Buying a house - what else will I need?

[LauraAnn630]

We are buying our first home this summer. What will we need that Im not thinking of? Besides a LOT of cash! lol

lawnmower & yard tools
trash cans

TIA

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Depends on the house. Do you have it picked out already?

With trash cans for example you might have to rent them from your provider.

 

[LauraAnn630]

Oh yea... thats right some citys do have there own cans. Great tip that I was not thinking about! Thanks!

No we do not have the house picked out yet. We paln to bid on something in the next 2 months. Being the planner that I am I want to plan for all expenses possible.

 

[lynxstch]

smoke detectors
carbon monoxide detectors
first aid kit
toilet plunger, toilet snake, etc
duct tape, electrical tape, cable ties
spare light bulbs
cleaning supplies such as brooms, mops, buckets, sponges, etc
snow shovels (if you live in a climate that gets snow), along with ice chopper, deicer,tarps,etc
garden hoses, water buckets, trash cans
good sturdy ladder (for cleaning leaves out of gutters, checking roof, cleaning chimney if needed!)
wheel barrel to make yard chores easier, garden gloves, if you have or plan to do landscaping....potting soils, mulch, hand tools, etc
humidifiers,dehumidifiers
When you move in..try and get the names/numbers of good electricians,plumbers, mechanics etc...you never know when you will need them ! (this one's from experience..first week in our new house the sewer line clogged and we had to get a plumber!)


Those are just off the top of my head..but I am sure a lot more DIS'ers will be along with helpful hints and advice

Good luck in your first/new home!

 

[golfgal]

Honestly, until you buy a house you won't really know. What if you find one in an association that takes care of all the lawn care, you won't need a lawn mower, for example. We get our garbage cans from our hauler, included in our monthly fee and we have to use their cans because of the trucks they use.

 

[laurie31]

It's hard to answer without knowing what you already have. I presume you are in an apartment now? So you would have linens, kitchen items (dishes, pots and pans, hot pads, etc.), bathroom items, and basic home office supplies and such already? Also appliances. We have always had to bring our refrigerator (had to buy one outright for our first home) and washer and dryer. Sometimes the refrigerator stays with the house, though. Make sure you ask before closing.

If you don't have some basic tools, you will probably want some; at least a hammer to hang pictures and art in your new home.

A fire extinguisher or two, depending on how big the house is. Make sure there are smoke detectors and a carbon monoxide detector too.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Oh yea... thats right some citys do have there own cans. Great tip that I was not thinking about! Thanks!

No we do not have the house picked out yet. We paln to bid on something in the next 2 months. Being the planner that I am I want to plan for all expenses possible.

Here is my tip to you....don't buy a thing. Save up your cash until you actually buy the house.

Then you go thru and make a priority list.

Every house will be different with needs/wants. You just don't know. I am in house #4.

Ex. I am in a brand new model home and still do not have all the window treatments. That is a huge expense, unless you know how to sew. Blah.

Use Craigslist to buy lawn/yard stuff and garage sales. If you are trying to save money this one area you can do it in easily. Who cares if a shovel is brand new or used. You can pick it up for a couple of bucks at a garage sale. Compare brand new to used to save money.

 

[puffkin]

We bought a brand new house and our largest expense was window treatments. Holy cow is that expensive and we just did basic blinds on most windows. Only now 5 years later am I getting around to curtains and stuff.

Another expense was needing towel bars and toilet paper holders and things like that for the bathrooms. With it being new construction, our builder didn't include that.

If you are buying an older house, you probably want to save some money for electrical and plumbing work. Our first house needed some updating when we moved in (ie NONE of the plugs were 3 pronged, the dryer needed one of those large black sockets installed, etc).

For our first house, I was SHOCKED at how much $$$ it took to stock the kitchen. Flour/Sugar/Condiments isn't that expensive, but when you are starting a kitchen from scratch it sure is a budget buster! Also all the initial cleaning supplies and tools is a budget buster.

I always change the toilet seats out at a new home. Also have a lock smith come and change the locks. Oh, and I would budget for a whole house carpet cleaning unless it is new construction.

 

[AmyinKY]

Owning a house is like packing for Disney. You will always need twice as much cash as you originally thought you would need.

As others have said, put your savings aside and purchase quality "stuff" as cheaply as possible when you find out you can't go any longer with out it.

 

[daisyduck123]

We're in the process of house-hunting.
When we do move, I told DH two things will need to be done before we move in:

* Brinks alarm system installed (we've had one for 18 years now, wouldn't be without one)

* Terminex come treat the house (we have a contract with them on our present house, wouldn't be without them either..I DETEST bugs).

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I guess I should have given you the important list meaning expensive...You will need more than likely....

