I'm in the exact boat myself and will also be moving in around June/July - if everything goes to plan. Hopelly sooner as we expect another child by the end of the June.

What to consider - from the top of my head 😉

1. I guess you've already taken a good look around and maybe had some pro help with checking "everything" in the house
2. make the needed repairs (if any) before moving in
3. make a plan what and where to put the furnitures (if it's empty)
4. move in and live happily ever after 😀

But only you know what you bought. So any exact advice is difficult.

Make sure you have a room for yourself 😉 At the moment I'm an owner of a three bedroom apartment and there is like no space for my retro hobby. So this move will make a big change for me. I already have a reserved room all to myself 😁

Don't buy more house than you need. Having lots of extra room is nice but it makes it that much more house you have to keep clean and maintained. Same with yard size. In other words, bigger isn't always better. 😀

edit: having lots of extra room is nice *at first*, but as the years go by, the space gets filled anyway and you're left with more to keep clean and maintain.

I would add, if you live in a region where houses come with basements, be sure to get one! They are a great place to keep your retro gear!

That's a good advice. But as I understand he already bought it or at least made a deposit. Otherwise his buying plan is pretty fast. In my case we were on the look for almost two years.

House owner here for the last 10 years, my hot tips would be to do any major renovations before kids, and get on top of the mortgage ASAP!

Having just bought a house last year and having to put in all my (42 different computers/consoles/TV/monitors) collection in a room, I wish I had a bit more time to wire it better. That is put some network cables in and have better (more accessible) and more power sockets. This is specifically in my office where all the vintage computers and machines are. Putting in extra storage AFTER all the computers/consoles/monitors were in was a bit of work too.

Beegle wrote:

I will be owner of a house (for the first time!) at some point between now and June, and want some advice from you guys. […]
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I will be owner of a house (for the first time!) at some point between now and June, and want some advice from you guys.

Any house owners here?
Is there stuff you wish you had known when you bought your first house?
Anything I should do prior to moving in?
Any tips or tricks that you found out later on, that you want to share?

Can be related to retro computers or in general, any advice or ideas will be welcome 😀

#1: Buy a duplex. At least a 2/1, preferrable at least a 3/2. Main reason is income. You can live in one half and rent out the 2nd. Depending on the area, mortgage, etc, you should be able to have the 2nd half pay for both units. BONUS: If you move out, you then get TWO incomes which leads me to #2.

#2: Never sell. Use the equity of what you bought to buy yourself a newer house and continue to move up. This is what my parents did for "retirement savings". They now have ~10 properties and the mortgages are starting to be paid off this year. Denver housing is INSANE, my mother had the money to retire VERY comfortably at 60. Basically instead of saving for retirement, they used the same money to maintain and acquire houses. Most people look at rentals and despair, mostly because they look at the short term. Maintenance, mortgage, taxes, insurance take up like 110% of the rent you take in. Stick with it, and get the mortgage paid off. Once you do, all that ugly breaking even or red ink suddenly becomes VERY LARGE BLACK.

#3: do repairs yourself. Don't know how? Use the internet, find someone who does. A case of beer goes a LONG way to making a friend who can show you how to fix something. Hell, I taught a friend all he knows about house maintenance, he would 'pay' me to come over, I would sit in a comfy chair with cold beer and a big tv and just instruct him how to do things. He would borrow my tools and I would occasionally have to get up and help, but after a few years he had his own tools and can do everything himself. Also do NOT BUY CHEAP TOOLS, it will screw you in the long run. Good proper tools make your life INFINITELY easier. That said, recognize limitations. I hire people to do roof work, mostly because the work is backbreaking and I REALLY don't like ladders. As a very large person I have a condition called fatty-fall-down-aphobia™

#4: Don't be afraid of a "bad" neighborhood. Most of the time it is exaggerated. I grew up on east Colfax (for Denver it really is a seedy area), and I'd say 75% of the hype is just scared white people afraid to live near the poor blacks. A couple of the properties that I manage for my parents are in this area, but in the last 4-5 years these "bad" neighborhoods have gentrified. Rents for a 3/2 have gone for ~$900 to $2500. And the house has quadrupled in value. I'm NOT even kidding.

#5: Always make sure the foundation is good. Everything else is easily fixable, double so if you follow #3.

I now manage my parent's properties. The pay sucks, but in the future I will be set. IT IS NOT GOING TO BE EASY AND YOU WILL MAKE SACRIFICES! I literally grew up helping my parents fix houses and maintain them because of renters. Other people have baby pictures of themselves having fun at parks or on vacations, mine are all on jobsites. I kid you not, my first words were "sweep sweep", but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Oh and if anyone wants renter horror stories, i got LOADS of them 🤣

Luckybob made a good post while I was writing this one, so I'm just gonna post this one anyways. Sorry for any overlap in the advice. ;)

In any case, I had a townhouse for 9 years before selling it in 2013. Some people shy away from houses because of the maintenance and having to pay all the bills for electricity and whatnot, but I would SO buy a house again the moment I was financially capable of doing so! :)

...and next time, I would get a house that is NOT attached to other people's homes... having other people's cigarette smoke or loud music coming through my walls is an experience I am absolutely tired of. Yeah, you can get extra income if you buy a duplex or such and rent out the other units, but I still would not go that route after my experiences. :(

In any case, my first piece of advice in terms of home ownership is to learn to do all the little things. When I bought my home in 2004 my realtor gave me this MASSIVE guide to home ownership which included all kinds of tips on how to do things as simple as replacing a washer in a tap, to wiring in new light fixtures (a task you should probably leave to an electrician if there's anything even remotely special about it), but see if your realtor can do the same thing for you, or if they sell such guides or know where you can obtain one.

