Hi Everybody:

 

I just bought my very first house, which I own all by myself and wondered if anyone had some tips - I'm looking for ways to avoid getting taken by crooks, home upkeep tips, danger zones, new home blessings, and whatever else may strike you as helpful! I can't wait to let my budgies free once they figure out where thery are...freedom is so sweet and I've had them at someone else's house for almost 2 years so they've been caged. soon they will be born free....

CONGRATULATIONS on your very own home!!!

 

I love that ad where they say "I own a tree, I have never owned a tree before" - SOO TRUE!

 

It's all yours and you can do what ever you want to it

 

When a home is your own, no matter how it looks when you arrive, i find you love and care for it in a way so different to a home that is owned by someone else

 

Make it your own by redecorating in fresh colours and materials that suit you. Plant your favorite plants in the garden.

 

We are on our second home and I have found the most important thing about making it feel like ours, is getting rid of the previous owners smell. repaint walls, clean/replace carpets. scrub bathrooms and kitchens etc.

 

If you are really worried about crooks, get a big dog - most crooks will avoid houses with a big dog, and they make you feel a lot safer on those long nights when you cant sleep because something has spooked you.

 

When you let your budgies out, keep toilets and bathrooms shut. be careful of large furniture and the fridge as budgies can fall behind and get stuck. Be cafeful of windows as they will fly into them. It is often best to bird proof a room and let them fly in there.

 

I am so happy for you and your new home!! I hope you settle in quickly and enjoy every bit of what is now YOURS!!

Tip:

HOUSE SHOWER PARTY :D :D

 

Then worry about the other stuff - You have a party, Lots of happiness and love and laughter to bless your new home

It's my hippy ways

I aways bless my home with a smudge stick just make sure the Budgies are having some outside time when you do that! Also don't buy much till you have been in the place for a while. Because what looks like it will go so well there will in fact in a few weeks be an eye sore and an pain in the a*** . Best thing to do is live in the house and when you find yourself thinking... "I wish i had a table here to do this with" that is when you buy the table.

 

Congrats, and do have a house warming you also get lots of gifts when you do that! Enjoy and make sure you post lots of pictures!

Congratulations!!!

sorry, l'm not a house owner yet, l do not have anytips.

Ah thanks Av couldn't remember what it was called

House shower LOL, that is a baby shower Umm yeah well

I am a renter LOL, I can't have my feet planted in one place very long -

But congrats mate!!!!!!!!

 

TIPS : FUMIGATE You never know where critters like to hide

Congratulations!!! I'm so happy for you. I have just moved into a unit which I rent. Although I don't own it, it didn't take long for me to make it my own. My furnature, animals, smell, little bits and pieces. It is harder when you rent, as you can't renovate, but you get around it. I haven't really got any tips but to relax, think, plan and then do, do, do

Liv, Maesie, Angelic Vampyre, Neat et al:

 

Thank you so much for the well wishes and the great tips! They are appreciated! I have only been here a little over a week so I feel like I am sleeping in someone else's house! I never thought I would own my own home, so it is really a dream come true. (Except in the winter when i have to shovel snow, I might not be quite as enthusiastic, but even still. I am thrilled!) Neat, I have had 2 parties here so far, but nothing labelled "house warming" so that people would bring me gifts. One is coming up though!

 

I love that ad where they say "I own a tree, I have never owned a tree before" - SOO TRUE!

 

You are so right, Liv. I looked for a place with mature trees and found one with a great big Maple in the front yard, and the back yard opens out onto a ravine with....you guessed it, lots of trees!

 

We are on our second home and I have found the most important thing about making it feel like ours, is getting rid of the previous owners smell. repaint walls, clean/replace carpets. scrub bathrooms and kitchens etc.

 

Again...you are right. I find the more cleaning, work I do, etc. the more it feels like MY house and not someone else's. (previous owner smoked too, so the smell was terrible in places and I scrubbed the walls and waxed the floors....bought some plants to clean the air. It's getting better. Fortunately, the walls weren't yellow or anything.)

 

If you are really worried about crooks, get a big dog - most crooks will avoid houses with a big dog, and they make you feel a lot safer on those long nights when you cant sleep because something has spooked you.

 

I am thinking of a bull mastiff...a dog expert friend of mine said they would be an awesome choise because they are couch potatos, and yet will not hesitate to get involved if they sense their owner is threatened.

 

When you let your budgies out, keep toilets and bathrooms shut. be careful of large furniture and the fridge as budgies can fall behind and get stuck. Be cafeful of windows as they will fly into them. It is often best to bird proof a room and let them fly in there..

