c/buying-a-home

Shoutout to that old Victorian in my neighborhood that sold for $525k last week

I walked by the place after they closed and got to thinking about how my parents bought their first house in this same town for $30,000 back in 1982, and it just hit me different.

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willow732•3d ago

Home inspector missed a cracked heat exchanger on my first offer

I put an offer on a 1970s ranch in Evanston last month and hired a highly rated inspector. He gave me the all clear on the furnace, just said it was old. Two weeks after closing I smelled something weird when the heat kicked on and called an HVAC guy. Turns out the heat exchanger had a crack you could see from 3 feet away with a flashlight. Cost me $4,200 to replace the whole unit. Has anyone else had an inspector completely miss something that obvious?

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danielmartinez•4d ago

PSA: My mortgage pre-approval was useless until I asked the lender to run my actual credit file instead of a soft pull

I used to just grab a generic pre-approval letter online for 6 months until a real estate agent in Phoenix told me sellers were tossing my offers because the letter showed 'conditional' approval, so now I pay $50 for a hard pull upfront and attach the real report to every bid, has anyone else noticed sellers asking for proof of funds or a stronger pre-approval letter lately?

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ellis.charles•4d ago

My first earnest money deposit didn't feel real until it cleared

I used to just throw money at the landlord for a security deposit, no big deal. But writing a $5,000 check for earnest money on a house in Columbus last month made me stop and actually sweat for a second. Did anyone else feel like that money was way more scary than rent?

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gonzalez.anna•4d ago

Home inspector caught a hidden mold patch in an attic in Austin that my realtor said 'wasn't a big deal'

I drove 4 hours to see a house in Austin last Tuesday and the inspector found black mold behind a fresh coat of paint in the attic that the seller's agent talked me out of checking and now I'm wondering how many other people just signed off on that same trick.

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taylor929•4d ago

That fiber optic inspection saved me 8 grand on a house in Phoenix

Back in 2019 I almost backed out of a deal on a 3 bed ranch because the home inspector said the sewer line had a belly in it and I figured that was a 10k nightmare. Turned out a buddy in real estate convinced me to pay $150 for a camera scope and the repair was just a $600 cleanout job, totally fine. Has anyone else had a doubt about something like that turn out way cheaper than you thought?

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mason361•5d ago

I finally realized my home inspector missed a cracked sewer line after my basement flooded 3 weeks after closing

The plumber in Denver who came out to clear the backup said the pipe had visible tree roots and a 2 inch crack, so now I'm out $4,200 for a trenchless repair, has anyone else had luck getting their inspector to cover something they overlooked?

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river182•6d ago

My realtor told me to skip the home inspection on a 80 year old house in Portland

He said it was a 'waste of money' since the seller had recent renovations done, but I paid $500 for one anyway and found knob and tube wiring hiding behind the new drywall. Has anyone else had a agent give them bad advice that could have cost them big?

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paige870•7d ago

Why does nobody talk about how long title searches can take?

I'm closing on a house in Phoenix next month and the title search has been dragging for 3 weeks now. The seller's realtor keeps saying it's normal but my buddy in Austin said his took only 5 days. My lender is getting impatient too. Is this just a local thing or did I get a slow title company? What's the longest any of you had to wait on a title search?

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caseyw12•8d ago

Heard a home inspector say something about radon testing that gave me pause

He said most people just buy the $15 test kit at the hardware store, but the short-term tests are almost worthless if you don't seal the house for 12 hours first, and I wonder how many buyers skip that step and end up with a false low reading.

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william917•8d ago

Talked to my bank last week about pre-approval and it totally threw me off

I thought I had a solid handle on my budget for this house hunt in Columbus. Met with my loan officer last Thursday and she showed me how much I could actually qualify for versus what I thought was my limit. It was way higher but she also warned me about some closing costs I never even considered. Now I'm wondering if I should aim lower than what they say I can get. Has anyone else had their lender tell them something that made you rethink your whole price range?

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finley939•9d ago

Rant: The open house where a realtor tried to sell me on the "curb appeal" of a cracked driveway

Look, I get that curb appeal matters but this place in Denver had a driveway that looked like an earthquake hit it. Real estate lady kept saying "it adds character" and "easy fix for a weekend warrior." I asked if she actually looked at it and she dodged the question. Has anyone else had an agent straight up ignore obvious problems during a showing?

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holly_gonzalez61•10d ago

Just realized I was walking my foundation like a tightrope for 6 months

My inspector pointed out a hairline crack running under the living room window and said the house was settling uneven because I never got a soil test before buying the place, has anyone else missed something that obvious in the inspection?

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ryan_carr59•10d ago

My worst home inspection week - three houses in five days turned into a nightmare

I scheduled three home inspections in one week last month here in Austin, and it was a disaster from start to finish. On Tuesday, I found a cracked foundation in a 1970s ranch that would cost $12,000 to fix, and the seller refused to budge. Wednesday I walked into a flip that looked great until I opened the attic and saw black mold covering half the insulation. Friday I spent four hours at a cute bungalow only to discover the main sewer line was completely collapsed under the driveway. I literally sat in my car after the third one and just stared at the steering wheel for 20 minutes. Has anyone else ever had a week where every single house you looked at had a deal breaker?

