Tasteful Halloween Decor To Dress Up All Your Spooky Gatherings

Prepare for Hidden Costs

Beyond your mortgage, you'll need to pay property taxes, which can run in the multiple thousands each year, home owner's insurance, and maintenance for things like your HVAC (heating and cooling system), water heater (which can last up to 15 years vs. 8-10 with regular maintenance), and roof. You'll also have to pay for utilities, like water and gas, that you didn't have to as a renter. Make sure to set aside 1 to 3 percent of your home’s purchase price annually for unexpected repairs like plumbing issues or roof leaks. You also have to pay for your trash pickup and recycling. Create a budget to avoid surprises and save for a rainy day – that hopefully doesn't lead to a leaky roof.;)

Understand Your Home Insurance Policy

It's important to know what your homeowner's insurance covers, especially if you live in an earthquake and wildfire-prone area like me. Consider additional coverage for floods or earthquakes or other location-specific concerns.

Create A Maintenance Schedule

Learn the basics of your home’s plumbing, electrical system, and HVAC, like where they are! Locate the main water shut-off valve and circuit breaker box, and create a maintenance schedule for tasks like changing HVAC filters (every three months recommended), cleaning gutters (every spring and fall), and servicing your appliances, plus when the warranties run out.

Have Recommended Contractors On Hand

There's nothing worse than having a plumbing problem and not actually having a plumber on call to fix it. NextDoor is a great resource for finding recommended electricians, plumbers, and other contractors to fix things that you can't. My neighbors knew exactly who to recommend and it was easy to connect with the right people (and avoid the wrong ones).

Get To Know Your Neighbors

Before buying, walk around the neighborhood to get the vibe. I wish I had chosen a neighborhood with more kids on the block. On the flip side, we are in a very quiet neighborhood! Post-sale, building relationships with your neighbors can help you create a sense of community – and it feels good to know you have extra eyes on your home when you're away. My neighbors have my phone number and we text each other when we're heading out of town and need packages taken inside. We also share goodies from our gardens, have an annual block party, and have friendly chats on the way to our mailboxes. Welcome to 'burb life!

Take Renovations Slowly

It's easy to get so excited about renovating and decorating your new home, but I highly recommend taking your time with renovations. I bought a major fixer upper and rushed getting it all done so that it was livable, but now I wish I had been more thoughtful about certain choices, and bargain-shopped a little more. Some things definitely could have waited. Live in your home for a while, get to know it better, before making major changes. Your budget will thank you!

Invest In Good Repair Tools

This is a good time to invest in a quality toolkit (hammer, screwdriver set, drill, and tape measure...) and hand drill because there will be many times in your role as a homeowner that you'll need all of the above and you'll be grateful you have them on hand.

Check Your Safety Features

Make sure to install smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms, and note on your calendar to change the batteries every 6-12 months. If you decide it's right for you, you'll want to install a home security system too.

Keep a File for Important Documents

There is so much paperwork your first year of homeownership. Store warranty information, receipts, and maintenance records in an easily accessible place. If you're renovating, there are also permits you'll need to keep on file. And of course, you'll want your title, deed and mortgage docs in a secure place that you'll remember!

Know Local Regulations

Speaking of permits, before I had the windows replaced in my home, I checked with the county office online to make sure I didn't need a permit to do so. Turns out, the county had different rules than the city (I had moved from the county limits to the city limits), which did require a permit. I will spare you the story of an inspector coming by just as we were installing the last window! This is all to say, make sure to check local ordinances or your HOA (Homeowner Association) rules that might impact any changes, like fencing, landscaping and upgrades, you decide to make to your property.

Improve Your Energy Efficiency Early

Upgrading to energy-efficient appliances, windows, even solar if it makes sense for your home, can help reduce your utility bills and overtime pay for themselves.

Plan for Landscaping

Yard maintenance requires you to invest in tools or services for mowing, planting, and upkeep. If you consider the cost of your time, it's often cheaper to hire someone to do regular yard maintenance. Also, as you upgrade your landscaping, consider choosing low-maintenance plants and trees. After adding just a small bit of lawn and irrigation to maintain it, my water bill was a bit of a shocker!

Take Advantage of Tax Deductions

Either find a tax expert who can help you with your taxes, or research deductions or credits available to homeowners, such as mortgage interest or energy-efficiency upgrades. It's money you can use to cross things off your inevitable wish list!

Sink Drains

A spritz of cleaner around the sink and faucet can be satisfying, but do you ever notice how gross a drain can get? Look out for mold and hair just under the drain cover for a truly clean sink.

