Owning a home is often the dream of most people, so signing those papers and moving in can often feel like the culmination of years of work. Right up until you realize that no landlord also means everything that breaks is up to you to fix, and these things tend to not be cheap.
Someone asked “When buying a house, what's something you thought was minor but has become the bane of your existence?” and homeowners shared their stories. So get comfortable as you read through, take some notes and be sure to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.
Someone asked “When buying a house, what's something you thought was minor but has become the bane of your existence?” and homeowners shared their stories. So get comfortable as you read through, take some notes and be sure to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.
#21
If you are looking for a house in a community with an HOA, get a copy of the current rules in advance. It's good to know what you're going to deal with when it comes to the rules of the community.
Good neighbors are also key, at least ones that are not loud and leaving garbage around. You can drive through the neighborhood in the evenings or on weekends to see what it's like when people are home. I ended up living next to what I think is an illegal boarding house so they have a bunch of cars and construction materials in the front of their house every day.
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49points
#22
Check cell coverage and find out about the ISP.
48points
#23
Finding contractors for Minor repair jobs. I had a chimney leak and called 4 companies, 3 of them didn’t want the job since it was a 300-500 dollar repair, the 4th set up an appointment with me but never showed up. It took me over 4 months to find someone.
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48points
#24
If the interior doors latch.
I had no reason to close the bedroom or bathroom doors when looking at the place. Then moved in and realized none of them actually stayed shut. It’s infuriating. 🤦♀️.
I had no reason to close the bedroom or bathroom doors when looking at the place. Then moved in and realized none of them actually stayed shut. It’s infuriating. 🤦♀️.
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43points
#25
White carpet, tile, and paint looks awesome when someone is selling a house, and are awful to maintain.
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41points
#26
“Unique” homes = unique expenses. We bought a custom home from the couple who built it. Largest kitchen you’ve ever seen. The couple had put cork in the kitchen. They also installed an instant hot water heater for the sink. Well, one day a small hose came loose from that instant hot water heater. A pressurized hose. Two inches of water in an hour on a giant sponge of a floor.
We have good insurance, and it cost them _six figures_ to fix that kitchen. The cabinets were solid mahogany, and the bottoms had been installed on top of the cork. Then when those were replaced, it was obvious the stain of the uppers no longer matched. The crew cracked a slab of quartz when removing it. This was not Home Depot quartz. We had to pay extra to buy tile for this monster of a kitchen because no, we were not putting cork back in.
When we moved in, every bathroom was still 1989. Because this was a custom home, we couldn’t update them with standard grade materials. And on and on.
We did sell the home in 2018 for a good profit with all our updates. And bought a tract home with vinyl floors (I LOVE LVP) and builder grade materials and I’ll never go custom again. I want a home where I can get my new vanities off Wayfair or from Lowe’s if I need to upgrade.
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40points
#27
Swimming pool.
So much work & money to maintain. Maybe gets used a dozen times a year.
So much work & money to maintain. Maybe gets used a dozen times a year.
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39points
#28
Rule of thumb, every nice thing, interesting extra or big thing means more maintenance.
Large pool, you have to clean it
Large driveway, you'll need to shovel it and resurface it at some point
Large yard, you gotta mow it
Large deck, you have to paint it
3 bathrooms? Thrice the cleaning
Lots of windows, lots of cleaning
Lots of mature trees, lots of raking
Lots of mature fruit trees, bees and wasps, bees and wasps everywhere
Large high roof with cool architecture effects, super expensive to reshingle
A large skylight in the living room, it WILL leak, it's not a question of IF but a question of WHEN.
etc...
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36points
#29
There’s a path behind my kitchen window that separates the garden from the house. The path runs behind all the houses on the street and everybody (residents) has access. I wouldn’t mind this but our neighbours on each side are *best* friends and so they stand on the path directly outside our kitchen window when they chat.
36points