What to Do After You Buy Your First House

What to Do After You Buy Your First House

Buying your first home is a massive step and one of the biggest things you will do in your life. You’ve been saving for years, find the perfect home and are then bombarded with paperwork and legal fees…

 

It is a very long and very complicated process to eventually get the keys to your home, but once you do it is one of the best feelings in the world. This new construction of bricks and mortar is about to become the centre of your universe. It needs to be constantly cared for, paid for and protected.

 

It may be hard to hear, but after you have gone through the most stressful year of your life with most of it spent trying to buy your house, there is more work to do once you have bought it. You need to make sure you have good home insurance, install a security system and decide on a mortgage repayment plan. We won’t even start to think about the ongoing problems that are likely to occur over the lifespan of your home.

 

In order to save yourself some sanity, it is very important to understand what to do when buying your first home. To save you some time and sanity, we have simplified the whole process for you and identified the most important things to do when buying your first house.

 

Home Insurance

 

The absolute first thing to do is to purchase home insurance. It can be so exciting being in your new house for the first few weeks that you don’t want to think about more payments and contracts. But, things love to go wrong when you least expect it. It is better to be prepared for a burst pipe or a cracked ceiling early, to save you the heartache of having to pay out of your own pocket to fix it.

 

There are a number of home insurance providers in the UK to choose from. We recommend visiting a home insurance comparison website such as Compare the Market to make the process easier for you. You will want to make sure the home insurance you select covers the aspects of your home that are applicable. Similarly, don’t pay extra for things that are very unlikely to cause your home any damage.

 

Set Up Your Utilities

 

If you want your first few weeks in your home to be as perfect as possible then it is a good idea to set up your utilities before you move in so that they are ready for you. You have set up your home insurance and are on a roll, keep it going by phoning your internet, energy and water provider to set up your new address and plan for your move-in date.

 

Most internet service providers in the UK require a two-week wait before your internet service is turned on. Be sure to do this in good time as two weeks in your new home without internet will make everything else infinitely harder

 

Deep Clean

 

This tip may not apply to everyone’s situation as a lot of people get a cleaning service to do an end of tenancy clean when they vacate the property. If you’re one of the unlucky ones and the previous homeowners left it in a bit of a state, you will want to do a deep clean.

 

You can either do it yourself or pay for a professional cleaning service to come in and carry out a deep clean of your new home for a small price. Remember, not all dirt and grime is visible, and getting professionals to clean your property could prevent long term problems.

 

Getting off on the right foot and cleaning your house will start a good habit. Dirt building up and rust forming could cause you to have to claim on your home insurance for something avoidable.

While the process of buying your first home can be very overwhelming, it is important to not drop the ball and get complacent when you finally get the keys. Setting up home insurance straight away could save you a lot of money if something were to go wrong or get damaged while you were moving in. Be sure to change your address and set up all your new utilities well in advance of your move-in date so that everything is set-up and ready to go.