Unless you live next to someone who shoots the squirrels you love to watch eating at the bird feeder. Or puts a football jersey (for a team you hate) on your dog.
So whens the party? Are you providing food and beverage? Can i bring a date? Haha joking aside everyone else hit nail on head. Dont kill yourself on the small stuff. Im sure you will have a giant Honey-Do list so just get all that knocked out so she can nest. Fix was right. Just let her have at it. Its a bonus if you can claim a small space in basement or garage for your man cave. Rest of house is hers. Then just live for a year or 2. If you start hammering out projects right away you may well find a year or 2 down the road that you didnt need to do that or would have done it different. Get to know your house and all the creaks and noises. Learn your utilities and how to do basic repairs in a pinch. You dont want to be waiting to get bent over by a service tech while your wife and kids dont have hot water or heat or a/c. General maintenance goes a long way. Learn how to keep exterior clean and sealed around windows and joints. Youll learn as you go.My Grandpa always says “if you own your own home, you deserve it, take that how you want to.” . Congrats!
Technically not my neighbor in my book, the dog lives in the second house down, and I do chipmunk control as a community service.
Learn what home maintenance is and create a plan. Little things neglected turn into big things. Keep the gutters clean too. Good luck. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
On the unfinished insulated basement...make VERY,VERY sure water proofing was done correctly BEFORE any dry wall goes up. Before ANY flooring goes down. Mold is a house killer. Also depending on where you bought a radon test should be done if it wasn't before purchase,ventilation installed as needed or not. BTW radon is a manditory disclosure before a sale, at least in nys. ALWAYS have one to two payments in reserve because life is some times cruel. Before any remodels, start a fund for said remodel.
Compare your tax assessed value to your purchase price, if you purchased it lower take the bill of sale to tax assessors office and have your property taxes lowered.
If you live in a climate that gets below freezing check on the discharge hose of your sump pump often in the winter, may even consider removing it or upsizing it for the winter months. The first year I owned my home I left the tiny hose on the sump pump discharge and it froze solid, in the spring when things began to thaw my sump pump was running for days non stop because the water could not get out of the pipe. I swear the water was boiling in my sump crock. I had no idea the pump was running because it was quiet due to being under a foot of water for who knows how long. Thank goodness there was no flooding. I also recommend a battery back up sump pump, it will save you in a storm if the power gets knocked out.
Each year try to save 1% of the cost of your home and put it away in a separate savings account just for home repairs.
First off, congrats on your first house. Before you move in, go online and find smoke / carbon alarms. You need to have a smoke / carbon alarm outside of each bed room. Smoke alarms need to be in every bed room and in area outside of bed rms and 1 per floor. They need to be interconnected, you can find these online with 10yr sealed batteries. Ask friends / family / neighbors for recommendation's for good trust worthy contractors, please do not try to do things that will only cost you more later when a pro has to repair your "handi work". Good luck, house is a big investment, but its yours.(and the bank). Not a fan of "Home Inspectors", their contract stats they are not responsible for things they miss or cant see...
Braided hoses for appliances like washer. Over time I've replaced others that use the 3/8" lines, like to the toilet tank, under sinks. Esp, if you have sandy soil, every couple months drain a bucket of water out of the hot water tank. Build an emergency saving acct of about $1k, before you get too crazy. Things break at the most inopportune times.
At that rate invest cash into finishing the basement and improvements with rural realestate in Minnesota the ROI is higher on improving the property rather than paying down a mortgage.
You many never borrow money that cheap again. No reason to get in a rush to pay it back. The market has an annual return of nearly 10% on average. Pay yourself, not the bank. Once you have a maintenance fund set up for the home, I would not pay extra on the mortgage, I would put that money to work in the market. Our IRA's averaged 20% this year. That beats paying down the mortgage by over 17% and the compounding only makes it look better down the road. Not all debt is good, but really cheap interest mortgage debt is nothing to worry about getting paid off. If you are paying PMI, get it paid down to below that requirement and then chill.
How long do you intend to stay that is the question? I would improve the house maximize return and buy a **** hole with acres to do it again.
