The decision to buy a new home is an extremely exciting one. You are finally moving into a place that you can call your own. You can start settling in and planning how to make it feel like yours. However, admin invariably gets in the way.

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While homeownership is a wonderful milestone, it is also a massive financial and legal endeavour. From the moment you make an offer, you are dealing with contracts and bureaucratic processes. This can be very frustrating and get in the way of your enjoyment of your new place.

The good news is that many people have been here before you. The admin can feel overwhelming and needs to get done, but there are ways to do it without burning out. Follow these tips to get the admin out of the way.

Get Insurance Immediately

There is one piece of admin you cannot put off. As soon as you take ownership of a home, you have a massive financial liability on your hands. The likelihood that it will burn down or get destroyed any other way is low, but the consequences of such a loss would be catastrophic. As such, you should get homeowners insurance immediately.

Homeowners insurance coverage will compensate you for both the property itself and the contents therein. It will prevent you from having to struggle to rebuild your home and replace everything you own. It is a financial lifesaver. Do your research as soon as you’ve made an offer, as not having coverage for any amount of time is not a risk you should take.

Hire An Assistant

We all would love an assistant to take care of the admin of our daily lives. That is, unfortunately, just not practical. However, that does not mean you should never hire an assistant outside of work. When dealing with an overwhelming amount of admin with which you have little experience, the help of an assistant can make your life so much easier.

You won’t even need to pay huge sums of money. It will certainly put a dent in your pocket, but it is a temporary need. Furthermore, the availability of freelancers makes this kind of assistance even more cost-effective. It will only take them a few hours a week to get the work done – time you simply do not have.

The ideal candidate is someone who has done this before, but even someone with no experience with property transfers can work out what needs to get done. As long as they know how to do the requisite research and have good communications skills, they will do just fine.

Eat The Frog

There is a productivity method called ‘eating the frog.’ When you have a task you don’t want to do – such as a pesky frog you are required to eat – you are likely to put it off as long as possible. However, this just ends up delaying the inevitable, meaning it weighs on you while you do everything else. To prevent this from happening, make eating the frog your first priority.

This is so true when it comes to homeownership. There is a lot of admin that needs to get done, but much of it is not particularly urgent. You can spread it out over months, only getting to it when you absolutely have to. But this makes your experience of your new home so much less satisfying. Instead of enjoying your new space, you are constantly reminded of the tedious work you need to do to truly make it yours.

When buying a home, skipping the admin and trying to enjoy it immediately is the instinctual thing to do. But by eating the frog first, you make the time that comes after so much more meaningful.

Homeownership comes with a lot of financial and legal admin. It can feel overwhelming, especially if this is your first time as a buyer. By getting help when you need it and immediately doing what needs to be done, you can get the admin out of the way and start enjoying your home to the fullest.