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Transitioning From Renting To Homeowning

Transitioning from a renter to a homeowner can be a big stretch and comes with some certain growing pains.  While it’s certainly something to adjust to, the transition from tenant to “land lord” should be taken step-by-step.  Don’t get frustrated with the process, give it time to run its course, and enjoy the journey.  Today, we’ll explore transitioning from renting to homeowning and how to make it easy.

Be Patient

While legally, technically, and financially you’ve become a homeowner, you may not have been baptized by homeownership fire so to speak.  It takes time for everything to settle out, but by the time you’ve made your first mortgage payment you’ll feel more like a homeowner.

Be patient with the process.  There’s a lot to learn about owning a home that you either didn’t think about or didn’t have to bother with as a renter.  Learn useful maintenance practices and general homeowner skills as they are needed and be resourceful when learning how to deal with certain problems or repairs (YouTube can be a life saver).

Stay on Top of Your Finances

Many homebuyers get a little confused with the financial side of their monthly mortgage payment, but if you’re like a lot of buyers those financials are taken care of.  Unless you were fortunate enough to put down 20%+ on your new home, then some of the less glamorous parts of your monthly payment are graciously in escrow.

In other words, all of your homeowner’s insurance, local, and state taxes are deposited every month into an escrow account.  The escrow account then pays out your insurance and local taxes on your behalf so you don’t have to worry about putting that money away; however, it’s good practice to review the deposits made into your escrow account and make sure they’re getting paid as they should.

Familiarize Yourself with Your Home

One thing that will take some time to do is to familiarize yourself with your new home.  Make sure to locate important mechanical aspects of your home and, if needed, keep a journal of your discoveries for yourself, your family, and any serviceperson who may come to work on your home.

You’ll want to pay special attention to where to change the filter for your HVAC system (and do it monthly), locate your breaker panel, know where your outdoor faucets are, and where to turn off your main water.  Knowing where these things are and making sure your family does too can potentially save you thousands of dollars if and when something goes wrong.

Maintain Your New Home

Finally, make sure you know what kind of maintenance you need to do on your new home.  In all likelihood, you’ve relied on either your landlord or an appointed maintenance person to tackle simple tasks such as changing your filter and making sure your smoke alarms have fresh batteries.

Guess what? Now you’re the maintenance person and the lord of the land!  This means you get the good pleasure of doing all of those maintenance tasks that you’ve never thought about!  To help ease the transition, keep a journal or write on your calendar monthly when it’s time to perform routine maintenance.

Become a Homeowner

Before you actually transition into a homeowner, you have to actually own a home which is why Tidewater Mortgage Services, Inc. is here to help.  Tidewater’s simple, fast online application can get you pre-qualified for a line of credit and get you transitioned from renter to homeowner in practically no time!

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