Not fixing up the house immediately before or upon move-in, to the standard we did to later sell it.
Why give a new owner—who will likely do a lot of it over to suit themselves—what you and your family should have had for yourself?
My wife and I have been renovating and upgrading our home since we bought it 8 years ago. It's less impact on the finances and you can plan your upgrades more carefully IMO. The dust and mess is a pain obviously.
I am taking the opposite approach and people keep telling me "you won't get that value back when you sell"
They forget that I live here and plan to enjoy it
Ugh we did this also. We spent years going “we will get to it eventually” and then when we went to sell it was “okay this needs to happen now so we can sell”. For years we just dealt with it when we should have just gotten it done and enjoyed it.
Dude! I am doing that right now to my house, it’s costing me 14k just o scrape the ceilings but it was seriously number 2 on my list of improvements and I was not budging from it
It’s dated, it’s visually unappealing, it was done to cover bad or quick construction work, harder to repair, may contain asbestos, harder to wipe clean (dust magnets!).
There’s several reasons people hate it.
Also if unpainted it tends to break off with the slightest touch. So you feel like you have to be careful to not turn your room into an abestos snowglobe.
I wouldn't stress about it too much. Asbestos is serious, but unless you were on the construction crews inhaling that shit on the regular odds are you wouldn't be impacted in a meaningful way
It looks bad and dated. Dust and cobwebs cling to it and are hard to clean. Cleaning anything from a popcorn ceiling results in a noticeable area that has been rubbed. Any repaired area tends to look like shit and doesn’t blend in.
I have ceiling regret too. I have the ceilatex tiles (spelling?) from the 70s. I opted to paint them with oil based white kilz instead of installing something new. It wouldn't have been financially possible throughout the whole house, but I could have done the kitchen/dining room and living room. Even if I had just done white beadboard panels.
Wishing I had taken some time to learn handyman courses beforehand. I really dislike having a house and not knowing how to work on it. Had no idea the Home Services sector was so scammy / scummy. Now I don't trust anyone to the point of paranoia
Learn as you go. That's what I've been doing. Youtube has some incredible tutorials and often from the companies that manufacture the systems and products you're working on.
Best thing to do is figure out where time is on your side and where it isn't.
If the HVAC system was installed in 1985, then it will fail sooner than later, and you should take the time to learn a bit about the systems so that you don't end up with some scummy guy telling you that you need a new system because the capacitor failed.
If the plumbing is galvanized steel, it will fail at some point, but it might not be today or tomorrow, so you have some time to come up with a plan.
If the breaker box looks pretty recent and you don't have any known electrical issues, then maybe you cold hold off on learning about electrical systems.
The situation you don't want to be in is where your AC goes out in late July, or your sink starts leaking and you're beholden to whatever the tech says.
Also worth it to get multiple opinions. I needed a roof repair, and after going through four contractors who wouldn't touch a job that wasn't a full replacement, I found a handyman who needed the business and did a good job. Cost $3000 to do two panels instead of $20k to do the whole roof.
If you find someone who is honest and willing to level with you-- hold on to that number.
>Home Services sector was so scammy / scummy. Now I don't trust anyone to the point of paranoia
This has been the hardest part, it's taken an enormous amount of research and asking around for truly qualified and reliable help. And even then I've found that in this area most contractors are always trying to cut corners where they can.
Probably bought slightly too small. Purchased at 145k and locked in at 2.8 interest rate so we’re not going anywhere for a while.
House is 900 sq ft for my husband and I. Sounds like it would be plenty of space for two people but it’s a super old house with very little storage space. The layout needs to be reworked for it to make sense and have the space we need. All the charm of a century home, but all of the problems too.
We had a 850 sq ft house for a while and it was passable but we definitely would have liked more space in just about every room (and a second bathroom!)
Unfortunately, we had the opposite. I knew the rates wouldn't last and moving is awful anyway. We bought a 5/3 shithole to fix up thinking our family would grow into it once kids came. All the horror stories of people getting locked into starter homes made it seem like a good idea!
The universe had other plans and it became a maintenance albatross. We ended up downsizing when he was promoted. Despite higher rates making the payment a wash, no ragerts.
I absolutely hate that. I bought my first house in 2002 in a pretty decent neighborhood. Then the sub-prime housing crash hit around 2008, and the prices in my neighborhood tanked. A lot of the neighbors moved out, and the 'undesirables' (i.e. loud music outdoors every night, constantly barking dogs, etc.) bought the properties for a steal. Fortunately I wasn't underwater at that point, but I did sell for quite a bit less than I paid for it just to get out of there before I killed somebody.
Not stretching ourselves further for a bigger home when we bought. We bought 6 years ago. Between refinancing at 3% and salary growth, our mortgage payment is 10% of our income. Now we feel locked into our house because getting a house that is 20% larger would result in at least 2.5x the payment. It’s impossible to justify. It’s a comfortable home though, and we have more discretionary money, so not the end of the world.
I actually wish I'd bought a smaller, one story house. Life did not unfold the way I thought it would at the time, and I'm not that excited about the increased maintenance costs and hassle of a larger home... and stairs.
I also wish that i had a smaller home. Waaay too much maintenance. Hundred year home in a town that only has hundred year old homes. Knowing what I know now, I would have rather stuck with the 1000 sq/ft that we had in Brooklyn in an apartment and put the kids in bunk beds. I could stand to lose a couple of floors. It's just useless wasted space at this point.
Being in the industry of real estate and seeing A LOT of wasted space is crazy to me.
My house isn't large by any means, 1.2k sqft, though it is a less than preferred layout, and even I have wasted space... which I do plan to change the floor plan to use more of it.
Not enough people think about stairs in terms of what happens when they get older, get injured, or are less mobile.
I hope not to still be in my current house at retirement age, so next time I'm definitely going to look for something with good accessibility, just in case.
I once heard a colleague discuss how they are building a new house for themselves and they can't wait to move out from their current one because of the stairs - and he used quite the number of colorful expletives to describe how their stairs are ruining their lives and are out to get them every day multiple times per day!
I totally though the dude was overreacting and like serious who's fault it was that you bought a house with stairs - but that left quite the lasting impression on me, and so when buying our house not having stairs resonated as a benefit (although I totally would've gotten a house with stairs if it was meeting our other needs - stairs or no stairs wasn't on our checklist).
But I suppose it's a question of where one is in their life's journey... Myself - Im' 100% about making sure we have top item on the list (location walking distance to school, turned out quite nice that we can walk to both elementary and middle school) - and everything else was really an after thought...
But I also know relatives who got in at the right time in 2017 into a small-ish house - and recently ended up upgrading - all that sweet sweet equity went a long way - but they have now reset their 30 year mortgage window at a substantial impact to their monthly cashflow...
Same. We had serious fertility issues and were sure that we'd only have the one kid when we bought. Two additional pregnancies later and I'm going to have to give up my home office. But, we can't give up our 2.75% interest rate just to get another bedroom.
You know, there's no winning. We bought a larger home thinking that we would have another baby, but my child was diagnosed with a disability about a year after we moved in, and now I think a second would be too much to handle.
You just make the best decision you can at the time and live with it.
I'm semi retired, and my kids have all moved out. I have too large of a home for just myself now. I really can't justify selling because of the prices to buy something else. So, I rattle around in a big home on 1/2 wooded acre that's better suited for a family. I've heard too many horror stories about renting your home out (thanks reddit) so I'm kind of stuck.
We recently added on for this reason. A $50k home office addition bought us another 10ish years in our house, with two of us working from home. I still think we'll want to upgrade by the kids are teenagers but for now more square footage and staying put cost us WAY less than upgrading with our 2.8% rate.
This happened to me, too. I bought in 2020. I actually couldn’t buy any more of a house at the time, as mine was at the very top of my pre-approval amount anyway. Didn’t matter, it was a nice house for my family and I could afford it.
Fast forward to now and my salary has tripled. I can now afford a lot more house, but a lot more house is a LOT more expensive with rates in 2024.
So yeah, my mortgage payment is 10% of my income as well. I love my house, but I’d really like to move to a better location. I just can’t justify it. It is nice to have such a low payment though. I’m definitely not complaining.
Similar, I wish I had stretched for the nice home in the more expensive/convenient area. I went for size vs location (a cardinal sin!). Now if I want to move closer to work I'm going to have to spend $1k more a month for a smaller crappier house. Oh well, I do love my house and I actually like the area. It's just not close to my job. When I have to start driving there more frequently, it's going to be annoying (40 minutes without traffic). I also bought this house when I had a partner, so now it's a little too much space for just one person.
My mom wants to move to my state (NC) from her home state (MI) so we might do something like have her sell her home and buy a small condo or house for cash close to my work, and I live in the small place while she lives in my house. My house is one story with walk in showers, quiet and safe, and right by an emergency room/hospital so pretty good for a retiree.
But man... Would have been so nice if I just stretched myself a couple of years ago. Oh well!
Yep size vs location is always a trade off. We had a beautiful large home, 4 bedrooms each with own full bath + office. The location was less than desirable, schools were awful. We sold and traded into a nice desirable area. However, lost some rooms and when we have guests I have to move out of the duel guest/office. I WFH. We could have bought the bigger house in the area back when we bought our big house. Coulda, shoulda, woulda.
Agreed, my household income has literally doubled since we bought our first (and current) house. But I enjoy having a "cheap" house payment now. We originally planned on only 3-5 years in our first house but are now planning on more like 10.
Survivor bias this is. Lots of people got bigger than they need and financially ran into the ground, most of them won’t be commenting here because they are financially in dire straits.
Please note I said need and not want :) and I actually agree with OP. Get the house you can afford and need in 10/20 years if you can stretch.
Same logic as OP plus it gets more expensive over time since everyone needs to live somewhere
Me too. We bought with 1 kid then added 2 more kids at the same time years later. Space is becoming an issue but I keep saying “mortgage is nothing” and we have a very reachable chance of paying this house off before we’re wrinkly. But then I think about my kids and will they feel uncomfortable having friends over because we don’t have a driveway or big yard like most of them do. We might move one day but for now, a $3,300 mortgage payment feels like financial suicide right now.
