c/first-time-home-buyers

The sewer line surprise that hit my budget in Denver

Closing day was set for 9 AM. I did the final walkthrough at 8. Everything looked fine. Then the seller turned on the kitchen faucet and the water backed up into the tub. I almost walked away right there. My inspector had missed it because he never ran the water that long. Turned out the main line was full of roots. I paid $3,200 to have it cleared and scoped before we signed. My realtor said I got off easy. Has anyone else had a last minute plumbing issue pop up during their walkthrough?

Vent: Paid $450 for a home inspection that missed the mold in the attic

I closed on a little cape cod in Columbus last month. The inspector spent 3 hours and took a ton of photos, talked about the roof age and knob and tube wiring. But he never opened the attic access door because he said it was 'cramped' and he 'didn't want to disturb the insulation.' After my first rain, I saw brown streaks on the ceiling and paid a mold guy $200 to check it out. There was black mold covering 30% of the rafters, and now I'm looking at a $6,000 remediation bill. Should I try to get the inspector to cover any of this, or is that a lost cause?

Day 3 of home inspection found a surprise in the crawlspace, what now?

Ngl, we were three days into the inspection period on a place in Columbus and the inspector crawled under and found the ductwork was completely disconnected in the crawlspace. The seller's disclosure said nothing about any of it. We got a quote for $1,800 to fix it, plus the humidity had caused some mild mold on the joists. I called a second HVAC guy for a second opinion and he said the fix is straightforward, but it still spooked us. Has anyone else had a seller play dumb about something like this, and did you ask for a credit or just walk?

My dad's quick realtor story made me rethink my whole strategy

I was talking to my dad on the phone last week about how hard it is to find a decent house under $250k in our area. He's not in real estate or anything, he's a retired mechanic. But he told me about how he bought his first place back in 1982 by just walking into a bank and asking about foreclosures before they even hit the market. I always thought you had to have a realtor and a pre approval and all that jazz to get anywhere. But he said he just called around to a few local banks every Friday afternoon for like two months. One of them had this old house that nobody wanted because it needed a new roof. He got it for way under value and fixed it up over a year. It hit me that we have all these fancy tools and apps now but sometimes the old school hustle works just as good. Has anyone else tried something like that or am I just late to the game?

Warning: our lender approved us for $50k more than we could actually afford

Tbh we almost went with the max pre-approval until I ran the numbers on property taxes and utilities and realized our monthly would be $400 over our budget. Has anyone else had a lender push a number that felt way too high for your real income?

The realtor who told me to skip the home inspection saved me $400 and cost me way more

A guy I know was buying his first house last spring in a small town near me. The seller's realtor kept saying the place was 'move-in ready' and that inspections were a waste. He listened to her, skipped it, closed the deal. Ended up finding out the electrical panel was a fire hazard and the roof had three layers of shingles. Took him 6 months and $12,000 to fix stuff. Has anyone else heard bad advice like that from someone who should know better?

Cracked foundation showed up 3 days after we closed

We bought a 1950s ranch in Denver and everything looked fine during the walkthrough. Three days after moving in I noticed a hairline crack in the basement floor near the furnace. Turned out the previous owners had painted over it and shoved a rug there to hide it. The inspector we hired missed it completely because that area was blocked by boxes. We ended up spending $2,800 on epoxy injection and a French drain install. Has anyone else dealt with sellers covering up big issues after you moved in?

Hit $20k in savings for a down payment and it finally feels real

I was just adding up my high yield savings account after a year of scraping by and somehow crossed $20k without really noticing. How did you guys know you were actually ready to start looking seriously?

Warning: My inspection found mold behind fresh paint

Found a cute bungalow in Portland last month. Looked perfect. Fresh paint everywhere. Made me suspicious. Paid a guy $450 for a thermal imaging inspection. Found black mold in three walls. Sellers tried to hide it. Anyone else caught a flipped house with cover-up issues?

Foundation crack debate - slab vs crawlspace after my house settled 2 inches

Moved into my first place six months ago. A 1950s bungalow in Denver. Noticed a diagonal crack in the living room wall last month. Got an inspector out. Turns out the slab foundation settled unevenly. Two inches in one corner. My neighbor with a crawlspace said his place settled too but the piers were easy to jack up. Now I'm stuck. Do I pour a new slab or go for a crawlspace conversion? The slab fix costs around $8k. Crawlspace work is double that. But I hear crawlspaces let you hide plumbing and provide insulation access. Slab seems cheaper up front. Which one actually holds up long term? Anyone have experience with either after a big settle like this?

My realtor told me I was looking at too many houses and it finally clicked

I was about 30 showings in over 3 months and kept finding small things wrong with each one. My realtor finally said 'you're overthinking every house instead of picturing your life in it.' That hit me. So I stopped looking at crack in the foundation and started asking if I could see myself having coffee in the kitchen. Made an offer on the next place I saw in Fresno. Has anyone else had a realtor call them out like that?

