Advice for First Time Home Buyers

I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long! I've been swamped because I moved into my new home and I started a new job all around the same time! So as you can imagine, I haven't had much time to do anything, plus I didn't have internet at the new home for a couple weeks! In any case, I've been doing a lot at the new house, so look out for those posts soon! But for now here's a preview of the front of the home =)

Recently two friends of mine got married and the Maid of Honor had this brilliant idea to create a scrapbook with different pieces of advice for newlyweds. The MOH had asked me to write a section on first time home owners since I had just moved into my new home. She seemed to think I had some good advice so I thought I'd share with you all too. I took out some of the personal parts, but this is the meat of it. Hope it sheds some light for you, but again this is just all from my own experience and my own opinion. The process will be different for everybody.

Dear Bride & Groom,

Owning your own home is a huge, adult step. I don't think I ever really felt like an actual adult until I bought my own home. Some advice I can give to you:

HOUSE HUNTING

• BE PATIENT! I probably put offers on almost 10 homes and lost to people with all cash offers or bigger deposits, I just kept thinking to myself “it wasn’t meant to be.” I ended up buying in a new community because there is no competition there. Just because it’s a new home, doesn’t always mean it’s more expensive. Since I bought in the first phase, my townhome was cheaper than a lot of older homes in the neighborhood, so just do your research.
• COMPROMISE. You probably won’t be able to get everything you want in your first home, so be prepared to sacrifice. Figure out what are your “wants” versus your “needs.” I wanted an older home with some charm and a yard, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me, so I compromised and am trying to decorate the house to have the charm I want.
• SAVE. Buying a home can take a long time, so in the meantime, save, save, save! I tried to “pretend” I had a mortgage already during the house hunt, so I cut down on spending to prepare for the purchase.
• SEE THE POTENTIAL. Look at the bones of the house. Just because it may not look beautiful, doesn’t mean you can’t make it that way. A little paint, and tearing down some walls goes a long way!
• START COLLECTING. I started getting and refinishing furniture for the new home during my hunt so I wouldn’t have to buy everything at once. I would get one major piece a month so it wouldn’t affect my budget too much. It really helped out because when I moved in I had all the main things I needed already.
  
  

BUYING YOUR HOME

• NO BIG PURCHASES. Make sure that you do not make any big purchases during the process because loan companies are very strict nowadays.
• CREDIT CARDS. Don’t open any new credit cards and pay all your bills on time.
• DOCUMENTS. Keep records of everything and be prepared to provide documentation. They’re going to ask for tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements, etc.

MOVING IN

• DECORATING. If you're anything like me, you'll want to decorate everything right away, but remember moderation. All that stuff quickly adds up and with a mortgage now, you’ll want to do it gradually. You can also register for some of the smaller things if you throw a house warming.
• EXPECT THINGS TO GO WRONG. On my first day moving in, my fridge wouldn’t fit in the built-in, the curtains were too short, the ceiling fan I had installed was defective, along with a few other issues that took place. It’s easy to get frustrated and find a quick solution, but take your time and find the best solution to issues you run into because this is your home now, not a rental, and you want to take care of it.
• REMODELING. Budget and plan. I wanted to change the floors of the bathrooms right away and I thought it would be cheap to do since they were small spaces, but turns out the estimates I guessed were way off, so now I am putting this off for the future.
• CLEANING. Get all the right cleaning materials to take care of the surfaces on your home. Granite needs a seal once a year I believe and has special cleaner. Things like stainless steel also have special cleaners, so take notice of those.
• MANUALS AND WARRANTIES. Make sure to file away any appliance manuals, register for any warranties, so you’ll be equipped if anything goes wrong.

Most importantly, love your home and make memories (and babies) in it! This is all I could think of for now. Hope it helps and I can’t wait to see you in your new home. I'm always here for you so let me know if you need help with anything.

Love,

Audrey