<prompt> Human: I should note that this is my first ever post to Reddit, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes here in regards to formatting, grammar and proper Reddit etiquette. I am still learning! So, to give some context to this situation: My girlfriend and I wanted to purchase a house years ago but at the time we were 17 so we could not have a loan in our name and nobody would co-sign for us. We were expecting a child Opps and we needed our own place. Given that we just graduated high school, we really had no idea what to do, especially since we were kids. My girlfriends father now father in-law since I am now married to his daughter offered that he would take a loan out for a small house, in his name only, and that we would pay him the mortgage; essentially he was going to own the house and we pay him rent. Thus, our rent was going towards the mortgage. We were young and just went with it. He even put 20 down on the house for us, which I am truly grateful for; my father in-law really helped us out when nobody else would.--So, fast forward about six years.-- After years of my wife and I raising our son, going to college, working, paying bills and the rent, we found ourselves in a situation to pay the remaining balance of our home. Our house was bought at 43k because it was a foreclosure and our monthly payment was around 300. So, we had paid a decent portion of the house off by just making payments and we managed to save enough money over that time to just cut a 20k around that check and just outright own the place. We gave the check to my father in-law, he paid the remaining balance of the loan, I just received the copy of the deed for the house and it is now officially in my and my wifes name We went through the process to get it transferred to us legally. Now that I own a paid-off house, worth 88K, what comes next? Through this whole process I have been pretty ignorant to what all was involved with the buying process, loan process and about owning a home. Do I need to purchase home owners insurance since it is in my name now? If so, can I bundle that to my auto insurance policy? Do I just receive a property tax bill in the mail on a monthlyquarterlyyearly basis or how does that all work? Does this home factor into my total assets or worth?I apologize for the length of this post and I am just seeking advice and wisdom on what the best course of action is in regards to owning a home. Ive lived there for six years, but only rented the place until now. I feel like owning it means so much more than it did before and is kind of overwhelming because Im not sure what comes next and how I can best protect my asset.  <response>: Number one tip is dont stop paying. Just pay into a savings account instead. When real life changing events happen haveing that kind of security really makes a difference. 