Moving to a new home can be exciting, but also fairly stressful. This is especially true if you’re buying a home that isn’t completely move-in ready; you might have a massive to-do list and not necessarily know where to start. Prioritizing your repairs correctly can help you get settled in your new home faster, while also ultimately making sure the process of handling those improvements goes much more smoothly. Here are just a few home improvements you’ll want to plan on taking care of before you move into your new home.
Perfecting Paint
Your new home might already be close to perfect, however, there’s a good chance the previous owner didn’t have the same decor tastes or style that you do. Painting walls before you move in means you don’t have to live with the smell of drying paint in your home, and you can decorate to your style as well. Major interior designers have predicted that the most popular colors in the coming months will be bold “sun-washed oranges and tans inspired by the American West, rich galactic jewel tones and…a mix of vivid purples, golds, reds, and emeralds.” Look to these color palettes when painting rooms in your new home to give it a fresh and modern feel.
Improving Heating And Cooling
Moving is hard and often hot work, especially since most people move in the summer months. In fact, in 2016, 13.9% of moves occurred in June. When you move in, you want your air conditioning to be working as efficiently as possible, since this will help make your move more comfortable. Fixing your HVAC, insulation, and drafty windows will also be a helpful improvement in the long-term too; the EPA’s Energy Star Program estimates that by adding insulation and properly sealing air leaks, monthly energy bills could be slashed by up to 20%.
Lovely Landscaping
Spending as little as 5% of your homes value on landscaping may yield an ROI of as much as 150%. As such, it’s important to think about the impact landscaping can have when moving into your new home. While you can get most minor landscaping work done once you’ve already settled into your space, major updates like tree removal or patio addition will be easier to start and finish before you’re fully moved in. This is especially true for tasks like removing trees, where there’s a slight potential that they could do damage to your home.
Wonderful Wood
Lastly, the most important thing to update before moving into your new home is any wooden features, like furniture or flooring. Refinishing furniture and floors takes time, and you’ll need to let it sit for a while before it’s safe to use. This could mean closing off entire areas of your house if you’re living in the house already, which is a huge hassle in day-to-day life. Instead, refinish your wood floors before you move in, and give yourself time so your floors can be fully done before you’re trying to bring in new furniture.
Moving is a challenge, especially if there’s work to be done before you can fully settle in. However, prioritizing these home improvements can help you get comfortable in your new house sooner rather than later. What home improvements would you recommend to first-time homebuyers before they get situated in their new house? What projects might seem urgent, but can ultimately wait?
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