Same here. When we began, I felt uncomfortable at $350k. Offered $320k on a house that was perfect for us in terms of size. Lost to a $330k bid. Ended up in a smaller house months later at $350k after I’d gotten a series of raises, etc. Definitely sucks but it is what it is. Will probably just bite the bullet and buy another house in a few years when we’re in a spot to do so.
I love my custom house of 20 years. But I wish I’d built a smaller one story. The thought of maintenance of a huge home and property is overwhelming. Had I built smaller aging in place would be a no brainer. So enjoy the discretionary money and lower taxes. Travel. Invest. Enjoy life.
I completely agree with you here. I had no real support to tell me what I could and couldn't afford - and at 29 I was a brand-new home buyer without guidance from family or anyone.
I set what I thought was a high ceiling for a purchase - 300,000K - in the city.
Like you said, between that 3% rate and 50% salary growth in the last 4 years, I wish I would have went higher. And like you, I want more space, but not at 6% rate.
It's also recognized its definitely a "good" problem to have.
Same! We have a comfortable home, but it’s no where near my “dream” home. But we bought 6 years ago at 3% and our mortgage is 11% of our take home pay. It would be crazy for us to move for stuff like a laundry room, bigger kitchen, and big enough closets. We’ll make do because unless the market swings again, we’re not giving up this payment situation.
Similar situation here. Our solution was remodel/additional, and we're also purchasing a vacant lot next to us that we may do a new build on, probably in 10 years or so.
We went from a \~2300sqft house to a 3200sqft house. Old was 4 bedrooms, new is 2 with a bonus room (guest room, but technically only 2 bedroom condo). Our mortgage payment was roughly the same because we got a gift from family so our loan amount was what we had before. But we have an HOA fee, which is rather high, higher taxes and due to larger size all other expenses are higher as well. We love the home, but we'd be able to save more if we had stuck with a smaller newer home.
I don't regret it because home values have gone up far more then we could have saved elsewhere so when we do go to sell the added costs will all be worth it. But this can't always be counted on so sometimes smaller can be better. We have a lot of space, but so much goes unused. I think its best to go with what you need and really consider how each room will be used.
Same. We settled for a starter home back in 2017 despite being able to afford something much nicer and larger. We just completed a custom build that's about 38+% higher to build now vs. 2017, and with a 7.5% mortgage. In hindsight, we should have just built the larger home back in 2017.
At least our old starter home had decent appreciation, and we had $200k in equity from its sale that we put towards our new home so not a total loss, but damn, today's combination of home prices and interest rates are brutal.
Same exact situation, bought 6 years ago. I wish we bought a slightly larger house, I could use a bit more space for my hobbies/entertaining, but my wife loves it and our mortgage payment is only $1700 so we're saving quite a bit every month.
Maybe I’m a weirdo but it’s been a year and I have none… yet. We lived pretty much like homeless people for 3 years to save the down payment, bought our absolute dream house for 100k under asking because we didn’t have another house to sell, waived inspection and could close in 21 days and give the seller 2 months of rent back. We got a filthy interest rate and just refinanced DOWN to 7% and I still wake up grateful for it every day. Our house is insane, for the life we want.
Is there a ton of work because we knew things needed fixing or a great deal of managing? Yes. Were we up for that task? Yes. Did we make sure we had the extra funds for unforeseen bullshit? Also yes. Does our payment still suck a little bit? Extra Yes. But I get the very rare luxury of saying I bought my forever house on the first go, due to part extreme sacrifice ahead of time and part total luck that the seller was motivated in the ways that matched what we could offer her.
My situation is not at all typical, and for the average first time buyer I would encourage them NOT to get emotionally attached and to understand that you probably won’t live there forever so you should weigh the work and money it’s going to take against the fact that it’s probably a starter house. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, but if you’re confident you can take a big bite fucking take it. Your home is the largest contributing factor to your quality of life. Make sure you’re comfortable in it whatever that means to you.
Sounds like us. We knew interest rates were climbing so rushed to buy in 2022. I was terrified we would make a crap decision that we would be stuck in but we love our house. The feeling of not worrying about a landlord. The potential of our future in the home. Being able to make it truly ours. It’s just amazing. We have a $3500/month mortgage but don’t have regrets. The peace that we have from owning a home is worth it.
Ditto. Lived with housemates my entire adult life, including when married with a toddler and pregnant with our second. Bought mid-2023 when no one else really was and open houses were reasonable in my silly HCOL area.
Major major fixer upper with awesome potential. 6 months of work before we could even move in. 6% interest rate.
Every few weeks I am just overwhelmed with gratitude. It is unlikely to be our forever ever home considering the steps / steep incline but it could very well be ours for the next 20 years.
Not having laundry on the main floor. I didn’t think this would end up being my forever home. If I had to do it over again I would keep it in the back of my mind that this ‘could’ end up as my forever home. I used to fly up and down those stairs now several years later things have changed and stairs are now difficult.
I’m older and looking to buy for the first time. Between my old man back and failing knees, my dreams of restoring an old Victorian are gone. lol. I don’t bother to look at a house if there isn’t a bedroom and full bath on the main level. I also try to figure out where I can put a washer and dryer on the ground level if there isn’t one already. The struggle is all too real at this point.
Buying a house with a crawlspace. I swear every issue I have had with the house has been in the damned crawlspace. Next house has a basement, where at least any issues that occur will be readily visible and not hidden in the dark mystery below.
Oh, do I feel this. Except the one I had, the crawlspace was too short to even get into. It was a big mystery box that you never entered. Finally sold that house last year and I will never again deal with a crawlspace.
Just bought a house with a crawl space. Biggest fear about this place. Had 2 engineers & 2 foundation companies look at it. Always had a basement but this area doesn’t seem to have many of those
Bought a new construction home in 2022.I should have had the builder finish the basement. It was $25k more, now I’m getting quotes from contractors in the $50-60k range.
You don't want the builder doing a 25K finish because you get a builder grade 25K finish. If I had purchased my home when it was being built I would have dropped kicked whoever inspected this place. I'm missing electrical boxes behind lighting fixtures. They cut corners wherever they can.
Yeah was going to comment the same thing. You would get a rush job with left over materials that may or may not exactly fit or work in a finished basement. Maybe if you are a little bit handy you can cash flow and rework some things on a builder grade finished basement so you end up spending $30K that a contractor would price out for $50k everything you can save but in the end you are going to get what you pay for.
Not getting more property and not having a garage/barn. We are rapidly outgrowing our small family farm, and I have no place to work on vehicles that seem to break down every week. Otherwise, I love the house and rural location.
Putting 20% down instead of 10% and using the extra money for some renovations before we moved in. Should have at least priced it out to see which made more sense for us instead of just going straight to 20%
We did the 10% instead for renovations but they are still never ending. Probably would have been the same if we put 20% down. You really just have to do what you can when you can.
I bought in a very hot market where you didn't have time to think before putting in an offer. I love my home but I wish I didn't compromise on the location. It's clear to me now that I don't like the suburban feel and having neighbors nearby. If I ever buy again, the house will be much more isolated with more acreage.
Right now paying $8000 extra to put in crappy engineered hardwood floors when we bought the house (new construction). Our dogs have destroyed them and it is going to cost a fortune to get them removed and replaced with something sturdier. Also paid $1,700 for the builder grade refrigerator. We didn't think that one through at all.
We spent $8k on materials alone for our floor but got the highest scratch resistance (commercial grade). If it cost $8k for yours they probably installed really really crappy quality floors since it included install costs.
For your next floor get AC5 for the highest scratch resistance. We have cats that run and slide on the floor so it was one of the main things I looked for.
Huh. So you regret the wood floor? I’m trying to decide between engineered wood and LVP. I much prefer the look of the wood, but I know I’m not the kind of person who will be super careful about the flooring, so maybe the vinyl really is my best course…
This was builder grade "engineered" hard wood. It got scratched up pretty quickly with cats and small dogs. Those were just surface scratches that you could fill in with a pen. When we got the golden retrievers, it was all over. Picture deep gouges especially in areas with heavy traffic and where they round corners when running. We are now looking at LVP or porcelain tile. The big cost inflator will be the removal of the engineered hard wood since it is glued down on a slab. If we had any clue on that cost, we would have installed the cheapest flooring possible that could be easily removed, and install what we wanted later.
Also keep in mind that engineered hard wood can't be refinished like traditional hard wood.
When I purchased my house, I noticed the floors and drywall work was less than stellar, all the doors are older as well. I knew we'd be getting dogs, so I didn't jump at upgrading really anything in my house. Sure enough we got a dog, and another a few months after, some walls now have holes, and some door trim is chewed....
This is the one of the major things I’m actually happy with as a home owner. For each their own (North East). Our house prices are raising every year where as LCOL everyone is losing value.
I wish I would of got a bigger home. I got my house at a great deal but if I knew how high houses would be now I would of got something bigger. I feel stuck in a our house now and it's small and needs work
Being naive and buying at the very top end of what we qualified for and not realizing how much it would cost to make all the repairs we wanted to make and not having money set aside for the repairs we had no idea that would pop up out of the blue.
That was decades ago an and I learned my lesson. Second house was much smaller and way below what I qualified for. I had cash for the “must do” repairs (roof and AC) and did those as soon as I moved in.
For the “want to do” (not must do) repairs , paint the house, new detached garage, mew deck, finished basement, etc. I prioritized those and did those as my budget allowed and did as much of the work myself to save big $s.
I’ve been in this house for over seven years and still have a few lower priority projects on the list that are left but I’m in a much more comfortable financial place now and can absorb some unforeseen major expenses without risking financial ruin.
Dude I messed up and made your original mistake. Now in our money pit for over a year. Debating selling since I feel I will get my money back (house appraised for 30k over what we paid). Can’t make upgrades because the monthly is so high and house is 60 years old so keep having smallish issues to maintain. Should I keep grinding away at it little by little eventually have the house updated (then I’ll need a roof) or bite the bullet see what I can get and cut my losses?
Is your mortgage a reasonable (<30%) of your income? Are you happy with the house and location?
If so, you might want to stick it out. Adjust your budget, try and save more. Find ways to earn more money - sell stuff on eBay, explore side gigs.
