by Margaret O'Reilly, Hotel Julien Dubuque, & Co Director of Student & Academic Outreach

I bought a home in March of 2018, little did I know I was NOT ready for that adventure. It didn’t help that my boyfriend and I were planning on completely renovating, but I don’t think he realized the monster he created. First thing you should know about me is I work in the hospitality industry and I am an event planner by trade, which means I have a passion for creating pretty spaces. I continue to think of projects everyday, and I don’t think they’ll ever stop. Other than the obvious, home renovating is hard, these are some of the lessons I learned in my first year of homeownership. 

Understand your goal for homeownership. ​Do you want to buy your forever home to raise a family in? Do you want a home that does not need any work? Do you want to renovate and sell the home? Do you plan on selling this house in a few years? Do you want an investment property? One thing my boyfriend and I knew going in is this house would not be our forever home. We weren’t sure if we wanted to fix it up and sell it right away, or if we wanted to hold it and rent it. The one thing we were confident on was that we weren’t staying longer than a few years and we wanted to renovate, so we had a goal during our search. 

Pay attention to the things you do and use daily. ​Create a list of your ‘must haves’ as well as be prepared to rank those. In my last apartment I did not have a dishwasher, and I truly despised hand washing dishes. I also have a lot of clothes, always have and always will, so I knew I would want to have a space for those clothes. Going into the house hunt I knew I absolutely needed a dishwasher as well as someplace to house my clothes (no this wasn’t the extent of my list just some examples)  Be prepared for your checklist to change as you grow and change. In the next place I live, I want to make sure I have a nice outdoor space, I’ve learned that I like entertaining outside. 

Shop around on EVERYTHING. ​This starts at the very beginning of the home owning process. Price shop your mortgage, insurance, inspection, literally everything. Taking the time to price shop your mortgage and insurance, especially, could save you hundreds a month as well as thousands over the long term. But don’t stop there, any outside job you have to hire, any furniture you want to buy, the new light fixture, everything. This helps you not only save money, but helps you compare quality of the service or product. 

Buy below your means. ​When I started looking for homes I was envisioning that I was living by myself and paying for everything by myself so I was approved for a certain amount that I knew I was never going to buy a house for since I was living alone. This is when my boyfriend and I decided to move in together (yup you read that right, we moved in for the first time and renovated a whole house - yes we’re still together!), but we still wanted to be below what I was approved for. This was going to help with renovation costs as well as if we ever broke up, I wanted to make sure I was okay financially. My biggest piece of advice, would always buy below your approved rate so you can live financially secure. You don’t want to hold off retirement because you bought too big of a house.

Don’t be afraid to negotiate. ​Real estate can be a very emotional process for some, but don’t be afraid to negotiate the asking price or add concessions. Each party is looking to make a deal and the worst thing they can do is deny your offer, but if you never ask the answer will always be no. Remember, most homes are priced to leave room for negotiation. 

Know your local market. ​Do your own research on what other homes sold for in your area. Having a good understanding of the comp set helps you know what is a good price to offer and what you could sell the home for in the future. With the home I bought, I researched the local area to know what the highest price a home sold for within the last year. This way, I was very conscious of how much money we would put into the home. One thing I wish I knew was that the area around my home is mostly rental homes, that could help or hurt me depending on what we decide to do once we move. 

There will always be things you want to change. ​Unless you are building a house, there will always be things you want to change. I would recommend you really know what you want to change or what you could live with if you can’t change it. Also, if you are renovating you have a little more freedom of what you can and can’t change. 

Always sample. ​Buy the paint sample. Buy the carpet sample. Buy any other sample you can. It is not a waste. Put it in the room you are thinking of changing and watch it. For example, if you are choosing between paint colors - paint the wall and check on it multiple times a day. The sunlight will be different in the room at different points of the day. Believe me, this matters. 

Don’t buy all your furniture at once. ​This was my biggest struggle and still continues to be to this day. I want to buy all the furniture at once and have a completely finished home. Nice furniture is an investment. Make sure you love it. I have already gotten rid of a TV stand, two coffee tables, and dining chairs. I didn’t take time to really settle into the look I wanted for my house, I just wanted furniture. Taking the time will also help you realize what you can buy on the cheap or what pieces you want to really invest in. Some furniture is not meant to last forever. 

Always have an emergency fund. ​There will always be something that will break unexpectedly or will need to be replaced in the future. We’ve had our dishwasher leak, our water line to the fridge split, our basement flood. For the most part these were minimal costs, but if we have to replace an appliance it will be easier to have an emergency fund to pay for. You will need to replace a roof, a water heater, or any of the large items if you stay in your home long enough. 

During this adventure, I learned that I don’t think I will ever buy a completely finished home. I truly enjoy the projects (thinking of them, not the labor part) and making the home ours. It has been a lot of work, but extremely rewarding. There was a lot of stress and long nights for the first few months, but our home is exactly how I want it to look. *wink* The biggest thing for me is it helps me build equity and build wealth.