Wow! We did it! We just bought our first home. It’s exciting and incredibly scary at the same time. The whole thing is a little sweeter for us as I have had a few somewhat minor credit problems in the past (student loan, and a credit card or two that got out of control in my student days), so the fact that my wonderful wife has stood by me, and helped clean it all up makes getting the house an even better experience.
But I’m starting to get a little freaked out. I don’t really know how to do “house stuff”. How do I close up the air conditioner and open the furnace for the season change next year? How do I do lawn work? Yard work? Maintenance? The house has a fireplace… I’ve never had one before!
I’m not a moron, and I’m pretty handy with tools, but I just don’t know where to begin. It’s all a little… overwhelming (?). I’m sure I’ll figure it out, and right now my pledge is to always do a thorough job, and to not substitute tools or materials as I have in the past (The right tools for the right jobs).
I have the feeling I’m a little ‘gung-ho’, and some other homeowners I talk to say stuff like “I was like that when we got our first house, then we settled down” (which translates to me as “I used to do stuff correctly, now I’m just lazy”.)
Argh!
Congrats! Ain’t it a great feeling?
There are lots of good books to help you be a home handyman. I’ve got one that I’ve had for 20 years and it’s been a lifesaver on more than one occasion. I suggest you go to a Home Depot or Lowe’s or whatever is near you and look at the books they carry. Between that and a common sense approach, you should be able to figure out most routine stuff. You should also be able to figure out what is beyond your abilities.
Remember - sometimes the best tool for the job is a checkbook!
Enjoy your new home!
Congrats on the new home. I am sure you won’t have any problems with maintenance, your neighbors should be a good resource too, get to know them.
She is so right. You can save lots of money by realizing what jobs are better left to a pro.
Lotsa good books for a new homeowner out there.
And for the big fixit things there’s always the phone-book-to-check-book approach if you don’t want to do it yourself.
I’ll be buying my third in a month or so. You get used to it all.
Congrats. I was in a similar state when we purchased our first home. In addition to books don’t forget about the parents or inlaws for advice neighbors are also helpful for those local questions like how well certain plants grow and such. Keep in mind that the place will likely not fall down if it takes you a year to get up to speed. The neighbors may look askance at the dandelions but as soon as they find it’s your first house they’ll offer no end of advise, some of it helpful.
What put me out the most was all the stuff I needed to buy, lawn mower, ladders, hoses, caulk, painting supplies of all types indoor and out. The first two years you aquire those things you’ll need to maintain the place. The good thing is most one time or at the least 10 year expenses. In my case I’m taking most of them to my second home.
That’s great! Mr. Toes and I just settled on our first home on Friday. I was debating whether to start a thread on it but you beat me. So I’ll just use yours. I haven’t lived in a house since my parents divorced (I was 8). So this is really exciting for me. I understand about the credit issues. Mr. Toes and I have school loans (in defferral) and only part-time jobs while we are in school. Apparently mortgage companies don’t like this. We went through 5 companies until we found one that would take us… 5! It sucked. But next week we get to move in. And that will make everything better.
Congrats on taking the plunge!
One of the things that scared me most about being a homeowners is that when something goes wrong, I couldn’t just call the landlord because I AM the landlord.
That said, check out some of the do-it-yourself books at libraries and bookstores. Befriend the guys and gals at your local hardware store - they are a great source of information and have always been eager to share their knowledge - but most importantly, know your limitations and don’t be afraid to hire professional help.
Have fun with things like the yard - do some querying about what you’ve god (soil, sun exposure, drainage) and head to the nursery and talk to them about what you can grow if you’re into that. And you know what? If a plant dies, it’s not the end of the world. They call that a “learning experience.”
Have a ball!
Try the Readers’ Digest do-it-yourself/fix-it-yourself books. I have the current editions for the up-to-date materials and tools, and also the older editions for the older “original equipment” bits of our house (built in the 60’s). The older books we got at a yard sale.
I’ve got one of the Reader’s Digest books and I love it! My first house was heated by hot water radiators - the old cast iron kinds. I couldn’t figure out why the second floor wasn’t getting heated at all, so I opened my RD book. There I learned how the whole radiator system worked and how to bleed the lines. In no time, I got the whole setup recharged and my house was cozy warm.
That situation alone more than paid for the book.
Guess I’ll just tag along on this happy, new-home-owner thread! My partner and I will be closing on our house at the end of this month! This is his second house, but my first. We’ve been living in my Crappy Little Apartment for a couple of years now–thinking it would only be temporary while we looked for a house. Prices in the north east are just awful and we looked at some really disgusting places until we found this house. The fates must have been smiling on us because we got exactly what we wanted, exactly where we wanted and for about $50,000.00 less than we thought we’d end up having to pay! So I’m still doing the happy dance on that one–while I pack endlessly!
As for home repairs, I’d suggest you check out your local library and see what resources you can discover there–that’s what I’ve been doing.
The scariest night of my adult life was spent in bed next to my beautiful bride in our brand new house. As she slept soundly I entertained such thoughts as “I have a mortgage!”, “I have responsibility!”, and “I don’t wanna grow up!” (nevermind the fact that I was in my mid-twenties). I knew my life had changed forever that night and I wasn’t completely sure what that meant. The only thing that came close was a few years later when our newborn spent his first night in our house - just us and him.
Of course, everything turned out peachy and I wouldn’t trade the experiences for anything. That first night was pretty sleepless, though.
Good luck!