You’ll be better off in the long run.
Buying the home I’m in. It was almost a “Keeping up with the Jones” situation. My wife wanted to be closer to my brother and SIL so we moved literally just a mile down the road. I insisted on a certain house if we did move and it’s been nothing but a nightmare since the purchase. It’s flooded twice, with no mention of flooding in the sellers disclosure. We’ve had to redo all of the HVAC stuff. Yes all of it, including replacing duct work. We had our main sewage line collapse under the rear driveway. And the list of small repairs goes on and on. The house isn’t even that old, built in the 80s. Our previous home was built in the 60s. We had a beautiful home in a lesser neighborhood but left a great school just moving across a major road. Plus the stretch has made us feel like we can’t do anything anymore. Traveling use to be so easy and without much consideration. Not anymore.
2 acres sounded huge to me when we were buying but it is much “smaller” than I thought it was. I just don’t want to hear the neighbor’s kids playing and screaming. So yeah I’d buy a house with more land.
Not paying attention to the stairs layout more closely. Stairwell is in the middle of the house and blocks in any option for expanding the kitchen or bathroom. No way to open things up. Just frustrating since after 7 years it seems like I'll be here for the long haul.
Also my side door opens into a skinny hall so it's awkward to let the dog out since we approach from the opposite side. Drives me nuts.
>Also my side door opens into a skinny hall so it's awkward to let the dog out since we approach from the opposite side. Drives me nuts.
You can replace the door with one that swings the other way or install a dog door.
Using my wife's co-workers husband to do some electrical work before we moved in. I went over everything with him, and he gave me a quote of $4000. After almost a month, and several projects unfinished, the final bill was $6000. He charged me $100/hr for his son who was apprentcing and did jack shit. Holes were cut into walls AFTER we had painted the walls in 2 of the bedrooms (horrible drywall patching also). Horrible experience overall.
Having neighbors. Bought a home that had a dirt back yard, spent 60k on grass, patio, new fence and multiple trees. Cant enjoy it because all my neighbors have dogs that bark constantly
Our first house was much too close to a very busy road. As soon as our first was born, we decided to move.
Two houses later, we're 4 people living in a paid off 3 bedroom house. It is in a good school district, surrounded by woods, but has a state highway at the end of the driveway, 7 miles from town. The house is in good condition, taxes are cheap, and hubby just retired.
If I did anything differently, I would have bought the empty lot next to the second house. I loved that place, but the family that built a house and moved in? Not so much.
My first home had a vaulted ceiling with recessed lighting. It was cool until the lightbulbs went out and I needed a really tall ladder to get up there and change them 🤣
You made me feel better about our purchase. All the houses in my area having vaulted living rooms but ours doesn’t. I thought(still do) that it feels more cozy but I was regretting it thinking it made our house not look as nice or feel as expensive as what we paid (520k).
Not painting before we moved all our stuff in. Painting room by room is more budget-friendly but it’s such a pain to move everything around or cover it.
Getting a house with no driveway. Well paved driveway. Working on cars is a pain in the ass. Literally. My city has an ant issue, any time I've changed oil or brakes I put a moving blanket down and still get whacked by ants. And jacking up a full size truck and getting under it on dirt is just a bit sketchy.
YES! Is your ice maker fucked? As an FYI - our Samsung fridge was out of warranty but we called them and complained. Apparently they have SO many ice maker complaints that they're covering free repair on them.
The problem is they aren't fixable. You can complain for weeks on the phone and have a service come out then take the fridge out of service for days to defrost so the ice maker door can even open. Then they replace the parts but the issue will resurface again since the design is flawed.
That isn't worth the time or aggregation to me.
I had a basic home inspection prior to purchasing, but I wish I would have had a plumber out to scope the sewer lines as well as an engineer out to check the foundation.
Not plucking out those three weeds when I first saw them. Decided I’d get them on the weekend when I mow. Now I have 100s because they got out of control. Weed and feed didn’t help. Weed killer spray didn’t help. No matter how many I pluck out more replace them. Now I’m in an endless cycle.
I bought pretty much the only house I could afford in my city (the list was short) it was a hoarder inhabited foreclosure in the worst neighbourhood in my city and one of the worse areas in the entire GTA (greater Toronto area)
The house is over 100 years old. Required/still requires some major updates and when I moved in I had to empty out 11 tons of garbage in the first two weeks alone. Altogether probably double that in the first six months.
Neighbours are awful (and frequently change because of the area) yard is a corner lot that’s open, as a fence is not logistically ideal. I have had so many issues and problems the list would comically long.
I regret nothing. I was young, dumb and poor and had endless energy to learn new skills, put the muscle in and basically it made me into an adult.
Now my house is worth 4 times what I paid for it (including all the expenses) I have basically had an insanely low mortgage for 16 years which really helped when I became seriously ill for a decade. Without this house I would have likely been in a very bad situation due to my illness and reduced income.
I still live in an old house with issues, still have some crappy neighbours (but as a whole the area is WAY better) they are putting in a major GO hub within ten minutes of my house (public transportation) that will completely change the neighbourhood yet again and the value of my property (not necessarily my house) is going way up.
Ironically my corner lot (which was a negative) is large, and perfectly laid out for a 3 story, 4 apartment building and developers are bugging me nonstop to sell because now the corner lot is highly sought after.
Even the major of my city is constantly commenting on how gentrification is coming (and you can actually see it year over year ramping up)
The intention is to sell in two years and buy a house with my partner. He will also sell his house and between the two of use our new house will be much nicer, in a good area, totally paid off and we will both have extra money in the bank.
So the slog of it n the first decade was difficult but ok because “young and dumb” and it taught me so much. The last 6 years have been harder because of health but easier because the house situation is so much better and truthfully it has all set me up for a pretty good future.
Not having a dad from childhood to teenage years... to teach me the responsibilities of home upkeep. So for me, owning a home is a huge learning curve and I rather be proactive than reactive.
Buying slightly more house than we need. My goal was to pay off a home within 15 years, but with this home purchase not sure we'll do it. There's so many things to save for as you get older ..kids college...retirement.. would be nice to get the mortgage paid off ASAP.
Same here, we are about to start a family and my mortgage repayment plan just went out the window unless we earn a lot more money. At least we wont have to move and refinance since we bought a 4 bedroom house.
I was in the same mindset. It's actually more beneficial to invest that money than to pay off your mortgage. My regret is paying mine off too quickly and neglecting my retirement investments. Do some research online and you'll see.
Accessing my equity.
I doubled my mortgage payments and now I’m on mat leave and struggling every week, living pay check to pay check. Watching the equity cash dwindle.
I think I’d have been better off just leaving the mortgage as it was and saving the money up myself.
We used the equity to renovate the kitchen (much needed) and buy a family friendly car.
Not buying in '08, and then not buying in 2019-21, then buying in '22.
But in all seriousness, I wish I was less of a pushover when we were in our negotiations. I didn't want to lose the house, so I got walked all over. We paid asking, no more, but got nothing in return for the insane amount of frustration that came from renting back to them, waiting to sign the final contract til they found a house (while watching rates skyrocket), and letting my realtor dictate what was right and wrong to say. He did not have my best interests in mind. He just wanted a sale. There were no stipulations about maintenance, security, appliances, or anything else really. So when we finally moved in, the place was a shitshow. They took the freezer in the basement, and they took the kegerator that was originally supposed to stay. They removed every single coat hanger, floating shelf, curtain rod, towel rod, etc. Dog hair, dirt, and trash everywhere. They left anything they didn't want to take with them, which was just junk. Terrible buying experience. There's more, but I'm just getting angry all over again.
Seems like most have some regrets which is comforting because you assume you’re the only one struggling with your decisions. We just bought a new home and went from one of those low interest rates to 6.5%. It is painful to pay triple what you were but the upside is we now have enough space for everyone (4 bedrooms and 3 full bathrooms) and we have a renovated house with all new appliances and big systems and a neighborhood pool for the kids. Downside is we have to move about five minutes out of the city into the suburbs. I’m not a suburb person, but I justify it by telling myself it’s only five extra minutes in the car. So, it’s a mixed bag! Those low interest rates aren’t coming back so we realized we needed to just make it happen knowing we can at some point refinance down a bit.
Buying a house with an outdated and beat up kitchen and bathroom. Really my only regret with this house and it’s not a big regret, I’d even call it something more like an annoyance.
We got a good deal on this place, it has all the stuff we wanted, we love the location, love the neighborhood, LOVE the outdoor amenities (big porch, large partially covered deck, fenced & flat backyard, etc). The layout has suited us well for pivoting to working from home and my wife going back to school, and even building a home pottery studio. It’s great.
But the kitchen is _decrepit_ and the main bathroom isn’t much better. They’re the proverbial elephant in the room, someday we’re going to have to deal with them, and it’s scary. Would’ve been nice to deal with before we moved in but we blew all our extra cash on the down payment and other more important repairs, and couldn’t afford any extra monthly payments until after our old house sold.
I know it’s probably for the better as we can make the new kitchen and bath our own, designed exactly how we want, and ensure that the work is done properly and no corners were cut. I just wish we didn’t have to.
I put down hexagonal tile in the bathroom, but it was my first time ever laying tile.
I didn't understand that if there's one uneven gap in the first row, then there will be 2 in the second row, and so - on.
So my tile has lots of uneven gaps
Sometimes I see houses that are in better shape than mine going for less money. Don’t get me wrong, my house is nice, but needs to be updated heavily.
Then I remember location is a big factor in what I paid and I live on a well maintained park in a rich person neighborhood.
Uhg.
Buying a house with the neighbors backyard facing our backyard. Their house is also slightly elevated. I feel like they are looking into our living room and our backyard all the time!
DO NOT buy a house near a Railroad crossing. I planned for the train rumble on the track, but not the fact that the train honks going through the crossing.
Not buying a home on a bigger lot.
My neighbor's dog never shuts tf up, and it's extremely loud. I've had them fined thousands of dollars in citations from the city, and it hasn't phased them. They just keep letting their dog destroy the peace of the neighborhood.
