[gumballma]

DH and I are on the verge of buying a home. Verge as in like 7 months . We have an apt now so we have a fair amount of stuff to start out.

What I'm really wondering is what did you need for your first house that you didn't realize you needed till you actually needed it? We want to be more prepared than when we got our apt.

Like when we got our apt I didn't realize that I needed a vacuum until we made our first mess and had nothing to clean it up with. Stuff like that.

[manders13]

honestly... nothing. I mean we moved into ours from a townhouse and needed nothing. Now as you go....... LOL we've needed a snake (You know the kind you unclog with) some minor tools but we are getting ready to purchase our first house too (we are renting now) so i'll update when we move in a month

[manders13]

Ohh! Lawn mower!!! duh!

[Hook11_03]

Oh I love this one I'll be taking notes

[noellebrow]

A grill, at least for us since most apartments around here don't allow them.

[gumballma]

We def thought of a lawn mower! Well at least he did. Haha I've been more concerned with what kind of wall art I want and the colors I want to paint the walls than with important things. Thusly why I'm asking you fabulous AFCers!

[Jesterrose]

An actual ladder that went at least 6 ft. Also, a well stocked tool box (in an apt. I had a hammer, 2 screwdrivers, and that was about it).

[cyndibru]

Make sure the house has the appropriate # of smoke detectors and a carbon monoxide detector. A lot of homeowners don't. We keep a flashlight on every level of the house also, in case the power goes out, you aren't trying to negotiate stairs in the dark. Other things to consider:
-- a doormat for every entry/exit door (house should have more than apartment)
-- additional light bulbs (there will be more fixtures in a home than an apartment usually
-- Other lawn/garden tools besides a lawn mower (shovel, hoe, rake, etc)
-- Outdoor garbage can for taking to curb for pickup if not provided by community garbage service (recommend one with wheels)

[qrazy]

When we moved from our condo to first house, my husband used to sneak out late at night to Home Depot and buy his manly stuff. We call it the man's toy store. You can get coupons from the post office for Lowes or Home Depot, in the change of address packets.
We just sold our first house and are building our dream home, so again we will be buying more things. Now we have to buy blinds, and organize our big master closet.

[sugarloaf10]

Originally Posted by cyndibru

-- a doormat for every entry/exit door (house should have more than apartment)
-- additional light bulbs (there will be more fixtures in a home than an apartment usually
-- Other lawn/garden tools besides a lawn mower (shovel, hoe, rake, etc)
-- Outdoor garbage can for taking to curb for pickup if not provided by community garbage service (recommend one with wheels)

ditto to all the above! We were blessed to be moving in our first home when my mom was downsizing and moving out of hers, so we got a lot of nice hand-me-downs that way. When you live in apartments you don't need or have most of these things!

Also wanted to add, window treatments. Our house didn't come with any and there are a LOT of windows, including a large picture window. Again, we got lucky and were able to use some of my mom's but window treatments and hardware can be a huge expense.

[amw1583]

Honesty I would say just extra money saved should something come up or need to be fixed. You are probably like most renter and haven't had to expense paying out of pocket for a refrigerator that's go bad,or washer and dryer. Maybe if you can catch a sale on gardening tools now I would get those and invest some money into a garden next spring/summer....that way you can cut cost on fresh produce. Maybe if you don't eat alot if vegetables you can trade for things you can use. A mailbox....if the home is new and never been lived in you will need on of these.

[mommyslh]

a kitty

[andrea044027]

Some of the things I had to buy were :

- Small trash cans (one for each room)

- shower curtains/liner, bathroom rugs - (when I went from 1 bathroom to 2)

- washer/dryer -

- weedeater, rake, hedge clippers, various garden supplies

- get a good drill and set of screwdrivers

- garden hose, I bought 2, one for the front of the house and one for the back. If you live in an area that has cold winters, make sure to buy foam insulated faucet covers to keep the outdoor faucets from freezing!!

The best thing I did when I bought my current house was paint as much as possible before I moved in any of my stuff/furniture!! I painted the interior of all of the closets first (painted them plain white)... Then moved onto the rooms. It's so much easier to paint an empty house vs having to move all of your stuff out of the way to paint. You will also need paint supplies - rollers, trays, brushes, drop clothes, etc

I also keep paint chips in my purse for the colors used in my house. That way if I see something in a store that I want/need, I will know right then if it matches.

Also, do whatever upgrades/changes you can afford to the house before you move your stuff in.

Example - I replaced several light fixtures and 2 ceiling fans. Also had to replace the carpet in the entire house.....

