Becoming a homeowner is a dream for many, but after an incredibly hot housing market run in recent years, a lot of new homeowners are learning the hidden costs and small annoyances of maintaining a home.
During that historic housing run, redditor u/ParaDescartar123 asked, "What unwritten rules do you learn only AFTER becoming a homeowner?" And boy oh boy, did people have answers. Here are some of the funniest, most "that's so true" responses:
1. "You will NEVER complete a project with a single visit to a home store."
2. "Any project will be 90% completed in a normal amount of time. The final finishing touches will take at least a year, and you will be unable to find at least a third of the things you originally purchased to do the finishing touches and will be forced to rebuy them."
—u/MaxSupernova
3. "Everything the previous owners DIY'd was stupid and ridiculous and poorly done. Everything I DIY is great, and the next homeowner will be impressed with the quality of my work."
—u/Part-
4. "The closer your house is to a Home Depot, the easier your life will be."
"I live 2 miles from Harbor Freight, Lowes, and Home Depot. The corollary to this is the closer you live to them, the broker you will be."
5. "There are no perfect 90-degree angles in your house. Not one."
—u/ferse_r_vadu
6. "The house knows when you have money. Usually near the exact amount. My mom puts money away and gets a 'Christmas club' check every November for around $2,000–$2,500. This year the furnace needs repair. $2,100."
—u/mmmmrrrr6789
7. "Every project you undertake will require that you uncover at least one additional project that needs to be addressed before the original project can be completed or create a new one by you breaking something while you were working on the original project."
8. "If a fence is in fair to good condition, then your neighbor will claim it belongs to them. If the fence is in major disrepair or has recently fallen, your neighbor will disavow all knowledge of how and when the fence was erected or who owns it."
9. "Rent is the most you will pay for your housing in a month. A mortgage is the least you'll pay for your housing in a month."
—u/KJ6BWB
10. "My mom was right. I can just throw a sweater on."
—u/okThisYear
11. "Everyone starts off a perfectionist, but over the years your standards will diminish."
12. "At a minimum, double the time you think it will take to do a project."
—u/TundraKing89
13. "Neighborhood pressures are real. Whenever one home does some sort of external project like landscaping, you will get some envy and think, Man, I better do some landscaping too so I also look good."
14. "Something I saw someone mention before is that 50% of homeownership is cardboard management, and boy is that true."
15. "You need to know how to shut off the water, gas, and electricity. Now. Bumbling around in the dark during a storm will likely make you use a bunch of those words you can't say in The Good Place."
—u/jwizardc
16. "Previous renovations aren't there just to make it look nice. They're hiding something that will become apparent shortly or when you try and change something."
17. And finally: "The list is never finished. Never. So take weekends off now and again and spend it with the ones you are making a home for."
—u/moaiii
Is there an "unwritten rule" you learned after you bought your first home? Let us know in the comments!
Note: Responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.