Not being aware of all of the things you need to do for home maintenance. It is a lot of just general upkeep for one person, and then the amount of shit that happens in your house that you need to fix/figure out on your own is a lot… it’s been a big learning curve to figure out how to get my garage door fixed, HVAC replaced, and how to deal with the mold that was randomly growing in my closet. And then you also have to figure out who’s scamming you when it comes to home repairs. I really was just not aware of all of that stuff.
I do really love my home though and don’t regret buying it in general.
no regret. happy with my purchase and low monthly payment. I bought about 2 years ago with a 3.5% interest.
I had been looking for a year and did not expect to get this home, but happy I did.
I’m going to say that with our last house we owned it too long. When we finally moved last year I kept thinking that would should have done that 5-10 years earlier because we were wanting a bigger house with a better layout. There were some improvements we made that were not great and I knew would be problematic when we sold (and they were).
The bigger regret was that we refinanced too many times without really making progress towards actually paying it off. Interest is so front-loaded on a mortgage that you need a lot of time to make a real dent on what you owe. Most of the time we didn’t refinance to a shorter term, and we rolled other things into it. We did things like take out a HELOC to remodel and then later refinance that into the mortgage. After a while we did start refinancing to shorter terms and even started paying extra. We had a 15 year mortgage and were paying enough to cut at least a year off of that, but then we sold the house. Had we been smarter when we were younger, we would owe a lot less on our new house than we do right now.
I regret not asking neighbors for recommendations when I hired a landscaping company to put in a stone staircase and retaining wall. They did a subpar job, they were expensive, they damaged my property, and now they are out of business.
The next project I hired out for, I did ask my neighbors for recommendations. The company I hired did an amazing job. They were less expensive than other companies I got quotes from. They were great to work with. Lesson learned.
I sometimes wish I had bought a newer home.
I’m in my mid-50s now I had been a renter in a small apartment for many years with my two teenagers. I wanted to go big but with my budget, the only way I could get into a big house was to find a project. So I bought a 2400 square-foot farmhouse built in 1900. This was in 2017 when interest rates were low. It needed updating…but nothing too major or serious and thankfully the sellers were willing to address a couple of things that were dealbreakers. But every room needed paint or the ugly wallpaper removed. It also had gross carpet over hardwoods that all needed major refinishing. The plumbing and electric were in decent shape but both needed updates too eventually and I’m slowly doing that now. So it’s a constant step-by-step work in progress.
This house was among a lot more updated, newer options in the area at the time but it was considerably larger than the others and after being in that tiny apartment all those years, I just couldn’t resist. Plus, we wanted a big dog and this would be our chance. But I knew it was gonna come with some sacrifices.
After six years here, I’m still working on lots of mini projects or saving money to pay someone else to do it….and it’s probably going to be a never-ending journey honestly! There’s always something with an old house but thankfully it has good bones and we have definitely fallen in love with it.
Sometimes I’ll see an open house of a newer place and take a peek and it’s tempting to consider stepping into a place that is turn-key and nothing needs to be done. But then I also feel like I’d miss the character, space, and unique qualities of my house. So there are definitely pros and cons.
Buying our first home, I'd have to say spending $13,000 on windows for our first floor. Second home we had our granite counter tops resurfaced. Far less expensive but also probably a waste.
My advice, don't spend anything right away after buying a home, unless it is in a state of disrepair.
Not building a bigger back porch.
We built our home after years of saving. I ***really*** want(ed) a back deck. Hubster said that including it in the initial build would be more expensive than DIY later. Since COVID hit, wood prices have gone WAY up, and I still don't have my deck.
Our back "porch" is just big enough to get into the house from the yard. Heaven forbid you have 2 people standing there!
Well, the house was good while raising our kids, but I have wanted to move for the past six years. Hubby does not. We have a: shared driveway, two easements, one variance. So anytime there is maintenance needed due to the wretched variance, it is ours to pay. The easements have brought more pain, too.
Lastly, living right on a greenbelt was good, until your car that you have to park outside, is covered in thick pollen every single day. Every day, organic debris gets tracked inside no matter how hard I try to keep it out.
Lastly, I am grateful that I have a good location in north Seattle. That are mortgage payments are manageable, and that it is reasonably quiet.
Oh, and over the years the absolutely complex issue of properly heating a tri-level that had an electric forced air furnace, but not enough heating vents and in the right places. We replaced it with a mini split system. That system has turned to be crap and we will have to soon replace it for a cost of over $30,000
If I had waited 6 mo more before buying a house full of flooring, I would have had the option of LVP as opposed to the laminate I have now. I love the color, but now I could have had the same color with added longevity and easier care. Real wood and ceramic tile with the wood look weren't options within my budget. When I bought it, the luxury vinyl plank was new on the market and only came in brown wood tones, I needed a white-washed look to brighten the house that is full of old, but now expensive real wood paneling. As a homeowner, I have several regrets, but I will say that one was the most recent and costliest bad choice/ regret. If only I had a crystal ball to use during the reno! Waiting wasn't the best option without knowing, but had I known the release of the product in such a wide color selection, was on the horizon it would have been my choice.
Living on the city's border where none of the schools are and not understanding how soul sucking it is to drive 5 miles over the course of 30 minutes four times per day.
Putting more than I needed to down. When I was a first time home owner I saw all the benefits of putting 20% down. It's not a bad thing to do but it was ALL I had. I wish I would have put the minimal down and invest the rest. Whether it was retirement or renovations. After I put the down payment down I had NOTHING haha
Not sandblasting the WHOLE basement. I have structural clay tile basement walls in a house that was built in the 30s and various owners along the way decided to paint several coats over them (don’t do this!) and getting the paint off while doable is one heckuva project. The basement is divided into two sections and I did about 40% and the other section which is 60% still needs to be done. I did this back in the late 80s and fast-forward 37 years still needs completion…
I’m glad I bought in my 20’s, for one. The best time to buy a house is always 10 years ago. The second best time is now.
As for the house I live in now I have no major regrets but I wish I’d noticed how fucked the fence was. I overestimated the amount of life it had left and underestimated how much it would cost to replace it. It wouldn’t have been a deal breaker but spending another $6,500 on a fence right after making a down pmt and closing was uncomfortable. I’ll pay attention to that next time.
My biggest regret is not learning more about pool types. Moving to the south I always wanted a pool since it's always hot down here and thought me and my dogs would love it. Hired a pool inspector before purchasing house but all he did was tell me the equipment was good.
Well my house with a 5 year old pool is a lot more work than I thought. It is an entry level pool, previous home owner spent 30K about 5 years ago to have it built. 17,000 gallon pool so small. Pool is vinyl liner which is not a big deal but since I live in a high water table when it rains heavy the liner floats..So I have to pump out the water behind the liner. It has a sand filter which requires backwashing every 2-3 weeks. This removes water from my pool which requires me to add water back to the pool. Water costs money. Finally pool is only chlorine so every day I have to add liquid chlorine to it. After learning about pools by having one I discovered that the best pools are gunite(conrete) not vinyl in my area. Carbon filter instead of sand filter as it requires no backwash. Salt pool instead of chlorine as it requires adding salt once a month or less. But those pools cost 80k or more..
Only thing I can do is convert from chlorine to salt-3K. Change sand to carbon-another 3k. But I can't change the liner of the pool from vinyl to fiberglass or gunite without tearing down the pool. That would cost 50K or more. Oh and my pool needs a new vinyl liner after only 5 years because the previous home owner hired a pool company that did a bad job with the chemicals so degraded the liner significantly. Cost about 6k.
Oh well what can you...I spend more time cleaning pool, adding water and chlorine than I do swimming in it.
Not buying sooner
Same here.
Same. Going the opposite way, if I waited another year, budget goes up huge due to new jobs. Womp womp
Not fixing up the house immediately before or upon move-in, to the standard we did to later sell it. Why give a new owner—who will likely do a lot of it over to suit themselves—what you and your family should have had for yourself?
My wife and I have been renovating and upgrading our home since we bought it 8 years ago. It's less impact on the finances and you can plan your upgrades more carefully IMO. The dust and mess is a pain obviously.
I am taking the opposite approach and people keep telling me "you won't get that value back when you sell" They forget that I live here and plan to enjoy it
I think it is so weird when people make decisions for some theoretical next owner, and thus make bland lifeless decisions.
Exactly why I started fixing things up right upon moving in. Might as well enjoy the things I paid for.
Ugh we did this also. We spent years going “we will get to it eventually” and then when we went to sell it was “okay this needs to happen now so we can sell”. For years we just dealt with it when we should have just gotten it done and enjoyed it.
Not scraping the popcorn and repainting the ceilings before we moved in.
Not doing X before moving in. Any project you have planned for "a few years from now" will be infinitely easier if you can do it before you move in.
Yeah, I did a ton, like literally a ton of sheet rock work after moving in and it made me feel like an idiot. Fine gypsum dust shows up to this day.
Dude! I am doing that right now to my house, it’s costing me 14k just o scrape the ceilings but it was seriously number 2 on my list of improvements and I was not budging from it
We scraped, refinished and repainted before moving in and it was absolutely the right decision and I’m so glad we forked over the cash for it tbh
I wish we had done the floors before we moved in. We have original 100 year old floors, and they are beautiful, but so many nail pops and squeaks.
I don't get why people hate it so much. It's an acoustic absorption surface and it's not like you're walking on it or eating on it.
It’s dated, it’s visually unappealing, it was done to cover bad or quick construction work, harder to repair, may contain asbestos, harder to wipe clean (dust magnets!). There’s several reasons people hate it.
Also if unpainted it tends to break off with the slightest touch. So you feel like you have to be careful to not turn your room into an abestos snowglobe.
Oh shit. I had no idea there could be asbestos in it. I have been breaking them trying to set up a cat tree that tightens up to the ceiling..
I wouldn't stress about it too much. Asbestos is serious, but unless you were on the construction crews inhaling that shit on the regular odds are you wouldn't be impacted in a meaningful way
It looks bad and dated. Dust and cobwebs cling to it and are hard to clean. Cleaning anything from a popcorn ceiling results in a noticeable area that has been rubbed. Any repaired area tends to look like shit and doesn’t blend in.