Behind the Toilets

Guests will likely notice dust buildup in these spots as they reach for their TP, especially in small bathrooms. Make sure to mop or wipe with a cloth behind your toilet for a fresh, clean space. You'll get to enjoy after they leave too!

Your Entryway

It can be easy to get lost in cleaning the main part of your house that you forget the most important part! Make a good first impression with a tidy and organized entryway. Hide to mail, dust and clean, and add fresh flowers or a candle to make it more inviting.

Ceiling Fans and Light Fixtures

Ever look up and find yourself horrified by the black dust building up on your white fan? Ditto. Grab a chair or ladder and dust the blades to keep dust from spreading all around the room.

Door Handles and Knobs

Given it's flu and Covid season, this is also a respectful and hygienic choice.

Inside and Outside Your Fridge

This is a good time to use up food that's about to expire and reduce clutter in the fridge. But don't forget the outside too. Smudges and old reminders can be an eyesore.

Under Couch Cushions

Crumbs or debris can show up as soon as a guest sits down. As you vacuum the floor, give your cushions a quick clean up too. You may even find some change or items you've been missing.

Front of Kitchen Cabinets

Grease and fingerprints can make cabinets look dirty. We often overlook cleaning these and shelves, but having guests over is a good reminder!

Inside Your Microwave

Guests warming food may be grossed out by splatters and stains inside the microwave. Don't forget to clean the inside and outside!

Windowsills

Dust and dead insects often gather here, especially in warmer months. If you haven't cleaned them since summer, now is a good time to vacuum them up and wipe them down.

Trash Cans (Inside and Out)

Even with a liner, odors can linger in trash cans. Hose them down or clean them in the sink to refresh your bins.

Remote Controls and Electronics

These are high-touch items that guests may use, so a quick disinfecting wipe is a good idea this flu season!

Adam Brody & Leighton Meester Relationship Timeline

2011 — Adam Brody And Leighton Meester Meet Ahead Of Filming The Oranges

Leighton and Adam officially met in 2011 (four years after The O.C.'s final season and Gossip Girl's first season) while filming The Oranges. The film follows two families who have to deal with the fallout of the Wallings' patriarch having an affair with the Ostroffs' daughter.

"I was on The O.C., and that was coming to an end, and Gossip Girl was starting. Josh Schwartz produced both shows," Adam said during an episode of Anna Faris' Unqualified podcast. "The first time we met, that whole cast was eating at Canter's [in Los Angeles], and I lived at Canter's for, like, my entire 20s. I was leaving, and he introduced all of us and then [I] bumped into her, like, two or three times over the next couple of years.

"Then we did this movie together, The Oranges," he continued. "We didn't get together until about a year after that movie, when I was single."

He later told Gossip Girl star Penn Badgley that he was "smitten instantly" with Leighton. Sweet!

June 26, 2013 — Adam Brody And Leighton Meester Make Their Official Debut As A Couple

After they were spotted getting dinner in February, and they wrapped on their movie Life Partners in the spring, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester made their official event debut in June at the premiere of Adam Brody's movie Some Girl(s).

November 20, 2013 — Adam Brody And Leighton Meester Get Engaged

Adam and Leighton must have known they wanted to spend their lives together pretty early on in their relationship because the couple got engaged before Thanksgiving!

February 2014 — Adam Brody And Leighton Meester Secretly Get Married

Leighton Meester and Adam Brody got married in February 2014, a year after they started dating. "It was a very small and intimate wedding with close family and friends," according to an E! Newssource. "It was beautiful."

Adam later went on to tell The Jess Cagle Show, that they "actually got married very fast after we started dating."

"That's how sort of easy a decision it was for me and us," he says. "I was never scared of the idea of marriage or kids. It always seemed, you know, like a route I would go eventually. I was excited ... when it came together, when I met the right person."

June 8, 2014 — Leighton Meester And Adam Brody Make Their Red Carpet Debut

The two stars made their red carpet debut at 2014 Tony Awards, during Leighton's run in Of Mice and Men on Broadway. Leighton wore a gorgeous white Antonio Berrardi gown with Old Hollywood waves, while Adam dressed in a black suit.

August 4, 2015 — Leighton Meester Gives Birth To Her First Child With Adam Brody

This celeb couple ended the summer of 2015 on a high note — by welcoming their first child! Arlo Day was born on August 4, 2015. Leighton told Refinery29 in 2017, "I am very proud of that area of my life," while reiterating she doesn't talk about the then-toddler.

