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"<p>For as long as you\ncan remember, you’ve been saving money to buy a house — and you’ve finally\nbought one. It was an incredibly expensive purchase, perhaps the most important\none of your life, and now it feels like you are starting from financial scratch\nconsidering your drained savings account and the bevy of brand-new expenses\nfacing you.</p>\n<p>Indeed, buying a home and living in one can cost an arm and\na leg, but it is possible to continue saving money as a homeowner. Here are a\nfew tips to keep your costs low and your financial gain high.</p>\nDON’T Focus on the Fun Stuff Just Yet\n<p>Moving from an apartment into a house usually means you have\nall sorts of new space to fill up with new stuff — but before you start looking\nat sectional sofas and high-end bedroom sets, you should move in, get settled\nand take score. Most likely, there are more pressing expenses than fancy\nfurniture, and spending your remaining savings on the fun stuff means you’ll\nhave to wait to address the leaking toilet or the fist-sized hole in the\ndrywall. Eventually, you will have the time and money to play with new décor,\nbut for a few weeks at least, you should hold off to determine what you truly\nneed right now. </p>\n\nDO Install Cost-saving Updates\n<p>Few millennials are moving into their perfect, updated dream\nhome with perfect, energy-efficient appliances. That means you’ll have to add\nyour own — and it’s a good idea to get that done first because it will save you\nmoney the longer you have them. Some major systems you should prioritize include:</p>\n\nLow-flow faucets and toilets. Contrary to how the name sounds,\nthese plumbing fixtures don’t decrease water pressure, but they do reduce how\nmuch water you waste.\nTankless water heater. If you have a gas water heater, you can\nbenefit greatly by upgrading to a tankless unit. Not only do these use less\nresources to heat water, but they also last longer.\nEnergy Star large appliances. Plain and simple, these are newer\nmodels that utilize less energy.\nHeating and cooling. These constitute majority of the energy costs\nof your home, so anything you can do to increase efficiency is smart. Start\nwith a programmable thermostat, add ceiling fans to your rooms, and maybe\nspring for a newer A/C or furnace if you can.\n\n<p>If the appliances that came with the property are already\nbreaking down, you might be able to use your home warranty to cover some of the\ncosts of replacing them. If your home didn’t come with a warranty, you can look up home warranty pricing\nto see if getting one is worth your money.</p>\nDON’T Invest in a Bevy of Smart Tech \n<p>For decades, futurists have been predicting that smart homes\nwill be big. However, you should resist the urge to outfit your new place with a\nbevy of built-in smart technology. First, smart tech isn’t all that smart yet; it\nis riddled\nwith insecurities that make it dangerous to use. Secondly, you have to\ncommit to a certain type of smart tech; Apple Home devices don’t play with\nGoogle Home devices, etc. Finally, the tech changes so quickly that when you\neventually sell your home, your future buyers won’t be impressed by your\n10-year-old tech. You’d do better to save that money for things you can take\nwith you, or easily change.</p>\nDO Make a Maintenance Schedule \n<p>Now that you’re a\nhomeowner, you are responsible for all home maintenance — and as of right now,\nyou don’t really know what that means. It’s worth your time and energy to look\nup what in your home needs servicing when, and then you should assemble\nthat info in an easy-to-read schedule. You can go whole hog and build a home\nmaintenance binder, filled with phone numbers for service professionals, a log\nof updates you’ve made to the home and more — but that’s optional. As long as\nyou know you are completing necessary maintenance on time, you should save\nmoney on repairs in the long run.</p>\nDON’T Assume Issues Can Wait\n<p>If you can remember way back when you were in the process of\nbuying your house, you underwent a home inspection that revealed all the\nproblems that might dissuade you from going through with the purchase. Now that\nyou’re the owner, you should dive back into that inspection report and fix the\nthings your inspector pointed out as serious issues. Undoubtedly, there are\nmany little things that don’t affect the safety and security of the home, but\nthere is probably one or two major concerns that need addressing right away.\nFix them before you move in, and you’ll never need to worry about spending\nmoney on them again.</p>\n<p>Owning a home is expensive, but as long as you stay in the\nsame house for at least five years (10 years is better) you’ll recoup your\ncosts and then some. In the meantime, if you use these money-saving tips,\nyou’ll be back on the road to financial health faster and feeling better about\nyour home purchase sooner.</p>\n"
<https://www.bestfinance-blog.com/real-estate/money-saving-dos-and-donts-for-millennial-homeowners/>