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.