My next piece of advice would be to prepare yourself for issues. Even if you bought a brand new house which was just built, you're likely to discover a handful of issues once you move in. Having an inspection done BEFORE you pay is important to identify critical issues and potentially use those to haggle the price of the home, but you won't catch any minor issues that way, such as a toilet which doesn't flush properly sometimes, or a thermostat which is off by several degrees, or a smoke alarm which is way too sensitive or put in a really bad spot that it goes off just by turning the oven on at all. Be prepared to deal with these kinds of things a few times a month for your first few months.

My last piece of advice is: Be diligent. If you see or hear anything even remotely unusual, it could be a sign of a larger issue, or it could simply be how your house acts. You'll learn what sounds mean what and you'll learn to identify sounds which are not normal. Make sure to keep your eyes open for any insects and to identify them. If you see an earwig you likely don't have much to worry about, but if you see three or four all in one night, they've likely nested right near a tiny ground-level opening and you're going to get a whole bunch of them coming inside for a time. Try to avoid killing spiders when you can unless they're directly interfering with you or potentially very dangerous, as they help to eat any other insects which become a problem. You will likely spot cracks in the foundation, but so long as they're not growing and not wide open you have nothing to worry about. If you think a crack is growing, put some tape over where the crack ends to see if it tears it off/apart. Remember regular maintenance too: Always clean the lint filter for your dryer, replace your furnace/air-conditioner filters routinely, even if they don't look dirty, if you live in a climate prone to freezing be sure to winterize any pipes which lead to outdoor taps before any freezes happen...

But most importantly, enjoy the freedom having your own home brings you! :D

replace your furnace/air-conditioner filters routinely, even if they don't look dirty

On a related note, for the first few months, check said filters monthly! We live in a dusty area, and when I changed the filter for the first time after the scheduled 3 month interval, I was shocked to see it so caked that there was almost no airflow! I quickly learned that during the months that we run our air conditioning, that filter had to be changed every 4 weeks. We have a boiler/radiator system for heat, so the filter does not need to be changed in the cooler months.

Have a basement where you can build your game room, and make sure it's flood-safe 😉

Basements:
1: Flooding risk.
2: Check radon levels.
3: Check for critters.

Luckybob gave you the most valuable information. That's what you want to stick with if you want to have a good easy life later on.

It is also a lifestyle choice. And locks you into one geographical spot.

Putting your time and $ into a retirement scenario is a nice philosophy but another is to balance life today with the future.

Also: renting out is not very regulated in the US compared to the EU. I do not know about CA. Plus mortgages and disposable income in the EU are fundamentally different as well.

In my part of the world, investors (mainly baby boomers) are buying up everything and doing the negative gearing thing, the result being that house prices have been pushed out of the reach of many first home buyers. That shit needs to be better regulated.

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones... bought an apartment with cash and would buy this house with cash too if I sell the apartment fast enough. If not then will need to finance about 40%. Still have a few months to decide. I don't want to rent thou. Many problems with renters as they are fully protected by the law even if they don't pay for rent and services 😠 And the house isn't new. There has to be some repairs/maintenance done before moving in - I'll do it mostly myself.

Great advice in this thread. Also, don't be afraid of paying lower for a home that may need some remodeling. If you can deal with the older stuff for a while, the lower mortgage payment really helps out.

I got a nice (for my area) 3 bed/1 bath for less than what I make in a year. My house payment is actually cheaper than what I was paying in rent and I have almost three times the space and a yard to myself. Now, granted, it does need remodeled but, I was ok with this.. some people may not be.

In the US your house determines where your children go to public school. So the same house in a bad school district is far cheaper than the same house in a good school district.

In the case of Miami there are many very unsafe / very ethnic specific areas. There are not many areas where a middle class mainstream American family can live safely with good schools. We live in a gated community with 24/7 security: not cheap but very high quality of life. Very safe, beautiful gardens, club house, huge heated outdoor heated pool, gym, tennis courts, activities, play grounds and so on. Very polite people / neighbors.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zeQc … jR8hr0&hl=en_US

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zeQc … bJch74&hl=en_US

PeterLI wrote:

It is also a lifestyle choice. And locks you into one geographical spot.

Putting your time and $ into a retirement scenario is a nice philosophy but another is to balance life today with the future.

Also: renting out is not very regulated in the US compared to the EU. I do not know about CA. Plus mortgages and disposable income in the EU are fundamentally different as well.

I live in Denver Colorado. You (almost) could not pay me to live anywhere else. This is what it looks like 95% of the time near where I live. https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9141653,-104. … 12!8i6656?hl=en

There are a LOT of rules to protect renters, I'd say they are fair and balanced in my view. And I've seen both sides.

@gemini000

Townhomes suck. A duplex is different if you own both sides. You can pick your neighbors.

maintenance and upkeep is a major factor in a home. A lot of people are VERY surprised on just how much there is. I've had renters go from apartments to renting a house. The biggest transition they have issues with is basic upkeep. I tell my renters they are responsible for "basic" repairs, I offer help and guidance, but if the faucet is dripping, I expect them to get the $2 washer and fix it. I've seen some people crack under the pressure and go back to apartments, and i've seen some embrace it and go on to buy their own homes.

also, never keep anything important in a basement. If there ever is a flood, it's the basement that gets the worst.

I spent a month in Denver in 2012: nice city.

I spent a few days in miami. Hated EVERY second of it. I could not deal with the humidity. Colorado (plains) is dry most of the time.