This post got me so inspired I had to link with it in today’s Funny about Money post, which spins off from your story.

If I’ve learned one thing from all of this, it’s to never fully trust your real estate agent or the people they recommend, because it’s better for them that the deal gets done (and that you pay as much as possible).

I’m really, really eager to get started on fixing stuff, even though its not the most convenient time. I don’t want to end up with worse problems due to neglecting the house for five years. But once I get started on home projects, it’s so easy to get carried away! I’m hopeful my house will be great once we get all the fixes done, because we’ll probably be here a while.

Actually (thank god) we don’t have widespread foundation problems in this part of town. They’re all out in the fringe suburbs, where builders blithely tossed up houses on caliche–poorly compressed caliche–which expands when water soaks into it. Expensively.

But after moving into the House from Hell (whose previous owners, Satan and Proserpine, were happy handypersons…never, ever, EVER buy a house from a do-it-yourselfer!), I learned one major Life Lesson:

Go right ahead and pay the fee for your real estate agent’s pal, the home inspector. He or she will say nothing very serious is wrong, because few new jobs emanate from Realtors whose sales have been queered by inconvenient truths. Meanwhile, tell the agent and the seller that the sale is contingent on inspections by YOUR tradesmen. Then hire your favorite plumber, electrician, roofing dude, and HVAC guy to come and look at everything.

And figure that in the first year of residence in a resale house you will spend 10% to 15% of the house’s purchase price in repairs and upgrades.

After you’ve replaced the roof, the water heater, the leaking refrigerator, the defective dishwasher, the seeping faucets, the toilet that doesn’t flush, the carpet whose saturation with dog pee was disguised by the perfume laid down by the professional carpet cleaners who came in two days before you saw the place, the watering system that doesn’t water, the “fire door” with a hollow core, the out-of-code plumbing under the bathroom sink, the pool cleaner whose bizarre thumping noise permeates the house (how??), the handsome kitchen countertop whose DIY redesign left too little room to prepare a meal that doesn’t come out of a pizza box, the dinky kitchen sink, the insane tree that turned into something from The Little House of Horrors, the Romax wiring draped over the garage door opener, the garage door opener that falls off its fastenings onto your vehicle, the garage door springs (while you’re at it), the…the…huh? Running a little long? Oh, sorry. Well, you get the idea. Ten or 15 percent is a modest estimate.

I will say this, though: with all that stuff done, the place has run pretty much trouble-free with very little extra expense over the past five years. So there’s hope. I guess.

When my son & I copurchased a house as an investment, I insisted on having all the tradesmen who had worked on the H from H inspect the new shack. That’s when I learned that a buyer has a right to have ANY NUMBER of inspections on a house. So, if they tell you otherwise, turn and run.

Mike -
You sound like a seasoned home owner! Everyone always told me houses are expensive and you’re never really finished working on them, but I didn’t listen…

Mike

You don’t mention how much the house is worth, but if it’s a $200,000 house, then you should expect to spend $2K to $4K per year.

-mr. stupid

Luckily, I just found out I’m getting my 1Q bonus on Friday and it’s $2100, which is about $1500 more than normal. So between that, the emergency fund and the economic stimulus, it shouldn’t add too much time to our plan.

I’ll post an update once the engineer comes out.

And Rachel - you could be right. Some PF bloggers say renting is indeed cheaper than buying - they prefer to invest the money.