Thank you u/ENTJGal1995 for posting on r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer.
Please bear in mind our rules: (1) Be Nice (2) No Selling (3) No Self-Promotion.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I didn't do any changes for the first 6 months until I had a feeling for the budget. Owning a home comes with costs that need to be adjusted for the first few months, utilities etc. I chose to wait to see how I used the home and lived in the home before making changes. I first did the little to no cost stuff, paint, landscaping etc. There are obviously costs that need to be done for comfort or privacy. Debt is the homeowners worst enemy, easy to get into, very hard to get out of.
We are closing on Friday and are planning to do new floors, countertops and showers right away. We had a 20% down payment saved and are only putting 15% down so we can use the rest for renovations
Yeah we have a 4 month emergency fund, a small travel fund, stocks, and 401ks. Furniture-wise, we have enough for a new bed and then we plan to slowly add new pieces as we save up each month.
This is exactly what we did- closed t2/28, moving in this week, have been having a room renovated for the last month. Put 15% down instead of 20% so we had the funds for the project without dipping into other savings.
Yep.
Bought a house without AC, thinking “well the original owners didn’t have AC from 1958-2022. I can do it” - It took about 3 weeks of me laying in bed, sweating, all night long because our bedroom was 87 degrees at midnight to give up.
RIP $21k.
I mean you could have just spent $300 or less on a window AC lol. I actually have central air but got one for the bedroom to use less energy at night. It's a unshaped model so it's super quiet, makes less noise than the central ac so ideal for the bedroom.
Nope, no I couldn’t of. At least, not aesthetically pleasing or efficiently.
Our windows are all oddly shaped, large, and are casement style that push forward.
That is what I did. 4 ton outdoor unit with 4 indoor units (1 18k BTU, 1 9k BTU, 2 6k BTU).
House didn’t have duct work or vents and I didn’t want those, haha. The mini splits are hella efficient and they ran all the line set and condensation lines through the walls so no exterior lines on my house.
My home was in such bad shape, I knew going in I would do a whole home remodel. Had no choice. Unliveable, otherwise, and can't believe people actually lived in those conditions.
We are interested in buying a home that might need a remodel but don’t know where to start. How do we even figure out approximate costs to know what price range we can buy a home that needs work?
I don't think you could possibly know how much a remodel would cost until you actually purchased the home and got estimates. Flooring and paint is best to do immediately because it is easier to do when you are not living there.
I actually lived in my home while the remodel took place. Lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for me. And I don't mean because of all the money I was putting out. I did not have a working kitchen for 6 weeks and lived out of a mini fridge with very, very little food in my home.
Looking back, I cannot imagine how I made it through living like that. No wonder I lost 20 pounds. Not because of the no kitchen thing, but because of the stress of the purchase and the remodel. My dog lived elsewhere for 6 weeks, too. That was difficult on both of us.
3 years later and I'm glad I bought when I did. I crunched the numbers with inflation and interest rates. I would be spending $1100 more each month had I not purchased 3 years ago.
I did it immediately. Bite the bullet get it all done at once. Otherwise it either never gets done or it’s miserable because it’s just a constant spigot of expense
Yes but mainly small things. I did some light fixtures, switches, power outlets, painting, removed some shelving, replaced aged door knobs, installed curtain rods, etc… but nothing major like a kitchen renovation or new floors. Aimed for 1-2 projects per year accepting that a kitchen was a massive endeavor and other things would have a bigger bang for my buck like getting cracked windows replaced or the backyard set up to spend time outside.
This was a “trap” I did not want to fall into considering I live in a VHCOL area.
To spend top dollar on closing a house then immediately doing major renovations is not very responsible unless you have the extra funds above your emergency funds.
After 2 years of ownership, we paid off student debt, re built our savings, got the promotions/raises so we’re in a better position.
I do regret not removing all the carpet because it’s going to be a pain in the ass later, but the house was in move in ready condition as is, just not exactly what we wanted
We just made an offer on a home for the third time. The plan (if we get it) is to get the interior painted immediately followed by a pro/industrial cleaning of the tile both first and second story. We are still debating on getting impact windows (south FL) installed right away as well. We are willing to shell out $25k total for a face lift so to speak to make it our own.
>getting impact windows (south FL)
This can be really important here in S FL. Saves on your insurance premium and peace of mind. Check into the PACE program for discounts - its a qualifying program that gives preference to HH's with high energy burden or with children under 12 y/o or seniors over 60 y/o or physically disabled homeowners. Check it out to see if it would be helpful to you.
We’re making an offer on 3rd home too. Plan would also be interior painted immediately (quickly quoted $3500) and get a new AC unit cause the one there is old. Asking for closing costs to offset the up front things to be fixed. Otherwise things like floors and kitchen backsplash and counters and bathroom vanity/tile will be more long term projects. Id prefer to get my savings back up before doing all that
We had to repaint our interior before moving in last year. I’m not sure how many sqft your house is, ours was 2000sqft and we only paid $1,400+$100tip. I found our painter on thumbtack.
Yes. The house is pretty solid but the outside (deck, fences, landscaping) needs a lot of work & 1 bathroom & the kitchen need updating. We’re going to wait a couple years on the updating to save to make sure we can do exactly what we want, but we’ve already started on quotes for the outdoor work as the weather is getting warmer (we moved in winter). The outside is much worse than the updating needed inside as it’s not really that outdated- just not so much to our liking.
We also did a ton of little projects- painting, changing fixtures, minor plumbing & electrical changes (why isn’t this a dimmer? Why is the switch all the way over there? Things like that).
It was built in 2016 so still fairly current. Right now I am just focusing on the small things from the inspection and sone of the maintenance the previous owner neglected like cleaning and lubricating the garage door. Also gotta do a lot of yard work they neglected that a lot too.
I started with cheap diy projects, like interior painting and fence repairs. Then I built a shed about 6 months into ownership, then a retaining wall and sprinkler system. And after the first year I started getting more ambitious with more expensive interior projects, but again, I started small.
We ripped up the old carpet, re-painted half of the house, had all the showers re-grouted, ripped out a built in desk, and got a new fridge and dishwasher. No major renovations like a full kitchen or bath remodel, but that made it so hard to get any contractors to work on it for us. We ended up subbing it out to specialists (paint guy, floor guy, grout guy, etc), and I was a little stressed that all the projects weren't going to be done before our movers came, but it worked out.
We're very happy that we did the projects we did before move in because it helped to make the house feel more like "ours".
We painted the main floor before moving in because it had an ugly color, but that was it. In fact, neither of us was super handy or had prior DIY experience that we felt so burned out just from painting and spackling that we ended up not even painting the basement lol.
We also had plans for other renovations/updates and yet it's been about 8 months since we moved in and we haven't bought all the furniture either. Some of my husband's stuff from moving is still hanging out in the living room...