[amw1583]

You just reminded me she may need outside trash cans. I would image the apartment had a big dumpster. You also need to make a plan for trash removal, so you will either have to carry your own trash or pay for the town/city pick up or hire an independent company to do it.

[justmelome]

Painting supplies!!! and garden hoses

[kimberly007]

Living in an appartment you will have a lot of what you need already. Here is what we needed when we bought our house.
ladder
lawn mower
weed whacker
snow shovel (depending on where you live)
basic set of tools (screw drivers, hammer, wrench, etc.)
garden hose
find location of dump site and/or recycling facility
window treatments
additional shower curtain and towels for second bathroom
patio/outdoor furniture
grill
rake

I would also highly recommend changing the locks when you move in as a safety procession.

[Hook11_03]

Originally Posted by mommyslh

a kitty

I like this one

[gumballma]

I'm super excited about all the things everyone is posted! We just found out today we will def be able to get a loan!

[lynzw521]

Originally Posted by kimberly007

I would also highly recommend changing the locks when you move in as a safety procession.

Changing the locks was our first unplanned for expense! The night we got our keys, off we headed to Home Depot to get new locks. We needed three sets... for the front door, side garage door, and interior garage door. Of course you can get cheap.. but this was our first house and we were in excited mode and I was set on the style I wanted (you'll be amazed how many hours you and DH will start spending talking about such mundane things as locks, faucets, towel rails etc !). I think we ended up spending over $100 just on that....

Also, when you are looking at houses make sure to look up costs of those 'little' fixes you want to do. The faucets in our kitchen sink were the nasty basic builder spec ones that didn't go with our nice granite counters and new shiny appliances so we got a new one..... which cost $300!!

Appliances are a big one... washer, dryer (if you have a dryer now will it work in your new home (gas/electric) refridgerator. Our house we bought has both a living room and family room, whereas we had spent the first 6 years of our marriage in apartments or little military houses... so we needed more furniture too; sofas, coffee table, side tables, book cases.

Honestly, we went a little (lot) crazy when we bought our house in February this year and as we were finally settling in our own home we wanted nice stuff for it and to make it like home right away. Our credit card is suffering for it.... my advice would be to start saving for those pretty things you're going to see and want and those little changes you want to make that add up quickly in the excitement of home ownership !

[gumballma]

Why would you need a loan for 100% down? Lol seems silly?

[fairysaver]

We needed locks to change, blinds, curtain rods, lawn mower and a doggy door.

[xpikch3rxframex]

It just depends on what differences there'll be. The house is probably bigger than the apartment, so you'll need new curtains, new rugs, new decor, new furniture, etc. But none of that is really essential.

When I first moved into an apartment of my own, I thought I had everything covered. I mean everything. My grandma gave me a little bucket of things to take with me that I didn't think I would need. There was a small lamp (one of the apartment's rooms was very dark without it) and a roll of toilet paper (guess what Ms. Prepared forgot to get ).

I think it's just one of those things that you won't know for sure until you're there.

But also, everything cyndibru said. And a kitty is an excellent idea.

I'd suggest (if you're not doing it already) stocking up on essentials when you can find them cheap. You can always move them over to the new house (unless it's very far away, in which case it wouldn't be worth shipping). That way you won't have the "Thank God Mammaw gave me toilet paper" situation I had.

[gumballma]

Haha I TOTALLY know what you mean about the toilet paper! When my bf and I moved from our parents house to the apt we thought we had everything till he had to go to the bathroom like an hour into moving and I was like uhhhhhhhhh! Luckily my mom had put a few rolls into one of our main bags for us! We would have been totally screwed if my mom hadn't thought ahead on that one!

[xpikch3rxframex]

Originally Posted by gumballma

Haha I TOTALLY know what you mean about the toilet paper! When my bf and I moved from our parents house to the apt we thought we had everything till he had to go to the bathroom like an hour into moving and I was like uhhhhhhhhh! Luckily my mom had put a few rolls into one of our main bags for us! We would have been totally screwed if my mom hadn't thought ahead on that one!

Thank God for moms and grandmas.

[VintageTink]

Honestly, not sure if anyone has said this, but gutters LOL. Trust me on this. When i was married before we did NOT have gutters on our house.... when it rained not only did it create a freaking waterfall at the FRONT DOOR, but it also will screw with the foundation of your home ( ask any builder) so we are also building our dream house ( moving in beg of dec) and one thing we asked for was gutters!!! im not dealing with that again.

Congrats <3