Give me some of your best tips for a new homeowner. I close on my first house next Friday. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
When you get settled in and say next spring you are going away fishing with your buddies and the wife is at home, something will break while you are gone, it could be pretty easily handled but because you are not there and it because a big deal.
Agree with elkguide, but year 1 you will be amazed at the costs of drapes, blinds, yard gear and all the other **** you >need< (assuming there is a significant other involved). New or old house?
Learn to fix everything yourself. Never pay someone to fix something that you can learn to do. Never half-ass a repair or purchase When ever possible even if you have to scrimp and save buy the property at your boarders. Take lots of pictures Let her decorate (it's really not that big of a deal) Congrats man
Before you do any remodeling for example a bathroom. Think about years down the road when you are older try to set things up to make it easier for yourself then.
Also be prepared with an older house, nothing is level, square, or true and every project takes twice as long as what was estimated.
If it's a historical home just start a bonfire using cash, make sure it is one of those bonfires you can see from space. And hopefully you have a Historical Preservation commission made of snot nosed trust fund brats that have no idea what making money for themselves is like. Good quality home inspection is key, dont agree to repairs being done out an escrow account, you'll always end up covering the "unforseen" extra charges and work yourself. Don't ask me how I know.
Built in 1990 so not new, but not real old either. Professional inspection found nothing major. The biggest thing is the garage door, which needs to be replaced, but is a very little door. "Unfinished" basement. Has the insulation in and just need to drywall/plan out rooms.
The first night just sit and enjoy your home with your favorite beverage. My hope is a 15 year fixed you got. if not take elk's advice.
Not necessarily. I sold cabinetry for 2-1/2 years. Never saw a carpenter's square on the job site. Some of the worst construction was high end homes of over $300K. FWIW, I asked a contractor if he did remodeling. He replied, No, he hated to correct other people's mistakes. I'm remodeling and identify with that statement.
Three things: 1) crap will break, as a minimum always keep enough cash in savings to cover your home owner insurance deductible. More would be better, because some repairs will be barely over the deductible and not worth the hassle of involving insurance. Personally, my wife and I always keep enough money in savings that I we lost our income completely, we would have a minimum of three months of all living expenses covered before our finances started to become difficult. I cannot tell what an incredible thing this does to provide peace and security to your wife. 2) Skip one meal out per month (easy to do right now) and put the money towards the PRINCIPAL of the mortgage. An extra $50/month knock off a few years of a 30 year mortgage if that is what you have. It will still pay off the 15 year mortgage early as well. This will save you thousands of dollars in interest over the life of the mortgage. 3) If you did not put down at least 20% then you have PMI insurance. As soon as as you have paid off 20% of the purchase price, get the insurance removed. Once it is removed, keeping paying this money on your payment but direct it at the principal, not the interest. My wife and I have done these three things, we have a 30 year mortgage but we are on pace to pay it off in a little over 21 years. We are doing this while she has been a stay-at-home mom for 3 1/2 of the 5 years we have owned a home. When our youngest is old enough for Kindergarten, she is going back to work. We are going to destroy the mortgage once that happens.
I worded this wrong. It's an open basement there are no rooms/walls studded. Open concept that we get to do. Not plumbed for a bathroom so we will need to rip into the concrete to complete.
Live in it before you make big changes, have a plan before taking on little projects here and there (I'm talking aesthetic projects). - Put that money aside as an emergency fund Do extra principal payments every month, even if it's only $100. Whatever paint color she chooses, "it's perfect" is your response; "yes dear, I'll help you paint it too", should be mentioned as bonus points. Get rid of the carpet, at least in the high traffic areas. Have your HVAC & septic (assumption) serviced if they pervious occupants did not provide a recent inspection. Check the date on your water heater.
First house I think I would put extra capital in updates and improvements with interest rates so low the best return in investment is to improve the home so you get more when you sell it in 5 years then you have more $ to put down on your next house.
This is our first project before we even move anything in. Carpet in the living room/hallway is getting ripped up (even though it is nice). The last owner also ripped a wall out and whoever did the patch job on the wall/ceiling did a horseshit job so we get to do that.
I should have worded better too. Exterior walls. If they were studded when the home was built, you should expect to find some twisted studs. They used a lot of salt dried lumber back then. Look closely at the floor plate. Did they use green treat or plain construction lumber? Construction lumber sucks moisture from green concrete. Being that the walls were not sheeted in might have allowed the floor plate to shed moisture about as fast as it absorbed it.
Good ideas for paying off earlier. We went with auto drafted bi-weekly payments. Like cantexian said, will knock years off the mortgage. 30 years becomes just over 21. You can get a similar effect by paying an extra month of principal any time during the year. There is minimal difference (a few bucks per 100K owed)between say a one time full principle payment and at the other end, weekly (if your lender allows it) payments.
