Things I realised after buying my first home

Adulting is one of those things that we all hope to do one day. We spend almost two decades of our lives preparing for the time we will leave our parents’ homes. Some of us even start acting grown as soon as the double digits hit, while others hang on till it is not socially acceptable to be living at home anymore… All until we finally move out into our first homes. And even then, nothing quite prepares you for when you move into your first family home.

As a young mom and wife, I’m finally doing big girl things. I would be lying if I said I haven’t looked forward to this time since I was a little girl, but I didn’t quite picture it to be this way. Back then, everything seemed like roses and butterflies… Well, I suppose it still is, but the roses now need to be watered, pruned, fertilised, etc.

If you are still in the bubble, preparing for the flight, I’ve got some important points you need to know before you take the plunge. And yes, I added bubble, flight, and plunge all in the same sentence. You’ll find out why in a bit.

(There are quite a few lessons, so I figured I would break this into a two part series.)

The bigger the house, the more time you’ll spend cleaning

This one should’ve been a no-brainer, especially since I graduated with a bachelor’s degree and all. Logically, the bigger the house, the bigger the surface area that you will need to clean. But when you practically need to do this, it’s not as straightforward.

In my case, we had planned to have glossy white floors. In fact, we were so adamant about it until our contractor convinced us otherwise. Especially since we have a toddler and plan to get a pet. Well, having settled with cream flooring, I don’t think I’m any better. Floors need to be cleaned. The bigger the house, the more floors there are. The bigger the house, the more dusting there is. The more bathrooms, the more scrubbing you do… Do you get my drift?

So for all of you who love to take part in the huge debate, here’s my take; size DOES matter!

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Bigger first home = more furniture = more money

Are you one of those people that loves furniture shopping? Do you have several boards on Pinterest dedicated to home design? Have you redone your room several times? If you answered yes to any of these, questions, beware not to make the same mistake that I did.

Now a lot of you are probably thinking that buying more furniture isn’t really a big deal. And technically, you aren’t wrong – if you have unlimited access to cash, that is.

Having grown up in a full house, I always assumed that you could never have too many seating areas. So come time to design my first house, I added three seating rooms. Well, I’m not sure if I assumed that people would be sitting on the floor, because nearly one year after moving in, that is definitely one of the options!

Furniture is expensive and I’m not talking soy milk vs dairy expensive. No, furniture is the ‘I will need to spend half to a full month’s salary on a couch’ expensive! And unless you are planning on just getting whatever deals you can find on the Facebook marketplace, don’t be fooled into thinking you will have your whole place decorated in your first year.

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You will always be fixing/ organising/ improving things

If you go with a new build, major fixing won’t be too much of an issue from the get-go. But even then, you will need to spend time tweaking things here and there. Oh and the snags… ha! Don’t get me started on the snags! Ten months later and there are still things that pop up! Plus as a homeowner, you can no longer rely on the landlord to fix things up.

For those who choose to get a ‘pre-owned’ home, expect to spend all a large portion of your resources fixing one thing after the other! One minute you are updating the plumbing, next thing you will be replacing tiles on the roof. Now, if you live in a country that uses wood to build, you’ll be better off. Here in South Africa, I’ve seen people breaking into their concrete walls and floors to get to the pipes!

First conclusion for anyone buying their first home

I suppose when I break down my realisations into two parts, the first main things to consider are time and money. Living large may seem exciting, but it does come with its downfalls. Being a homeowner is great, but don’t be fooled into thinking life gets any cheaper or easier.

If you bought your first home, can you relate to any of the above? Without scaring any of the young ‘uns, share some of your relevant experiences below!

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