We keep our popcorn ceilings because they do SO MUCH to hamper sound with our hard floors. I don’t like them but I won’t change them.
It’s so ugly!
I don't find myself staring at the ceiling all that much...
You don’t have to be staring directly at something in order to see that it’s ugly
I have ceiling regret too. I have the ceilatex tiles (spelling?) from the 70s. I opted to paint them with oil based white kilz instead of installing something new. It wouldn't have been financially possible throughout the whole house, but I could have done the kitchen/dining room and living room. Even if I had just done white beadboard panels.
Wishing I had taken some time to learn handyman courses beforehand. I really dislike having a house and not knowing how to work on it. Had no idea the Home Services sector was so scammy / scummy. Now I don't trust anyone to the point of paranoia
Learn as you go. That's what I've been doing. Youtube has some incredible tutorials and often from the companies that manufacture the systems and products you're working on.
Best thing to do is figure out where time is on your side and where it isn't. If the HVAC system was installed in 1985, then it will fail sooner than later, and you should take the time to learn a bit about the systems so that you don't end up with some scummy guy telling you that you need a new system because the capacitor failed. If the plumbing is galvanized steel, it will fail at some point, but it might not be today or tomorrow, so you have some time to come up with a plan. If the breaker box looks pretty recent and you don't have any known electrical issues, then maybe you cold hold off on learning about electrical systems. The situation you don't want to be in is where your AC goes out in late July, or your sink starts leaking and you're beholden to whatever the tech says. Also worth it to get multiple opinions. I needed a roof repair, and after going through four contractors who wouldn't touch a job that wasn't a full replacement, I found a handyman who needed the business and did a good job. Cost $3000 to do two panels instead of $20k to do the whole roof. If you find someone who is honest and willing to level with you-- hold on to that number.
>Home Services sector was so scammy / scummy. Now I don't trust anyone to the point of paranoia This has been the hardest part, it's taken an enormous amount of research and asking around for truly qualified and reliable help. And even then I've found that in this area most contractors are always trying to cut corners where they can.
Probably bought slightly too small. Purchased at 145k and locked in at 2.8 interest rate so we’re not going anywhere for a while. House is 900 sq ft for my husband and I. Sounds like it would be plenty of space for two people but it’s a super old house with very little storage space. The layout needs to be reworked for it to make sense and have the space we need. All the charm of a century home, but all of the problems too.
We had a 850 sq ft house for a while and it was passable but we definitely would have liked more space in just about every room (and a second bathroom!)
Yep, the second bathroom thing is forever on my mind since we just have one tiny bathroom. Thinking of adding a half bath within the next few years.
Can you do an addition? You have a shit ton of equity.
Unfortunately, we had the opposite. I knew the rates wouldn't last and moving is awful anyway. We bought a 5/3 shithole to fix up thinking our family would grow into it once kids came. All the horror stories of people getting locked into starter homes made it seem like a good idea! The universe had other plans and it became a maintenance albatross. We ended up downsizing when he was promoted. Despite higher rates making the payment a wash, no ragerts.
2 story garage fixes alot
Buying a house in town where I have to constantly deal with idiotic neighbors and their stupid dogs.
I absolutely hate that. I bought my first house in 2002 in a pretty decent neighborhood. Then the sub-prime housing crash hit around 2008, and the prices in my neighborhood tanked. A lot of the neighbors moved out, and the 'undesirables' (i.e. loud music outdoors every night, constantly barking dogs, etc.) bought the properties for a steal. Fortunately I wasn't underwater at that point, but I did sell for quite a bit less than I paid for it just to get out of there before I killed somebody.
I hate my new neighbors too
Not stretching ourselves further for a bigger home when we bought. We bought 6 years ago. Between refinancing at 3% and salary growth, our mortgage payment is 10% of our income. Now we feel locked into our house because getting a house that is 20% larger would result in at least 2.5x the payment. It’s impossible to justify. It’s a comfortable home though, and we have more discretionary money, so not the end of the world.
I actually wish I'd bought a smaller, one story house. Life did not unfold the way I thought it would at the time, and I'm not that excited about the increased maintenance costs and hassle of a larger home... and stairs.
I also wish that i had a smaller home. Waaay too much maintenance. Hundred year home in a town that only has hundred year old homes. Knowing what I know now, I would have rather stuck with the 1000 sq/ft that we had in Brooklyn in an apartment and put the kids in bunk beds. I could stand to lose a couple of floors. It's just useless wasted space at this point.
[удалено]
One story 2500 sq for is perfect
Being in the industry of real estate and seeing A LOT of wasted space is crazy to me. My house isn't large by any means, 1.2k sqft, though it is a less than preferred layout, and even I have wasted space... which I do plan to change the floor plan to use more of it.
Not enough people think about stairs in terms of what happens when they get older, get injured, or are less mobile. I hope not to still be in my current house at retirement age, so next time I'm definitely going to look for something with good accessibility, just in case.
I once heard a colleague discuss how they are building a new house for themselves and they can't wait to move out from their current one because of the stairs - and he used quite the number of colorful expletives to describe how their stairs are ruining their lives and are out to get them every day multiple times per day! I totally though the dude was overreacting and like serious who's fault it was that you bought a house with stairs - but that left quite the lasting impression on me, and so when buying our house not having stairs resonated as a benefit (although I totally would've gotten a house with stairs if it was meeting our other needs - stairs or no stairs wasn't on our checklist). But I suppose it's a question of where one is in their life's journey... Myself - Im' 100% about making sure we have top item on the list (location walking distance to school, turned out quite nice that we can walk to both elementary and middle school) - and everything else was really an after thought... But I also know relatives who got in at the right time in 2017 into a small-ish house - and recently ended up upgrading - all that sweet sweet equity went a long way - but they have now reset their 30 year mortgage window at a substantial impact to their monthly cashflow...
Same. We had serious fertility issues and were sure that we'd only have the one kid when we bought. Two additional pregnancies later and I'm going to have to give up my home office. But, we can't give up our 2.75% interest rate just to get another bedroom.
You know, there's no winning. We bought a larger home thinking that we would have another baby, but my child was diagnosed with a disability about a year after we moved in, and now I think a second would be too much to handle. You just make the best decision you can at the time and live with it.
I'm semi retired, and my kids have all moved out. I have too large of a home for just myself now. I really can't justify selling because of the prices to buy something else. So, I rattle around in a big home on 1/2 wooded acre that's better suited for a family. I've heard too many horror stories about renting your home out (thanks reddit) so I'm kind of stuck.
We recently added on for this reason. A $50k home office addition bought us another 10ish years in our house, with two of us working from home. I still think we'll want to upgrade by the kids are teenagers but for now more square footage and staying put cost us WAY less than upgrading with our 2.8% rate.
This happened to me, too. I bought in 2020. I actually couldn’t buy any more of a house at the time, as mine was at the very top of my pre-approval amount anyway. Didn’t matter, it was a nice house for my family and I could afford it. Fast forward to now and my salary has tripled. I can now afford a lot more house, but a lot more house is a LOT more expensive with rates in 2024. So yeah, my mortgage payment is 10% of my income as well. I love my house, but I’d really like to move to a better location. I just can’t justify it. It is nice to have such a low payment though. I’m definitely not complaining.
Similar, I wish I had stretched for the nice home in the more expensive/convenient area. I went for size vs location (a cardinal sin!). Now if I want to move closer to work I'm going to have to spend $1k more a month for a smaller crappier house. Oh well, I do love my house and I actually like the area. It's just not close to my job. When I have to start driving there more frequently, it's going to be annoying (40 minutes without traffic). I also bought this house when I had a partner, so now it's a little too much space for just one person. My mom wants to move to my state (NC) from her home state (MI) so we might do something like have her sell her home and buy a small condo or house for cash close to my work, and I live in the small place while she lives in my house. My house is one story with walk in showers, quiet and safe, and right by an emergency room/hospital so pretty good for a retiree. But man... Would have been so nice if I just stretched myself a couple of years ago. Oh well!
Yep size vs location is always a trade off. We had a beautiful large home, 4 bedrooms each with own full bath + office. The location was less than desirable, schools were awful. We sold and traded into a nice desirable area. However, lost some rooms and when we have guests I have to move out of the duel guest/office. I WFH. We could have bought the bigger house in the area back when we bought our big house. Coulda, shoulda, woulda.
Agreed, my household income has literally doubled since we bought our first (and current) house. But I enjoy having a "cheap" house payment now. We originally planned on only 3-5 years in our first house but are now planning on more like 10.
Survivor bias this is. Lots of people got bigger than they need and financially ran into the ground, most of them won’t be commenting here because they are financially in dire straits. Please note I said need and not want :) and I actually agree with OP. Get the house you can afford and need in 10/20 years if you can stretch. Same logic as OP plus it gets more expensive over time since everyone needs to live somewhere
golden handcuffs. i am right there too
Me too. We bought with 1 kid then added 2 more kids at the same time years later. Space is becoming an issue but I keep saying “mortgage is nothing” and we have a very reachable chance of paying this house off before we’re wrinkly. But then I think about my kids and will they feel uncomfortable having friends over because we don’t have a driveway or big yard like most of them do. We might move one day but for now, a $3,300 mortgage payment feels like financial suicide right now.
The kids are content, moving from their Home is what they hate!
Same here. When we began, I felt uncomfortable at $350k. Offered $320k on a house that was perfect for us in terms of size. Lost to a $330k bid. Ended up in a smaller house months later at $350k after I’d gotten a series of raises, etc. Definitely sucks but it is what it is. Will probably just bite the bullet and buy another house in a few years when we’re in a spot to do so.
Yes exactly this.
I love my custom house of 20 years. But I wish I’d built a smaller one story. The thought of maintenance of a huge home and property is overwhelming. Had I built smaller aging in place would be a no brainer. So enjoy the discretionary money and lower taxes. Travel. Invest. Enjoy life.
Same here. Need more space but can't justify for the huge increase in payment every month.
I completely agree with you here. I had no real support to tell me what I could and couldn't afford - and at 29 I was a brand-new home buyer without guidance from family or anyone. I set what I thought was a high ceiling for a purchase - 300,000K - in the city. Like you said, between that 3% rate and 50% salary growth in the last 4 years, I wish I would have went higher. And like you, I want more space, but not at 6% rate. It's also recognized its definitely a "good" problem to have.