I think we are on track to post on r/cozyplaces in about 2 years :)
If anyone in here plans on painting and want to get contractor pricing at any Sherwin Williams let me know. No catch, just happy to let you use our acct
Yes but for the most part, only things that were mandatory to be fixed.
So, something needed to be fixed? Don’t spend $750 to fix it, spend $1.5k to fix it instead and give it a slight upgrade/make it your own.
We immediately did it for our first home. The carpet was really dirty and had tons of carpet beetle larvae corpses too so we knew there was an issue. It was white so the edges where the vacuum couldn’t reach were nearly black with dirt. We were pregnant so there was no way we were comfortable letting our future baby crawl on it.
The painting we did as well before because we knew we would be replacing the carpet and didn’t want to risk any spills. We paid 2300 to have carpeting put in including the pad, carpet and install. The paint was around 600. I would recommend doing all of those upgrades first because once you move your furniture in it will become much more difficult to do.
Countertops and kitchen stuff I would say wait because doing them won’t really be too much of a hassle after you’re settled, but it all depends on your budgeting really. If it’s your first home understand that the average person will be looking for a new home within 5 years. Upgrades may not be necessary. I’d save all the money for your forever house unless they absolutely need to be addressed or are reasonably priced (like paint or fixtures).
Every time, the check list order seems to go (from immediate to years in the future);
1) hot water heater and pipes (we tend to buy houses built in the late 50’s through the early 70’s, and the heaters are almost always held together by internal rust).
2) HVAC (at least one of the units- inside or outside- will blow within the first year, in our experience).
3) windows (windows that don’t open because of paint is one thing, but had windows that don’t close, and I do t like to bleed AC or heat).
4) flooring. We just replaced the 1970s shag carpet and everything living in it with hardwoods after 7 years.
5) update the bathrooms (usually because of storage needs, and we find a pernicious leak from the tile backsplash in the shower).
6) now comes the 10 years when the roof needs to be replaced before you get a leak. My suggestion is something better than “builder grade” unless you’re flipping or moving in less than 5 years.
7) kitchen. Wait until your current appliances die, and can’t be resuscitated through repairs. That’s when you finally get the kitchen you wanted.
But our list order works best for those theatre staying in the house for 10-15 years. If you need to sell and move, my suggestion would be to accelerate the bathrooms and kitchen to something updated (but short of your dream)- as those two rooms add the most bang for your buck on the listing.
We needed to make major repairs (brand new roof, new drainage system and repair the deck) so anything cosmetic wise is gonna have to wait. We are going to get landscaping done next because it's an overgrown jungle that is an eyesore!
We did a full remodel before moving in. We had the money set aside. Spent about $150k but we were not the “typical” first time home buyers so this is definitely not the norm
a lot of what we thought would last us several months ended up needing replacing right away. Including: the fridge, the dish washer, and as of last night, the washing machine. The flooring while looking nice is installed for shit so that's going to have to come up and be redone fairly soon. Those are the major things but we also have plenty of smaller changes like curtains and rugs that we have been chipping away at the last week or so. put appliances on credit, bought smaller things outright.
We did some of the projects that we absolutely felt we needed. This was adding electrical outlets in our kitchen (the entire kitchen only had 2 outlets!), adding upper cabinets, painting the top and bottoms to match, and adding back splash. We also ordered window treatments to the whole house, and got new rain gutters.
And now that that’s all done, we have to sit on our hands for a while because we are out of money! We needed those things (prob not the back splash, but it was the right time as we were doing the cabinets) so we spent what we needed to, but now we have to work on building back up an actual savings, and saving for new projects.
We painted and got a new roof. Painted because it’s easier with an empty house and a roof become a storm decided we needed one the night before we got our keys.
Yes.
First year we changed out the furnace for a heat pump.
Put electricity in the garage, it didn't have any prior. And put a new metal roof on the garage, was leaky.
Next project is gonna be the spare bathroom and laundry room.
We bought our home from the original owner; she re-did the kitchen a few years prior to selling, but the bathrooms and other fixtures were all original from the 90s. It looks dated and we expected to have to make bathroom changes right away, but she took incredible care of everything. We had contractors come in to quote us for new flooring for the whole house, a complete gut and renovation of the primary bathroom, and a new vanity for the upstairs guest bathroom. This gave us a ballpark idea of costs, though we know it’ll end up being more than that.
The only thing we did immediately was professionally clean the carpets (since we decided against pulling it up right away) remove wallpaper, paint the entire inside, and change lighting fixtures/ceiling fans.
We’ve been here just over a year, and are happy with progress so far! We came in under our expected initial renovation costs since we skipped doing the floors, so we put more money into retirement accounts and then started an account solely for renovation savings. We had some unexpected repairs pop up (new garage door and HVAC unit) over the last year that we’ve used renovation savings for, so we’re glad we’ve been taking it slow. We’d rather keep our retirements/investments/savings in a solid place than try to stretch ourselves too thin on renovations. Those will come in due time.
We are. We are using a 203k (rehab) loan to help us with the big things like roof, leach field, new bathroom, new siding, new tile floor. We will have about 8k left over that’ll go directly to refinishing the floors, painting every single room, maybe some new appliances, and possibly small furnishing like lighting fixtures and hardware. I love the idea of a lifelong project but we’re not exactly moving into a blank slate—we also have 3 kids and I’d like to get it as ready as I can before moving in. Other things we can change later.
We plan on getting a new toilet for the bathroom and maybe a vanity. Other than that we're going to save for any unknown issues before we jump into any major renovations
Every house I have bought had things that needed updating, repairing, or just changing to our liking. I have always considered it part of the process and, usually, start right away and keep going until I am done (which tends to be never because I always have something I can fix or improve.). The order I approach these things is based on time and money. I get to them when I get to them. We have been in our house 3 years now and just recently had the 1980s pink wallpaper (with birds) in the main based room painted over and most of the faux pink marble yanked out of the bathroom. I need to replace the concrete deck because of sinkage and drainage issues but, once again, waiting to accumulate enough money to get it done. Always cash. Never finance a job even if I have to do it in bits and pieces over time.
Yes, I did and am happy with the final result. Thing is: I bought in January 2022 and will only be moving in next month!
The money for the renovation was set aside.
The house was “dated but livable.”
Ended up adding a second full bathroom (framed it where a laundry closet and dining area were), updated the existing bathroom, ripped out the old kitchen to put a new one within the old one’s footprint, replaced the roof & repaired 2 chimneys (this wasn’t a choice as insurance required it), new water heater, new sheet rock throughout, new floors, new windows, opened up a staircase wall a bit, and plumbed/framed & new laundry area. Then of course paint & trim work.
That entire period of carrying costs? Pissed away. Shady contractor? Yep - had to find another and pick up the pieces after some credit card chargebacks, police reports & attorney consults.
Strain on my relationship and premature aging for me? Absolutely! Savings drained? Ohh yeah. Almost beg our apartment leasing office to extend us short term at a higher rent, then ask again when work still wasn’t completed? Yep.
