Buying a home is one of those life moments that feels like it deserves a highlight reel. You tour. You fall in love. You negotiate. You sign 47 documents. You get the keys. You take the first photo in the doorway thinking, “Okay… this is REAL.” For a while, the focus is all about the fun stuff: picking paint colors, ordering furniture, hanging curtains, planning the housewarming, and finally feeling settled. But here’s the part almost no one talks about once the excitement fa