Refrigerator
Washer/Dryer (if you don't already have one)

Sometimes it is included, you just never know. However I encourage you to look around and set money aside.

 

[dizluvah]

Great list so far....since you said you are a planner OP - remember to budget for Home Inspection (prior to actually closing on the house) - I had sticker shock with the home inspection fee - $500 if they inspected only what they could see and way way more if I wanted them to check out things a little deeper - but as with everything costs vary.

Also - my suggestion is to get pre-approved for your mortgage before you even begin to shop - then you will now what the bank considers your price range is, vs. what you think your price range is.

Have fun and be sure and get a good realtor that you like and trust - we had to dump one - it was unpleasant but it could have been disastrous.

 

[LauraAnn630]

I heard the home inspection will cost $300.00. Theres so much to buy!
Yes we have most house hold things except an oven and refrigorator. Im hoping the house we buy will have those but it may not.

For our first house, I was SHOCKED at how much $$$ it took to stock the kitchen. Flour/Sugar/Condiments isn't that expensive, but when you are starting a kitchen from scratch it sure is a budget buster! Also all the initial cleaning supplies and tools is a budget buster.

Thats going to add up!

lynxstch - Great list thanks!

We hope to find our house in a few weeks to get in on the tax credit!

Thanks everyone!

 

[hopemax]

It also depends on what season you buy in. We bought our first house in mid-Oct. The grass had already gone into hibernation mode. So even though we need lawnmower, edger, clippers...we haven't bought them yet.

What we did buy:

Carpet Cleaning
Fridge
Washer/Dryer
Trash Can
Rake
Snow Shovel
Cleaning Supplies
Paining Supplies - wow, those really added up.

Ladder tall enough to get on the roof. It's one one of those ones that folds and extends to what you need, so it also works as a step ladder tall enough to access the attic space too.

Plumber - We are not handy, and the saddle valve to the swamp cooler started leaking, and there was a broken line to the fridge ice maker. So we had a plumber put in proper valves to run to both of those.

We went from a full to a queen bed, the full became the new guest room bed. So we got new linens for both rooms. We also got new table & chairs for the kitchen, and new furniture for my scrap room. Thankfully, the seller left the sectional in the family room, otherwise we would have had no place for 4 people to sit over Christmas (my parents came for a visit). It's expensive to furnish a house.

Inspection-wise, we had a regular inspection, a sewer line inspection, and a radon test. We needed a radon system, which the seller paid for. The sewer line had roots, due to the tree in the front yard. It is fine, as long as we have it cleaned out yearly, the seller paid for it to be done at the time of the inspection.

 

[Kath2003]

Not bought but rented (unfurnished) and this is what we found...

Light fittings - lampshades etc.
Curtains or blinds - not always included?
Lightbulbs
Washing up bowl for the sink
Dish draining rack for the sink
Microwave (especially if the house doesn't include the stove?)
Fridge & Freezer
Washing machine
Pegs for the clothes line
Mower & SOMETHING TO KEEP IT IN!
Screwdriver
If you have pets, lots of extra stuff!
Boxes for recycling
Air freshener
Trash can for the kitchen
Washing up liquid
Antibacterial wipes - really easy to give cupboards etc. a once-over.
The name of a local takeaway for dinner

Most importantly
A clearly labelled box containing KETTLE and TEABAGS, a couple of mugs and $1 for some milk! Anything else you can buy as/when you need it/can afford it.

 

[Katieinwonderland]

We moved into our new house in November - we came from an apartment so we had bed linens, towels, kitchen appliances etc. But we had to buy appliances that came WITH the apartment but weren't in the house - things like a washer and dryer, refridgerator, dishwasher, stove, microwave etc. The other big expenses for us were:

-Cleaning supplies...we moved into a foreclosure house so everywhere was dusty and grimy, and it took a lot of supplies to get it clean.

-Tools...we had a maintainance guy in the apartment who we called when things broke, it was a shock to realise we'd have to fix things ourselves now!

-Window treatments...another PP mentioned the cost of these and OMG we had no idea! We ordered blinds for all the windows and nearly died when we found out the price! I don't think I'll ever get around to putting curtains up!

-Extra trashcans for all the new rooms!

-And agree with the PP who mentioned the number of the local takeaway!!! We didn't have a stove for the first week so we lived on Chinese takeout and pizza!

Good luck!!! We LOVE our new house but I told DH we're going to live here until we die because the stress of looking for a house was a nightmare!

 

[LauraAnn630]

Kath2003 Most importantly
A clearly labelled box containing KETTLE and TEABAGS, a couple of mugs and $1 for some milk! Anything else you can buy as/when you need it/can afford it.

YES! For me its my coffee pot, Dunkin Donuts coffee and hazelnut creamer.

Im not buying anything till the last minute. but I got my list going!

Thanks!