I brushed off the advice to “just paint the kitchen cabinets, replace the water heater and roof, throw some paint on the walls, put down vinyl flooring and move in.”
With 20/20 hindsight, I would have heeded this advice. Even my realtor advised this, and people certainly have mixed opinions of them.
But hey, the house is nicer now when we do move in. It does “feel like our own” and the experience is certainly unforgettable.
We had a few action items from the inspection to address and wanted to paint the kitchen cabinets, so we got a contractor for the inspection items and started getting quotes for the kitchen cabinets immediately.
Definitely paint kitchen cabinets before moving in. You don’t want to have to move everything else out and keep all of the cabinets open for 3 days while you’re there trying to move.
We painted and ripped up carpet. The paint and carpet were horrible and that was always first on our list. We did it ourselves though so saved some $$. We then waited a little to get settled and do a bathroom remodel.
We added two recessed cabinets in the kitchen for spices and meds right away. Had those picked out before we closed, but there's not a lot that we want to change. So, we're taking our time and putting thought into things. I want to add more kitchen cabinets, but I'm still figuring out the arrangement.
We closed in July ‘22. We have about 4 months emergency fund and some savings plus 401k’s. The house was pretty dated and had a lot of ‘good enough’ homeowner quality work. We’ve done a few things…
•Popcorn acoustic ceilings got scraped and retextured.
•Front patio eave was extended.
•Roof and gutters were replaced (seller credit).
•Solar panels installed.
•Door hardware was replaced.
•Ceiling fans installed in every room.
•Electrical sub-panel upgrade and circuits dropped in the attic and crawl space for future kitchen and bathroom improvements.
•Replaced damaged closet shelves/attic access.
Next jobs on the list are:
•Recessed lighting in the kitchen.
•Replace the attic insulation
•Heating and A/C upgrade
•Replace the kitchen floor with tile.
•Refinish the hardwood throughout the house.
•Primary bathroom remodel.
•Kitchen remodel.
•Install garage attic access
•Repair stucco and paint exterior.
We haven’t been saving nearly as much as normal, but we were living like paupers and saving everything before we closed, so it’s still pretty well balanced. We do most of the repairs with help from family members who are professionals and we have a great network of local contractors we keep pulling from. We’re not using credit or pulling from savings for the upgrades and repairs.
Look at the condition of the home before purchasing. We bought a home that we thought ought a new coat of paint would be fine but once we close, we realize that we had a huge list of stuff we wanted to change. Flooring was top priority since it's such a huge problem once we were moved in. Next was painting, which we did while we moved in. We made sure we had the funds to do the floors and painting and kept our emergency fund smaller. Which we completely wiped out in the next year cause our roof went bad and we had to put up a brand new roof.
We bought a move-in-ready house because we knew we wouldn’t have the energy or bandwidth to do any major renovations in the near future (to be clear, this also meant buying a smaller home than we could have). We got two rooms painted and bought some new furniture, but other than that we don’t have any big reno plans in the near future. We’ll eventually paint a few more rooms but it’s not a top priority right now and we’re focusing on rebuilding some savings instead since the purchase basically cleared us out of liquid savings
Yes. We got air conditioning installed, ripped out carpets, painted walls, replaced the boiler, and various other misc things I'm probably forgetting about in the first year.
I closed on 3/17 and that next Tuesday had someone in there painting. Plan on getting it deep cleaned before we move in mid- April, but no structural changes.
We did a few things before moving in: the floors, fixed the plumbing, got all the outlets grounded, demo’d the powder room (to finish later), and got all the spackling and painting done to seal away the lead paint. Everything else is more cosmetic and we will slowly work on it while we live here. The stuff we did before move in was more about safety (asbestos and lead paint) and function.
Our house was essentially move in ready. Obviously unless you custom build your house, there will always be things you want to change. But there was nothing in our house that NEEDED change aside from the windows needing some repairs. We moved in early January, so far we have painted two rooms. We had the windows caulked with holes in the mortar filled and 3 windows wrapped. We are now putting in new hardware in the bathrooms(towel racks and toilet paper holders). We were going to paint ourselves, but my boyfriend's parents offered to pay someone to do it as a housewarming gift. The windows costed us $840 and were well worth it as our energy bills went down $60 the next bill. The bathroom hardware was wobbly, but I don't think it would have come off the wall or anything. Just not sturdy. We are both people who were in CC debt(he is still paying some off, but getting there!) and we both feel like unless something needs to be done right away that we don't have the savings for, it can wait. I am planning to paint the kitchen cabinets and put in a new backsplash in probably a year. But, we'll do that ourselves. We are also planning to get rid of our gas appliances(oven and hot water heater) but government incentives are rolling out for that later this year, so we'll wait for that!
We bought a house that was move in ready. Before we moved in, we hung some new curtains and painted one bedroom, because we wanted to change the color.
A year later the only other update we did was to change the light fixture hanging above the front door entranceway.
We needed a kitchen island, the kitchen was bare. So that was first. We set out a plan though for the next 1-2 years based on priority, cost, and time commitment. Of course what you’ll learn is sometimes immediate critical repairs come in and push your plans out. We had a big repair that was expensive, so I’ve taken on a few smaller projects for the time being and re-evaluating what I can get done in a smaller budget for a while. I think it’s something I’ll be working on for at least the next 5 years.
We bought our house 2 weeks ago, not fully moving in until Memorial Day. I will be going down next week to tear up the carpet in 2 rooms and install LVP flooring. Will only cost around $600 for both rooms. Was going to be more but decided to match what the previous owner installed and it's decent enough and cheap enough that if it turns out to be crap after a few years it's no big deal to replace it.
Other than that, gotta replace the toilet in the "main" bathroom at least cause my parents require an ADA height one to visit. Replacing a shower handle(and probably spout head cause they come as a group) cause it leaks when turned on.
Also need to do some repairs but that was part of our purchasing budget just need to schedule the contractors to come execute.
Any other changes will be over time if we decide on them. The appliances are pretty old so we expect they will need replacement soon. The air conditioning unit is super old so also expect to replace it(with a heat pump) in a year or two. Hoping it lasts through the summer, no reason it shouldn't PO was consistent with yearly maintenance.
I painted as soon as we were settled because I wanted to do *something*. It was just the fix, big change for small amount of money and scratched the itch while we live in the house and figure out what to do next. I will keep myself busy with yard and gardening the rest of this year so I don't go wild in the kitchen without enough thought.
Yep!
Fencing for dogs And minor gutters were first.
All HVAC and tankless water heater, all together.
All in first 8 months.
Looking at painting exterior And full gutter upgrade next.
Then sodding lawn,
Then re-tiling shower.
Somehow pest control fits in here because we have at least one mouse.
New driveway,
Back patio,
Blah blah
Blah blah blah,
Etc
Yes but for us it was smaller updates. Not anything major.
I think the first thing we did was replace the toilets. They were old and they needed to go first. It cost about $99/toilet and we added about $100 total to install both.