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jesse_barnes37•11d ago

Just wasted $800 on a home inspection that missed major stuff

I paid a guy $800 to inspect a 1950s house in Austin last month and he missed that the foundation had serious cracks and the roof was patched in three spots. Now I'm stuck with a house that needs $15k in repairs I didn't budget for. Has anyone else had an inspector completely drop the ball on their dream home?

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lewis.diana•13d ago

Pro tip from a realtor in Des Moines saved me $8k on closing costs

My realtor Karen told me to ask the seller to cover part of the closing costs instead of lowering the price. I thought she was crazy because who says yes to that? But she showed me the numbers and buyers in that market do it all the time. The seller agreed to pay $8,000 toward my closing costs after we bumped the offer up by the same amount. Totally made my monthly payments easier since I didn't have to drain my savings. Has anyone else tried this strategy and had it work out?

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river_hart18•15d ago

Financing approval took 3 weeks longer than expected in Phoenix

I thought I had everything ready to go when I put an offer on a house in Phoenix last month. My lender kept asking for more documents like bank statements from accounts I barely use and tax forms from two years ago. It ended up taking 7 weeks total instead of the 4 weeks they promised at the start. The seller almost backed out because of the delay and I had to offer an extra $2,000 to keep the deal alive. Did anyone else get hit with surprise document requests that dragged their timeline out way past what they were told?

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james672•15d ago

Warning: I ignored foundation cracks for 6 months in a house in Ohio

I found a few hairline cracks in the basement wall of a place I was looking at near Akron... didn't think much of it until my buddy who does structural work came with me on a second visit. He pointed out one crack that had shifted about a quarter inch over the course of a year based on the old paint line. Turned out the previous owner just patched them up before listing, and the real fix would be around $12,000 for helical piers. I walked away from the deal and dodged a massive headache. Has anyone else had luck catching stuff like this during a home inspection before it's too late?

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the_vera•16d ago

Took me 6 months to get approved for a USDA loan in rural Oregon

I thought I had all my ducks in a row (credit score was fine, income was steady, no big debts) but the underwriter kept coming back with more requests. First it was proof I didn't have any late utility payments, then they wanted a letter explaining a 2-year-old gap in my employment when I worked seasonal tree work. Then the appraisal came back low and the seller wouldn't budge. By the time we closed it had been 6 months and 2 days from when I first applied. Has anyone else dealt with USDA loans taking forever? What was your timeline?

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piper175•17d ago

Home inspector missed a big leak in the crawlspace

Bought a house in Portland last spring and found out two months later there was a hidden pipe leak under the floor. The inspector just poked his head in and called it dry, but we found mold and rotted subfloor after a weird smell showed up. Cost me $3,200 to fix it all, and I had to threaten small claims court to get $500 back from the inspector. Anyone else had a home inspector gloss over something obvious?

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quinn_nguyen•17d ago

Switched my mind about buying a fixer upper after seeing the numbers

I was dead set on a move-in ready house for months, thought anything needing work was a money pit. Then my buddy who flips houses showed me his spreadsheet on a 3-bedroom in Portland. He broke down the purchase price at $285k versus comps selling for $350k, and the reno costs only ran $40k if you do the paint and floors yourself. Now I'm looking at places with good bones and bad kitchens instead of paying a premium for someone else's granite counters. Has anyone else here gone from wanting turnkey to a fixer upper?

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piper_green•17d ago

Inspection found mold behind the kitchen cabinets in a house I was buying

I was under contract on a 1970s ranch in Columbus and the inspector found black mold behind the cabinets near the sink pipe. The seller offered a $500 credit but the mold was on three walls and under the flooring. Should I ask for a bigger credit or just walk away from the deal?

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tylerw92•18d ago

My inspector missed a $4,000 plumbing issue in the crawlspace

Found standing water under the house three days after closing in Portland, turns out the main drain was cracked. Anyone else have an inspector miss something big and have to eat the repair cost?

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nancys90•19d ago

Hot take: hiring a home inspector burned me on a $475 lesson

I bought a house last year in Phoenix and paid $475 for a home inspector my realtor recommended. He did a quick walkthrough, found some small stuff like a loose faucet, and gave me a clean report. Turns out he missed a busted sewer line that cost me $4,200 to fix six months later. I should have paid extra for a separate plumber to scope the pipes before closing. Has anyone else been burned by a standard home inspection that missed the big stuff?

3 comments

lisa839•21d ago

Changed my mind about skipping a sewer scope inspection

Our realtor said it wasn't needed for our area, so we almost passed. I paid $300 for a local company to run a camera through the main line anyway. They found a cracked pipe under the driveway that would have cost over $5,000 to fix after closing. That inspection fee was the best money I spent in the whole process. Has anyone else had a home inspection find a major issue you couldn't see?

2 comments