What To Expect During Your First Year in a New Home
Learn what lies ahead in the next 12 months as a first-time homeowner.
Buying a home brings with it a lot of changes. From upgrading your space to dealing with contracts and closing costs, it’s a lot to take in for a first-time buyer. Especially for renters who had superintendents and handymen to take care of maintenance, there can be a few major learning curves when becoming a homeowner.
Get ahead of the curve and learn some of what you can expect during your first year in your new home.
Anticipate Unexpected Expenses
As a homeowner, there are bound to be some bumps in the road. While you adjust to your new home, you may come across minor issues or small annoyances like sticky light switches or leaky faucets that you never noticed until you lived there. It’s also possible that you may run into larger or unpredictable issues, like a furnace that dies unexpectedly or a tree that falls because of a storm. Though you may not be able to know exactly what the future holds, be sure to reserve a small nest egg to have on hand to take care of any unforeseen expenses that may arise.
Readjust to Your New Budget
As a homeowner, you’re dealing with mortgage payments, insurance, property taxes, and maybe HOA fees—all on top of the closing costs and inspection fees that you just paid when you bought the house. On average, homeowners pay over $9,000 per year on top of their mortgage—and it’s only natural it will take a little bit of time to adjust to all of your new expenses. Try creating a budget spreadsheet for the first few months in your new home so you can get a better sense of where your money is going as you recalibrate.
Get to Know Your Neighborhood
If you’ve moved to a new area—or even a new city—it will likely take you some time to get acclimated to your new environment. From taking walks around your immediate neighborhood to mapping out essentials like the grocery store and bank that may be farther afield, be sure to take some time to familiarize yourself with your new surroundings. This will also help you get to know your neighbors, as you’ll likely start to see the same familiar faces. Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself and get to know one another, since you’re likely to be in your home for at least a few years.
Keep Up With Routine Maintenance
If you were formerly renting, you’ll need to adjust to the routine maintenance requirements of being a homeowner. In addition to the ongoing cleaning and tidying that you do day to day and week to week, there are some bigger tasks that also need to be taken care of periodically to keep things running smoothly. From changing HVAC filters to cleaning the condenser coils on your refrigerator to draining your water heater, there are many small—but important—tasks that you should keep up with to prolong the life of your home and appliances. Create a checklist for each month to help you stay on top of things and avoid any preventable maintenance problems.
If you’re planning for your next home, think about building instead of buying. Building a home from the ground up helps you avoid up-front maintenance costs and saves you headaches throughout your first year—plus, it allows you to tailor a home to perfectly suit your needs.
Learn more about how Atmos makes homebuilding easier than ever before by bringing every expert under one roof.