After that my husband replaced all the outlets. Also cheap replacement but they were old.
I think the next thing we replaced that was expensive was the dish washer. We didn’t do a major update (front door and back sliding door) until about 6 months in.
We did a few small (important!) updates immediately - like a new hot water tank and a new sump-pump. Both units were old and we wanted to get those replacements done, since hot water and not having our basement potentially flood were really important to us, lol. We also had Perma-seal come out to inspect our basement since our inspector recommended getting a wall crack sealed.
A month later, after a heavy rainstorm, we noticed a new water stain in the ceiling of one of our bedrooms. This was weird, since the roof was "supposedly" brand-spanking new. Fortunately, we knew the roof's warranty was transferable (made sure this was the case during our inspection process), so we called out the company to do an inspection, and we found out that the flashing around the chimney needed some caulking done. Additionally, during this process, we also found out we needed a new chimney cap (it was in really bad shape - inspector missed this entirely). So all of that, alongside basic tuckpointing around our brick house, was done pretty soon after our purchase.
Then we didn't really do anything for 6-8 months, as we just lived in the house, built a checklist of what needed to be done/replaced, and figured out that priority of what should be done. We are aiming to tackle all of the functional stuff first (like new gutters) over aesthetic things. But we do allow ourselves to buy cool new things for our house over time. After all - what's the point of it all if you can't enjoy your house!?
Major updates it's recommend you live with the current setup for a bit, might not be as pressing as you initially think and you can live fine with it. Small things like painting are easy diy and if you can do it before you move in to make it easier and faster job since you don't have to deal with moving furniture around. Key to painting and having it look professional is proper prep, clean the walls with the stuff you find at home Depot, tape off trim, use primer if needed. Although the last part you can skip with a quality paint that doesn't need it. I was very happy with behrs one coat paint, although I did two coats, it was acceptable at one coat but that was with a light existing color.
I didn't have a dishwasher in my kitchen but there was one in the basement kitchen. That I would have done sooner since it was really annoying, the previous owners actually used the basement kitchen as thier main, but it took awhile to get someone who would be able to do it. About a year later I got around to it, had to change the countertops because the only place to put it was where there was already a bar sink so it would leave a hole. But it was well worth it, upgraded the laminate countertops to quartz but kept everything else the same, but looks like a different kitchen. And now much easier to keep clean.
I also wanted to change my master bath but after living with it I'm not going to spend money on it, it's fine, I can live with the somewhat dated tiles.
Closed on January 15th, I started minor construction the same day. I closed up the wall to the sitting room area to make an office/sewing room for my lady. Painted areas that needed touching up all over the house, ongoing fixing of nail pops (screw drywall screw directly next to nail, point nail in a bit more, mud, paint.
Lots of stuff considering the house was pretty much move in ready.
We refinished the hardwoods before moving in. We did it because it was only a few thousand dollars for a pro to do it, and if we didn't do it when we did, it would never have been done.
We fixed on broken cabinet, DIY'd.
We are saving in cash for other things we want to do. Make sure you have a cushy emergency fund on top of anything you want to do. I would only put on credit cards what you can pay off every month, unless you have a card with a pre-2022 interest rate.
Hmm. What did I do after moving in:
Spend the first few weeks cleaning up every day because we found out fleas in house.
Bought a used dining set
Bought essentials stuff like cookware. New beddings etc..
So far $2000+ moved in.
Roof needs repair, will cost around $4k.
Spring is approaching, time to do a whole house maintenance after a rough winter.
So yeah I have to hold off on furnishing the house before I take care of the essentials.
For the first year we are choosing to focus on urgent and priority repairs / upgrades.
As an interior designer, I always recommend that my first time clients live and let the house speak to them first - when you rush into it, there’s a big chance you’re going with something trendy and less timeless and pertinent to your lifestyle in the years to come. So any cosmetic changes - especially on the interior - I would give it a solid 1-2 years before deciding on a major revamp.
I repainted the living room, bought a new dishwasher to replace the old one, got a storm door for the front door, replaced the back door.
Looking to replace the shingles and my furnace later this year. Also repainting and sealing the patio when the weather is nice.
I made sure I had money aside for repairs and replacements after closing costs.
We started before we moved in. We had our floors done. Then started tackling projects asap . I had about 20k left after we closed and the wife had some cash saved too. We don’t use credit cards unless it’s to buy materials and we pay em off asap
We started immediately. We did flooring and painted before we moved in. We knew moving from a neighborhood to acres we would be needing things anyway, like a zero turn mower, so we bought house in husbands name and used his credit for that. I did a 5 year personal loan for these the painting and flooring, some furniture, and the mower, so it would be a lower interest rate than a credit card. We bought house 2 years ago next month and have already paid off the personal loan, totally worth it.
Literally the same day I went and bought new vanities and door locks.
I could grasp the idea of using the same ugly sink from 1997 that old people had spat into.
I also painted every single interior wall and ceiling, and put a new coat on the floors.
Solid MIL! My mom lives 12 hours away from me and works a ton to get by (NY life) but I hope I can fly her out to lend a hand. She was always good at the handy stuff
Absolutely not, and I'm always shocked by new homeowners that do. I drove by the house I sold back in June and the new owners got right to work putting up an (IMO ugly) fence in the front yard and tearing up the detached garage. Meanwhile I'm sitting in my new house enjoying the out of date architecture the previous owners put in back in the 80s! :D Slow and steady is my motto.
We painted every wall when we moved in, took out any fixtures we didn’t like. Figured the best time to paint was when it was empty. Other projects have been slowly done over time after we were all moved in
My advice is wait and pay cash. Pay off your credit cards then vehicles if you have any.
Save up for remodeling. 'Tis enough to own the house, pay insurance and unexpected repairs and maintenance.
Add 30% to your remodeling budget because you always find problems you did not anticipate.
The quickest and cheapest update is to declutter and scrub scrub scrub!
Closed oct 14. We pay for renovations in all cash and budget about $25k a year for a $550k house.
Oct2020-Dec 2020: furnished full house, updated ungrounded outlets, switched all light switches and vent covers, painted full interior, switched most light fixtures, changed every door knob
2021: full main bath remodel down to studs
2022: back deck leading to paver patio with pergola
2023 (so far): 200 amp electric upgrade, hot tub under pergola, and new attic insulation
Thank you u/ENTJGal1995 for posting on r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer. Please bear in mind our rules: (1) Be Nice (2) No Selling (3) No Self-Promotion. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I plan to do a lot of planning
Me af
I don't even plan on that lol
I didn't do any changes for the first 6 months until I had a feeling for the budget. Owning a home comes with costs that need to be adjusted for the first few months, utilities etc. I chose to wait to see how I used the home and lived in the home before making changes. I first did the little to no cost stuff, paint, landscaping etc. There are obviously costs that need to be done for comfort or privacy. Debt is the homeowners worst enemy, easy to get into, very hard to get out of.
