Dear Claire: What Should I Take Care of in My First Year of Homeownership?

First-Year Homeowner’s Checklist: Essential Tasks for a Smooth Start

Today on Dear Claire, Heather joins us to talk about tasks you should do in the first year of being a homeowner.

That are lots of tasks do to the first few weeks of moving into your new house, some are obvious and some not so much.

First, we’re going to give you a list of utility companies. You want to make sure they’re switched into your name because you don’t want your lights/gas being turned off a month after you’ve moved it. We help guide you through the process during purchasing to make sure it’s done before possession.

Then change the locks and change passwords for any security, or related systems. Nest, SimpliSafe, etc. These should definitely be changed because people can access these systems remotely. Change the access code for the garage and the garage door clicker too. That’s something a lot of people don’t bother to do. I get that it’s a pain in the butt, but it really is important, especially in a bigger city like Portland.

So how do you take care of this half a million dollars investment?! To help, we decided to put together some fun home maintenance videos for you guys to check out. We’ll cover topics like gutters cleaning, furnace care, keeping you sidewalks clean so someone won’t injure themselves, clearing debris away from your foundation, covering your air conditioner in the fall, etc. All of those are super important as you’ve made a big investment. You want to gain equity for your property and deferred maintenance makes that much more difficult. The more you stay up on taking care of your property, the more assurance that you will gain equity as the years progress. We’re here to help you do that, because that’s our ultimate goal for you. Check us out on YouTube for house maintenance tips. If we can do it, anybody can do it.

We want to be your real estate specialists and guide you through homeownership, home buying, and home selling, so please reach out to us.

[email protected]

Also check out our website: www.parisgrouprealty.com

We’ll be in touch soon guys. Take care and have a great day.

Have more questions or want professional advice on buying or selling a home?