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The Guide to First Time Homeowning
Welcome to your first home purchase! Congratulations! Wow, it must feel so great to finally have a place of your own. I’m sure you have lots of plans for the place. Fixing it up, adding your style… man, it’s going to be so great.
All those people who warned you about homeownership? They’ve gotta be wrong, right? I mean, that’s because they purchased poorly. They didn’t do their due diligence. If they had a decent home inspector, they wouldn’t have had so many surprises. Right?
WRONG! So, very, very wrong. Ah, First Home Owner, you are going to learn so many things about owning your own home. Here are some fun things you’re going to learn:
1.Every fix has its consequence.
Wow. Why phrase it that way? That seems a bit overly dramatic, right? I promise you, it isn’t. Whatever you touch in that house/condo/co-op/whatever is going to have an impact on something else. Does your garbage disposal need to be replaced? Great. Go in there to install the new one and you will discover a myriad of things: the cabinets are rotting from the old leaky one, the plumbing is non-standard now and you can’t find pipes that will actually accommodate your new equipment, underneath the counter there’s water damage and the sink won’t likely be well supported for too much longer, the contractor who built the house didn’t count on the size of your arms and there’s no way to reach behind the plumbing…
2. Opening a wall is something you must resist with all your power.
Trust me on this one. There are bad things in your walls. There are things you will not want to see because #1. There are things you will not want to see because they’re dead (sorry). It’s just not fun. Try not to do it, even if you’re a big do-it-yourselfer. Even if your place is a completely new build. It’s just not a great idea.
3. Whatever your estimate is on any fix or project, it’ll probably end up costing 20% more.
This isn’t because you’re bad at estimating. It’s because of #1 and #2. Also, as a new homeowner, you’re going to discover that you don’t have things like your own drain snake or a pipe wrench. Any project will cost you more than you expect. If it doesn’t, put that money away into a fund for your later projects that definitely will.
4. Surprises are not fun.
You may think you like surprises. You don’t. Trust me on this one.
5. The movie “The Money Pit” and others are going to be referenced any time you talk about your roof, your basement, your foundation, or any other major renovation.
Sorry. Learn to love it. People think it’s funny.
6. Other new homeowners are a golden opportunity for support and ideas.
They’re in the same boat as you. Unlike people who have owned for a long, long time (hi, many of Rico’s members!) and don’t always remember what it is like, they are going through the same sort of stuff. They wanted to renovate and came upon a surprise. They just wanted to fix a leak and then opened the wall… There will be stories. It’s a little bit like war. Your brothers/sisters in arms are going to be there for you in ways you never thought you’d want (“OMG! You have the best rooter! He just does clogs and doesn’t mess with your plumbing?!? And he’s cheap!”) and will be a good support when you need it.
7. Homeownership is a huge responsibility filled with stuff you never really had to think about before.
This isn’t a bad thing at all; in many ways, it’s really nice to have that kind of control. It’s a lot of independence and a lot of control over minute details. You might even find yourself fixating over the type of baseboard molding you have. It’s fun to think about the little things and to know that it is all yours.
8. People will have opinions on everything you do with your place.
If you didn’t know it already, your friends, neighbors, and family members will all have an opinion and many will volunteer it the moment you start talking about your new place. Resist the urge to tell all of them off. They’re excited for you. Eventually, though, be prepared to tell your loved ones that while you know they mean well, it’s your house. By then, it won’t be too difficult.
9. There’s a lot of pressure to maintain.
Yep. I am going to go there. There’s a lot of pressure to maintain a certain status on the property, whether it is HOA or not, people don’t love too much change. There’ll be pressure not to change too much of the front of the property. But there’s also the pressure to maintain the property from yourself. It’s kinda new. Renting has benefits; a lot of the problems aren’t your responsibility. With home-owning, you start to feel internal pressure about maintaining the property, paying the mortgage, getting the best insurance rates, adding things to your policy… There’s a lot of pressure that develops because you’re basically an adult now. It’s not just about maintaining the property. it’s about maintaining your sanity. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to maintain calm, even while the house is falling apart, the roof is leaking, the foundation is cracked, and termites have eaten your carpet (true story). In the eyes of most of the world, you’re now an adult. It’s a bit scary.
10. YouTube tutorials and “Dummy’s Guide To…” books are your friend.
We all laugh at these people on YT with their various fixes and tutorials for basic things. But guess what? Most of us haven’t built a house. Most of us haven’t wired a house. Most of us haven’t worked plumbing. Most of us haven’t had to re-caulk our showers. It seems self-explanatory until you’re elbow-deep in it and those simple instructions aren’t working out so well. The YT videos are great places to start for basic homeowning needs and there are fantastic books that help guide you on what’s an easy fix and what might need to be outsourced to a professional. Some of them will even introduce you to the tools you might need, where to find them, and how to not feel weird when you start trying to do your own home maintenance and the people at the hardware store treat you like an idiot. These are treasures. You won’t need them as much in 10 years, but for now, they’re gold because they teach you how things should, ideally, be. This way, you can also see when they’re not. That, my friends, is also golden.
