So I bought a new house...

Up north I guess your biggest worry might be how you're going to clear the driveway from that wonderful wintry precipitation.

 

But, but... she says we don't have to do anything it's so nice!

No, I wear those of my own accord. On weekends I run through fields of flowers yodeling.

And soon I'll be able to do that in any of my five bedrooms.

 

It's not just in the winter... there's two feet of it outside as I speak.

I think doing chores like that the first few times would be fun - ooh, I'm a homeowner, I have a driveway! After that it'll probably be more like oh, #@%!, I'm a homeowner, I have a #!%~* driveway.

 

No shit. When I was in college a friend's mom decided she wanted to redo the kitchen one summer. By the time we left to go back to school his folks were building a new house.

 

If you have a driveway, you'd better have a snowblower.

Otherwise, home ownership is great. Mowing the lawn on a hot day is always a good reason to pull out a couple of beers and chat over the fence with the neighbors.

 

Keep a list of people you trust to do work on the house (roofer, plumber, etc...) Hopefully you have a home warranty, I would keep it up to date each year.

Now that spring is here, trow down some Scott's fertilizer and weed preventer. Stay with the Scott's schedule. A nice yard is something to be proud of, and it does not take a ton of effort. Look at what goes on sale at a nice garden center. Plant a few bushes or perennial flowers each spring or fall and your yard will get nicer and nicer.

Do a CIP (capital improvement plan) for your house. List all the things in the next 10 years that you need to do.

1. Repave driveway (1-2 years)
2. New roof (5-6 years)
3. Finish attic (3-4 years)
4. Work shed (1-2 years)
5. New carpet (8-10 years)

This will help you down the road if you feel like spending more than a decade in the house.

Be sure the HVAC system in your house is checked out. Get a service contract with an HVAC company to check you place out and a bug man for termites.

Owning property is a great thing.

 

If you can afford a five bedroom house, you should be able to afford a cleaning lady---even once every two weeks. Invaluable.

BTW, where in Canuckistan do you live?

If you're in the GTA, Huggy, HC & myself would love to come over for a beer or three.

 

If you have two feet of snow on the ground now, my question would be, Can you configure your new house to get it on wheels? 'Cause I'd be towing that sucker to Arizona or Florida.

 

Wheels, eh? Nah, I'm happy where I am.

Southern Alberta, JR. Born in the big smoke, moved to Alberta in '87. Worked where Beef03's from for a couple years and even hired him to replace me.

I will be in the Hamilton area in late June, and will be going to a Ti-Cats game while I'm there. Got lots of family to see out that way.

Oh, and Devil, what's an HVAC? Nobody's mentioned that to me before. As for the other stuff, the place isn't NEW new, but it has been seriously renovated with a new roof, carpet, kitchen, etc. in the past three years. There's a shed and the attic is finished. I will be looking into building a garage in the next 10 years though, and you're right, putting together a financial plan for big projects like that would be a good idea.

Thanks for the ideas so far everybody. I'm getting really excited about moving in, even if it is four weeks away.

 

You better include repaint the exterior in 5-6 years.

 

HVAC - Heating, ventilating and air conditioning

 

Gotcha, thanks HC.

I had a home inspection done and all was well. Guy said it was one of the best places he'd inspected in quite a while.