Helpful Tips For First-Time Homeowners

Getting swept up in all the excitement is a wonderful feeling, but some first-time homeowners lose their heads and make mistakes that can jeopardize everything they’ve worked so hard to earn. Following a series of practical steps early in the home-owning experience can save new owners time, money, and effort later down the road.

Don’t Overspend to Personalize

You’ve just handed over a large portion of your life savings for a down payment, closing costs, and moving expenses. Money is tight for most first-time homeowners. Not only are their savings depleted, but their monthly expenses are also often higher as well, thanks to the new costs that come with homeownership, such as water and trash bills and extra insurance.

Everyone wants to personalize a new home and upgrade what may have been temporary apartment furniture for something nicer, but don’t go on a massive spending spree to improve everything all at once. Give yourself time to adjust to homeownership’s expenses and rebuild your savings — future improvements will still be waiting for you when you can more comfortably afford them.

Don’t Ignore Important Maintenance

One of the new expenses that accompany homeownership is making repairs. There’s no landlord to call if your roof is leaking or your toilet is clogged. To look at the positive side, there’s also no rent increase notice taped to your door on a random Friday afternoon.

While you should exercise restraint in purchasing the nonessentials, you shouldn’t neglect any problem that puts you in danger or could worsen over time. Delay can turn a relatively small problem into a much larger and costlier one. One way to protect yourself against potential maintenance issues is to have a potential home inspected before buying it.

Hire Qualified Contractors

Don’t try to save money by making improvements and repairs you aren’t qualified to make. This may seem to contradict the first point slightly, but it doesn’t. Your home is both the place where you live and an investment. It deserves the same level of care and attention you would give to anything else you value highly.

There’s nothing wrong with painting the walls yourself, but if there’s no wiring for an electric opener in your garage, don’t cut a hole in the wall and start playing with copper wiring. Hiring professionals to do work you don’t know how to do is the best way to keep your home in top condition and avoid injuring yourself. Also, be sure to check with the local building authority and pull any necessary permits to complete the work.

Get Help With Your Tax Return

Even if you hate the thought of spending money on an accountant when you usually do your tax returns yourself, it can pay off. And even if you are feeling broke from buying that house, don’t scrimp on tax preparation. Hiring an accountant to ensure you complete your return correctly and maximize your refund is a good idea. Homeownership significantly changes most people’s tax situations and the deductions they are eligible to claim.

Get Properly Insured

Your mortgage lender requires you not only to purchase homeowners’ insurance but also to purchase enough to fully replace the property in the event of a total loss. But that’s not the only insurance coverage you need as a homeowner. If you share your home with anyone who relies on your income to pay the mortgage, you’ll need life insurance with that person named as a beneficiary so that they won’t lose the house if you die unexpectedly. Similarly, you’ll want to have disability-income insurance to replace your income if you become so disabled that you can’t work.

With the great freedom of owning your own home comes significant responsibilities. Don’t let the excitement of being a new homeowner lead you to bad decisions or oversights that jeopardize your financial or physical security.