If you have recently bought your dream home, or are considering making a purchase, congratulations! Moving into a home of your own for the first time is incredibly exciting. While renting, you can’t do much with your space, as everything needs to be temporary. Now, anything you decide to do with your home is as permanent as you want it to be.
Although the process should be exciting, there are common mistakes that many new homeowners make. One of the most common is assuming that owning a home is a passive endeavor, and that aside from your mortgage payments, utilities will be the only regular expense.
The reality is that maintenance and repairs are going to be more common than you think. The nature of any home is that it degrades over time, and you need to continually take care of the upkeep to avoid this. If you neglect to do so, you will eventually have to fix your problems at a much greater expense.
To help you with the basics, here is what you need to know about maintenance as a new homeowner.
Do some of it yourself
You don’t need to bring in an expert every time a screw gets loose. On the contrary, you can do plenty yourself, especially if you love handiwork. If you have ideas for how to renovate and improve your home, you can use a repair as an opportunity to make changes.
The DIY option is perfect for some people and everyone should know how to do the basics. You can find tutorials online for common issues and learn in no time.
Leave HVAC to the pros
It doesn’t need to be said that electricals and plumbing should be left to the professionals. After all, they are fundamental to your home’s stability, and doing them wrong could result in catastrophe.
But this extends to heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC). They are systemic and affect the very air you breathe. Do not make the mistake of thinking you can figure it out yourself. Leave it to the pros and you won’t have major regrets later.
Get a home warranty
Consider getting a home warranty. This is a monthly subscription that covers repairs and maintenance. A home warranty is helpful for a number of reasons. The primary reason is that you will always have money available when something goes wrong, regardless of whether you have been saving or not. The payment becomes a regular addition, and you can forget about it for the most part.
The secondary reason that home warranties are helpful is that the company will source experts to help you with maintenance and repairs when you need them. They will even send out someone in an emergency.
You can use this tool to compare home warranty quotes near you. You will find options that provide cover for systems issues as well as those which provide cover for appliances.
Maintenance is a part of every homeowners life. You need to be prepared to deal with these matters or your house will fall into disrepair.
