5 Things To Remember When Moving To A House From An Apartment

couple holding keys and smiling in front of new home

Congratulations! You’ve made the move from renter to homeowner or are in the process of doing so! Owning a house is an important investment, however, there are several things you need to remember when making the transition from multi to single-family housing.

Your energy consumption will change

Chances are you weren’t responsible for paying for all of the utilities you used as a renter. At the very least, most apartment buildings take care of sewer, trash, and water on behalf of the tenants, because there is no easy way to attribute specific costs to specific units. As a homeowner, you now have to pay for every cent of energy and every service you utilize. It may be worth your while to consider buying appliances that have energy saving features and by instituting other energy cost-saving measures in your home such as programmable lights and thermostats. These items will save you money in the long run.

You need to get familiar with how your house works

One of the tradeoffs that you have to make when you transition into homeownership is learning to live without a landlord or superintendent who will take care of routine maintenance requests for you. Learn the ins and outs of your house, where different things are located such as circuit breakers, how to turn the water off, how to replace the air conditioning filters, and similar tasks. Save the contractors for big projects and learn how to do simple maintenance and repairs yourself.

Carefully research repair professionals and keep a running list with notes

Speaking of contractors and repair professionals, you don’t want to wait until an emergency to know who to call. Do your research even before you need their services so you know who to turn to when help is needed. Keep a running list of who you use and what repairs they perform.

You need to plan your furniture purchases carefully

One of the most exciting things about moving from an apartment into a home is deciding what new furniture to fill it with, right? Don’t rush to fill your new space with new pieces quite yet. Mortgage lenders could consider you more of a risk if you have less cash held in reserve. Once the closing process is over you have more freedom, but you still may want to wait until you actually get into your house to see exactly how your existing furniture fills your new floor plan.

Budget for additional expenses

Homeownership is often more affordable than people think, but there are always new expenses that you may not be used to paying. These can include costs such as property taxes, HOA fees (if applicable), and homeowner’s insurance. Make sure you save some room in your budget for these types of expenses.

Moving from renting to owning is a big change, but Parker Group is here to help you prepare. Parker Group Team has decades of residential real estate experience available for your benefit, so contact us today if you’re ready to leave apartment life behind and enter the world of homeownership.

Sign Up For Our Newsletter