A few moments in your life will feel quite as adult as making the leap from tenant to homeowner. That kind of leveling up in life isn’t easy, and it comes at quite a price – as you now know.
Being a responsible homeowner is essential to living a happy, healthy life with your family – regardless of what house you buy. As much as you should allow yourself to get swept up in the excitement of it all, there are a whole new set of responsibilities coming your way that you probably haven’t even considered yet.
Below are five steps every homeowner should take, especially a new one.
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1. Don’t Overspend
Personalizing your new home is probably at the forefront of your mind, and rightly so – a new home means a new nest – a nest that requires your signature mark on it. Instead of spending thousands of dollars changing things purely for the sake of personalizing them, spend your money wisely. Choose projects that add value to your new home and need doing.
Don’t go on a wild spending spree simply to make your home more impressive to friends and family. Undertake home DIY projects one at a time and as and when you can afford to.
2. Never Ignore Maintenance Issues
One of the most expensive things about being a homeowner is that those maintenance issues that used to get passed off to the landlord are now for your account.
As expensive as that can be, never ignore mounting maintenance issues around the house because that almost always ends badly for the homeowner. Take on maintenance issues one at a time by prioritizing what urgently needs doing.
Make a maintenance schedule and stick to it – you’ll be thankful you did later.
3. Only Hire Qualified Contractors
Many home improvement or maintenance projects can be done by yourself, with just the help of forums or YouTube videos – but there are loads of projects that should only ever be attempted by qualified contractors.
Make sure you choose contractors and licensed roofers in Cincinnati who have a good reputation in your local community and ask around for recommendations if you need to. Your home is an investment and should be treated as such. Choose home insurance companies that cost less but are still reputable and offer good coverage.
4. Keep Receipts
Keep the receipts for every home improvement project you do on your home, that way you can increase the asking price one day when you decide to sell the place. Home improvement projects might not seem like much at first, but over the years those extra investment amounts do add up.
5. Tax Benefits
Ask around and get an appointment with a tax specialist too because home improvement projects can come with tax relief as well, but you need to know the difference between a repair project and an improvement one.
Not all home expenses are tax deductible, so you need to consult a professional to get the best advice. No matter what you do, a professional will always be able to help – and at the end of the day, that is all that matters.
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