Quote:
Originally Posted by Schneed10
I wouldn't have bought the house I did six years ago, the one we're in now. When we looked at it, we were 24 and knew jack about buying houses. We checked out the upstairs and the closet and the bathroom had a bit of a musty odor to it. I thought nothing of it, figuring we could clean/refresh/paint and it would do the trick.
It turned out the roof had been neglected and had formed tiny small leaks in places. Mold and fungus infections were rampant throughout the roof and siding. While we knew a new roof was needed when we bought the house, the mold damage required that we replace the roof, the siding down to the sheathing, and redo the bathroom all in one fell swoop. Luckily my wife and I were double income, no kids for a few years there, and were big savers. Still, it wiped out our savings.
In the end it's going to be alright because in the process we upgraded the house quite nicely and now have more equity in the home than we otherwise would have. But if I acted on my suspicions regarding that musty smell, I would have been told by countless people who knew better, to run like hell from that house. Musty stenches almost always indicate a big mold problem. Now I know.
If I had bought a house without those issues, I'd be better off financially right now, and probably ready to move into the house we really want. Instead I'm about 2-3 years away at this point.
That's the one regret I kick myself over. I guess there are worse things. After all, it's a good place to live, even if it's smaller than I'd like at the moment.
|
I hear you here.
I feel like there should be a crash course out there for first time home buyers. You get easily distracted by the things you like and you tend to overlook the little things that once you move in, become not so little.
Things from my first house like a shared driveway where you have to tandem park... big pain in the rear. Another pain the rear regarding the driveway, when you pay to have someone plow your side and the neighbor prefers to shovel. Then you end up with a little snowbank divide in the middle that neither side wants to take care of. Or sharing a front lawn and the neighbor wants to mow at least once a week when it doesn't even need it, and puts a guilt trip on me when I don't take my fair turn.
Thankfully in my 2nd house the above issues are gone.