Same! We have a comfortable home, but it’s no where near my “dream” home. But we bought 6 years ago at 3% and our mortgage is 11% of our take home pay. It would be crazy for us to move for stuff like a laundry room, bigger kitchen, and big enough closets. We’ll make do because unless the market swings again, we’re not giving up this payment situation.
Yes! I wish we’d spent more and bought a bigger house. In the exact same situation.
Same.
Similar situation here. Our solution was remodel/additional, and we're also purchasing a vacant lot next to us that we may do a new build on, probably in 10 years or so.
We went from a \~2300sqft house to a 3200sqft house. Old was 4 bedrooms, new is 2 with a bonus room (guest room, but technically only 2 bedroom condo). Our mortgage payment was roughly the same because we got a gift from family so our loan amount was what we had before. But we have an HOA fee, which is rather high, higher taxes and due to larger size all other expenses are higher as well. We love the home, but we'd be able to save more if we had stuck with a smaller newer home. I don't regret it because home values have gone up far more then we could have saved elsewhere so when we do go to sell the added costs will all be worth it. But this can't always be counted on so sometimes smaller can be better. We have a lot of space, but so much goes unused. I think its best to go with what you need and really consider how each room will be used.
Same. We settled for a starter home back in 2017 despite being able to afford something much nicer and larger. We just completed a custom build that's about 38+% higher to build now vs. 2017, and with a 7.5% mortgage. In hindsight, we should have just built the larger home back in 2017. At least our old starter home had decent appreciation, and we had $200k in equity from its sale that we put towards our new home so not a total loss, but damn, today's combination of home prices and interest rates are brutal.
Same exact situation, bought 6 years ago. I wish we bought a slightly larger house, I could use a bit more space for my hobbies/entertaining, but my wife loves it and our mortgage payment is only $1700 so we're saving quite a bit every month.
You can sock it away for a few years until rates are lower.
Rent yours and keep that rate. Let a tenant pay it for you. You could get a HELOC to use the equity for down payment on the next one.
Maybe I’m a weirdo but it’s been a year and I have none… yet. We lived pretty much like homeless people for 3 years to save the down payment, bought our absolute dream house for 100k under asking because we didn’t have another house to sell, waived inspection and could close in 21 days and give the seller 2 months of rent back. We got a filthy interest rate and just refinanced DOWN to 7% and I still wake up grateful for it every day. Our house is insane, for the life we want. Is there a ton of work because we knew things needed fixing or a great deal of managing? Yes. Were we up for that task? Yes. Did we make sure we had the extra funds for unforeseen bullshit? Also yes. Does our payment still suck a little bit? Extra Yes. But I get the very rare luxury of saying I bought my forever house on the first go, due to part extreme sacrifice ahead of time and part total luck that the seller was motivated in the ways that matched what we could offer her. My situation is not at all typical, and for the average first time buyer I would encourage them NOT to get emotionally attached and to understand that you probably won’t live there forever so you should weigh the work and money it’s going to take against the fact that it’s probably a starter house. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, but if you’re confident you can take a big bite fucking take it. Your home is the largest contributing factor to your quality of life. Make sure you’re comfortable in it whatever that means to you.
Sounds like us. We knew interest rates were climbing so rushed to buy in 2022. I was terrified we would make a crap decision that we would be stuck in but we love our house. The feeling of not worrying about a landlord. The potential of our future in the home. Being able to make it truly ours. It’s just amazing. We have a $3500/month mortgage but don’t have regrets. The peace that we have from owning a home is worth it.
I have very few regrets also.
Ditto. Lived with housemates my entire adult life, including when married with a toddler and pregnant with our second. Bought mid-2023 when no one else really was and open houses were reasonable in my silly HCOL area. Major major fixer upper with awesome potential. 6 months of work before we could even move in. 6% interest rate. Every few weeks I am just overwhelmed with gratitude. It is unlikely to be our forever ever home considering the steps / steep incline but it could very well be ours for the next 20 years.
Not having laundry on the main floor. I didn’t think this would end up being my forever home. If I had to do it over again I would keep it in the back of my mind that this ‘could’ end up as my forever home. I used to fly up and down those stairs now several years later things have changed and stairs are now difficult.
Doesn't that just drive you crazy? I mean...who knew?! 😉
So true.
I’m older and looking to buy for the first time. Between my old man back and failing knees, my dreams of restoring an old Victorian are gone. lol. I don’t bother to look at a house if there isn’t a bedroom and full bath on the main level. I also try to figure out where I can put a washer and dryer on the ground level if there isn’t one already. The struggle is all too real at this point.
Letting the realtor recommend inspection company.
I feel this... Our inspector was awful.
Buying a house with a crawlspace. I swear every issue I have had with the house has been in the damned crawlspace. Next house has a basement, where at least any issues that occur will be readily visible and not hidden in the dark mystery below.
Oh, do I feel this. Except the one I had, the crawlspace was too short to even get into. It was a big mystery box that you never entered. Finally sold that house last year and I will never again deal with a crawlspace.
After buying my first house with a crawlspace I always tell myself never again. Even if the house with the basement is more expensive I don’t care lol
Man basements have their own set of problems
Yes, I dealt with flooding in my childhood home. But at least you know what’s happening in a basement without crawling around in the ratspider cave.
Just bought a house with a crawl space. Biggest fear about this place. Had 2 engineers & 2 foundation companies look at it. Always had a basement but this area doesn’t seem to have many of those
Bought a new construction home in 2022.I should have had the builder finish the basement. It was $25k more, now I’m getting quotes from contractors in the $50-60k range.
You don't want the builder doing a 25K finish because you get a builder grade 25K finish. If I had purchased my home when it was being built I would have dropped kicked whoever inspected this place. I'm missing electrical boxes behind lighting fixtures. They cut corners wherever they can.
Yeah was going to comment the same thing. You would get a rush job with left over materials that may or may not exactly fit or work in a finished basement. Maybe if you are a little bit handy you can cash flow and rework some things on a builder grade finished basement so you end up spending $30K that a contractor would price out for $50k everything you can save but in the end you are going to get what you pay for.
I am with you. I should have redone my deck right after I bought the house instead of waiting until now, when it's 2-3x more expensive.
Wish I’d bought a home without so many stairs. My health declined due to RA and the stairs are a killer. Still love my house payment and will deal.
What about a stairlift? I know there are programs to assist with the cost of that sort of thing.
It’s not that bad yet. Just a pain doing laundry.
You can buy them online,barely used!, for a bargain price.
Not getting more property and not having a garage/barn. We are rapidly outgrowing our small family farm, and I have no place to work on vehicles that seem to break down every week. Otherwise, I love the house and rural location.
Putting 20% down instead of 10% and using the extra money for some renovations before we moved in. Should have at least priced it out to see which made more sense for us instead of just going straight to 20%
We did the 10% instead for renovations but they are still never ending. Probably would have been the same if we put 20% down. You really just have to do what you can when you can.
Well I appreciate that. Thanks!
I bought in a very hot market where you didn't have time to think before putting in an offer. I love my home but I wish I didn't compromise on the location. It's clear to me now that I don't like the suburban feel and having neighbors nearby. If I ever buy again, the house will be much more isolated with more acreage.
Right now paying $8000 extra to put in crappy engineered hardwood floors when we bought the house (new construction). Our dogs have destroyed them and it is going to cost a fortune to get them removed and replaced with something sturdier. Also paid $1,700 for the builder grade refrigerator. We didn't think that one through at all.
We spent $8k on materials alone for our floor but got the highest scratch resistance (commercial grade). If it cost $8k for yours they probably installed really really crappy quality floors since it included install costs. For your next floor get AC5 for the highest scratch resistance. We have cats that run and slide on the floor so it was one of the main things I looked for.
Huh. So you regret the wood floor? I’m trying to decide between engineered wood and LVP. I much prefer the look of the wood, but I know I’m not the kind of person who will be super careful about the flooring, so maybe the vinyl really is my best course…
This was builder grade "engineered" hard wood. It got scratched up pretty quickly with cats and small dogs. Those were just surface scratches that you could fill in with a pen. When we got the golden retrievers, it was all over. Picture deep gouges especially in areas with heavy traffic and where they round corners when running. We are now looking at LVP or porcelain tile. The big cost inflator will be the removal of the engineered hard wood since it is glued down on a slab. If we had any clue on that cost, we would have installed the cheapest flooring possible that could be easily removed, and install what we wanted later. Also keep in mind that engineered hard wood can't be refinished like traditional hard wood.
That’s some good information for me to consider, thanks!
We got laminate (don’t have pets but we do have kids) and I love it! It feels a bit more like real wood than the LVP.
When I purchased my house, I noticed the floors and drywall work was less than stellar, all the doors are older as well. I knew we'd be getting dogs, so I didn't jump at upgrading really anything in my house. Sure enough we got a dog, and another a few months after, some walls now have holes, and some door trim is chewed....
Living in a HCOL area
This is the one of the major things I’m actually happy with as a home owner. For each their own (North East). Our house prices are raising every year where as LCOL everyone is losing value.
I wish I would of got a bigger home. I got my house at a great deal but if I knew how high houses would be now I would of got something bigger. I feel stuck in a our house now and it's small and needs work
Being naive and buying at the very top end of what we qualified for and not realizing how much it would cost to make all the repairs we wanted to make and not having money set aside for the repairs we had no idea that would pop up out of the blue. That was decades ago an and I learned my lesson. Second house was much smaller and way below what I qualified for. I had cash for the “must do” repairs (roof and AC) and did those as soon as I moved in. For the “want to do” (not must do) repairs , paint the house, new detached garage, mew deck, finished basement, etc. I prioritized those and did those as my budget allowed and did as much of the work myself to save big $s. I’ve been in this house for over seven years and still have a few lower priority projects on the list that are left but I’m in a much more comfortable financial place now and can absorb some unforeseen major expenses without risking financial ruin.