 

I have them in my bedroom, which is pretty birdproof: and so far they have just gotten out to stretch on top of their cage....I know I had a budgie stuck behind a pop machine once when I brought them into the hospital and it took 3 of us to rescue it (which we did).

 

I aways bless my home with a smudge stick ..

 

Angelic Vampyre, I have cleansed the house with a smudge ceremony from Native Ojibway culture: burning white sage, cedar, sweet grass and sacred tobacco, to rid the house of previous owners' energy and ask for blessings.

It seemed to make a big difference!

 

Also don't buy much till you have been in the place for a while. Because what looks like it will go so well there will in fact in a few weeks be an eye sore and an pain in the a*** . Best thing to do is live in the house and when you find yourself thinking... "I wish i had a table here to do this with" that is when you buy the table. ..

 

This is great advice too, especially since I won't be able to afford to buy much for awhile! LOL

 

Thanks again folks, and don't hesitate to add more tips if you think of them! :hap:

I love that ad where they say "I own a tree, I have never owned a tree before" - SOO TRUE!

 

You are so right, Liv. I looked for a place with mature trees and found one with a great big Maple in the front yard, and the back yard opens out onto a ravine with....you guessed it, lots of trees!

 

That sounds beautiful We haven't owned a tree yet We have planted some baby trees but they are only small and need to do LOTS of growing.

 

We are on our second home and I have found the most important thing about making it feel like ours, is getting rid of the previous owners smell. repaint walls, clean/replace carpets. scrub bathrooms and kitchens etc.

 

Again...you are right. I find the more cleaning, work I do, etc. the more it feels like MY house and not someone else's. (previous owner smoked too, so the smell was terrible in places and I scrubbed the walls and waxed the floors....bought some plants to clean the air. It's getting better. Fortunately, the walls weren't yellow or anything.)

 

Ekkk!! Our first house was a tiny place, occupied by three heavy smokers and the walls, carpet, celings etc were literally dripping with yellow goo - we didn't have much money at the time and it was all we could afford being first home owners. It took us months to clean it up. it was lovely by the time we sold it though

 

If you are really worried about crooks, get a big dog - most crooks will avoid houses with a big dog, and they make you feel a lot safer on those long nights when you cant sleep because something has spooked you.

 

I am thinking of a bull mastiff...a dog expert friend of mine said they would be an awesome choise because they are couch potatos, and yet will not hesitate to get involved if they sense their owner is threatened.

 

My friend has a bull mastiff, I have never seen a more lovable, placid BIG dog

He lays in the sun on his back with all four legs pointing up to the sky and goes to sleep - SOOOO FUNNY

 

Rotwillers are nice too, i have two friends with them and they are both great with the small kids too

Edited August 12, 200817 yr by **Liv**

Sorry I don't have any tips to make it feel like your own. We rented and built our first own home so it didn't feel like anyone else's when we moved in.

I would recommend a New Foundland dog. They are huge fluffy dogs, but are so cuddly and gentle and quiet. They are like bears. However if they feel they need to protect property or a person they will and they have a huge bark which scares off all thieves. Our dogs scared off a few thieves in their time.

They are related to bull mastiffs too.

 

 

Their goodness with children:

 

And just cause it's so cute:

Edited August 13, 200817 yr by Sailorwolf

I would recommend a New Foundland dog. They are huge fluffy dogs, but are so cuddly and gentle and quiet. They are like bears. However if they feel they need to protect property or a person they will and they have a huge bark which scares off all thieves. Our dogs scared off a few thieves in their time.

They are related to bull mastiffs too.

 

Sailorwolf:

Interesting recommendation ....is it just their size that scared them off? Or did they known what was happening and respond somehow?

A pair of ducks or geese are great "guard dogs", they don't cost money for registration, they are quieter usually and they give you eggs to eat.

Pay off your mortgage if you have one as quickly as possible and save as much as you can to pay rates, bills, and for repairs and maintenance that will be needed in the future.

When you are able, get solar power, make it waterwise and energy efficient to save on the bills.

Grow your own veggies.

A pair of ducks or geese are great "guard dogs", they don't cost money for registration, they are quieter usually and they give you eggs to eat.

 

 

Hehehe: Thanks DrNat. All very good advice. I am chuckling as I recollect when I lived in Costa Rica as a volunteer when I was younger, and they had guard geese. You're right. They will take chunks out of you if one attacks you. I can still remember the sight of one barrelling forward hissing with its mouth open....and that was 14 years ago!

 

You sound wise financially. I just scraped together enough to make the down payment and money will be tight for the first year, but ease up a bit after that. I have a fund set aside for "surprises," too.

 

I like the grow your own veggies part, too.

 

Thanks again.