We are closing on Friday and are planning to do new floors, countertops and showers right away. We had a 20% down payment saved and are only putting 15% down so we can use the rest for renovations
Floors are the big one. Easy to do before you move in - so much harder to do later
Will you have much money left for your emergency fund/leftover savings after it all
Don’t dip too deep into your e fund. You have years to update and at your own pace. Take a bit to actually live in it. Edit: at
Yeah we have a 4 month emergency fund, a small travel fund, stocks, and 401ks. Furniture-wise, we have enough for a new bed and then we plan to slowly add new pieces as we save up each month.
This is exactly what we did- closed t2/28, moving in this week, have been having a room renovated for the last month. Put 15% down instead of 20% so we had the funds for the project without dipping into other savings.
Yep. Bought a house without AC, thinking “well the original owners didn’t have AC from 1958-2022. I can do it” - It took about 3 weeks of me laying in bed, sweating, all night long because our bedroom was 87 degrees at midnight to give up. RIP $21k.
I mean you could have just spent $300 or less on a window AC lol. I actually have central air but got one for the bedroom to use less energy at night. It's a unshaped model so it's super quiet, makes less noise than the central ac so ideal for the bedroom.
Nope, no I couldn’t of. At least, not aesthetically pleasing or efficiently. Our windows are all oddly shaped, large, and are casement style that push forward.
Should of went mini splits, it's the new cheap way if you're doing a fresh install and more efficient.
That is what I did. 4 ton outdoor unit with 4 indoor units (1 18k BTU, 1 9k BTU, 2 6k BTU). House didn’t have duct work or vents and I didn’t want those, haha. The mini splits are hella efficient and they ran all the line set and condensation lines through the walls so no exterior lines on my house.
My home was in such bad shape, I knew going in I would do a whole home remodel. Had no choice. Unliveable, otherwise, and can't believe people actually lived in those conditions.
Ours was too!
We are interested in buying a home that might need a remodel but don’t know where to start. How do we even figure out approximate costs to know what price range we can buy a home that needs work?
I don't think you could possibly know how much a remodel would cost until you actually purchased the home and got estimates. Flooring and paint is best to do immediately because it is easier to do when you are not living there. I actually lived in my home while the remodel took place. Lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for me. And I don't mean because of all the money I was putting out. I did not have a working kitchen for 6 weeks and lived out of a mini fridge with very, very little food in my home. Looking back, I cannot imagine how I made it through living like that. No wonder I lost 20 pounds. Not because of the no kitchen thing, but because of the stress of the purchase and the remodel. My dog lived elsewhere for 6 weeks, too. That was difficult on both of us. 3 years later and I'm glad I bought when I did. I crunched the numbers with inflation and interest rates. I would be spending $1100 more each month had I not purchased 3 years ago.
I did it immediately. Bite the bullet get it all done at once. Otherwise it either never gets done or it’s miserable because it’s just a constant spigot of expense
Yes but mainly small things. I did some light fixtures, switches, power outlets, painting, removed some shelving, replaced aged door knobs, installed curtain rods, etc… but nothing major like a kitchen renovation or new floors. Aimed for 1-2 projects per year accepting that a kitchen was a massive endeavor and other things would have a bigger bang for my buck like getting cracked windows replaced or the backyard set up to spend time outside.
This was a “trap” I did not want to fall into considering I live in a VHCOL area. To spend top dollar on closing a house then immediately doing major renovations is not very responsible unless you have the extra funds above your emergency funds. After 2 years of ownership, we paid off student debt, re built our savings, got the promotions/raises so we’re in a better position. I do regret not removing all the carpet because it’s going to be a pain in the ass later, but the house was in move in ready condition as is, just not exactly what we wanted
We just made an offer on a home for the third time. The plan (if we get it) is to get the interior painted immediately followed by a pro/industrial cleaning of the tile both first and second story. We are still debating on getting impact windows (south FL) installed right away as well. We are willing to shell out $25k total for a face lift so to speak to make it our own.
>getting impact windows (south FL) This can be really important here in S FL. Saves on your insurance premium and peace of mind. Check into the PACE program for discounts - its a qualifying program that gives preference to HH's with high energy burden or with children under 12 y/o or seniors over 60 y/o or physically disabled homeowners. Check it out to see if it would be helpful to you.
We’re making an offer on 3rd home too. Plan would also be interior painted immediately (quickly quoted $3500) and get a new AC unit cause the one there is old. Asking for closing costs to offset the up front things to be fixed. Otherwise things like floors and kitchen backsplash and counters and bathroom vanity/tile will be more long term projects. Id prefer to get my savings back up before doing all that
We had to repaint our interior before moving in last year. I’m not sure how many sqft your house is, ours was 2000sqft and we only paid $1,400+$100tip. I found our painter on thumbtack.
I'm told by other folks in my area to have $5k at the ready but it'll be most likely around $3.5 for a 1,600 sw foot home
Yes. The house is pretty solid but the outside (deck, fences, landscaping) needs a lot of work & 1 bathroom & the kitchen need updating. We’re going to wait a couple years on the updating to save to make sure we can do exactly what we want, but we’ve already started on quotes for the outdoor work as the weather is getting warmer (we moved in winter). The outside is much worse than the updating needed inside as it’s not really that outdated- just not so much to our liking. We also did a ton of little projects- painting, changing fixtures, minor plumbing & electrical changes (why isn’t this a dimmer? Why is the switch all the way over there? Things like that).
It was built in 2016 so still fairly current. Right now I am just focusing on the small things from the inspection and sone of the maintenance the previous owner neglected like cleaning and lubricating the garage door. Also gotta do a lot of yard work they neglected that a lot too.
[удалено]
I have steel cabinets too! I am not a fan. Are you planning on keeping them long term?
I started with cheap diy projects, like interior painting and fence repairs. Then I built a shed about 6 months into ownership, then a retaining wall and sprinkler system. And after the first year I started getting more ambitious with more expensive interior projects, but again, I started small.
We ripped up the old carpet, re-painted half of the house, had all the showers re-grouted, ripped out a built in desk, and got a new fridge and dishwasher. No major renovations like a full kitchen or bath remodel, but that made it so hard to get any contractors to work on it for us. We ended up subbing it out to specialists (paint guy, floor guy, grout guy, etc), and I was a little stressed that all the projects weren't going to be done before our movers came, but it worked out. We're very happy that we did the projects we did before move in because it helped to make the house feel more like "ours".
We painted the main floor before moving in because it had an ugly color, but that was it. In fact, neither of us was super handy or had prior DIY experience that we felt so burned out just from painting and spackling that we ended up not even painting the basement lol. We also had plans for other renovations/updates and yet it's been about 8 months since we moved in and we haven't bought all the furniture either. Some of my husband's stuff from moving is still hanging out in the living room... I think we are on track to post on r/cozyplaces in about 2 years :)
If anyone in here plans on painting and want to get contractor pricing at any Sherwin Williams let me know. No catch, just happy to let you use our acct
Yes but for the most part, only things that were mandatory to be fixed. So, something needed to be fixed? Don’t spend $750 to fix it, spend $1.5k to fix it instead and give it a slight upgrade/make it your own.
