An Open Letter To The First Time Homeowner

Oh hey there. Let me start off by saying congratulations! Going through the process of purchasing your first home is super exciting and nerve-wracking all at the same time. Mine was quite stressful personally so I hope that yours was at least a little bit more smooth.

I've owned my home with my boyfriend now for over a month. I'm here because I wanted to let you know that as much I wish for you this experience will be sunshine and rainbows from here on out, I want you to be prepared for otherwise.

We were searching for a home that we didn't have to make too many improvements to. We knew we wanted to get rid of carpets, paint, replace some things but didn't think it would be anything drastic. Honestly, we knew we were going to definitely do things to increase the value of our home. You think you have a plan for this, that, and the other thing. Those plans never go right.

Since we closed on our house, we've done quite a few things. We've installed lighting in all of the rooms, we've upgraded to smart devices, we've painted and we're half way through replacing our floors.

You've definitely made this purchase at a great time, with interest rates the lowest they've been in quite some time. However, because of the pandemic, I'm pretty confident EVERYONE is deciding to do work in their homes. This is making some things take longer than expected to come in (like our floors, for example.)

We closed on our home over a month ago and we still aren't living in it. I can tell you I am just itching to get to that point, but there's so much left to do until I will be satisfied.

Every home owner I've spoken to says the projects are never done. I guess I knew that before, but never really understood until this very moment.

We ran into issues with carpenter ants while removing molding on one of the windows. We had to replace some wiring in order to be able to operate our Google Nest for the house. We're now planning to add a dining room, and remodel the kitchen and the bathroom. I guess I didn't expect all of these things to take as much time as they have, yet here we are.

To you, the first time homeowner: I just want you to expect the unexpected. Don't stress out too badly, everything will come together eventually - and if you can, find someone to stay with while you work through all the kinks. I'm telling you, if I was living in this house while all these renovations were being worked through, it's possible I would have lost my mind. I originally said I would be okay, yet here we are and we still have a million things to do.

Best of luck to you on your new journey,

Sincerely, Kaylin, also a first time home buyer.