You just bought your first home -- congratulations! Before you plan your house warming party, here are few things you should do:
1. Rekey
You should feel safe in your home. The first step to ensuring your safety is to rekey all the doors. This should be done regardless even if you live in a condo or in a gated community. You never know who has an extra key to your home. It's that simple.
2. Save Your Closing Documents
On the day your transaction records, escrow should send you a complete set of closing documents. It's important that you print out a hard copy and you also save the files to an external hard drive. You'll never know when you need to refer back to these documents. In addition, you should store these documents in a secured place, like a safe, a safety deposit box, and or a filing cabinet (with a lock).
Also, if your home belongs to an association, you should print out a hardcopy of the house rules. It's always good to know what you can and can't do.
3. Get Involved
Getting involved includes:
- Introducing yourself to your neighbors, the management office, and or to the resident manager. Why? It's usually beneficial to have a healthy relationship with these people.
- Attending association meetings and other association related events. Why? The decisions the board makes could directly impact your quality of life.
- Attending neighborhood board meetings. Why? This allows you to get face-to-face with your elected officials. Also, it's in your best interest to know what's happening in your own backyard.
-RO