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13 Must-Read Tips for New Homeowners
By Susan Doktor MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
Moving into a new home is exciting, to say the least. But particularly if you’re new to homeownership, it can leave you with a lot of questions. As a first-time homebuyer, the steps you must take to keep your home in top condition aren’t necessarily top-of-mind or readily apparent.
That’s why we’ve compiled this list of 13 must-read tips: to guide you through the essential process of protecting what could be the largest asset you own, your new home. Over time, you’ll gain the knowledge you need to keep your home in great shape and even get into a rhythm that will make home maintenance easy. But for now, rely on our top tips to guide you through the first year or two.
Table of contents
- Our Best Tips for New Homeowners
- Best Tips for New Homeowners FAQs
- How We Chose Our Best Tips for Homeowners
- Summary of Our Best Tips for Homeowners
Our Best Tips for New Homeowners
Optimize your home purchase process
Homebuyers are faced with many financial considerations throughout the home purchase process, from negotiating a good selling price to paying attention to the conditions set out in their mortgage documents.
Before you buy a home, it’s essential to schedule a professional home inspection. Any defects your inspector finds should be taken into account. These may affect the offer (or offers) you make to a home seller. You’re perfectly within your rights to lower your offer price to reflect the home repairs you’ll need to make when you move in. You’ll save money in the long run by putting the financial burden of home repairs on the home seller and not taking them on yourself.
When you attend your home closing, we highly recommend you ask your real estate agent or attorney to accompany you. He or she is familiar with the documents you’ll be signing, which outline any closing costs, your property taxes and your homeowners insurance premiums. Along with your down payment, the amount you borrow from your mortgage lender, and the interest rate you agreed to pay, these are the primary factors that determine your monthly mortgage payments.
It’s worth mentioning that the overall costs borrowers pay is deeply affected by interest rates. To secure the lowest interest rates, you’ll need a very high credit score. So be sure to order a copy of your credit report. If your credit score isn’t in the highest tier, you may want to delay buying a home until you can repair your credit and raise your score.
Don’t ignore house maintenance
Homes are like kids. They’re demanding! And they need constant care to thrive. Only they don’t need food and toys. They need paint, gutter cleaning, landscaping updates, roof inspections, filter changes, and more — in addition to certain regular check-ups — to keep them healthy. Ignore any one of these essential maintenance chores and you put your home in danger of developing serious problems.
Home experts often recommend creating a home maintenance checklist. Your realtor may have compiled a checklist based on his or her vast experience, so be sure to ask if such a list is available. The list will include tasks you should accomplish when you first move in, as well as the ones you should perform monthly or annually.
Find a reliable handyman
Good handymen (or handywomen) are worth their weight in gold — especially if you’re not a confident DIY-er. From touch-up painting to shoring up the handrails on your steps, you’ll notice many small problems as you live in your home and having a versatile handyperson can save you time and money over the years.
Where can you find a good handyperson? Once again, your real estate agent, who is likely familiar with your neighborhood, may have a recommendation. So might your neighbors. Many neighborhoods have their own Facebook pages, where you may find handypeople advertising their services. These posts often attract comments from satisfied customers. Use Facebook Messenger to reach out to these customers and ask them to provide more detail on their experiences with the service provider.
Create a home improvement journal
Along with having a home maintenance checklist, it makes sense to also create a home improvement journal. Note the home maintenance tasks you’ve accomplished and the date of the service or repair. Nobody’s memory is perfect. Keeping an updated journal will help keep you on track and keep your home in the best possible condition.
Tackle one project at a time
Take a deep breath when you move into your new home. Depending on its condition, you may have a long list of home maintenance, repairs and home improvements you want to take on. It can be a little overwhelming.
Prioritize these tasks as best you can. At the top of your list, note any repairs that may affect your safety, such as having your fireplace and chimney professionally cleaned, and get those done first. If you live in a multi-home development, your homeowner’s association (HOA) may require you to complete certain tasks. Prioritize those activities, as well, to avoid paying fines, which are also known as reasonable enforcement assessments.
Then take it one step at a time, as your time and budget allow. Give yourself a pat on the back as you address each issue. Getting through your list will give you a sense of accomplishment while improving the condition of your home. You can also chalk up some financial benefits. The value of your home will increase as you make each update or home improvement.
