8 STEPS TO BUYING YOUR FIRST HOME
Step 8
Protect Your Investment
Now that you have your home and you're all moved in, you need to take some final steps to protect your investment. Throughout the home buying process you have probably gotten to know your agent quite well, and hopefully you've been able to build a relationship of trust. That doesn't have to go away just because the deal has closed, your agent wants you to stay in touch!
After you buy your home your agent can still help you in the following ways:
1. Handle your first tax return as a new homeowner. Filing taxes as a home owner can be quite different than you may be used to, and you may have tax breaks coming to you. It's also important to keep track of your property taxes and your agent can help you with that.
2. Keep track of your home's current market value. The value of your home will rise and fall with the market and it's good to keep track. If at some point you choose to sell your home you will want to do so when the value is at a high point.
3. Help your friends find or sell homes. Sometimes finding an agent you like can be difficult, but once you do why not let your friends know? It will save them a lot of time doing an agent search and you can feel confident your agent will treat your friends as well as she treated you.
4. Find contractors to help with home maintenance or remodeling. Keeping up with your home maintenance is essential to protecting the long-term value of your investment.
There are two things you should be doing to maintain your home:
1. Keep it clean. We're not talking about sweeping and mopping here, although that's important too! It's really important to do regular maintenance and cleaning of your home's systems, such as heating and cooling units, fireplace chimneys, septic tanks, crawl spaces, and attic spaces.
2. Keep an eye on it. Be sure to do regular walk around inspections of your home and look for any leaks, cracks, damage, and basic wear and tear.
Allowing any part of your home to fall into disrepair can lead to hefty repair bills. Often times homeowners fail to pay attention to maintenance problems with their home until they choose to sell it, then they find themselves faced with a large inspection report brought forth by potential buyers. Keeping on top of issues as they arrive can save you a lot of hassle, and money, in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment