough (and had a decent realtor, I can't take all the credit) that helped me make sure all this stuff was taken care of. Thank you!
Most of the answers are maintenance related; and probably it was the spirit of your question. But here are other considerations:
make a point of knowing your neighbors. Literally go to their doors and introduce yourself, often a small gift helps in this interaction. You don't have to be their friend right away, but you will share the same issues and challenges common to the area, so they will be a source of knowledge, tools, advice, support with your house. It is 1000% worth it. The sense of community if you end up having friendship with some of them could be live-changing.
walk your neighbourhood and the streets around your house. Become an expert in the area - maybe there is a weird access to the back of your house, a shortcut to the coffee shop nearby, or an empty lot where they could build in the future. It is fun and good exercise, plus gives you situational awareness of your surroundings.
Put everything related to mantaince information/papers in a binder: your paint colored cards, every receipt for the house good stuff that’s a big purchase, put every user manual in there, maintenance info, every update or anything that correlates… you’ll Thank you. And so will the buyers after you.
enjoy your house and make it a home for you. This is a place that should feel safe, comfortable, and adapted to your needs and wants as much as possible.
I met my neighbors the other day and it was one of the things I was most nervous about. They seem cool, kinda intimidating moving into a place where almost everyone else has been living for a couple of decades.
Do not do any major changes in the first year or two. Learn your house. It takes a long time to learn all the little quircks and oddities of your house and then really decide what you want to do with it.
Damn I made some mistake on changes that I made too early on that I regret.
I made a pretty long post about this not too long ago
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned yet is to get a home energy audit. They are inexpensive or sometimes even free, and can be a great way to reduce your utility expenses. They’ll do a blower door test and thermal imsging to find air leaks, replace incandescent lightbulbs with LEDs, add weatherstrip to doors and windows, and recommend ways to upgrade your systems for maximum efficiency.
I had an audit at my last house and they discovered a hidden wall cavity that was leaking a massive amount of warm air into the attic - like the equivalent of a large window always open! It was easily and cheaply fixed, and made the entire house noticeably warmer in winter.
I was wondering if this was possible, I feel like my central air could be more efficient. Would this be performed by our utility company? Or do we find another company for it?
Where I live, the utility company contacts with a nonprofit that actually does the energy audit. The homeowner pays a nominal fee ($35 last time I got one). I’d start by calling your utility provider.
Maybe it was already commented and I overlooked it, but no matter if they are legally required in your area or not, get smoke detectors as soon as you can.
Not only in the (if applicable) minimum amount of rooms required, but everywhere except the bathroom. For the kitchen there are special detectors that don't get distracted by the fumes there. Get those with a 10 year battery. Smoke detectors will typically demand a new battery at 2am so you want to replace them not every 1.5 years.
I somewhat speak out of experience in this regard as I once learned a customer had died this way. She was living in a one room apartment, and hadn't turned the stove entirely off before putting a wooden cutting board on it and going to bed. There was no fire, she just died from the smoke.
Great advice. Didn't know they had special smoke detectors for kitchens, our apartment one goes off every time we turn the oven on.
My house burnt down when I was 16 so first purchase is definitely a couple of fire extinguishers and properly installing better smoke detectors than the ones that are currently here.
Also, smoke detectors have a lifespan - they need to be replaced every 10 years or so, check the age of the ones in your house.
If you need to replace them, consider getting combination carbon monoxide/smoke detectors - CO is scary and kills quickly.
That's a fair point and good addition.
I forgot mentioning this as I have those detectors with a 10-year battery. On these, the battery can't be replaced for the reason you said, their life span is over once the battery is empty. So you can't accidentially replace the battery and go beyond the device's life span like with detectors that need a new battery every 1-2 years.
There's a lot of good advice in this thread, unfortunately I have nothing to add but congratulations and best of luck with your new home.
Thank you! My fiance and I are very excited, nervous as well, but mostly excited. The house suits us nicely and aside from minor repairs its solid and well taken care of.
