Terrified our home will be a money pit

[goaskalice]

All I've got for you is my parent's story. They bought in the 80s for about 200k. They've redone the kitchen twice, added an entire wing, and will tackle the master before they eventually sell. They've probably put 200k into it, but it would sell for 800k easily. Plus it provided an amazing place for us to grow up and now a wonderful place to come home to for holidays.

[hamster]

Feb 1, 2013 18:25:14 GMT -5 @bluesky said:

Feb 1, 2013 18:21:04 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

I wish I could lie to you, but there will always be something when it comes to owning a house.

I guess I just don't get why when I was living in my childhood home, my parents rarely had to do anything.  Maybe a new roof in 15-20 years, and maybe a minor plumbing issue every 5-10 years.  If I'm remodeling the entire house, I was just really hoping it would be ok for a decade or two   We will save up accordingly, but it makes me wonder if we are in for more than we expected.  By the way, its our second home, but we also paid a little fortune to remodel our first home to sell it.

It really all depends on the house. Our first house we spent $1500 to have some trees it. There were a couple small things, but that's really it. Our current house we've spent 7k on a deck, have 5k on a fence, it needs landscaping, a new heater, and cosmetic updates like a new bathroom, new flooring, new paint, etc. It sucks, and we were so spoiled the first time around. 

[sillygoosegirl]

Remember how, when you were a kid, it took like a million years to get from your birthday all the way around to Christmas? (Or I guess vice versa if you had a late December birthday.) Your parents probably did maintenance more often than you remember.

[mrsfarmer]

Our house we will be selling shortly was built in 1880 but really has not been bad. We knew some of the stuff we would need to do, and we really haven't had nothing else really come up.

[Deleted]

If it's your forever home, what's the rush? Most of what you're doing sounds cosmetic.

[IIOY]

Feb 1, 2013 18:49:12 GMT -5 sillygoosegirl said:

Remember how, when you were a kid, it took like a million years to get from your birthday all the way around to Christmas? (Or I guess vice versa if you had a late December birthday.) Your parents probably did maintenance more often than you remember.

This.  I was complaining to my mom a while back about how much work our new construction home requires (we've now been in it just over 8 years) and how she and my stepdad never had to do any work on the house.  She just laughed at me.  Meanwhile, my stepdad now makes a point of sending me a lengthy, descriptive email every single time he has to do some sort of repair around their new construction dream home.

Eventually you will reach a point where you aren't pouring tens of thousands of dollars into your home every year.  However, there will always be something that needs to be fixed or upgraded.  That is the nature of home ownership.

[imojoebunny]

I get how you feel. We bought a vacation house that was a foreclosure, Every month sense, my credit card bill has been 6-10k, between furnishing, renovations, and repairs. We still have about $26k to go, but even with it all added up, we still paid $60k less than any similar home on the market, and we will have it exactly as we like when we are done. It is hard to swallow day after day spending all that money, but the alternative was paying 25-30% more for essentially the exact same house.

[lindyanne]

Our home is 4 years old (we built). I just spent $900 fixing two toilets and our garbage disposal. If you don't want to pay maintenance then don't own a home. It comes with the territory. There will always be something especially when you live in one house so long. I fully expect to renovate at least our kitchen and master bathroom while we live in this house.

[cosmowife]

We've had a ton of several thousand dollar repairs and/or expenses pop up since we "finished" our renovation. And now we are having issues with our roof which is only 7 years old, and the inspector said was in great condition. It will be $20k or more to replace, and we just don't have the money anymore.

[Deleted]

Feb 1, 2013 18:21:04 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

I wish I could lie to you, but there will always be something when it comes to owning a house.

I don't know. In 12 years of home ownership, we have not had to spend anything over and above regular maintenance. Minimal costs overall so far.

[IIOY]

Feb 1, 2013 21:17:18 GMT -5 @gingersb said:

Feb 1, 2013 18:21:04 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

I wish I could lie to you, but there will always be something when it comes to owning a house.

I don't know. In 12 years of home ownership, we have not had to spend anything over and above regular maintenance. Minimal costs overall so far.

I'm not trying to be Debbie Downer, but eventually you are going to have a larger-than-expected repair because twelve years of home ownership with only minimal maintenance costs is the exception, not the rule. Then again, your definition of "minimal" may be broader.

[chessie]

Sigh, we have owned our home for 7 years, not a day/weekend goes by there is some project, whether cosmetic or repair. We spend quite a bit on this house and many times we have to give up other things, such as events out, vacations, etc to save for more repairs.

My parents first house, they bought in the late 70's, they put 50k into it, had bought it for 20k- they always did some sort of repair/remodel. Also with the codes changing, many times you have no choice.  My town has changed electrical standards outside 2 times.

[chessie]

Feb 1, 2013 21:17:18 GMT -5 @gingersb said:

Feb 1, 2013 18:21:04 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

I wish I could lie to you, but there will always be something when it comes to owning a house.

I don't know. In 12 years of home ownership, we have not had to spend anything over and above regular maintenance. Minimal costs overall so far.

Really depends on the type of house, we talking new construction, houses built in mid 90's that just need facelifts? Or houses, that need repairs?  At some point they all do and you need supplies/tools.  First year alone was 15k out the door easy.  My biggest advice is you aren't handy, and dont want to spend lots of money on repairmen, get a new construction home or something that is more up to date.  Our house was built early 70's, everything was falling apart.  Just last month pipes in the bathroom went through the wall. Thankfully DH can fix this without spending huge amounts, but I would say at least 25% of our monthly income goes to this lovely house of ours. 

[gt7301b]

I think we end up spending 2-3K every year on something related to our home. That being said, I am one of the lucky ones who was able to sell her first home for a profit.

[Deleted]

We did something similar. When we were looking at houses, it came down to two: one older, less expensive house that would need a pretty extensive renovation and the other more expensive, but newer house. We decided to go with #1 because we loved the neighborhood (closer to the city, very walk able, sidewalks, mature trees, not a cookie cutter development, etc.) and some of it's interior charm. We bought it for 250k and are putting about 150k into it. Living through a renovation like this is not exactly fun as I'm sure you know but I'm pretty sure we'll love it when it's done because it's turning into exactly what we envisioned.

I'm sure things will pop up when we're done (although I can't imagine what because by the time we're done the roof, siding, windows, exterior doors, HVAC system, bathrooms, kitchen, and floors will all be brand new) but so would they in the newer house. That's just what happens when you own a home.

All of this to say, I don't think you're crazy at all. Or maybe we're both crazy?