Talked to a home inspector last week who said most first-time buyers skip the sewer scope

TIL that getting pre-approved doesn't mean you're actually approved

Went to an open house in Phoenix last weekend and found a perfect little 3BR for $285k. Put in an offer with my pre-approval letter from my credit union, feeling good. Seller accepted! Then my lender called and said they need more docs, turns out the pre-approval was just based on what I told them, not what they verified. Had to scramble to dig up two years of tax returns and bank statements. Has anyone else gotten burned by thinking a pre-approval letter was the final word?

Spent $600 on a home inspection and the guy missed a leaky pipe that caused $3k in water damage

Three months after moving into my first place in Portland, I found mold behind a cabinet that the inspector walked right past, so has anyone else had a home inspector miss something major and did you get any money back from them?

Switched from a fixer-upper to a move-in ready and I'm glad I did

Honestly, I was dead set on buying a cheap fixer-upper in Austin for like $220k. Thought I could save money and do the work myself over a year. But after touring a few, I saw the electrical and plumbing were way worse than I expected. Ended up picking a $280k move-in ready place in Round Rock and closed in 45 days. Has anyone else changed their mind on this and regretted or not regretted it?

That week in March when I toured 8 houses and the worst one became my favorite

I walked into a fixer upper in Cleveland that smelled like old carpet and had wallpaper from the 80s but the inspector said the foundation was solid and it was 40k under budget, so what I thought I wanted totally changed.

The week we took possession of our first house was a total roller coaster

The keys were supposed to be ready at noon on a Tuesday but the seller's lawyer didn't send the final paperwork until 4pm, so we sat in the parking lot of the bank for three hours waiting for the wire transfer to go through. Then when we finally got in the house around 6pm, the fridge was still running but totally empty except for a half-empty bottle of mustard from 2019. The real kicker was the next morning when the water heater gave out completely, flooded the basement laundry room with about two inches of water, and we had to call a plumber who charged us $850 for emergency service. But the weird thing was, my neighbor across the street saw us standing in the driveway looking defeated and brought over a tray of homemade cookies and a note with her number in case we needed anything. That same friendliness showed up again three days later when another neighbor helped me haul an old couch to the curb without me even asking. So the week was a mess but also kind of heartwarming at the same time. Has anyone else had a rough first week that turned around because of good neighbors?

I wasted $800 on a home inspection that missed mold in the basement

The inspector spent 2 hours clicking around but never opened the crawlspace hatch, and now I'm stuck with a $4,000 remediation bill - has anyone else had a bad inspector miss something obvious?

Inspection found mold behind a wall we just painted. Now what?

We moved into our first house in Cleveland 3 weeks ago and after a rainy weekend the inspector found black mold behind the living room drywall we just finished painting. Anyone dealt with mold remediation costs on a brand new purchase and how did you handle it with the seller?

Shoutout to the home inspector who saved me $5,000

I was about to buy this cute little house in Oak Park, and the inspector crawled under the porch. He found termite damage in a beam that wasn't visible from the inside. The seller had to fix it before closing, which cost them over $5,000. Have any of you had an inspector catch something major that slipped past everyone else?

Vent: The survey came back and showed a buried oil tank nobody knew about

Everything was going fine until the survey came back day before closing. There was a buried oil tank from the 1970s that the seller swore they didn't know about. Took me 8 weeks and $4,200 to get it removed and get the soil tested clean. Has anyone else had a surprise environmental issue pop up during closing?

The day I got outbid by a cash offer and then found a better deal

Last month I had this wild week where I put an offer on a cute 3 bed in Austin for $350k. Got beat out by an all cash buyer who offered $20k over asking, felt awful. But then three days later my agent called about a house that just hit the market that needed a little work but was way better for the same price. Ended up closing on it for $345k and got a $5k credit for new windows. Has anyone else lost a bid only to find something better right after?

The day my inspection found mold in a wall I was sure was fine

I was buying this cute little bungalow in Denver and thought the inspection would be a breeze. Walked in with the inspector last Wednesday and he pointed to a water stain near the baseboard that I totally missed. He pulled out a moisture meter and it read 28% right there, then we found black mold behind the drywall. Ended up costing me an extra $1,200 in repairs before closing but at least I caught it before moving in. Has anyone else had an inspection uncover something that seemed small but turned into a huge deal?

The realtor who told me to lie about my pre-approval amount

Met this agent at an open house in Phoenix last Saturday. She pulled me aside and said I should tell sellers I was approved for $30k LESS than I actually was. Her reasoning was it would make me look STRONG when I 'surprisingly' offered more. Something about that just rubbed me the wrong way. Has anyone else had an agent suggest something shady like that?

Found a way to save on closing costs by asking the wrong person

I was two weeks from closing on a condo in Austin when my realtor mentioned I could ask the seller to pay part of the closing costs. I tried it and they agreed to cover $2,500 worth of fees. Has anyone else had luck negotiating seller concessions on a tight budget?