March 2017 — Leighton Meester Reveals Early Crush On Adam Brody

“When his show came out, I think I was just like ‘I don’t want to watch that show, it’s a teenage show,' even though I was sixteen but all my friends watched it,” she said on Access Hollywood. “I think maybe I thought he was cute. I remember he was a screensaver of one of my best friends when we were like seventeen. I saw it from afar. Her [screensaver] kind of changed every week, but I was like, 'Who is that?'” She also says her and Adam were “meant to be.” Swoon!

May 8, 2019 — Adam Brody Appears On Leighton Meester's Single Parents

Adam Brody and Leighton Meester might keep their relationship private, but when they go public, they go public. Case in point: Adam's appearance on Leighton's ABC sitcom Single Parents! Leighton played Angie for two seasons while Adam appeared as Angie's deadbeat boyfriend Derek.

"He’s my best friend," she told The Hollywood Reporter. "I wanna work with him on everything, and I think he’s the best in everything."

August 20, 2019 — Adam Brody Dishes On His Private Relationship With Leighton Meester

In an interview with GQ ahead of his movie Ready or Not, Adam explained why he keeps his relationship with Leighton so under cover. "She's more inherently private than I am," he says. "I don't seek publicity, but if I'm sitting next to you on the subway, I'll tell you everything about me. We're homebodies. We don't go to a lot of things that perhaps we could and don't seek out promotion in that way. I'm not sh—ing on anyone who monetizes that aspect of their life because I get it. But we've found this great balance so far that really works for us."

And at the premiere for Ready or Not, Adam and Leighton made a rare carpet appearance with Leighton wearing a gorgeous champagne satin dress with purple flowers. "Me and my hero," she said on Instagram.

September 2020 — Adam Brody And Leighton Meester Have Their Second Child

Adam confirmed Leighton had given birth to their second child in September 2020. "I have a new kid," he said during Hold the Phone TV's The Fun Time Boys Game Night Spectacular (via People). "I have a boy, and he's a dream. He's a dream boy."

"It's been pretty magical," he said in October 2020. "To be more or less quarantined during [this] time — the last trimester of pregnancy and the fourth trimester, if you will — has its benefits. You've gotten to be in a cocoon. The world outside is scary for the moment and also thrilling and hopeful."

"I get the joy and the pleasure of watching him become a father," Leighton told Access Hollywoodin March 2022. "He's everything that I imagined he would be as a father when we [first] decided to have kids. It is really amazing he has become that and [is] becoming every day more so."

November 7, 2022 — Adam Brody And Leighton Meester Attend The Fleishman Is In Trouble Premiere

Adam and Leighton proved they rule the red carpet at the premiere of Fleishman Is In Trouble. Leighton wore a deep brown velvet dress while Adam chose a dark green suit.

August 15, 2023 — Leighton Meester Feels "Lucky" In Her Position As A Mom

Leighton told Brit + Co how her flexible career gives her time to be with her children. “When I was still nursing or my babies were still young, I had plenty of space and time to do that. And I know most women who are mothers don't have that opportunity at all,” she says. She also explained how she feels like her current career is "one of the luckiest positions that a mom could be [in].”

September 24, 2024 — Adam Brody Admits He And Leighton Meester Don't Watch Their Shows

Ahead of his new Netflix rom-com Nobody Wants This, Adam Brody told InStyle that he and Leighton don't watch Gossip Girl and The O.C. "Who knows, when our kids are older, if they want to, then maybe we'll take that trip with them."

"We certainly talk about it," he continues. "Not the characters — I mean, occasionally — but more about the experiences...We do have a lot in common. In some ways, almost nobody could understand it more than her and vice versa. And a lot of people involved were the same people, so there's just a lot of overlap."

In 2019, he admitted it was "a little embarrassing" to date as a teen star. "I guess love knows no bounds?"

January 5, 2025 — Adam Brody And Leighton Meester's Cute Date Night At The Golden Globes

Adam Brody and Leighton Meester turned the Golden Globes into date night with their cute appearance on the red carpet. According to E! News, the Nobody Wants This star was nominated for the "Best Actor in a Television Series —Musical or Comedy" award so it makes sense he brought his real leading lady with him.

Leighton Meester wore a gorgeous "lime-green sequin Versace dress" (via Elle) while Adam Brody wore a "green double-breasted tuxedo from Prada," (via Harper's Bazaar).

However, the couple were doing more than looking stylish. They also opened up about whether or not we'll see them work together again. Though Adam Brody said a "dream project" isn't something they've thought about, he and Leighton Meester "always like to work together when it comes up (E! News). It's not surprising they're always asked if one of them wants to appear in each other's individual projects.

Since they seem to have a great work relationship, Adam Brody said they "should come up with something" that makes perfect sense for them.