Perhaps you’ve been living it up as a lone ranger for most of your life post-college. You wake up when you want, eat when you want, and let’s face, clean only when you have to. The perks of living alone are great… you can sing and dance all night without a care in the world, you can have your friends over whenever you wish and you don’t need to worry about your roommates stealing the lunch you packed for tomorrow.

As Millennials grow older and trespass into new life stages, Brad Roemer has been selling many apartments and homes to first-time homeowners… Namely young couples who are looking to settle down and start their first family together.

If this scenario resonates with you, then the massive changes that will pursue your big move-in are likely to come at you full-speed. Here are a few things Brad Roemer and his team of realtors have witnessed first-hand… The move-in will be life-changing, but if you haven’t lived with your significant other before (or any significant other, for that matter), then you’re in for a hell of a shock!

You’ll Want to Cook More

Perhaps you’ve always loved to cook, but doing so for yourself just doesn’t seem that exciting. Yes, you have to do it mostly to be economical and pack a healthy, nutritious lunch for yourself (that is, when you’re not eating out!). You’ll find that you love cooking more when you get to see the reaction of your significant other after taking the first bite, and receive critical feedback as to what you could have done better in order to excel at this essential skill. Also, it’s nice to have someone finally help you clean up after the cooking chaos.

You’ll Need Alone Time

Just because you live with the love of your life doesn’t mean that you should spend every waking moment with them. You should continue to pursue your hobbies and talents, giving yourself some alone time to breathe and just be. If your apartment is small, as it can be at times in the Oakland area, then putting your earphones on and watching your favourite reality tv show that you could care less for while he’s jamming on the piano is your best bet. Also, taking yoga or exercise courses on your own time will allow you to find peace of mind. Alone time shouldn’t be taken as a bad thing–it’s a normal human trait that allows the body, mind and soul to zone out for a little bit.

You’ll Barely See Each Other

You both will be swept away with the work, sleep, eat grind. Perhaps you think living together will be intense, but as far as the work week goes, you’ll find that you barely have much time to spend together. This can become an issue if you used to plan out dates during the week in order to have some quality time. Just because you live together doesn’t excuse you from slacking on relationship-time. Plan out special date nights every week, whether it be trying out a new restaurant or working out together then grabbing fro-yo… Whatever it may be, focus on flourishing your relationship even during the most busy times.

You’ll Be Upfront With Each Other

This is not a roommate that is also your best friend… You shouldn’t worry about hurting your loved one’s feelings if they kept the toilet seat up again, causing you to almost fall in. You’ll learn to say goodbye to any passive aggressive tales and be upfront about the little things that bother you.

Were these items you were expecting when moving in with your S.O.? What other changes have you noticed following your move-in?