We bought our first house about three and a half years ago. We moved into it from an 800 square foot apartment and we had no idea what we were doing. After having been through the house-buying process and owning it for a while, I have learned so much about being a home owner. So, I thought I would share with you guys five of the biggest things I learned. Hopefully, if you are buying a house or thinking about buying a house, these tips will help you.

7 TIPS FOR BUYING/OWNING A HOUSE

Tip 1: Establish credit as soon as possible. Neither me nor my husband knew that this was a thing so neither of us had any credit to speak of. Apparently having a car loan doesn’t count toward this. Who knew?

Tip 2: Be patient! I am very guilty of getting sucked into the HGTV bug and I wanted to move into a house ASAP so I settled for any house that came along. Be sure to have a list of the things you want and know what you don’t want. Don’t be too picky but don’t settle. The right house will come along.

Tip 3: Consider the maintenance. We found out the hard way how much it takes to keep up a 3,000 square foot house and a full lawn. Be ready to hire out or do the work.

Tip 4: Don’t try to make the house perfect right away. When you move in, you will probably want to make everything exactly the way you want it to your specifications. Thats okay but know that no one has their house perfect as soon as they move in (unless you custom built your house). Take your time. Pinterest can wait.

Tip 5: Be smart about packing and unpacking. When you pack your things up to move in, label all of the boxes with each room that they go into. Also, keep the things you use on a regular basis nearby and easily accessible. I will be posting a full packing tips post in the near future and when I do, I will link it here.

Tip 6: Keep a little notebook or notes document on your phone with all of the details of your house. This would include paint names, wood floor details, refrigerator filter numbers, quirks, etc. If you need to replace something down the road, this will come in SO handy!

Tip 7: Don’t let clutter take over. We have accumulated so much stuff in the three years we have been here and now we have to deal with all of it in the move. We are downsizing so we are trying to get rid of as many things as possible and donate them. Just be sure to stay organized and keep the clutter to a minimum.

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