I bought a home, now what? Top to-do list advice for homebuyers
Way back in the day, we posed the question, what do you need to do first when you buy and move into a new home? There were SO many great comments from homeowners who learned things the hard way that I had to cull them into one big lessons-learned list. Here is the big list of new homeowner tasks and advice for homebuyers. Note: not everything in this list will apply to you and your home and you may disagree with some of them. If so, let us know in the comments!
Comparing buying vs. renting? Your state’s “breakeven horizon” might be key
These days most of us aren’t in a position to buy a home in our state. It’s all that avocado toast, I tell ya! But if you ARE in a position to consider it, there’s this metric called the breakeven horizon that will help you decide if it’s financially better to buy than to rent.
And it varies widely from state to state…
Offbeat House Hunters: The Northeastern Pennsylvania Edition
So which house did we go with? It was a tough choice… The Customized Cape Cod was wonderful and cheap but needed the most work. The Horror Movie Hallway was great but my husband’s commute would become a huge problem. The Four Season Porch seemed to be in the best condition but was at the very top of our price point.
We ended up choosing …
How to buy a house when you’re a Type-A control freak
I’m a major Type-A, pain in the ass, need-to-know-every-detail kind of person. And when you’re doing something as huge as buying a home, things aren’t always as accessible as you might want. I learned that the process isn’t over when your offer is accepted — that’s where the really hard stuff starts…
How I created a winning house offer, even though I was outbid by $32K!
The horror stories of pals who had put in ten offers on ten different homes, only to be repeatedly outbid by up to $100K, sounded exhausting and terrifying all around. Once we came upon the perfect house, I knew this offer had to BLOW MINDS. I burned up my Google search engine with “creative house offers” but nothing really resonated. So I created an infographic to express what we loved about the house and how we imagined ourselves living in it…
Doing it the hard way: What we’ve learned from buying a foreclosure
We bought a foreclosure. After sitting empty for three years, it finally came up at a real estate auction; we were brave enough to bid, and lucky enough to win. Over the past several months, we’ve learned a lot, and we’re still learning! Note that I’m an historian, not a real estate agent or legal professional, but here’s a few pearls of wisdom from what I’ve learned (and what I wish I’d known)…
Buying my first home: Guilt, frustration, acceptance, and flamingos
At the age of 30, I purchased my first home. Purchased, as in wrote out possibly the biggest check of my life and took full and complete ownership of an entire, full, big, warts and all, 100 year old house. The last three years have been an intense love/hate relationship with the house. But once I shed the guilt from how I was able to purchase the house, and came to terms with settling in one place for more than a few years, it’s been an amazing experience making the house MINE.
Offbeat Home Hunters: The Maine character edition (or “other Portland” edition!)
We set out to find a cozy, three bedroom house in Portland (preferred) or South Portland, with a small but usable yard space. We weren’t afraid of a cosmetic fixer-upper, but wanted a structurally sound house. We both love all things old and all things character — moldings, built-ins, original details, and an overall cozy feel. So here were our three top choices…