Get to know your home warranty provider
When you buy a new home, you can expect a few surprises. Some of them can be quite costly. That’s why many homebuyers purchase a home warranty when they move into their new property. Sometimes a home seller will offer year-long home warranty protection as a way of making their homes more attractive to buyers. Either way, a home warranty can help offset the cost of unexpected home repairs, which experts advise can be about one dollar per square foot of your home. Depending on the home warranty you choose and the size of your home, the cost of a home warranty can be less than this annual home repair estimate.
Home warranties are a varied lot. Each provides its own list of covered items, premiums and deductibles. One might cover your entire HVAC system, while others may exclude air conditioning, for example. Comparing home warranty costs can be a complicated process, but it’s worth the time and effort to find the most advantageous policy for your home and budget.
Replace air filters regularly
Ideally, you should change the replaceable filters in your HVAC systems every three months. In colder climates, that typically means three times a year for your furnace and once a year for your AC system. If you live in a warm climate, apply the opposite standard.
Recommended filter replacement frequency can change based on certain home, health and lifestyle factors. If you live in a dusty or very dry climate, if you own one or more pets, or if anyone living in your home suffers from allergies or a respiratory issue, changing filters every 2 months is a good idea. Older HVAC systems may also require more frequent filter changes. Fortunately, basic HVAC system filters aren’t very expensive. You can buy them in packages of five for under $30 on Amazon. But be sure to choose the right replacement filter, as dictated by your furnace’s manufacturer. If your system requires a higher MERV rating filter (one that traps finer particles in the air), you may pay a little more. But the wrong filter can do damage to your system.
Decide wisely between DIY and hiring a professional
Do you have mad handyman skills? You’re in very good luck. You’re in a position to perform many home maintenance tasks and home repairs on your own without calling in a contractor. But even if you don’t, these skills can be acquired over time. Buy yourself a great home maintenance guidebook. Watch YouTube videos for instructions on how to perform simple repairs and maintenance tasks. Read home improvement blogs — This Old House is great for both historic and newer homes, but there are hundreds of others.
Start small. Filter changes are a great example. Hanging curtain rods or blinds is another. If you find you enjoy tinkering with your house, keep it up and soon you’ll surprise yourself with how much you’ve learned.
But sometimes, hiring a professional is the smarter — or even only — way to go. Painting the exterior of your home, roof repairs and major system overhauls count among the jobs you’ll probably want to hire a professional to complete. Get multiple estimates and seek out recommendations from your neighbors or real estate agent to make sure you get the job done right at a competitive price.
Create a home maintenance budget
Some home expenses can be easy to budget for: routine tasks you should perform each year. Account for these tasks in your home maintenance budget.
But every homeowner will encounter unexpected repair bills. You might be able to estimate that your roof or hot water heater will need replacing in a few years, but the whens and whats of home repair aren’t clear. Nothing is for certain.
That’s why many home experts recommend that homeowners create a home repair savings fund. Contribute to it regularly until you’ve amassed somewhere between 1% and 4% of your home’s value. We recommend you aim for the high side when it comes to budgeting for home repairs. No one wants to be unprepared for major repair expenses, like a furnace or roof replacement. If you save more than you spend, you can roll over the balance in your home maintenance into the next year.
Invest in homeowner’s insurance
And by that, we mean purchase the best homeowner’s insurance you can afford. Carrying homeowner’s insurance is mandatory if you have a mortgage: your mortgage lender expects you to pay to protect its interest in your property. But buying a policy still involves quite a few choices.
Mortgage lenders may only demand that you purchase a couple of types of insurance. These include property damage coverage, which protects you against fire, windstorms, and similar perils. Your mortgage company will also require you to carry liability insurance, which protects you if someone or someone’s property is hurt on your property.
But lenders may only require you to carry property insurance up to the amount of money you borrowed when you bought your home. Theoretically, as you pay down your mortgage, you can lower the limits of coverage on your policy. But that’s never a good idea. While home values may dip for brief periods, over time, real estate is a great investment. History demonstrates that the value of your home will increase if you hold on to it for a few years. So by all rights, you should probably increase your coverage limits as the value of your home rises. That way you’re not only protected up to your mortgage lender’s interest, but can also recover the full worth of your property should something untoward happen.
Mortgage lenders may not require you to carry protection for your personal property. But don’t leave your furniture, clothing, electronics and other belongings unprotected. Personal property insurance protects you against theft, as well as damage.