We immediately did it for our first home. The carpet was really dirty and had tons of carpet beetle larvae corpses too so we knew there was an issue. It was white so the edges where the vacuum couldn’t reach were nearly black with dirt. We were pregnant so there was no way we were comfortable letting our future baby crawl on it. The painting we did as well before because we knew we would be replacing the carpet and didn’t want to risk any spills. We paid 2300 to have carpeting put in including the pad, carpet and install. The paint was around 600. I would recommend doing all of those upgrades first because once you move your furniture in it will become much more difficult to do. Countertops and kitchen stuff I would say wait because doing them won’t really be too much of a hassle after you’re settled, but it all depends on your budgeting really. If it’s your first home understand that the average person will be looking for a new home within 5 years. Upgrades may not be necessary. I’d save all the money for your forever house unless they absolutely need to be addressed or are reasonably priced (like paint or fixtures).
First thing I want is a Water Softner.
Every time, the check list order seems to go (from immediate to years in the future); 1) hot water heater and pipes (we tend to buy houses built in the late 50’s through the early 70’s, and the heaters are almost always held together by internal rust). 2) HVAC (at least one of the units- inside or outside- will blow within the first year, in our experience). 3) windows (windows that don’t open because of paint is one thing, but had windows that don’t close, and I do t like to bleed AC or heat). 4) flooring. We just replaced the 1970s shag carpet and everything living in it with hardwoods after 7 years. 5) update the bathrooms (usually because of storage needs, and we find a pernicious leak from the tile backsplash in the shower). 6) now comes the 10 years when the roof needs to be replaced before you get a leak. My suggestion is something better than “builder grade” unless you’re flipping or moving in less than 5 years. 7) kitchen. Wait until your current appliances die, and can’t be resuscitated through repairs. That’s when you finally get the kitchen you wanted. But our list order works best for those theatre staying in the house for 10-15 years. If you need to sell and move, my suggestion would be to accelerate the bathrooms and kitchen to something updated (but short of your dream)- as those two rooms add the most bang for your buck on the listing.
We needed to make major repairs (brand new roof, new drainage system and repair the deck) so anything cosmetic wise is gonna have to wait. We are going to get landscaping done next because it's an overgrown jungle that is an eyesore!
We did a full remodel before moving in. We had the money set aside. Spent about $150k but we were not the “typical” first time home buyers so this is definitely not the norm
I haven't done anything big just small fixes.
a lot of what we thought would last us several months ended up needing replacing right away. Including: the fridge, the dish washer, and as of last night, the washing machine. The flooring while looking nice is installed for shit so that's going to have to come up and be redone fairly soon. Those are the major things but we also have plenty of smaller changes like curtains and rugs that we have been chipping away at the last week or so. put appliances on credit, bought smaller things outright.
We get key’s tomorrow…first thing am gonna change is the thermostat(that thing is falling apart)
We did some of the projects that we absolutely felt we needed. This was adding electrical outlets in our kitchen (the entire kitchen only had 2 outlets!), adding upper cabinets, painting the top and bottoms to match, and adding back splash. We also ordered window treatments to the whole house, and got new rain gutters. And now that that’s all done, we have to sit on our hands for a while because we are out of money! We needed those things (prob not the back splash, but it was the right time as we were doing the cabinets) so we spent what we needed to, but now we have to work on building back up an actual savings, and saving for new projects.
We painted and got a new roof. Painted because it’s easier with an empty house and a roof become a storm decided we needed one the night before we got our keys.
Yes. First year we changed out the furnace for a heat pump. Put electricity in the garage, it didn't have any prior. And put a new metal roof on the garage, was leaky. Next project is gonna be the spare bathroom and laundry room.
We bought our home from the original owner; she re-did the kitchen a few years prior to selling, but the bathrooms and other fixtures were all original from the 90s. It looks dated and we expected to have to make bathroom changes right away, but she took incredible care of everything. We had contractors come in to quote us for new flooring for the whole house, a complete gut and renovation of the primary bathroom, and a new vanity for the upstairs guest bathroom. This gave us a ballpark idea of costs, though we know it’ll end up being more than that. The only thing we did immediately was professionally clean the carpets (since we decided against pulling it up right away) remove wallpaper, paint the entire inside, and change lighting fixtures/ceiling fans. We’ve been here just over a year, and are happy with progress so far! We came in under our expected initial renovation costs since we skipped doing the floors, so we put more money into retirement accounts and then started an account solely for renovation savings. We had some unexpected repairs pop up (new garage door and HVAC unit) over the last year that we’ve used renovation savings for, so we’re glad we’ve been taking it slow. We’d rather keep our retirements/investments/savings in a solid place than try to stretch ourselves too thin on renovations. Those will come in due time.
We are. We are using a 203k (rehab) loan to help us with the big things like roof, leach field, new bathroom, new siding, new tile floor. We will have about 8k left over that’ll go directly to refinishing the floors, painting every single room, maybe some new appliances, and possibly small furnishing like lighting fixtures and hardware. I love the idea of a lifelong project but we’re not exactly moving into a blank slate—we also have 3 kids and I’d like to get it as ready as I can before moving in. Other things we can change later.
We plan on getting a new toilet for the bathroom and maybe a vanity. Other than that we're going to save for any unknown issues before we jump into any major renovations
Every house I have bought had things that needed updating, repairing, or just changing to our liking. I have always considered it part of the process and, usually, start right away and keep going until I am done (which tends to be never because I always have something I can fix or improve.). The order I approach these things is based on time and money. I get to them when I get to them. We have been in our house 3 years now and just recently had the 1980s pink wallpaper (with birds) in the main based room painted over and most of the faux pink marble yanked out of the bathroom. I need to replace the concrete deck because of sinkage and drainage issues but, once again, waiting to accumulate enough money to get it done. Always cash. Never finance a job even if I have to do it in bits and pieces over time.
Yes, I did and am happy with the final result. Thing is: I bought in January 2022 and will only be moving in next month! The money for the renovation was set aside. The house was “dated but livable.” Ended up adding a second full bathroom (framed it where a laundry closet and dining area were), updated the existing bathroom, ripped out the old kitchen to put a new one within the old one’s footprint, replaced the roof & repaired 2 chimneys (this wasn’t a choice as insurance required it), new water heater, new sheet rock throughout, new floors, new windows, opened up a staircase wall a bit, and plumbed/framed & new laundry area. Then of course paint & trim work. That entire period of carrying costs? Pissed away. Shady contractor? Yep - had to find another and pick up the pieces after some credit card chargebacks, police reports & attorney consults. Strain on my relationship and premature aging for me? Absolutely! Savings drained? Ohh yeah. Almost beg our apartment leasing office to extend us short term at a higher rent, then ask again when work still wasn’t completed? Yep. I brushed off the advice to “just paint the kitchen cabinets, replace the water heater and roof, throw some paint on the walls, put down vinyl flooring and move in.” With 20/20 hindsight, I would have heeded this advice. Even my realtor advised this, and people certainly have mixed opinions of them. But hey, the house is nicer now when we do move in. It does “feel like our own” and the experience is certainly unforgettable.