In any case, congratulations on your first house. Know that I’m right there with you, making mistakes, opening walls (why did I ever do that?!?), and learning all about my county building codes.
It’s going to be fun.
Published in General
Well, as a homeowner, you know I am on board with this sentiment!
Water is the enemy!
Always and everywhere.
In the South, Termites. Get the protection plan. Please.
Well we do have a maintenance contract for three times per year. And last summer one of the units went down and needed a new fan motor. Our American Home Shield policy paid that $600 bill. I insisted on a new water heater at 10 years. And we did repaint outdoors at ten years – the AZ sun is murder on houses. You just have to plan on having to do these things.
As much as I understand that, during Snowmaggeddon we had running water the entire time and no leaks when it was over. As annoying and expensive as it can be (we have multiple alert and back up systems) we are not at the mercy of a water utility company. Even my second well that’s on a windmill was completely intact.
A “drip pan” that drains outside, can cover most of that. But the best solution is prevention: don’t have the water heater “inside,” not even in the basement! Garage is better, especially if the floor can be on a slightly lower level than the rest of the main floor. Especially for people who are building a new house, plan for a sensible location of the water heater, not just some leftover space that fits in conveniently with the rest of your “dream house” design. (Locating it to minimize how long you have to run hot water to get to faucets/showers/etc can also lower your water and power/gas bills over time.)
My last Phoenix place had the water heater in an outer “laundry room” that had a lower floor level, and any running water could have only left the laundry room and gone onto the patio. At that place it never leaked, before needing to be replaced when the heating elements failed. (And it was too old to justify replacing the elements.) But if it had, the consequences would have been minor.
Other units in those condos, the two-bedroom one-story type, had the water heater INSIDE, in a closet area where the laundry hookups were also located. Another invitation to trouble! And that was right next to the intake for the rooftop A/C unit, more badness! There was also no way to run a “drip pan” drain outside!
Those units were mostly rented by others, so repairs wouldn’t be the tenants’ responsibility. But they still risked having a lot of their personal property ruined in the event of a leak/flooding.
Before I started owning places, in the late 1990s, the last apartments I managed had indoor water heaters too, in an inside closet. For the place I had as the “office,” the water heater was in the closet for the bedroom that was mostly the office space. Just on carpeted floor, with no “drip pain” and no drain. When it started leaking, a lot of the stored records/paperwork for that property were ruined.
I thought codes mostly required drip pans and drains.
In out last house, the water heater was upstairs in some spare space. My wife and I changed it out once. Never again. In our new house, it’s in the garage. I did do the gas work myself in the old house. We’re still alive.
Apparently not in the early 1970s when they were built.
Gas work has automatic backup because you can have the gas company people check things for you, for free. They’re very serious about safety and that includes wanting people to call without worrying that they might end up paying for something. They want people to call if they even suspect they might have smelled a hint of a gas leak, or something.
The next-to-last apartment building I managed in Phoenix, was originally some kind of Motel 6 or something, with a large boiler setup to provide hot water to all the “rooms” (which became “apartments”) that was later replaced with a couple large gas water heaters connected in parallel, and with a circulating pump to keep hot water quickly available to all the units.
The water heater(s) was the only thing still using gas there, the swimming pool heater had been removed earlier. And the gas supply line pipe was running around the building about 15 feet up, at about the second-floor level. I’ve always had a very sensitive sense of smell, and despite the fact that gas rises so I shouldn’t have been able to smell a leaking pipe that was 15 feet up, I did. And when the gas people came to check, they found that I was exactly right. They fixed it, and they were glad that I had called.
The first place I actually owned, the mobile home in Phoenix, was from 1959. When I re-did the kitchen, including replacing the full-size gas stove with a smaller “apartment-size” model so I could have more countertop and storage space, after connecting it up I called the gas company to come check and make sure there was no leaking. The guy came promptly, re-did the flex line connection for me, then pointed out that the shutoff valve was no longer current/up-to-code and replaced that too, for free. He also replaced the shutoff valve to the gas furnace, at no cost to me.
I have gas service at my current place too, three furnaces plus a water heater, and I could also have a gas stove in the kitchen. I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to call the gas service people to check on anything that I had any concern about. And that’s the way they want it, too.
I probably should have called the gas company. But I’ve been around a lot of gas work; it’s not that complicated.
In a way, it’s pretty much the same as water: even a tiny leak can be big trouble, so you have to make sure everything is TIGHT. Electric wiring isn’t nearly as treacherous. You don’t have to use wrenches and put sealant around every connection to make sure no electrons leak out.
I wouldn’t use teflon tape on gas. Putty works much better. You’re only dealing with a couple of psi with gas.
