For me homeownership stirs a range of emotions ranging from pride accomplishment to frustration and overwhelming anxiety. I definitely bit off more than I could chew when I purchased my home. I thought I was ready for the responsibility that comes with owning a home but I wasn’t. I had no clue what I was getting into, the repairs, property tax assessments, maintenance, and municipal regulations. Never the less I do feel a sense of pride and security knowing all of this is mine.
Like I said, I had probably been ready when I purchased my home. I had saved up my pennies and even taken a property management class. However, there are some things that you cannot learn in a classroom. Some things you just learn from experience.With almost 10 years of homeownership under my belt I have learned a few things that I hope to apply to my next home purchase (who knows when that will be). Here are 4 things that would have made homeownership more joyful had I known then, what I know now:
- Being able to afford to buy a house is not the same as being able to afford maintain a house. I really did save up all of my pennies for years preparing to buy a house. The 6 months prior to starting my home search I “practiced” paying my household expenses. I got this idea from an episode of The Oprah Winfrey show. The financial expert advised viewers to practice paying for major purchases 6 months ahead of time. To do this I did a little bit of research and then wrote out what my monthly housing expenses would be included mortgage, and utilities. Then I put aside that amount of money every month. At the end of the 6th months I felt comfortable with what I thought my expenses would be each month and I had quite a bit more money to add to my savings. I thought wrong. While the steps I took were good ones and are things I would do again, there is no amount of practicing that can let you know just how expensive home ownership can be. My savings were just enough to qualify for a mortgage. I had no money left over for emergencies, furniture, or routine maintenance. Side note routine maintenance should be called continuous maintenance side there is always something that needs to be fixed in my house. The lesson here, however much you think you will need to pay your mortgage, bills, and maintain your property, will not be enough. Maybe adding another 25% to that number would be more realistic.
- Listen to any warnings the previous owners give you! When you are purchasing a home you are at odds with the previous owners. You want to pay as little as possible and they want to as much as they can get. Given this scenario you are likely to only hear good things about your potential home and neighborhood. However, the sellers could have a moment where they are just being themselves, not thinking about the bottom line, and reveal important information about your future home. This very thing happened to me. The previous owners casually mentioned “parking around here is horrible”. I having grown up on a street with optimal parking thought how bad could it be. Well the answer is pretty darn bad. At least 50% of the time when I arrive home I have no where to park on my actual street. I will typically drive around the block 3 or 4 times hoping someone will pull out so that I can get their spot. Sometimes even after several go-rounds there are still no spots and I’ll have to park blocks away. I can never say they were not honest about the parking situation.
- The home inspection does not mean anything. Ok maybe it does mean something it just did not mean as much as I thought. The inspection only covers things that they can see. Prepare yourself for some surprises after you get into your home and really get to know it.
- Location Location Location! Ok I know everyone has heard this before but it is worth reiterating. I definitely thought about the location of my home. I thought about the diversity of the neighborhood, how far it was from work, public transportation, the school district, and the property tax. What I did not consider the overall trends of the neighborhood. Was it made up of homeowners or renters? Was the crime rate increasing or decreasing? Where house prices trending up or down? Had I known to consider these things I would have realized that not all of the answers were favorable.
These are just a few of my lessons learned from my first experience of becoming a home owner. I’m sure you guys have lots of tips too. What advice do you have on things to consider to have a more Joyful homeownership experience?
