The First Things You Need to Buy After Moving Into Your Starter House
Congratulations, you have just bought your first home ! After years of living in an apartment, exotic things like extra bedrooms, a garage, and a backyard seem pretty exciting, right? Even a modest starter home can make you feel like an aristocrat – until you think of all the things you need to buy to make it truly cozy. Yes, this means that even though you just borrowed a huge amount of money and spent every penny of your savings to buy a house, now you have to go shopping and beat them hard to buy everything you need. you have to live there. Even if you intend to keep using all the things you already have, if your new home is larger than your old one, you will have a lot of space to fill and many more responsibilities to take care of.
Owning real estate is very different from renting. If you’re not in a condominium with an on-call repair company, all maintenance is now on you – and the same goes for your home’s security. Your personal shopping list for a new home can be longer or shorter depending on what you take from the old place (and their respective sizes), but here are the things you will need to purchase after buying your first home.
Basics
Whether you’ve just bought a charming McMansion bungalow or mansion with a large room big enough to play tennis in, there are a few versatile things you’ll need:
- Window coverings. It is very common to find that your new home is completely stripped down to bare walls. If you don’t like the idea of your neighbors getting a really good look at you, you should make window coverings a priority. You can buy something cheap and simple just to get some privacy and leave a more thoughtful design decision for later.
- Welcome mat. If the previous owners have left it, chances are it’s dirty and doesn’t reflect your sense of humor or style. Also, you want the beautiful floors you just bought to be as clean as possible, so it’s a good idea to start over.
- Shower curtains. If the shower in your new home needs curtains, bring brand new ones so you don’t have to contemplate the moldy sins of the previous owners. Again, these can be very cheap temporary solutions until you get comfortable and have time to choose interesting ones.
- Garbage bins. Maybe you have something to take with you, or maybe the previous owners left them. Either way, the dirt and debris caked into them may mean they aren’t worth the time they spend cleaning. It’s best to start over.
- Shower heads. These are galactic brains: shower heads should be replaced or cleaned once or twice a year anyway, as they get very dirty over time. Since you have no idea how the previous owner handled their shower heads, install new ones for peace of mind (and better water pressure).
Maintenance
If you bought your home from an HOA or condominium association that pays for the renovation company, you can skip this part. Otherwise, I have news for you: nothing will be done to your property unless you do it yourself (or hire someone to do it). So, you will need some tools that you will never need when renting:
- Snow shovel. If there is a chance of snow in your new area, take a good shovel. Not only is it necessary to leave your home after a storm, most local governments legally require you to clear the sidewalk in front of your home.
- Stairs. Even in a one-story house, you will need a decent ladder to get to the premises during painting or renovation. If you’re not sure what you need, a multi-position ladder gives you more flexibility and is easier to store.
- Tools. You may already have a complete tool kit, but if you’ve been asking your landlord for minor repairs over the past few years and your tool kit consists of a single screwdriver and hammer you bought from CVS, you’ll need a more reliable set. Luckily, you can buy handy toolkits that will give you all the basics and then add from there as needed.
- Piston. A low plunger is something people don’t think about until they flush the toilet and the water level starts to rise. There is a non-zero chance that the previous owners forgot their dirty piston, but… want to touch it?
- Lawn mower. Again, unless you have a maintenance property, you will be responsible for taming the grass and weeds growing in your yard. You may also need some other landscaping tools, unless you are going to hire a company to do it for you. However, you will at least need a lawn mower of some sort to get started, although a simple drum mower may suffice to get you started.
Things for those extra rooms
Buying a house often means that the furniture and other things that used to fill a cramped apartment suddenly feel rather scarce. You’ll need some basics to take up all that extra space:
- Furniture. It may seem obvious, but if this is your first home, I guarantee you haven’t thought about the scope of your needs yet: extra beds, nightstands, chests of drawers, rugs, desks, tables, lamps, bookshelves – the list goes on. You certainly don’t need to fill every room on the first day, but keep in mind that if these rooms work for you, you’ll need to go on a furniture hunt.
- Sheets and linens. Very often, new homeowners are partly motivated by the desire to have extra bedrooms so that family and friends can visit and stay with them. Even if the previous owner left a few beds – and even if you’re willing to keep the existing mattresses, at least for a while – you’ll need new bedding and sheets for all of them.
- Cleaners. Whatever you use in your old place, double the amount at the very least. Even if you plan on hiring a cleaning service, you’ll need the tools to deal with the sudden mess and spot cleaning when your husband’s in-laws drop by unannounced.
Safety
You bought a house, which means you now have a significant asset filled with many less significant assets. There are a few basic things you’ll need to secure all of this:
- New locks. Change the locks on the doors immediately. No one is plotting to rob you (probably), but you have no idea who has the key to those old locks. People give keys to neighbors, family and contractors for convenience – and then forget about them.
- Safety system. This is optional, but a good idea. Even a cheap do-it-yourself security installation provides some level of protection, and listings of homes for sale are sometimes used by thieves to identify empty homes that would be easy to rob, so this is a good idea.
- Fire extinguisher. The first thing you should do when entering the kitchen is find a fire extinguisher. If it is there, check the pressure and date. If it’s old or missing, buy a new one. Like a plunger in a bathroom, don’t wait until an emergency occurs to regret taking it.
- New smoke detectors. If you didn’t have the foresight to ask the previous owners when they installed the smoke and carbon dioxide sensors, replace them all immediately. This will give you up to 10 years before you have to think about it again and ensure that you and your family are protected.
- Night light. You may not like a night light or don’t need one on a regular basis, but in an unfamiliar place, this is a great idea. Navigating an unfamiliar floor plan will be a little disorienting for the first few weeks (or longer), so being able to see where you’re going at night will be an advantage until your mental muscle memory kicks in.
Your first home is a time for celebration, but also a time for shopping. Armed with these basics, you should be able to enjoy your new home in no time. Unless they’re ghosts, of course.