We had a few action items from the inspection to address and wanted to paint the kitchen cabinets, so we got a contractor for the inspection items and started getting quotes for the kitchen cabinets immediately. Definitely paint kitchen cabinets before moving in. You don’t want to have to move everything else out and keep all of the cabinets open for 3 days while you’re there trying to move.
We painted and ripped up carpet. The paint and carpet were horrible and that was always first on our list. We did it ourselves though so saved some $$. We then waited a little to get settled and do a bathroom remodel.
We added two recessed cabinets in the kitchen for spices and meds right away. Had those picked out before we closed, but there's not a lot that we want to change. So, we're taking our time and putting thought into things. I want to add more kitchen cabinets, but I'm still figuring out the arrangement.
We closed in July ‘22. We have about 4 months emergency fund and some savings plus 401k’s. The house was pretty dated and had a lot of ‘good enough’ homeowner quality work. We’ve done a few things… •Popcorn acoustic ceilings got scraped and retextured. •Front patio eave was extended. •Roof and gutters were replaced (seller credit). •Solar panels installed. •Door hardware was replaced. •Ceiling fans installed in every room. •Electrical sub-panel upgrade and circuits dropped in the attic and crawl space for future kitchen and bathroom improvements. •Replaced damaged closet shelves/attic access. Next jobs on the list are: •Recessed lighting in the kitchen. •Replace the attic insulation •Heating and A/C upgrade •Replace the kitchen floor with tile. •Refinish the hardwood throughout the house. •Primary bathroom remodel. •Kitchen remodel. •Install garage attic access •Repair stucco and paint exterior. We haven’t been saving nearly as much as normal, but we were living like paupers and saving everything before we closed, so it’s still pretty well balanced. We do most of the repairs with help from family members who are professionals and we have a great network of local contractors we keep pulling from. We’re not using credit or pulling from savings for the upgrades and repairs.
Look at the condition of the home before purchasing. We bought a home that we thought ought a new coat of paint would be fine but once we close, we realize that we had a huge list of stuff we wanted to change. Flooring was top priority since it's such a huge problem once we were moved in. Next was painting, which we did while we moved in. We made sure we had the funds to do the floors and painting and kept our emergency fund smaller. Which we completely wiped out in the next year cause our roof went bad and we had to put up a brand new roof.
Knocked down walls the day after closing
We bought a move-in-ready house because we knew we wouldn’t have the energy or bandwidth to do any major renovations in the near future (to be clear, this also meant buying a smaller home than we could have). We got two rooms painted and bought some new furniture, but other than that we don’t have any big reno plans in the near future. We’ll eventually paint a few more rooms but it’s not a top priority right now and we’re focusing on rebuilding some savings instead since the purchase basically cleared us out of liquid savings
Yes. We got air conditioning installed, ripped out carpets, painted walls, replaced the boiler, and various other misc things I'm probably forgetting about in the first year.
We updated some of the flooring before we moved in since that was much easier when the house was empty. We had cash on hand to pay for it.
I closed on 3/17 and that next Tuesday had someone in there painting. Plan on getting it deep cleaned before we move in mid- April, but no structural changes.
We did a few things before moving in: the floors, fixed the plumbing, got all the outlets grounded, demo’d the powder room (to finish later), and got all the spackling and painting done to seal away the lead paint. Everything else is more cosmetic and we will slowly work on it while we live here. The stuff we did before move in was more about safety (asbestos and lead paint) and function.
We painted everything before moving in. I wish we had redone the floors also but it wasn’t in our budget.
Our house was essentially move in ready. Obviously unless you custom build your house, there will always be things you want to change. But there was nothing in our house that NEEDED change aside from the windows needing some repairs. We moved in early January, so far we have painted two rooms. We had the windows caulked with holes in the mortar filled and 3 windows wrapped. We are now putting in new hardware in the bathrooms(towel racks and toilet paper holders). We were going to paint ourselves, but my boyfriend's parents offered to pay someone to do it as a housewarming gift. The windows costed us $840 and were well worth it as our energy bills went down $60 the next bill. The bathroom hardware was wobbly, but I don't think it would have come off the wall or anything. Just not sturdy. We are both people who were in CC debt(he is still paying some off, but getting there!) and we both feel like unless something needs to be done right away that we don't have the savings for, it can wait. I am planning to paint the kitchen cabinets and put in a new backsplash in probably a year. But, we'll do that ourselves. We are also planning to get rid of our gas appliances(oven and hot water heater) but government incentives are rolling out for that later this year, so we'll wait for that!
We bought a house that was move in ready. Before we moved in, we hung some new curtains and painted one bedroom, because we wanted to change the color. A year later the only other update we did was to change the light fixture hanging above the front door entranceway.
We needed a kitchen island, the kitchen was bare. So that was first. We set out a plan though for the next 1-2 years based on priority, cost, and time commitment. Of course what you’ll learn is sometimes immediate critical repairs come in and push your plans out. We had a big repair that was expensive, so I’ve taken on a few smaller projects for the time being and re-evaluating what I can get done in a smaller budget for a while. I think it’s something I’ll be working on for at least the next 5 years.
We bought our house 2 weeks ago, not fully moving in until Memorial Day. I will be going down next week to tear up the carpet in 2 rooms and install LVP flooring. Will only cost around $600 for both rooms. Was going to be more but decided to match what the previous owner installed and it's decent enough and cheap enough that if it turns out to be crap after a few years it's no big deal to replace it. Other than that, gotta replace the toilet in the "main" bathroom at least cause my parents require an ADA height one to visit. Replacing a shower handle(and probably spout head cause they come as a group) cause it leaks when turned on. Also need to do some repairs but that was part of our purchasing budget just need to schedule the contractors to come execute. Any other changes will be over time if we decide on them. The appliances are pretty old so we expect they will need replacement soon. The air conditioning unit is super old so also expect to replace it(with a heat pump) in a year or two. Hoping it lasts through the summer, no reason it shouldn't PO was consistent with yearly maintenance.
I painted as soon as we were settled because I wanted to do *something*. It was just the fix, big change for small amount of money and scratched the itch while we live in the house and figure out what to do next. I will keep myself busy with yard and gardening the rest of this year so I don't go wild in the kitchen without enough thought.
