Q: What Should Homeowners Do in Year One?

What do you need to do in your first year of homeownership?

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You’ve just purchased a home—it could be your first home, or maybe you’ve owned homes in other places. Whatever the case may be, what should you be doing in your first year of homeownership? Here are four things you should cross off your year-one checklist:

1. Get a home warranty. Most of the things that go wrong in a house happen within the first two or three years of ownership. Perhaps the air conditioners, furnaces, or electrical appliances were well-worn by the previous owners of the home. Home warranties only cost $500 a year, and they cover so many different damages. I have personally saved around $3,000 using a home warranty on our houses.

2. Tackle any cosmetic issues. Big-ticket items are covered by home warranties, but cosmetic issues are not. Painting, for example, is an easy cosmetic area to maintain. For a good price, you could paint the interior and exterior of your home yourself, or hire someone else to do it for you. Not only does it give your home a nice fresh coat, but it also helps preserve the wood from rodents, termites, water, and sun.

Taking care of these four areas is a great way to bulletproof your house and set it up for long-term success.

3. Invest in the kitchen and bathrooms. Even if you don’t know when you’re going to move, your best bet is to start putting money into the areas that are most important to homeowners: the kitchen and bathrooms. Updating the flooring, cabinets, countertops, or appliances would be a great use of your time and money.

4. Maintain the exterior of your home. Some decorative plants can take three or four years to mature, which is why it’s important to plant your bushes, flowers, and grasses now. Doing so will give your home more curb appeal.

Taking care of these four areas is a great way to bulletproof your house and set it up for long-term success. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Anderson Group. We’d love to hear from you.