Home owners of Lemmy do you have any advice on dealing with the stress of owning a home?

[spacenoodle@lemmy.world]

Did you have to hire a lawyer to serve them papers?

[tantheiel@lemmy.world]

Find the little things that are easy to fix. Recently I had two sections of my laminated flooring that started to peel. I got some low profile transaction strips and set them up. Worked out that the area to repair the actual divide between my living room and dining room so it looks like it was supposed to be there.

[ohvenus_baby@lemmy.ml]

The biggest advice I can give is put systems in place to reduce as much as possible the list of things you have to manage freeing up your mind and time to solve more complex issues.

Stick a hose on the dehumidifier route into the drain never empty it again as an example where as before you emptied it daily or every 2 days.

[scytale@lemm.ee]

It is, but OP’s is a little worse because they got a fixer-upper. If you’re buying new (or newer), you should have less anxiety given you get a proper inspection done before closing. You’ll still have to learn doing maintenance and repairs of course, as there will always be something that will come up.

[golden_zealot@lemmy.ml]

This is probably some of the best advice here. It's important to prioritize what is going to the most costly if you don't fix it now, and if you try to do 7 things at once, you will feel like none of them will ever be done, which contributes to your stress more than still having 6 broken things after fixing one.

[remotelove@lemmy.ca]

Yes, but you get used to it. It's a typical feeling for the first few years if it's your first house.

Learn to repair things properly and that will reduce a ton of stress. You will also learn what things can be put off and what needs to be done immediately.

Over the years, I have learned how to do just about every kind of home repair or update. Its been rewarding, actually.

[gazter@aussie.zone]

Know when to bodge a fix, and when to nut up and spend some time and money on something.
Damp mouldy patch on the ceiling? Have a look in the ceiling space, see if you can spot the issue, fix it if it's easy. Slap some mould killer on it, done, don't worry about it.
If it comes back? Get it fixed.

Writing shit down helps. I've got a whole todo list of things that need to be fixed. It's shitty how long it is, but because it's written down it's already half taken care of and I don't have that random stress of 'oh good that's right there's a leaky shower' and having to remember to do that thing.

List the issues, google one by one how to bodge it, decide if it's worth it.

[azal@pawb.social]

When you hear a loud noise just think to yourself "Please be haunted and not something expensive..." it's what I do.

[grue@lemmy.world]

And DON’T FUCK WITH NATURAL GAS! Let the professionals do it. I guy near Detroit killed his entire family last year swapping out a hot water heater himself. He survived. The house was no longer there.

Or, ya know, be competent at it. I've swapped out a gas water heater, gas range, and gas clothes dryer, all of which have been in service for years now, and haven't blown up yet.

[taiyang@lemmy.world]

Oh, the stress? I remind myself that renters in my area are now paying twice what my mortgage is, and I bought just three years ago. It's a quick boost, and believe me, I've got at least a dozen fixes myself to do that I don't have the energy or money for.

If that's not enough, take a few weekends to at least hit what you can. Make a list and tackle things slowly as to not get overwhelmed. One by one, step by step.

For example, I used a week break to paint the kids room and it feels like a brand new home, even patching cracks and dealing with water damaged ceiling drywall (was minor, and the roofing was already fixed before I moved in). The rest of the house needs it, but it still made me feel like I did something.

[nis@feddit.dk]

Good example.

In a similar vein: setup alarms. Smoke detectors is an easy one, but also water leakage detectors. If feeling adventurous, maybe logging of water/power usage as well to catch slow leaks.

[Guest]

I’ve just been making a wardrobe in an alcove where in the space of 1200mm they have managed to be out by 40mm (1.5 inches in 4ft for our American folks)
Trying to be within 1-2mm and deciding on referencing a side wall that’s curved but making the room “more square”, and having a variable depth wardrobe or making something that looks right but that I know is a parallelogram.
Either way a future guy with a tape measure will ask “what idiot built this?”

[habahnow@sh.itjust.works]

Idk. I now recommend getting cheap tools first until they either break( from usage) or their bad quality is a noticeable and active hindrance. From there buy better quality.
I also suggest buying ALL the tools you need. Sometimes, you think you can make it work with some alternatives and don't want to get the specialized tool. I feel that I usually end up spending more time dealing with the problem and getting more stressed out.

Example of the latter: dealing with my drum breaks with just pliers. Uninstalling was a breeze, but installing was a huge pain. The cheapest specialty tools made my life so much better, and used them several times. I notice their janky, but they still work good enough to get the job done.

[sonor@lemmy.world]

They just ate it as well

[bluesquid0741@lemmy.sdf.org]

I can only say, learn how to fix things. Like, everything. Because everything is going to fail at some point, and that $4000 quote to fix it doesn’t look so good.

Rodents or possums in the ceiling, call the local pest expert for advice. They’ll usually give you that because they don’t want to come out and get in your roof stage themselves.

Snakes? Don’t go under the house in hot weather. Keep trimming the grass/weeds close the house especially if your kids play there.

Invasive root systems like white poplar near the house? Either have a professional kill and relive the tree, or did up the roots every time you see a shoot come up.

Generally look around the house. Think about how each thing could fail (gutters, roofing, stairs, electrical, plumbing, paint, windows). Think of worst case scenarios for those things and what you would do if that happened. Prepare for it whether that means having the number of someone who can do it, or how you can do some DIY repairs, even if it’s temporary.

Finally. Bush fire. Are you prepared? Do you have a plan? Do you have timeframes for doing your bush fire preparations every year? Talk to neighbours and find out their plan and see if something similar works for you. You can stay at home and fight fires, but the mental toll of doing that can be crippling and possibly never recover. My plan is for the family to leave immediately, and I gather all our important stuff and follow as soon as possible.

[churbleyimyam@lemm.ee]

My advice is to spend more time out of the house! The more I stew in the epicentre of the entropy and problems the more overwhelmed I feel by them and the harder it is to tackle them. Getting out can help to get some perspective and make you appreciate what you do have.

[Guest]

Not a home owner yet, but I just purchased a home and waiting on the handover.

This post has been really helpful! Certainly in writing some stuff down to remember

[Guest]

Tequila and weed?

[nigelfrobisher@aussie.zone]

I remember going from being super excited that I owned the walls and fixtures around me to then realising I owned the walls and fixtures and no-one else was going to fix them. Not everything needs doing now though, so separate the issues into things you can live with, mid-term renovations and now things.

[aussiemandeus@aussie.zone]

That's how i deal with it.

It's not causing more damage, it can wait.

It's not someone else who's benefiting from my hard earned money