You have the keys to your new home in hand, the movers have left, and you’re officially a homeowner. So what’s next?
“This is such an exciting time,” says Victoria Bomben, salesperson and REALTOR® with Property.ca Brokerage in Mississauga, Ontario. “Setting things up, figuring out where your furniture should go, really starting to make it yours.”
While it’s certainly exciting, it can also be stressful.
“Buying a home is a big financial and emotional decision,” says Dimitri Andrianakos, REALTOR® and broker at Royal LePage du Quartier in Montreal, Quebec. “It’s normal to feel a little overwhelmed. Focus on the big picture, and remember why you decided to make the move in the first place.”
According to Victoria and Dimitri, here are some of the things you can expect over the first 30, 60, 90 days and beyond.
What to expect in the first 30 days of homeownership
Your REALTOR® is there for you after closing
Your REALTOR® can be there for you even after you’ve closed on your home. They can be a great resource as you navigate your first few months of homeownership. Use them—they typically have great connections and recommendations, and are there if you have any questions, or even just to use as a sounding board for ideas.
“I give all my clients a neighbourhood guide to help them get to know the area and find a good grocery store, dry cleaner, a mechanic, that sort of thing,” says Bomben. “I check in to see if they need help with anything or they have questions—and I’m always happy to connect them with trusted decorators, contractors, and painters.”
Start paying your mortgage
“Your first mortgage payment is due one full month after you’ve closed,” says Andrianakos. “So if you close mid-month, you’ll pay for the balance of the month, then pay the full amount the month after.”
Make sure your mortgage payment has been factored into your monthly budget, and don’t be surprised if the first one is lower than you were expecting.
Discover your new neighbourhood
The first 30 days in a new home is all about exploring your new neighbourhood and figuring things out—finding a good coffee shop, figuring out the best way to get to work, understanding local traffic patterns, etc. It’s always a good idea to explore a potential new neighbourhood before moving in, but you won’t truly discover what it has to offer until you’re living in it every day.
You’ll start noticing repairs that are needed
After you’ve started unpacking and placing furniture and getting used to the space, the stuff that maybe didn’t register during viewings—a dented baseboard or the not-so-great water pressure—will probably start getting your attention.
Maia Thomas bought her first home in August 2023 and said there were some things she didn’t notice in the excitement when viewing her condo, but it wasn’t anything that would have stopped her from buying the home.
“One of the bathroom tiles was cracked, the paint job wasn’t great—and the kitchen floor is really cold in the winter,” she says. “Once I had lived in the space for a while, those issues became more obvious.”
There may also be things like morning traffic on your road, or a delightful surprise of an abundance of sun in the afternoon that you may not have noticed during your walkthrough time.. None of these elements mean you made a mistake buying your home, it just means some adjustments or minor repairs will be on the docket for the coming weeks!
Expect the unexpected—especially when it comes to expenses
Maybe your current furniture isn’t quite right for the space, or you realize you need more of it. Or you may want to switch out builder-grade lighting in your new build for something a little nicer. This is why having more than just your down payment saved is important: as you realize what you’re missing, you’ll likely spend more than you anticipated.
You’ll get to know your community’s ‘rules’
Whether it’s your condo board’s regulations or your local garbage pickup, the first 30 days are a learning time. Give yourself some grace: you might miss recycling day or have to ask someone how to book the condo’s party room. Starting a homeowner’s journal with important dates, information, and contacts is a great idea so you can easily reference things in the future!
What to expect in the first 60 days of homeownership
It’s been a couple of months, and you’re starting to feel a little more settled in, getting to know the neighbourhood, figuring out where the good parks are for the kids, what store has the best rotisserie chicken, and where you like to pick up your morning coffee.
You’ll start paying bills
This is when your first home-related bills will start coming in, giving you a good sense of what you should be budgeting for your utilities each month. This is a good time to sit down with your budget and make sure there aren’t any surprises and adjust things as needed. It’s also a good time to look into automated payments now that you know what the amounts will be. Some utilities and service providers offer small discounts to customers who set up pre-authorized payments.
Meeting the neighbours
You may have met the neighbours briefly as you made frantic trips to-and-from the moving truck, or maybe in the hallway as you went to grab the mail from the lobby. But a couple months in, you’ll hopefully start to feel more integrated into the community, says Bomben.
“If you’ve got kids, you’ve probably connected with other parents, and are feeling more like you’re part of something,” she explains.
It’s also possible you’re no longer the “new kids on the block,” depending on how much the area is growing! Consider making little welcome baskets for new neighbours, filled with gifts and information you wished you had when you moved in.
Noticing more things around your home
Whether it’s a furnace that’s acting up or realizing you have chipmunks living in your attic, things might not be quite perfect—but that’s where your REALTOR® can help.
“My REALTOR® checked in with me regularly in those first few months,” says Thomas. “I actually had an issue with the clothes dryer a couple of months in, and he was on top of it right away.”
What to expect in the first 90 days of homeownership and beyond
You’ll probably be feeling a bit more settled after three months, but don’t put too much pressure on yourself if there are still boxes to unpack, rooms to paint, or you haven’t found a grocery store you love just yet. Don’t worry. It takes time to explore and experiment, figure out what looks good and what doesn’t, and really get to know people and the neighbourhood. It might take a little longer than you expect.
“I thought by three months, my condo would feel lived in and more like home,” says Thomas. “But that wasn’t the case. At that point, I was still taking stuff out of boxes. I hired a couple of guys to come help me with some repairs, and they said sometimes it can take up to two years to fully settle in!”
Additional changes
While some people like to make decor updates and do repairs as soon as they take possession, it’s common to wait until you feel a bit more settled in before you start changing things up. After you’ve lived in the space for a while, you may decide the way you’ve arranged your furniture isn’t quite right, or you’ve finally picked a colour you love for the bedroom after getting used to the way light hits the walls at all times of day.
“After 90 days, you’ve gotten more familiar with the home and have had time to understand what works and what doesn’t,” says Bomben. “Sometimes small things can make a really big difference. A dark faucet is a simple and relatively inexpensive way to change up the look of a bathroom, and a rain shower head can make things feel a lot more luxurious.”
Other ideas: painting dated cabinets can make a kitchen feel fresh, a new area rug can change the look of a room, and swapping out your big three-seater sofa with two love seats can help a small living area feel more spacious. And if you’ve been waiting to feel settled in to start tackling bigger jobs like a new deck or taking out a wall, this is a good time to start talking to a contractor.
Your new home’s seasonal maintenance
As the seasons change, you might figure out you need a snowblower for your driveway, realize you need to fix the air conditioning, or put down a rug on a floor that’s extra cold in the winter. Plus, you’ll need to do seasonal maintenance like cleaning gutters, raking leaves, or maintaining a garden.
Buying a new home is a big step and the start of an exciting journey. From the excitement of moving in to the gradual process of settling in and discovering your home’s nuances and quirks, each stage brings its own challenges and rewards. Meeting your neighbours, painting your kitchen, buying your first snow shovel, understanding your expenses…it’s all part of making your house or condo feel like home. Take your time, celebrate small wins, and lean on your REALTOR® for guidance.