First Time Buying a House Story

[Alex]

Please tell me what your experience you had when buying your first home. I plan on buying a home in late March and I'm really trying to avoid all the common pitfalls. Any advice/horror stories are greatly appreciated!

[Telyx]

Our first house had been empty for about 2 years before we rented it with the option to buy back in 1987. The landlord had the place painted and newly carpeted, but most of the windows were painted shut. Since the water had been shut off for so long, when we turned the faucets on, mud came out for a while. And there was a tree growing on the roof! (The house had big trees in the front and back yards, and enough leaves fell on the roof and composted; the house had three layers of shingles, and a small tree took root in the valley between the dormer and the rest of the roof, with the roots under the top layer of shingle.)

The gutters looked like planters with all kinds of clover and stuff growing in them, and the moisture created a great environment for centipedes, which would randomly appear on the walls and ceiling. Once I cleaned the gutters out and shot a load of bug spray into the boards behind the gutters, we had no problem with centipedes.

About a year after we moved in, we exercised the option to buy the house. Everything was pretty much sorted out by then. The landlord applied some of our rent toward closing costs, so we paid nothing out of pocket, and we ended up getting the 1 1/2-story brick bungalow for $27,000.

We sold it 14 years later for $90,000; it had been appraised at $105,000, but the woman who really wanted to buy it was on one of those government assistance plans that lets you borrow what it thinks you can afford, and her limit was $90,000. For that, though, she got a house with no defects and all appliances included, and a hot tub. And $15,000 in instant equity. We got a settlement check for what we originally paid for the house, and the house we bought had appliances already. We all won.

Have your prospective house inspected by a licensed inspector, and not necessarily one recommended by your realtor.

[Alex]

And there was a tree growing on the roof! (The house had big trees in the front and back yards, and enough leaves fell on the roof and composted; the house had three layers of shingles, and a small tree took root in the valley between the dormer and the rest of the roof, with the roots under the top layer of shingle.)

What kind of tree was it? Haha. That's so crazy! How much did it end up costing you doing all these repairs?

The gutters looked like planters with all kinds of clover and stuff growing in them, and the moisture created a great environment for centipedes, which would randomly appear on the walls and ceiling. Once I cleaned the gutters out and shot a load of bug spray into the boards behind the gutters, we had no problem with centipedes.

My girlfriend FLIPS out if she sees a bug on the wall. I remember she jumped out of my bed when she saw a ladybug on the ceiling above us. I was rolling on the bed laughing.

[Telyx]

Not sure about the variety of tree, but the big tree in the back was (I think) some kind of elm and the front tree was a red maple, so it was likely one or the other. Just a sapling, about 1" in diameter and 3 feet or so tall, but we cracked up about that. "There's a tree on the roof, for cryin' out loud, and the gutters are a terrarium!"

The repairs we did to the house were spread over several years. First was the faucets/drains; no cost there, but we had to run the mud/water for a while so water came out of the faucets and actually drained too. The little tree wasn't holding on very tight, so it came down without doing any damage and we didn't have any leakage from it having been there. Much of the early stuff was really just elbow grease, and after we bought the house we started doing things like replacing the front storm door, getting awnings put up (can't remember how much those cost), painting, etc. I refinished the hardwood floors after removing the carpeting my cat ruined, put up some paneling, replaced the tile countertop and backsplash, finished half of the basement, installed two ceiling fans, and basically got sick of home improvement projects! Later on, we had the house re-roofed and a new driveway poured, got a new furnace and central air, had a bathtub liner installed... all of this was done in about 14 years. I think the roof cost about $2000 and the driveway was close to $3000, but I can't remember.

The centipedes freaked me out too. It seemed like we could randomly look at any wall and see a big one. I don't mind the occasional spider, but centipedes just look too much like some weird alien beings. (We had an ant problem in the house we now have, but that seems to have eased since I shot about half a can of ant spray into each window frame.)

[Rzrlvr74]

Buying a home will be the best and worst experience of your life. I bought mine 2 and a half years ago. FIrst piece of advice, no matter how much you hate your mortgage broker ( and you WILL hate your mortgage broker two weeks into it) listen to him/her. When you are offered the one year home warrenty, take it, it's worth it.( we didn't and we were sorry) Have a good amount of money set aside. Whatever the mortgage broker says you'll need, set aside 1.5 times that. Incidentals will come up. Lastly and most important, have an idea of what you want be remain realistic. No house will have everything you want, pick one based on your most important wants. Good luck and congrats in advance!:)