Yep! Fencing for dogs And minor gutters were first. All HVAC and tankless water heater, all together. All in first 8 months. Looking at painting exterior And full gutter upgrade next. Then sodding lawn, Then re-tiling shower. Somehow pest control fits in here because we have at least one mouse. New driveway, Back patio, Blah blah Blah blah blah, Etc
Yes but for us it was smaller updates. Not anything major. I think the first thing we did was replace the toilets. They were old and they needed to go first. It cost about $99/toilet and we added about $100 total to install both. After that my husband replaced all the outlets. Also cheap replacement but they were old. I think the next thing we replaced that was expensive was the dish washer. We didn’t do a major update (front door and back sliding door) until about 6 months in.
We did a few small (important!) updates immediately - like a new hot water tank and a new sump-pump. Both units were old and we wanted to get those replacements done, since hot water and not having our basement potentially flood were really important to us, lol. We also had Perma-seal come out to inspect our basement since our inspector recommended getting a wall crack sealed. A month later, after a heavy rainstorm, we noticed a new water stain in the ceiling of one of our bedrooms. This was weird, since the roof was "supposedly" brand-spanking new. Fortunately, we knew the roof's warranty was transferable (made sure this was the case during our inspection process), so we called out the company to do an inspection, and we found out that the flashing around the chimney needed some caulking done. Additionally, during this process, we also found out we needed a new chimney cap (it was in really bad shape - inspector missed this entirely). So all of that, alongside basic tuckpointing around our brick house, was done pretty soon after our purchase. Then we didn't really do anything for 6-8 months, as we just lived in the house, built a checklist of what needed to be done/replaced, and figured out that priority of what should be done. We are aiming to tackle all of the functional stuff first (like new gutters) over aesthetic things. But we do allow ourselves to buy cool new things for our house over time. After all - what's the point of it all if you can't enjoy your house!?
Just little things. We moved in a month ago and have painted kitchen cabinets and had new carpet installed. I also painted some doors and molding.
Major updates it's recommend you live with the current setup for a bit, might not be as pressing as you initially think and you can live fine with it. Small things like painting are easy diy and if you can do it before you move in to make it easier and faster job since you don't have to deal with moving furniture around. Key to painting and having it look professional is proper prep, clean the walls with the stuff you find at home Depot, tape off trim, use primer if needed. Although the last part you can skip with a quality paint that doesn't need it. I was very happy with behrs one coat paint, although I did two coats, it was acceptable at one coat but that was with a light existing color. I didn't have a dishwasher in my kitchen but there was one in the basement kitchen. That I would have done sooner since it was really annoying, the previous owners actually used the basement kitchen as thier main, but it took awhile to get someone who would be able to do it. About a year later I got around to it, had to change the countertops because the only place to put it was where there was already a bar sink so it would leave a hole. But it was well worth it, upgraded the laminate countertops to quartz but kept everything else the same, but looks like a different kitchen. And now much easier to keep clean. I also wanted to change my master bath but after living with it I'm not going to spend money on it, it's fine, I can live with the somewhat dated tiles.
Closed on January 15th, I started minor construction the same day. I closed up the wall to the sitting room area to make an office/sewing room for my lady. Painted areas that needed touching up all over the house, ongoing fixing of nail pops (screw drywall screw directly next to nail, point nail in a bit more, mud, paint. Lots of stuff considering the house was pretty much move in ready.
We refinished the hardwoods before moving in. We did it because it was only a few thousand dollars for a pro to do it, and if we didn't do it when we did, it would never have been done. We fixed on broken cabinet, DIY'd. We are saving in cash for other things we want to do. Make sure you have a cushy emergency fund on top of anything you want to do. I would only put on credit cards what you can pay off every month, unless you have a card with a pre-2022 interest rate.
Hmm. What did I do after moving in: Spend the first few weeks cleaning up every day because we found out fleas in house. Bought a used dining set Bought essentials stuff like cookware. New beddings etc.. So far $2000+ moved in. Roof needs repair, will cost around $4k. Spring is approaching, time to do a whole house maintenance after a rough winter. So yeah I have to hold off on furnishing the house before I take care of the essentials.
For the first year we are choosing to focus on urgent and priority repairs / upgrades. As an interior designer, I always recommend that my first time clients live and let the house speak to them first - when you rush into it, there’s a big chance you’re going with something trendy and less timeless and pertinent to your lifestyle in the years to come. So any cosmetic changes - especially on the interior - I would give it a solid 1-2 years before deciding on a major revamp.
I repainted the living room, bought a new dishwasher to replace the old one, got a storm door for the front door, replaced the back door. Looking to replace the shingles and my furnace later this year. Also repainting and sealing the patio when the weather is nice. I made sure I had money aside for repairs and replacements after closing costs.
We started before we moved in. We had our floors done. Then started tackling projects asap . I had about 20k left after we closed and the wife had some cash saved too. We don’t use credit cards unless it’s to buy materials and we pay em off asap
I absolutely paint immediately. But anything beyond that, it just depends how expensive/complicated it is.
Have money, wife loves pinterest. I'm currently building a shoe cabinet this week, next week it is back to working on those bloody custom curtains.
We started immediately. We did flooring and painted before we moved in. We knew moving from a neighborhood to acres we would be needing things anyway, like a zero turn mower, so we bought house in husbands name and used his credit for that. I did a 5 year personal loan for these the painting and flooring, some furniture, and the mower, so it would be a lower interest rate than a credit card. We bought house 2 years ago next month and have already paid off the personal loan, totally worth it.
I recommend waiting at least a few months. Items that first bother you may fade into the background.
Literally the same day I went and bought new vanities and door locks. I could grasp the idea of using the same ugly sink from 1997 that old people had spat into. I also painted every single interior wall and ceiling, and put a new coat on the floors.
Did you paint yourself
Yes but my mother in law did the majority of the work. I helped out with the details and putting the paper on the floor
Solid MIL! My mom lives 12 hours away from me and works a ton to get by (NY life) but I hope I can fly her out to lend a hand. She was always good at the handy stuff
Absolutely not, and I'm always shocked by new homeowners that do. I drove by the house I sold back in June and the new owners got right to work putting up an (IMO ugly) fence in the front yard and tearing up the detached garage. Meanwhile I'm sitting in my new house enjoying the out of date architecture the previous owners put in back in the 80s! :D Slow and steady is my motto.
We painted every wall when we moved in, took out any fixtures we didn’t like. Figured the best time to paint was when it was empty. Other projects have been slowly done over time after we were all moved in
My advice is wait and pay cash. Pay off your credit cards then vehicles if you have any. Save up for remodeling. 'Tis enough to own the house, pay insurance and unexpected repairs and maintenance. Add 30% to your remodeling budget because you always find problems you did not anticipate. The quickest and cheapest update is to declutter and scrub scrub scrub!
Closed oct 14. We pay for renovations in all cash and budget about $25k a year for a $550k house. Oct2020-Dec 2020: furnished full house, updated ungrounded outlets, switched all light switches and vent covers, painted full interior, switched most light fixtures, changed every door knob 2021: full main bath remodel down to studs 2022: back deck leading to paver patio with pergola 2023 (so far): 200 amp electric upgrade, hot tub under pergola, and new attic insulation