Change of Address: The ABC’s of Home Ownership

The ABC’s of Home Ownership

Owning a home especially if it is your first home is an amazing experience usually filled with ups and downs like most great life experiences. Whether you have owned a home for years or just getting started I thought you might enjoy my quick look at the ABC’s of owning a home.

Alarm systems are expensive, loud, and impossible to remember to shutoff every time you leave your home. Have a cup of coffee ready for the poor officer that gets sent out to your home.

Basements are an amazing place for storage until you get an inch of standing water in it from the first heavy rain and learn how to operate a wet/dry vac.

Concrete cracks, apparently pretty easily (in the garage, in the driveway, and even the sidewalk which YOU actually are responsible for).

Dishwashers are noisy, but trying to get other family members to manually wash the dishes is far more annoying so they are well worth spending a few bucks.

Eggs are fun to throw on other people’s houses but not so much fun when you are the one that gets to clean up the mess.

Furnaces don’t just raise the temperature in your house, they raise yours as well when the bill from the power company arrives.

Gas in the bathroom can actually be more pleasant smelling than gas leaks elsewhere in the house (instant bank account drain triggers a traumatic reaction at the first whiff).

Handy man. If you are not one, you better get to know one SOON!

Insurance – one is not fully aware of all of the things you can buy insurance for until your phone is ringing off the hook after buying your first home.

Jacuzzis are fun until you have to clean out the jets and get to see what is built up in there.

Knocks on the door only mean yet another person is trying to sell you something.

Lightbulbs, lightbulbs, and more lightbulbs. You are going to need to buy more lightbulbs.

Mirror, mirrors on the wall always look great until one takes a fall. Try cleaning that mess up before you decide one wall of your house needs to be have mirror tiles (thanks for that one previous owner of my home).

Newspapers apparently are supposed to be delivered in the bushes or the middle of the driveway for you to run over in your car.

Ovens are a pain to clean when you have to do it over and over again (the same one). Self-cleaning ovens are a total ripoff.

Pet odors… Well they simply just NEVER go away. Once you think you have them beat a hot day comes along to prove you wrong.

Queen size beds shockingly need king-size rooms unless you like to tip toe around the darn thing.

Roofs actually do need to be repaired AND it’s never cheap. Why is that? It’s amazing how much it costs to get the shingles.

Storage space is eventually always a problem even if you thought it never would be when you first moved into your home.

Toilets get plugged up by the darnedest of things.

Utilities are more than just power and gas (water, garbage, etc.). YOU actually have to pay for all of those!

Visitors are always welcome… to go home after a SHORT stay.

Water bills are shockingly high for something that is so easy to use (showers, dishes, laundry, sprinklers, washing the care, etc.).

X-rated viewing is for the movies so please remember to close the blinds and cover your windows when appropriate.

Yard work is A LOT harder when you have to do it every year, every week, and without reprieve (even in the Winter there is outside work to be done).

Zones. It’s amazing how many zones you need to be aware of (security system zones, sprinkler system zones, and of course your local zoning laws). It’s enough to make you zone out.