4 Experiences With Buying Your First Home
Navigating the home-buying journey can be fraught with challenges, but it also offers invaluable lessons. We’ve gathered insights from CEOs and an E-commerce Manager to share their experiences. From discussing priorities before house hunting to the importance of vetting vendors thoroughly for renovations, here are four key lessons they learned when buying their first home.
- Discuss Priorities Before House Hunting
- Live In Before Renovating
- Understand the Home-Inspection Process
- Vet Vendors Thoroughly for Renovations
Discuss Priorities Before House Hunting
It’s been a few years since I bought my first home, but one thing I learned was to hash out the priorities before you start looking.
Now, if you’re single, that means sitting down and making a list of your must-haves, but for most of us, we’re not buying until a partner and sometimes kids are in the picture.
And that usually means conflicting opinions.
Talking it over in depth beforehand is key, because once you’re looking, emotions get involved quickly.
In our case, we had to have a good, long discussion after seeing a few houses. If that conversation had occurred ahead of time, we’d have been more prepared from the get-go.
Rob Reeves
CEO and President, Redfish Technology
Live In Before Renovating
I had big dreams for the first home I bought: change this, install that, add a basement bathroom. I even had a contractor accompany me on my final walkthrough.
But a good friend of mine recommended I live in the place for a while before committing to any renovations, and I’m so glad I took her advice.
Things that seemed in need of immediate alteration grew on me, and I came to love features I’d intended on removing.
And on the flip side, things bothered me that I didn’t even notice when I put in the offer.
Linn Atiyeh
CEO, Bemana
Understand the Home-Inspection Process
One challenge I faced when buying my first home was the daunting complexity of the home-inspection process. Running a tech company, I’m used to dissecting intricate problems, but the spectrum of issues a house can have was an entirely new beast.
From foundational concerns to HVAC systems, the depth and variety of potential problems was overwhelming initially. But the lesson learned here was immense: the importance of due diligence. As in business, uncovering issues before committing to a large investment can save significant heartache and costs down the line.
Abid Salahi
Co-Founder & CEO, FinlyWealth
Vet Vendors Thoroughly for Renovations
One challenge I faced when buying my first home was changing cabinet and flooring vendors midway through the renovation process. It taught me the importance of thorough vendor vetting, clear communication, and having contingency plans in place. The valuable lesson learned was to carefully assess vendor capabilities and reliability upfront to avoid delays and ensure seamless project execution.
Madison T
Ecommerce Manager, My Supplement Store
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