Becoming a homeowner is an exciting milestone. It's something most people work towards their entire life. But once it happens, you realize it may not be what you expected. In fact, there are so many things you need to take care of that you never dreamed of before.
So when a Redditor asked fellow members to share, "What unwritten rules do you learn only AFTER becoming a homeowner?" it was definitely eye-opening. Let's take a look at some of them.
"You will finally have a conversation with that neighbor that hasn’t bothered to do more than wave at you, and will offer tons of advice about what you CAN’T do with YOUR tree on YOUR property because of the major impact to them, or the neighborhood, or the city, or global climate change."
Oh, I can definitely see that happening.
"You will NEVER complete a project with a single visit to a home store."
I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like too much fun to me. I like to just go once and get everything, but maybe it's just me.
"If a fence is in fair to good condition, then your neighbor will claim it belongs to them. If the fence is in major disrepair or has recently fallen, your neighbor will disavow all knowledge of how and when the fence was erected or who owns it."
Oh my goodness, ha, ha.
"Every project you undertake will require that you uncover at least one additional project that needs to be addressed before the original project can be completed or create a new one by you breaking something while you were working on the original project."
Oh, brother!
"Everything the previous owners DIY'd was stupid and ridiculous and poorly done. Everything I DIY is great, and the next homeowner will be impressed with the quality of my work."
Haha! Okay, maybe I shouldn't laugh at that because I don't want it to come back and bit me in the ass.
"The house knows when you have money. Usually near the exact amount. My mom puts money away and gets a 'Christmas club' check every November for around $2,000–$2,500. This year the furnace needs repair. $2,100."
Is that right?
"You spent a lot of time on your own work getting it just right so you think everyone will be impressed with it or you do a hack as a bandaid and forget about it. As for the previous owners, if they did a good job you probably didn’t even notice it was DIY. You just notice their bandaid hacks."
That's right!
"Everyone starts off a perfectionist, but over the years your standards will diminish."
Something tells me this comment comes from experience, and I can't say I'm surprised by it. Oh, how will the perfectionist in me deal with it? I don't know.
"Previous renovations aren't there just to make it look nice. They're hiding something that will become apparent shortly or when you try and change something."
You don't say.
"Take water seriously inside and out. That means leaks, roofs, drainage, bad grading, and excess humidity in the crawl space. If you plan on being there a while, bite the bullet and knock it out."
Ugh! That sounds like a lot of work.
"The closer your house is to a Home Depot, the easier your life will be."
Ha, ha! I bet my fiancé will laugh at that. He already spends way too much time at Home Depot, so he can surely relate to that.
"I thought I bought a home, but what I got instead was some sort of timeshare at Home Depot."
I'm happy to see that at least somebody has a good sense of humor about that, huh?
"Once you realize how much things cost or how hard they are to DIY, you start to empathize with the last guy. You still hate him, though."
And you can't stop comparing yourself to the previous homeowner, that's for sure.
"There are no perfect 90° angles in your house. Not one."
OMG, really? I admit I'm not great at math, but even I can't believe that. I guess one day I will put it to the test, ha, ha.
"Every project you undertake will cost three times what you think it will...and take five times as long."
Oh, no! Don't tell me that. I really didn't want to hear that. Who here can relate to this?
"The 'major issues' you see at the beginning, might not be that major in the end. Give yourself a few months in the house before deciding what to do, unless it's an actual hazard."
Well, thank you for that. I tend to agree with this advice.
"You need to know how to shut off the water, gas, and electricity. Now. Bumbling around in the dark during a storm will likely make you use a bunch of those words you can't say in The Good Place."
Oh, and you also need to know where to locate your breakers. I learned that lesson a while ago.
"The list is never finished. Never. So take weekends off now and again and spend them with the ones you are making a home for."
You know what? I like that. After all, you have the rest of your life to build that home for yourself and your loved ones. Don't miss out on spending quality time with the ones you love.
Here's the thing, I don't want to scare you off of home ownership. Not really! But I do want you to be prepared because these are the things nobody tells you. Okay? So now that you know, I hope you'll feel a lot more in control when you do make that important decision to own a home.