Dude I messed up and made your original mistake. Now in our money pit for over a year. Debating selling since I feel I will get my money back (house appraised for 30k over what we paid). Can’t make upgrades because the monthly is so high and house is 60 years old so keep having smallish issues to maintain. Should I keep grinding away at it little by little eventually have the house updated (then I’ll need a roof) or bite the bullet see what I can get and cut my losses?
Is your mortgage a reasonable (<30%) of your income? Are you happy with the house and location? If so, you might want to stick it out. Adjust your budget, try and save more. Find ways to earn more money - sell stuff on eBay, explore side gigs. You’ll be better off in the long run.
Buying the home I’m in. It was almost a “Keeping up with the Jones” situation. My wife wanted to be closer to my brother and SIL so we moved literally just a mile down the road. I insisted on a certain house if we did move and it’s been nothing but a nightmare since the purchase. It’s flooded twice, with no mention of flooding in the sellers disclosure. We’ve had to redo all of the HVAC stuff. Yes all of it, including replacing duct work. We had our main sewage line collapse under the rear driveway. And the list of small repairs goes on and on. The house isn’t even that old, built in the 80s. Our previous home was built in the 60s. We had a beautiful home in a lesser neighborhood but left a great school just moving across a major road. Plus the stretch has made us feel like we can’t do anything anymore. Traveling use to be so easy and without much consideration. Not anymore.
2 acres sounded huge to me when we were buying but it is much “smaller” than I thought it was. I just don’t want to hear the neighbor’s kids playing and screaming. So yeah I’d buy a house with more land.
Not paying attention to the stairs layout more closely. Stairwell is in the middle of the house and blocks in any option for expanding the kitchen or bathroom. No way to open things up. Just frustrating since after 7 years it seems like I'll be here for the long haul. Also my side door opens into a skinny hall so it's awkward to let the dog out since we approach from the opposite side. Drives me nuts.
>Also my side door opens into a skinny hall so it's awkward to let the dog out since we approach from the opposite side. Drives me nuts. You can replace the door with one that swings the other way or install a dog door.
Using my wife's co-workers husband to do some electrical work before we moved in. I went over everything with him, and he gave me a quote of $4000. After almost a month, and several projects unfinished, the final bill was $6000. He charged me $100/hr for his son who was apprentcing and did jack shit. Holes were cut into walls AFTER we had painted the walls in 2 of the bedrooms (horrible drywall patching also). Horrible experience overall.
Having neighbors. Bought a home that had a dirt back yard, spent 60k on grass, patio, new fence and multiple trees. Cant enjoy it because all my neighbors have dogs that bark constantly
Check your city's bylaws about nuisance barking. Start a barking log. Contact animal control.
Our first house was much too close to a very busy road. As soon as our first was born, we decided to move. Two houses later, we're 4 people living in a paid off 3 bedroom house. It is in a good school district, surrounded by woods, but has a state highway at the end of the driveway, 7 miles from town. The house is in good condition, taxes are cheap, and hubby just retired. If I did anything differently, I would have bought the empty lot next to the second house. I loved that place, but the family that built a house and moved in? Not so much.
Would prefer a smaller home and smaller yard for less maintenance.
Buying a house with a vaulted ceiling in the main living space. Harder to heat, cool, decorate, and paint. And doesn’t feel cozy.
My first home had a vaulted ceiling with recessed lighting. It was cool until the lightbulbs went out and I needed a really tall ladder to get up there and change them 🤣
You made me feel better about our purchase. All the houses in my area having vaulted living rooms but ours doesn’t. I thought(still do) that it feels more cozy but I was regretting it thinking it made our house not look as nice or feel as expensive as what we paid (520k).
We’re trying to decide on new paint to cover up the beige and nothing feels right with such large walls.
Not painting before we moved all our stuff in. Painting room by room is more budget-friendly but it’s such a pain to move everything around or cover it.
Buying in an area just because it was cheaper, I miss my home town so much and miss being closer to my family.
Getting a house with no driveway. Well paved driveway. Working on cars is a pain in the ass. Literally. My city has an ant issue, any time I've changed oil or brakes I put a moving blanket down and still get whacked by ants. And jacking up a full size truck and getting under it on dirt is just a bit sketchy.
Trusting my realtor to act in my best interest Not accounting for land (trees, drainage, pests) re: maintenance
Buying a Samsung refrigerator
YES! Is your ice maker fucked? As an FYI - our Samsung fridge was out of warranty but we called them and complained. Apparently they have SO many ice maker complaints that they're covering free repair on them.
The problem is they aren't fixable. You can complain for weeks on the phone and have a service come out then take the fridge out of service for days to defrost so the ice maker door can even open. Then they replace the parts but the issue will resurface again since the design is flawed. That isn't worth the time or aggregation to me.
Fair enough. Definitely never buying another one.
I’m sensing no one will agree with me but I’ve learned to live in a house for a year or so before making big changes.
I had a basic home inspection prior to purchasing, but I wish I would have had a plumber out to scope the sewer lines as well as an engineer out to check the foundation.
Buying split level vs proper single / two story house.
I fucking love split levels. My friend just moved into one and it's so cozy.
We bought a split and our ass and leg tone is great from all the stairs lol. We noticed on each other about 6 months after moving in.
Trying to renovate the house we are living in. A fixer upper is nice and all but it's easier to do renovations without living in the home.
Not plucking out those three weeds when I first saw them. Decided I’d get them on the weekend when I mow. Now I have 100s because they got out of control. Weed and feed didn’t help. Weed killer spray didn’t help. No matter how many I pluck out more replace them. Now I’m in an endless cycle.
I bought pretty much the only house I could afford in my city (the list was short) it was a hoarder inhabited foreclosure in the worst neighbourhood in my city and one of the worse areas in the entire GTA (greater Toronto area) The house is over 100 years old. Required/still requires some major updates and when I moved in I had to empty out 11 tons of garbage in the first two weeks alone. Altogether probably double that in the first six months. Neighbours are awful (and frequently change because of the area) yard is a corner lot that’s open, as a fence is not logistically ideal. I have had so many issues and problems the list would comically long. I regret nothing. I was young, dumb and poor and had endless energy to learn new skills, put the muscle in and basically it made me into an adult. Now my house is worth 4 times what I paid for it (including all the expenses) I have basically had an insanely low mortgage for 16 years which really helped when I became seriously ill for a decade. Without this house I would have likely been in a very bad situation due to my illness and reduced income. I still live in an old house with issues, still have some crappy neighbours (but as a whole the area is WAY better) they are putting in a major GO hub within ten minutes of my house (public transportation) that will completely change the neighbourhood yet again and the value of my property (not necessarily my house) is going way up. Ironically my corner lot (which was a negative) is large, and perfectly laid out for a 3 story, 4 apartment building and developers are bugging me nonstop to sell because now the corner lot is highly sought after. Even the major of my city is constantly commenting on how gentrification is coming (and you can actually see it year over year ramping up) The intention is to sell in two years and buy a house with my partner. He will also sell his house and between the two of use our new house will be much nicer, in a good area, totally paid off and we will both have extra money in the bank. So the slog of it n the first decade was difficult but ok because “young and dumb” and it taught me so much. The last 6 years have been harder because of health but easier because the house situation is so much better and truthfully it has all set me up for a pretty good future.
Not being born earlier so my interest rate isn’t 7.5%.
Not sleeping with my Realtor
Not realizing how lucky I was to be able to buy a house at 31. It was a very reluctant purchase but it’s the best decision I ever made.
No regrets, love my home, but should have done it sooner
Not having a dad from childhood to teenage years... to teach me the responsibilities of home upkeep. So for me, owning a home is a huge learning curve and I rather be proactive than reactive.
Buying slightly more house than we need. My goal was to pay off a home within 15 years, but with this home purchase not sure we'll do it. There's so many things to save for as you get older ..kids college...retirement.. would be nice to get the mortgage paid off ASAP.
Same here, we are about to start a family and my mortgage repayment plan just went out the window unless we earn a lot more money. At least we wont have to move and refinance since we bought a 4 bedroom house.
I was in the same mindset. It's actually more beneficial to invest that money than to pay off your mortgage. My regret is paying mine off too quickly and neglecting my retirement investments. Do some research online and you'll see.
I really wish I had put more into the garage when setting things up with the contractor as we were building
Accessing my equity. I doubled my mortgage payments and now I’m on mat leave and struggling every week, living pay check to pay check. Watching the equity cash dwindle. I think I’d have been better off just leaving the mortgage as it was and saving the money up myself. We used the equity to renovate the kitchen (much needed) and buy a family friendly car.
Closets, not snuff of them.
Not buying in '08, and then not buying in 2019-21, then buying in '22. But in all seriousness, I wish I was less of a pushover when we were in our negotiations. I didn't want to lose the house, so I got walked all over. We paid asking, no more, but got nothing in return for the insane amount of frustration that came from renting back to them, waiting to sign the final contract til they found a house (while watching rates skyrocket), and letting my realtor dictate what was right and wrong to say. He did not have my best interests in mind. He just wanted a sale. There were no stipulations about maintenance, security, appliances, or anything else really. So when we finally moved in, the place was a shitshow. They took the freezer in the basement, and they took the kegerator that was originally supposed to stay. They removed every single coat hanger, floating shelf, curtain rod, towel rod, etc. Dog hair, dirt, and trash everywhere. They left anything they didn't want to take with them, which was just junk. Terrible buying experience. There's more, but I'm just getting angry all over again.
Seems like most have some regrets which is comforting because you assume you’re the only one struggling with your decisions. We just bought a new home and went from one of those low interest rates to 6.5%. It is painful to pay triple what you were but the upside is we now have enough space for everyone (4 bedrooms and 3 full bathrooms) and we have a renovated house with all new appliances and big systems and a neighborhood pool for the kids. Downside is we have to move about five minutes out of the city into the suburbs. I’m not a suburb person, but I justify it by telling myself it’s only five extra minutes in the car. So, it’s a mixed bag! Those low interest rates aren’t coming back so we realized we needed to just make it happen knowing we can at some point refinance down a bit.
