#homeownership

29 Things You Discover After Buying Your First HomeThe transition from renting to owning a home is bigger than you can imagine before it happens. Sure, you quickly get an education in mortgage rates, school locations, and where the water department office is. But there is an encyclopedia of things that homeowners know and new homeowners will soon find out. You know you'll be responsible for repairs, but it takes experience to learn how difficult those repairs really are, whether you do it yourself or try to hire someone else to do it. The learning curve takes a familiar route no matter who you are. And then there are the neighbors. These new neighbors can be your best friends or your worst enemies, but either way you'll have to deal with them for years to come. Homeowners are willing to share what they've learned so far. Here's an exampled from MaxSupernova:Any project will be 90% completed in a normal amount of time.The final finishing touches will take at least a year, and you will be unable to find at least a third of the things you originally purchased to do the finishing touches and will be forced to rebuy them.Corollary: you will find them shortly after you finish the project.Redditor mmmmrrrr6789 said a lot in just a few words.The house knows when you have money. Usually near the exact amount. My mom puts money away and gets a "Christmas club" check every November for around $2000-2500. This year the furnace needs repair. $2100These lessons may be hard to learn, but years later, they will be a great story to tell on the internet. You can read all the comments and replies at the original reddit thread, or read the top 29 tidbits at Bored Panda. (Image credit: The Finishing Company Richmond Va) #homeownership #homeimprovement #repair #project

Go Ahead, Talk About Your HouseRedditor JSFord815 posted a picture of the cake he bought for his brother's birthday. The brother bought his first house this year, and won't shut up about it. I can relate. When you buy a house, especially your first house, there's an awful lot to talk about. The search for the right house is a real adventure, and once you've closed, the settling in, the repairs, the customizing and decorating, and all the things you learn about a building and its ownership are taking up a lot of room in your brain. It's okay, because the nesting instinct is a very natural thing, whether you are a bird or a human. You can't help yourself! But the comments say even more. The overwhelming majority of the top comments were on the brother's side. Everyone wants to hear about the house. They want to talk about their own houses, too, even if the purchase was years ago. Even if they don't own their first house yet, they want to talk about getting one. We are glad to hear that the two brothers are close, and the homeowner brother is fine with the cake. It's actually the second one he's gotten like this, and they both laughed at the joke. So go ahead and talk with your family and friends about your new house, and listen to their tales about their homes, too. It's a very human part of life, and something we should share. #house #firsthouse #homeownership #cake

Buyer's Remorse in the Current Housing MarketA survey by Zillow shows that 75% of people who bought homes during the pandemic have regrets. That sounds pretty scary in the current seller's market, where so many people are buying a limited inventory that prices have exploded. But look a little further into it, and you see that the statistic doesn't mean people wish they hadn't bought a house. Instead, they regret some aspects of the experience, or have some misgivings about the property. The top regret about buying a new home is that the property requires too much maintenance, cited by 32% of the respondents, or 40% in a similar survey by Clever. In second place in both surveys is the regret of buying a home that is too small. The numerical figures in the data shouldn't be taken as gospel, since the cost of home ownership and maintenance varies so much depending on what part of the country you are buying in. But confronting what others regret will help you to adjust your expectations in looking for a house to buy, or dealing with what you have bought. If you have an adequate amount of land, you can expand your home in the future. Or you can learn to appreciate downsizing and being closer to family members. Home maintenance is an opportunity to learn new skills and enjoy a feeling of accomplishment -or adventure. And onerous mortgage payments can be changed with refinancing in the future, when the market changes. Knowing what to expect when buying a home can help tremendously with your future satisfaction. Find tips for your house buying plans and expectations, gleaned from the experiences of others, at Grow.-via Digg #homeowner #homeownership #homebuying #house