Fumigate first! Then do whatever. I don't care if their inspector, and your inspector, and my mom's inspector said it was fine. FUMIGATE FIRST. Did the seller say they fumigated right after moving out? Cool. FUCKING FUMIGATE IT AGAIN.
Bug bomb before you move anything in. Even if it is a new house. You will want a house that is as big free as possible before you start bringing fabric-y stuff (read: furniture and clothes) inside.
Tent it before you move in. Even if the inspection was fine. Much easier than after moving in.
For bugs/pests you mean? I haven't heard of nor considered this before. Do you live in an area common for infestations?
Termites are very common where I am but bugs, rats, whatever creepy crawlers are about.
Lots of great advice already here.
We closed on our first house in the beginning of May this year. I'm still pretty excited over the whole thing, but one thing I'll say is this: be prepared for a lot of small projects and potentially some bigger ones. If it came with the house, especially if it's an older house, you should probably get it professionally serviced. Our house only had a couple minor issues during inspection, but after moving in and living here for two months, I'm under the impression that the previous owner never did any maintenance on anything and hired the cheapest contractors to make the house presentable right before selling.
The AC ducts look like they've never been cleaned. There was a water softener installed that was literally never serviced and is now useless. There's loose floor boards. The jacuzzi tub took several cleanings to stop spewing black gunk. There were rusty metal bolts all over the backyard that were hidden by the grass. One of the toilets was uneven and rocks when you sit on it. The handle on the shower is backwards; hot is cold and cold is hot. Etc, etc, etc.
I don't regret buying the house at all, and none of these things make the house unlivable so I'm tackling them at my leisure, but I had no idea how much work I'd have cut out for me. At least I have the satisfaction of knowing the work I'm putting in is for MY benefit and not a landlord's.
Oh, and change the locks.
That's rough. My mom's house was a flip and everything in it is low quality budget material. Luckily the owner of my house seemed to take care and spend a little extra on quality when they updated things.
Tons of stuff needs updated though for sure, new ignitor for the furnace, new screens in windows, adding a dead bolt to the front door, changing locks to match on the back door, weeding the backyard, fixing the chimney, silver coating the roof, electrical updates to bring it up to current code, it all adds up. Still not as bad as most of the houses we saw. One thing at a time though!
Good luck with everything!
Important message:
Do not try to cost-cut on home improvement materials to the point that it will cost you more in maintenance over the long term. Inspections won't reveal previous homeowners used flooring that wasn't water-resistant, plumbing fixtures prone to corrosion, plastic trim instead of wood, roof shingles with only a 10-year rating, paint that chalks at a touch, etc. You may discover these things - don't repeat those mistakes if you're planning to occupy the house for a while.
You can also invest in relatively inexpensive improvements that make your life easier on a daily basis - pull-out kitchen cabinet racks, knobs and hooks in the right places, built-in shelves, and other amenities once you know what feels right as you get used to the space.
Landscaping - see what plants are successful in your neighborhood and climate before you go shopping. Nurseries will sell you anything, whether it's a good fit or not. It may also be a good idea to live in the house for a year and map the shade/light patterns throughout the seasons so you've got a better idea of what will thrive where. Decide on whether you may need irrigation to get the yard you want, before you start planting. Avoid invasive plants! Spend as much on soil improvements as you do on the plant you're going to install - it will pay off with lower maintenance over time.
The best advice I received, which echoes some other comments in here, is to take it one room at a time. Don't worry about painting the bedrooms and putting new shelves in the closet if your kitchen and loving room aren't what you want them to be. Those are the places you're going to spend most of your awake time anyway, and the rooms you're going to want to show off.
Also congrats! Owning a home is a whoooole thing so welcome to the club.
You might be thinking about decorating a room with wallpaper.
Don’t.
It’s a real pain to put up, and even worse to take down when you inevitably get tired of it.
Paint instead. You’ll thank yourself later.
Take pictures of the boxes of the lightbulbs/filters. Store extras, plus with the name of were it goes on the box(bathroom, kitchen, etc). I'm helping you in the future.
Also make sure you know how to shut off the water in case of pipe burst.
Have a plunger.