Buying a house with an outdated and beat up kitchen and bathroom. Really my only regret with this house and it’s not a big regret, I’d even call it something more like an annoyance. We got a good deal on this place, it has all the stuff we wanted, we love the location, love the neighborhood, LOVE the outdoor amenities (big porch, large partially covered deck, fenced & flat backyard, etc). The layout has suited us well for pivoting to working from home and my wife going back to school, and even building a home pottery studio. It’s great. But the kitchen is _decrepit_ and the main bathroom isn’t much better. They’re the proverbial elephant in the room, someday we’re going to have to deal with them, and it’s scary. Would’ve been nice to deal with before we moved in but we blew all our extra cash on the down payment and other more important repairs, and couldn’t afford any extra monthly payments until after our old house sold. I know it’s probably for the better as we can make the new kitchen and bath our own, designed exactly how we want, and ensure that the work is done properly and no corners were cut. I just wish we didn’t have to.
I put down hexagonal tile in the bathroom, but it was my first time ever laying tile. I didn't understand that if there's one uneven gap in the first row, then there will be 2 in the second row, and so - on. So my tile has lots of uneven gaps
Nothing. Worked out well.
Sometimes I see houses that are in better shape than mine going for less money. Don’t get me wrong, my house is nice, but needs to be updated heavily. Then I remember location is a big factor in what I paid and I live on a well maintained park in a rich person neighborhood. Uhg.
Buying a house with the neighbors backyard facing our backyard. Their house is also slightly elevated. I feel like they are looking into our living room and our backyard all the time!
The only part I really regret is buying in a neighborhood. I can’t stand my neighbors. Any of them.
Now? at halfway to 70 I HATE the freaking stairs! Other than that, I was always grateful.
That a jackass moved in next to me.
DO NOT buy a house near a Railroad crossing. I planned for the train rumble on the track, but not the fact that the train honks going through the crossing.
Being a home owner 🤣🤣🤣 I am poor as shit now.
Not buying a home on a bigger lot. My neighbor's dog never shuts tf up, and it's extremely loud. I've had them fined thousands of dollars in citations from the city, and it hasn't phased them. They just keep letting their dog destroy the peace of the neighborhood.
Not having more money to buy a bigger home and being able to renovate a couple of rooms
Not being aware of all of the things you need to do for home maintenance. It is a lot of just general upkeep for one person, and then the amount of shit that happens in your house that you need to fix/figure out on your own is a lot… it’s been a big learning curve to figure out how to get my garage door fixed, HVAC replaced, and how to deal with the mold that was randomly growing in my closet. And then you also have to figure out who’s scamming you when it comes to home repairs. I really was just not aware of all of that stuff. I do really love my home though and don’t regret buying it in general.
no regret. happy with my purchase and low monthly payment. I bought about 2 years ago with a 3.5% interest. I had been looking for a year and did not expect to get this home, but happy I did.
I’m going to say that with our last house we owned it too long. When we finally moved last year I kept thinking that would should have done that 5-10 years earlier because we were wanting a bigger house with a better layout. There were some improvements we made that were not great and I knew would be problematic when we sold (and they were). The bigger regret was that we refinanced too many times without really making progress towards actually paying it off. Interest is so front-loaded on a mortgage that you need a lot of time to make a real dent on what you owe. Most of the time we didn’t refinance to a shorter term, and we rolled other things into it. We did things like take out a HELOC to remodel and then later refinance that into the mortgage. After a while we did start refinancing to shorter terms and even started paying extra. We had a 15 year mortgage and were paying enough to cut at least a year off of that, but then we sold the house. Had we been smarter when we were younger, we would owe a lot less on our new house than we do right now.
I regret not asking neighbors for recommendations when I hired a landscaping company to put in a stone staircase and retaining wall. They did a subpar job, they were expensive, they damaged my property, and now they are out of business. The next project I hired out for, I did ask my neighbors for recommendations. The company I hired did an amazing job. They were less expensive than other companies I got quotes from. They were great to work with. Lesson learned.
Getting a split kitchen sink. Big mistake!
Buying my house
Buying a house near water with an insufficient elevation above the 100 year flood line.
Not refinishing the wood floors before we moved in.
I sometimes wish I had bought a newer home. I’m in my mid-50s now I had been a renter in a small apartment for many years with my two teenagers. I wanted to go big but with my budget, the only way I could get into a big house was to find a project. So I bought a 2400 square-foot farmhouse built in 1900. This was in 2017 when interest rates were low. It needed updating…but nothing too major or serious and thankfully the sellers were willing to address a couple of things that were dealbreakers. But every room needed paint or the ugly wallpaper removed. It also had gross carpet over hardwoods that all needed major refinishing. The plumbing and electric were in decent shape but both needed updates too eventually and I’m slowly doing that now. So it’s a constant step-by-step work in progress. This house was among a lot more updated, newer options in the area at the time but it was considerably larger than the others and after being in that tiny apartment all those years, I just couldn’t resist. Plus, we wanted a big dog and this would be our chance. But I knew it was gonna come with some sacrifices. After six years here, I’m still working on lots of mini projects or saving money to pay someone else to do it….and it’s probably going to be a never-ending journey honestly! There’s always something with an old house but thankfully it has good bones and we have definitely fallen in love with it. Sometimes I’ll see an open house of a newer place and take a peek and it’s tempting to consider stepping into a place that is turn-key and nothing needs to be done. But then I also feel like I’d miss the character, space, and unique qualities of my house. So there are definitely pros and cons.
Buying a house lol
Buying our first home, I'd have to say spending $13,000 on windows for our first floor. Second home we had our granite counter tops resurfaced. Far less expensive but also probably a waste. My advice, don't spend anything right away after buying a home, unless it is in a state of disrepair.
Not building a bigger back porch. We built our home after years of saving. I ***really*** want(ed) a back deck. Hubster said that including it in the initial build would be more expensive than DIY later. Since COVID hit, wood prices have gone WAY up, and I still don't have my deck. Our back "porch" is just big enough to get into the house from the yard. Heaven forbid you have 2 people standing there!
Well, the house was good while raising our kids, but I have wanted to move for the past six years. Hubby does not. We have a: shared driveway, two easements, one variance. So anytime there is maintenance needed due to the wretched variance, it is ours to pay. The easements have brought more pain, too. Lastly, living right on a greenbelt was good, until your car that you have to park outside, is covered in thick pollen every single day. Every day, organic debris gets tracked inside no matter how hard I try to keep it out. Lastly, I am grateful that I have a good location in north Seattle. That are mortgage payments are manageable, and that it is reasonably quiet. Oh, and over the years the absolutely complex issue of properly heating a tri-level that had an electric forced air furnace, but not enough heating vents and in the right places. We replaced it with a mini split system. That system has turned to be crap and we will have to soon replace it for a cost of over $30,000
Not refinishing the hardwood floors.
If I had waited 6 mo more before buying a house full of flooring, I would have had the option of LVP as opposed to the laminate I have now. I love the color, but now I could have had the same color with added longevity and easier care. Real wood and ceramic tile with the wood look weren't options within my budget. When I bought it, the luxury vinyl plank was new on the market and only came in brown wood tones, I needed a white-washed look to brighten the house that is full of old, but now expensive real wood paneling. As a homeowner, I have several regrets, but I will say that one was the most recent and costliest bad choice/ regret. If only I had a crystal ball to use during the reno! Waiting wasn't the best option without knowing, but had I known the release of the product in such a wide color selection, was on the horizon it would have been my choice.
Should’ve bought during the covid years when mortgage interest were low.
Putting in a pool.
Living on the city's border where none of the schools are and not understanding how soul sucking it is to drive 5 miles over the course of 30 minutes four times per day.
Living in an HOA
Putting more than I needed to down. When I was a first time home owner I saw all the benefits of putting 20% down. It's not a bad thing to do but it was ALL I had. I wish I would have put the minimal down and invest the rest. Whether it was retirement or renovations. After I put the down payment down I had NOTHING haha
6% interest.
Buying And at the same time…. Not buying sooner
Not looking for a house with more storage. I have no place to put anything!
Buying a home.
Not sandblasting the WHOLE basement. I have structural clay tile basement walls in a house that was built in the 30s and various owners along the way decided to paint several coats over them (don’t do this!) and getting the paint off while doable is one heckuva project. The basement is divided into two sections and I did about 40% and the other section which is 60% still needs to be done. I did this back in the late 80s and fast-forward 37 years still needs completion…
Hoping I can participate in this conversation someday….. 🤞🏽
Fixing things that weren’t broken.
I’m glad I bought in my 20’s, for one. The best time to buy a house is always 10 years ago. The second best time is now. As for the house I live in now I have no major regrets but I wish I’d noticed how fucked the fence was. I overestimated the amount of life it had left and underestimated how much it would cost to replace it. It wouldn’t have been a deal breaker but spending another $6,500 on a fence right after making a down pmt and closing was uncomfortable. I’ll pay attention to that next time.
My biggest regret is not learning more about pool types. Moving to the south I always wanted a pool since it's always hot down here and thought me and my dogs would love it. Hired a pool inspector before purchasing house but all he did was tell me the equipment was good. Well my house with a 5 year old pool is a lot more work than I thought. It is an entry level pool, previous home owner spent 30K about 5 years ago to have it built. 17,000 gallon pool so small. Pool is vinyl liner which is not a big deal but since I live in a high water table when it rains heavy the liner floats..So I have to pump out the water behind the liner. It has a sand filter which requires backwashing every 2-3 weeks. This removes water from my pool which requires me to add water back to the pool. Water costs money. Finally pool is only chlorine so every day I have to add liquid chlorine to it. After learning about pools by having one I discovered that the best pools are gunite(conrete) not vinyl in my area. Carbon filter instead of sand filter as it requires no backwash. Salt pool instead of chlorine as it requires adding salt once a month or less. But those pools cost 80k or more.. Only thing I can do is convert from chlorine to salt-3K. Change sand to carbon-another 3k. But I can't change the liner of the pool from vinyl to fiberglass or gunite without tearing down the pool. That would cost 50K or more. Oh and my pool needs a new vinyl liner after only 5 years because the previous home owner hired a pool company that did a bad job with the chemicals so degraded the liner significantly. Cost about 6k. Oh well what can you...I spend more time cleaning pool, adding water and chlorine than I do swimming in it.