6 Annoying Habits of New Homeowners: Do Any Plague You?

It’s a fact: Homeownership changes people. By and large, it forces you to become a responsible, upstanding adult who mows lawns every week and pays the mortgage every month. And that’s all good. … Only sometimes, homeownership changes us in more annoying ways too.

Just so you’re prepared for these changes, here are some nervous tics and terrible habits that can sometimes erupt in new homeowners. You eventually want to have a few visitors, right? If so, keep an eye out for these ugly urges.

Extreme touchiness over the thermostat

Thermostats are simple to operate: If you’re cold, you turn them up. If you’re hot, down it goes. Then I met Chilly Willy, the name my sister gave the thermostat in her newly bought home, along with this mandate (and I quote): “You must never touch Willy.”

I get it—homes have huge heating/electric bills. And to be fair, those costs are likely to go up this winter. (The Energy Information Administration recently reported that we could be seeing an increase of more than 20% in heating bills soon). But that doesn’t mean homeowners should freak out if someone bumps the thermostat up or down a degree. Get some perspective, people!

Freaking out over guests

Sure, as a renter, you may have had get-togethers in your pad all the time. Maybe people stayed to help clean up, and maybe they didn’t. It didn’t really feel like a big deal either way—after all, it was just a rental right? Who cares if it’s a little messy for a while?

Well, that might change once that place your friends are trashing is your hard-earned property.

“I’m really annoyed now by people not putting their cups in the sink when they’re visiting,” says Alessandra Cusimano, an insurance specialist and homeowner in Metairie, LA. “It is such a small thing, and I never really noticed it before we bought the house, but now it drives me crazy. It seems like after every get-together, I’m walking around all over just picking up cups.”

Come, now … is picking up cups really that awful?

An obsessive interest in your neighbors

When you’re renting and living in an area composed mostly of renters, your neighbors are just random people. You might pass them occasionally on the street or the stairs. Maybe you’ve delivered the mail that ended up in the wrong box a few times. But otherwise you leave them be—after all, you all have your own lives, right?

But when you buy a home, that can change.

“We know all our neighbors now,” says Darice Taipalus, a project manager and homeowner in Dallas, TX. “We’re on Nextdoor [the neighborhood app] too. We even keep count of how many trick-or-treaters we get every year and then brag about it to the neighbors.”

Fine, it’s nice and all to be neighborly, but keeping tabs that close on people sounds a bit stalker-ish. For goodness sake, leave your neighbors alone.

A sudden cheap streak

We’re not saying renters don’t care about money—of course they do. But there is something about personal finance and homeownership that seem to go hand in hand. Once you’re responsible for a mortgage, money becomes a much, much bigger deal. And that can be good and bad.

“Aside from spending my extra cash on boring things like new toilets and ceiling fans now, I’d really just rather save up to go on a Lowe’s shopping trip,” says Angela Marie Falcone, a jewelry designer and homeowner in Gretna, LA.

Sorry, but that’s one shopping spree we renters won’t be joining you on. Remember those days when you’d spend money on normal things like shoes or beer?

DIY mania

Getting the keys to your first home will transform your life. And for some people, getting the keys to your first home will transform you into Bob Vila. Or at least, a Bob Vila wannabe. And hey, we’re not knocking it. But don’t get mad at us for laughing when—not if—something goes awry.

Good old agoraphobia

Maybe it is the sheer cost of homeownership, but something about buying a home always turns people into hosts. Suddenly, a night out with friends turns into a Saturday afternoon potluck. Every Saturday. For eternity. One of my friends threw pool parties every weekend for an entire summer. And another friend has a weekly dinner club, minus the actual rotating location part. Seems like no matter how much of a social butterfly you might have been, once you have those keys in hand, every night is a good night for Netflix.

Hey, homeowners: Remember outside?

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What do you think? Does this sound like you—or someone you know? Chime in on the discussion on House Talk.

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