You’ve gone through the long process of house hunting, the agonizing process of negotiating with offers and counteroffers, you finally closed, and now you’re the owner of a new home. Congratulations! Now, you can take a breath and relax, right? Unfortunately, no. There remains much to do – though some tasks are far more important than others. Read on, then, to discover the 4 things you should do immediately after buying a home in Kauai.
1. Get Familiar with Your Mortgage Statement and Loan Servicer
After buying a home in Kauai, your first step is to understand fully the financial import of your purchase. And that means, primarily, understanding your mortgage statement and getting to know your loan servicer.
On receiving your first mortgage statement, you’ll see right away that there’s much information to review and digest. Pay particular attention to the amount due monthly, the due date, and how it should be paid. This will help you stay on track and on time with payments.
In addition, it’s not uncommon that mortgage lenders will sell loans to mortgage servicers. If this is your case, you’ll be sending your monthly mortgage payments to the servicer rather than to your original lender. So be sure to familiarize yourself with the servicer and their requirements and expectations.
2. Review or Purchase the Home Warranty
Next, after buying a home, you should probably deal with the home warranty. If you have one, review ti carefully, and if you don’t, consider purchasing one.
A home warranty typically covers a home’s major systems and/or appliances. So you need to review your warranty and make sure you understand exactly what it does and does not cover. You certainly don’t want to find out that the warranty doesn’t cover the HVAC system when it breaks in the dead of winter.
If you didn’t get a home warranty with the purchase of your home, consider buying one, selecting for coverage those major items that are most likely to break down and certainly for the big-ticket items. Depending on the size of your home and the plan and coverage, a home warranty will cost between $350 and $600. But the peace of mind it provides makes it more than worth the price.
3. Secure Your Home With New Locks
Another important thing to do immediately after buying a home in Kauai is to change the locks. The keys to your new home have been in the hands of many people – the former owners, their family members and friends, and real estate agents. So for your safety and security, you need to change the locks right away.
If, however, you can’t get to this right away, you can take a temporary precautionary measure. And that is to search the home for hidden spare keys. You can typically find these under rocks or pots near the entry door and/or on the top of door frames.
4. Create a Maintenance Plan and Get to Work
Finally, something you need to get started on – and keep doing – soon after buying a home is your home maintenance. No matter how well-maintained a home is, there are always things to be done.
The maintenance tasks you’ll need to do will range from small things like cleaning floors and replacing filters to larger tasks like cleaning gutters and power washing the siding. If you’re not sure what to do or where to begin, you can use your home inspection report as a guide. It can serve as a handy checklist to guide you in your necessary maintenance tasks.
Buying a Home With a Kauai Agent
What we’ve covered above are the most important things to do right after buying a home, but there will typically be many more. Your Kauai agent can provide some guidance in tackling these things to be done. Even more important is that an experienced agent can help you find a home that requires very little work after the purchase – and that will allow you to relax and enjoy your new home much sooner. So if you’re considering buying a home in Kauai, be sure to contact us at 808-634-4518.