It isn’t until you buy a house that you begin to understand what a huge process and decision is involved. That’s because a home isn’t just an investment – and likely the most expensive thing you’ll ever buy in your life – but also the place where you’re going to live for years, or even decades.
Knowing that, it’s important that you do your research and make a good decision. And, it also means that you should do everything you can to protect your investment, and maximize the enjoyment you get from your new home, from the first day you move in.
To help you do exactly that, we want to share with you seven easy ways you can protect your new home from common threats:
Keep Things Clean
Keeping your home tidy is good for your own peace of mind, of course, but it’s also an important safety tip. When the house becomes cluttered, it is much easier for fires to start and spread. At the same time, having too many items crammed into small spaces increases the risk for injury, and makes it harder for you to exit the house during an emergency.
Don’t Ignore the Little Things
Most of the problems you could ever have with your home are easy to fix… assuming you take care of them in a relatively quick fashion. Things like landscaping, loose wires, and leaky plumbing are all annoyances that require minor repairs. Let them go too long, though, and they can lead to extensive damage and renovations that proved to be costly and time-consuming.
Apply a Fresh Coat of Paint When Needed
A fresh coat of paint makes your home look better, and it helps keep your home insulated. Once paint wears away, so is your home’s first line of defense against sun, wind, rain, pests, and moisture. It shouldn’t take you long to paint your home, and it can actually be a fun weekend project. More importantly, it can be a great way to preserve the value of your property.
Never Ignore Musty Smells
Most homeowners know that mold has a characteristic unpleasant smell. What they might not realize is that mold can spread quickly if there’s moisture within your home, and that it represents a major health hazard. Never ignore a musty smell, because mold removal projects only get more difficult and expensive the longer you wait.
Don’t Ignore Landscaping
Maintaining a beautiful yard is easy if you spend a little time on it every weekend; it’s virtually impossible to do all-at-once, unless you want to hire professionals and pay a lot of money. A well-groomed lawn improves your home’s value and keeps insects away. It also has the effect of making your home more inviting and enjoyable.
Leave Major Repairs to the Professionals
Unless you’re absolutely sure you know what you’re doing, leave the major plumbing, electrical, and appliance repairs to the professionals. Attempting major DIY projects when you’re unprepared is an easy way to hurt yourself, and could leave you in a situation where you have to pay extra money to a repair technician to work around your errors and undo the damage.
Get a Good Insurance Policy
When all else fails, there’s a lot of comfort in knowing that you are financially protected against disasters and unforeseen events. There’s never an easy way to move on after a catastrophe, but things get a lot simpler if you aren’t worried about your most important investment. Do yourself a favour and don’t skip out on any important piece of insurance coverage you might need later.
When you follow these steps to protect your house, you aren’t just making it easier to enjoy your day-to-day life, but also doing what you can to ensure your own financial future. As the old saying goes, if you take good care of your home it will take good care of you.
