18 Homeowners Share The Crucial Things They Wish They Would've Known Before Moving Into Their First House

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mattstaff
Jan 11, 2019 7:00 PM EST

The only person you're hurting when you don't ask ALL the questions during the inspection of your hopeful house, is yourself! That would seem to be the overriding theme here with these homeowners who gained their wisdom through experience, and isn't that very experience just another name for our mistakes. So, let's learn from them with these homeowning life hacks, if we ever scrap together enough money to buy homes of our own. 

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  • 01
    Text - LevelOneTroll 4h Here's a list because just picking out one thing is silly: 1. How amortization works and why banks love 30 yr term loans. 2. How PMI works and why down payments are important. 3. Have a cushion in your savings account to take care of unexpected expenses. 4. Know what the property looks like after several rainy days. 5. In a subdivision, a dead end road that leads to an empty field means it's possible you'll have 100 more neighbors living downstream from you in a few years
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 02
    Text - whomp1970 5h The placement of the house on the property is very important. We bought a house on a corner lot. The house was not situated in the middle of the property, rather at the far back of the property. So we had the large property (which we wanted), but all of it was front yard. Virtually no backyard. And you can't put a swimming pool, or trampoline, or swingset in the front yard.
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 03
    Text - Devonai 5h Whether or not the first floor had any insulation in the walls. Spoiler: It didn't.
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 04
    Text - Yossi25 5h I'm not the handyman I think I am. Fixing stuff is expensive and hard.
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 05
    Text - Crusha79 5h Pay attention to the grade of the yard. Where is the water going to flow or pool if it rains. Water issues are the worst.
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 06
    Text - MrLuxarina 4h The fact that most of the plumbing had been done amateurly by the previous owner. The bathroom sink leaked into the fuse box in the cellar, and the downstairs radiator doesn't work at all because the pipes were laid the wrong way around. Frankly, if they hadn't changed their phone numbers and conveniently forgotten to leave a forwarding address to the building's HOA, l'd have a mind to take them to court for misrepresenting the property.
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 07
    Text - BanjoFarted 4h A house is all about angles. Some builders like softer rounded molding and corners, others are more sharp and flat. Why is this important? Well cleaning, painting, hanging things, repair. Dust will sit on flat molding and it never seems to clean off. When fixing drywall, sometimes these angles matter. It seems like an odd thing to consider, but just look at that house and imagine painting it or cleaning it. Also open floor plans are just that, open. If you have kids, you he
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 08
    Text - Ron_Fuckin_Swanson 4h Right before I put in an offer on my house...my best friend told me to ask the seller if they will leave the refridgerator, washer, and dryer "It never hurts to ask" he told me That was over 10 years ago and Im still using the fridge, washer, and dryer that was left by the seller. All 3 are still running strong (knock on wood) and it really helped me out because at the time, I would have ended up buying really shitty appliances because I put all my money into the dow
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 09
    Text - smurfytwostep 4h That the down payment and mortgage is the cheap part, not the end goal. In an apartment, you generally never spend more than rent, utilities, etc. When owning a house, mortgage is the bare minimum and the sky is the limit.
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 10
    Text - humanbinchicken 5h Do not engage a building inspector recommended by the agent trying to sell the house. Go with someone independent that will be honest about all the problems. Attend the property inspection and physically view everything the inspector brings up as an issue.
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 11
    Text - ballsosteele 4h Biggest life tip I can hand over: Flush the goddamn toilet if you're viewing a property.
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 12
    Text - ConCons_Husband 5h that I wouldn't be working for the same company 5 years later. one of the reasons we bought our first home was because it was close to work. but was a long drive to the other jobs I had later.
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 13
    Text - trackedonwire 6h After my mom bought her townhome, I ventured into the crawlspace to discover leaking hot water pipe had rusted thru both top and bottom of underlying heater duct, the resulting moisture and heat making it desirable for the termite colony that had moved into the subfloor. This was just inside the crawlspace access door in the garage, glaringly visible, but checked off on Real Estate inspection report. Always get a second inspection prior to closing.
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 14
    Text - carryablgstick 5h I would say, don't buy a home that was re-done by a "fixer upper" or DIY person. They all suck and none of them know what they're doing.
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 15
    Text - Ohsoeasy 5h Use a well established, reputable company if you need improvements, repairs or maintenance. Never hire a handyman. I found that out the hard way when I got burned on a deck
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 16
    Text - Y3VKZGXI 5h How much everything costs. Just general maintenance. Bills and mortgage are known and predictable, but then there's broken boilers, washing machines, fridges, paint, random tools, and all sorts of other stuff that just adds up really quickly
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 17
    Text - Now YouzeCant Leave 5h That the 9 year old next door liked heavy metal And that he was going to get a guitar for his 10th birthday. And that 14 he'd be in a band that practices in his garage. But his dad drives a snowplow and I havent touched a shovel 5 years. "Sounds great Tyler! You guys are really coming together!"
    via u/liftlikegaston
  • 18
    Text - bufflesharts 5h To have an in general knowledge of what to look for when I walk through the house. There were a lot of small issues that gradually became bigger issues that I had to fix. Between all the personal stuff going on in my life and those issues, I'm almost caught up and I've owned the house for 2 yrs now. Leaking valves, wiring issues, evidence that the sewer line had tree roots growing in it, random janky fixes, etc. and the previous homeowner cleaned only where you can see and
    via u/liftlikegaston

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