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Homeowners: what is the biggest thing you learned when purchasing?

What would you watch out for next time? What advice would you give others? For me: I would not be swayed by DIY projects that "beautify" the place but leave me with a 22k leak in the bathroom, uneven flooring, and a seam right above the hot dishwasher, with granite.

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nonsensiclesnail · F

DIY projects are a deterrent really.

The thing that came up with this last home purchase. The landscaping is lovely, but is it something you can live with? All that decorative, loose stone is going to make raking leaves a nightmare. how did the previous owners do it? They probably didn't. And if they did, it was tedious and done with great effort knowing they were selling the house soon.
also, they dug out all the top soil in this backyard diy. All the trees and bushes suffered.

foldedunfolding · 41-45, F

@nonsensiclesnail ugh yes, never be swayed by beautiful landscaping if you dont have vast amt of time, patience, and a green thumb..or.a vast sum of money to pay a company!!

nonsensiclesnail · F

@foldedunfolding I lived in a home, that the location was dreamy. Everything I wanted. The house was a rental and a DIY mess. We had the option to buy the house but we were too afraid of it. These gentlemen did all the work themselves and none of it held in the 5 years we lived there. The tile they had chosen for the bathrooms was not water resistant, it lined the shower and the floor. The basement flooded every spring, thought hey had patched all the foundation cracks. The front steps were no loner connected to the home, they swayed..but they had done that too.
... still should have bought the money pit it is.

SW-User

-I would park by the house and see how bad traffic is during school drop off/pick up, and rush hour.
-Would go through the inspection with the inspector.
-View the house on a very rainy day.

foldedunfolding · 41-45, F

@SW-User ahh smart! wish they gave us that much time before properties are snatched up tho!

SW-User

@foldedunfolding true! You don’t get a lot of time

SW-User

My sister bought a house last summer. She's alone with 3 kids.

Interrest has increased 4 times already, so she starves herself when the kids are with their dad so she can afford food when she has them.

foldedunfolding · 41-45, F

@SW-User i hope, for her sake, that they drop the interest rates so thatbshe can refinance at far less!!!

SW-User

@foldedunfolding I hope so too. She's barely getting by these days.

Sojournersoul · M

Buy a new build and get what you want. Went the fixer up route and just way too much work and money.

foldedunfolding · 41-45, F

@Sojournersoul agree!! total money pit! plus u never know the mold sitch, if they have critters, etc!!

Haniazed

Don’t be afraid to pay a little extra for something that you want because the difference in the monthly maybe insignificant.

foldedunfolding · 41-45, F

@Haniazed great point!!

Sojournersoul · M

Just sold my fixer upper and bought new. So happy.

foldedunfolding · 41-45, F

@Sojournersoul im so jelly!!

Sojournersoul · M

@foldedunfolding I love jelly. Lol

ronisme1 · 61-69, M

Have the house inspected. Saved me over $12,000.00

foldedunfolding · 41-45, F

@ronisme1 oh i did..and even then.

Herpet

Make sure you have good insurance. Also, anything generally involving plumbing or electrical, hire some one to do it. One can become very expensive unexpectedly quickly, the other can downright kill you.

foldedunfolding · 41-45, F

@Herpet oh for sure. i have a high deductible insurance, but what i do for those occasions is buy 1 month of a home warranty, wait the 30 days, make my claims all at once, then get rid of it again. 50 for the month plus 125 per service call, includes parts and labor and sometimes..replacement.

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