No teflon tape, correct. Largely because gas uses flare/compression fittings, at least at the final service ends. Some thread sealant/lubricant is still helpful, but it doesn’t go on the flare/compression parts. Reminds me of water heater connections, too. There’s a rubber washer thing in there, if you need teflon tape or some kind of pipe dope to get a leak-proof connection, you’re doing something wrong.
When I hooked up the fittings on the water heater, they were threaded. But it’s been 20 years. Things may have changed.
They are threaded, with a rubber washer gasket/seal like with a garden hose and washing machine connections, that makes a leakproof connection with the water heater. (And also provides dielectric separation to reduce corrosion.) Because the rubber part makes the seal, no teflon tape or pipe sealant should be needed. Unless threads are damaged or something, which is a different problem that should be corrected, not just kludged.
Right you are Bryan. Water was my friend before that first house, then you spend the rest of your life on guard. A large leak or unattended small one can cost a fortune to completely repair. For what it’s worth, you can buy small battery powered alarms that will go off when water hits the floor (or under a sink.) Worth the $10.
Mr. Webster, your Job Cost Estimation game is strong. Does your 50% include the four trips to Home Depot?
Try to imagine the additional sting of a 13+3/8% mortgage to go with the relentless parade of problems involved in owning a house built in 1910. The 80s had their ups and downs.
My house was built in 1915, and was renovated completely in 2000 before we bought it. The previous owners made a variety of brilliant improvements, including converting one bedroom into a master-bathroom suite with a jacuzzi tub. One day I came up the back stairs after a dog walk, and noticed that the stucco around the 2nd floor bathroom was . . . darker.
(gif of Scrooge McDuck wordlessly cursing as he shovels gold coins out of his vault)
Keeping water from being where water should not be ends up occupying more of the homeowner’s imagination than he might have imagined. Just finished paying for another bathroom repair that started as “three loose hexagonal tiles” and ended up hiring plumbers to drain the house and move a cast-iron radiator so the contractors could replace the entire floor. Also, had to reshingle the roof. Oh, and the city condemned two of our trees. Oh, and I had to call the city to fix the sidewalk, portions of which are 106 years old.
It’s all worth it. Why? Because I’ve lived here almost one-fifth of the house’s existence, and feel a deep bond with the property and its history. The man who willed it into existence was a candy maker who made nationally popular confections (Walnettos!) and staked out his claim to this part of the city when there were few other houses. I’ve read the memoirs of the kid who grew up here in the 20s, given tours to an aged lady and her daughter who wanted to revisit the house they knew in the 70s. It’s built like Gibraltar. It’s all worth it.
The Carter Economy might be returning as the Biden Economy. I hope everyone has a fixed-rate mortgage!
A couple of weeks ago, I had a basement door replaced with cinder block and filled in the stairwell with gravel covered by dirt. That’s after having a flooded basement the last two springs, when the storm sewers serving the backyard drainage for the block backed up and filled all the backyards on the block with a lake.
I’m hoping for another big storm this year, so I can point and laugh.
Presumably, that was after you couldn’t get the city or whoever to fix the storm drains? And couldn’t get the other affected neighbors to join in either?
The city promised a resolution after the first one, although they did acknowledge the cause so insurance covered the damage (that being, every house on the block that had a basement door). When it happened again, they made the same promise. I decided not to trust them.
So, you used the second insurance payout to remove the problem? Sounds wise, under the circumstances.
Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I had a car totaled because a mouse family built a home and then died(!) somewhere in between the plastic and steel….and Hantavirus was a thing.
I actually ended up getting a brand new car for a great deal because the car had retained it’s value. But man, those mice are relentless little vectors.
Hey! I personally know someone working on the CA and Biden energy policy to force us into Electric-only before the grid can even support it.
…let me know and I’ll forward the hate mail. Along with mine.
Sweet Jesus.
I didn’t know that was a thing you could do.
My water heater is outside. I have a temporary cabinet built for it (courtesy of Mr.@mattbalzer and @hankrhody), but it definitely would never be inside.
There are more restrictions for gas water heaters, of course, but I think technically/legally an electric water heater, especially, can be anywhere.
You gotta have faith, baby.
That, of course, is a very fun thing to be able to do. Not everyone is in such a position. However when we are, I do like to see the various constructions continue to exist in the spirit their various architects intended.
As for various home maladies, I don’t know that anyone will ever beat my “termites actually ate my synthetic carpet” story.
So yes, good for you, you’re all rich and stuff and fixed your richie-rich house for the other 1%ers.
You should be ashamed of yourself. Have you ever even invited anyone less fortunate than you to live in your home for free? I doubt it. *scoffs*
;)
I think Richie Rich should be capitalized.
You should be an editor. ;) I was referring to the concept like nicey-nice, rather than the charater Richie Rich, who would be capitalized.
Not everyone can afford capital letters.
Water is coming up a lot. About 18 months ago the minds of Ricochet discussed the the thesis that 75% of home maintenance pertained to getting water into and out of your house on your terms.
https://ricochet.com/688681/archives/observation/