With both types of property insurance, you have a choice between two types of coverage. The first is actual cash value (ACV) coverage. With ACV coverage, policies will only cover items in your home up to what they’d fetch in the open market. What would your used cashmere coat cost in a thrift store? That’s how much an ACV policy would pay you if it was damaged in a fire. And that’s probably not enough to buy you a brand-new coat of similar construction. For that, you’d need replacement value coverage.
Replacement value coverage is especially important if you have a lot of antiques, artwork or high-end appliances and electronics in your home. It’s also a good idea if you live in a home that features old-world or high-end contemporary craftsmanship. ACV coverage won’t pay to replace plaster ceilings, for example. It would only pay enough to replace them with drywall. The two might function the same, but the look is entirely different.
The bottom line is don’t skimp when it comes to homeowner’s insurance.
Regularly check your home’s systems
Many costly, surprise repairs can be traced back to ignoring regular system check-ups. Checking your home systems as soon as you move in is the first step in recognizing small problems. But routine checks are also essential. Here’s a list of the home systems you should concern yourself with and how often they need service.
- Hot water heater: drain or flush twice a year
- Air conditioning: replace filters every three months
- Furnace: schedule a professional inspection/service annually and replace filters every quarter
- Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors: monthly, for your safety
- Chimney: if you have a fireplace, have it cleaned before each heating season
- Security system: call your security system provider and ask for a remote check
Keep all important documents in a safe place
You never know when you’ll need to refer to important documents. Don’t leave them scattered throughout your home — gather them up and find a home for them so you can find them when you need them.
These are some documents you should keep in a safe place in your home. Ideally, the space you choose for document storage will be fire and waterproof. If you have a home safe, that’s a great place to store them. That way you have them at home for quick reference.
If you don’t have a safe, you may want to consider renting a safety deposit box at a local bank, where you can store a copy of your will, your family’s birth certificates, marriage and military discharge records, your home title, your original mortgage documents and your homeowners insurance policy. Many people also decide to make a list of their bank and investment account numbers and other expensive assets and store them in a safe or safety deposit box, too.
Use energy-efficient appliances
After you address any safety concerns in your home and make any repairs demanded by your homeowner’s association, you’ll want to turn your attention to those home repairs and improvements that have the potential to save you money.
The average American family spends nearly $6,000 on utilities each year. Lowering your energy bills will make a significant impact on the cost of living in your new home. Check your appliances to be sure they’re Energy Star certified. If they aren’t, consider replacing them soon with the most energy-efficient options on the market.
Keeping your furnace and air conditioning systems well-maintained will also lower your energy costs. Generally, furnaces have about a 20-year life expectancy. But as your HVAC system ages, you may find your energy bills increasing. Taking rising energy costs into account, that’s still a signal that your system isn’t using energy as efficiently as it once was. Hire a professional to assess whether the system needs repair or whether replacement is a better choice.
Best Tips for New Homeowners FAQs
How We Chose Our Best Tips for Homeowners
Our writers are experts in home finance matters, whether that’s choosing the right mortgage to purchasing a home warranty. Countless hours of research inform our recommendations. We also consulted with real estate professionals and the organizations that serve them, such as the National Association of Realtors, for their own recommendations. Finally, we took advantage of the many online resources.
Summary of Our Best Tips for Homeowners
Here are the key takeaways from our top tips for new homeowners:
- Hire a professional home inspector to evaluate your home before purchase. Use any defects found in the home as leverage when negotiating your home purchase price.
- Get organized. Prepare a checklist of regular home maintenance chores and stick to it.
- Don’t put off minor repairs and maintenance. Small problems can become major, costly problems if you don’t take care of your home’s systems and exterior.
- Prioritize home maintenance, repair, and improvement tasks. Address safety issues first. Then consider which home improvements will add the most value to your property.
- Get the best homeowner’s insurance policy you can comfortably afford.
- Acquiring handyman skills can save you a considerable amount of money each year. You may also take pleasure and find a sense of accomplishment in doing minor home repairs yourself. But be smart: call in a professional for complicated repairs, such as those that require ladder work.
We hope our tips make homeownership less complicated, more enjoyable, and more cost-effective for our readers.
Thinking of moving soon? Check out our list of the best moving companies in Florida to get you started.
