When I first became a homeowner, I knew there would be new responsibilities to incorporate into our lives, but I really didn’t know what exactly that all entailed.
From Renting to Homeowner
I did have an idea about managing our own property based on renting as in mowing the lawn, shoveling, and basic home repair that will happen….
But….. there was of course a ton more!
Not only do you have home responsibilities, but the amount of equipment and tools you need to go along with those new chores was a learning curve as well.
You Can Hire Help
Of course, you CAN HIRE plenty of outside help from companies, friends and networking to reduce what you do yourselves. It can be expensive and add up quickly. You can limit it to only specific things, like weekly or monthly lawn care for example, which is something we’ve decided to invest in this year.
Some things that we hire out for when we get too busy or just don’t want to do it (with estimated cost for us):
- Dog poop cleanup ($25 one-time fee .25 acre fenced-in area)
- Lawn cutting ($40 for .50 acre yard)
- Pest spraying (inside & outside quarterly $125)
- Pool chemical balancing (only if completely out of whack $80)
- Tree cut service (per issue est $300 minimum)
Do It Yourself
But if you’re interested in knowing and/or doing it yourself, this article will certainly help you get organized and prepared.
New Homeowner Tools & Equipment
The types of tools and equipment as new homeowners we needed essentially right away included:
- Rakes & shovels
- hoses
- outdoor lighting
- lawnmowers (riding and push for smaller areas and hills)
- snowblower
- weedwacker, chainsaw & branch cutters
- Mulch on hand (or recycled tire mulch which we switched over to in our second summer)
- planting & planting accessories (gloves, soil, watering cans, etc)
- bug & mosquito repellants, wasp spray, yard spray for insects & bugs
- outdoor electrical cords
- Furnace filters
- Plumbing maintenance tools
- pool supplies (only applicable if you have a pool of course)
- Protective gear (eye protectors, gloves, bio hazard suit, plastic sheet covering, etc)
- other home remodeling tools as needed (sanders, table saws, jigsaw, nails of all kinds, drills, etc)
Of course, the need for these items came about at different times as projects or basic home maintenance issues came to light, but it was quite new to have to say, “oh wow, we should probably have one of those!”
Homeowner Routine
And for the first couple years of learning and going through some seasons, we started to get into a “regular” routine.
It helps too if you have others around you that own homes and you can learn and ask what they do in any particular season, but also watching your neighbors to see what they do.
We would often watch one particular corner neighbor to see when he mowed his lawn and then did ours too. It helped to learn when and get accustom to the “rhythm”.
Homeowner Spring Checklist
I created a checklist in combination with a checklist I made years ago for a home remodeling company I worked for, long before I owned my own home, and realized there was plenty more that could be added to the list.
Below you will find a homeowner’s spring checklist for outdoors and indoors. If you would like you can also get the homeowner’s winterizing checklist available in the fall.
Outdoor Spring Home Maintenance
- Roof check – include chimney
- Gutters
- Home exterior condition
- Sidewalks & pathways
- windows – cleaning
- fencing – fix, repair & painting
- deck and patios
- Raking fallen leaves
- Air conditioning unit
- External foundation & underside hangs
Check Outdoor Equipment & Accessories
- Lawnmower
- Rakes
- Gardening tools
- Grill & tanks
- Weed-wackers, chainsaws, branch cutters
- Outdoor lawn furniture condition & clean
Indoor Spring Home Maintenance
- Temperature & air conditioning gages
- heater
- plumbing
- vents
- filters
- window seals inside
- leaks and basement foundation
. 
As the seasons and years go forward, our list will surely grow. But as for now, this list is what we work off of and add to as necessary.
Are the items you see I’ve missed? Have you had an experience with home owning you’d like to share? Please feel free to share in the comment section below for us – we love to read them!
~~ As always friends, take care, be kind to yourself and others, and always keep learning to be better and do better.
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