I bought a house, and a whole house of problems

[Callie]

Last fall I posted asking for tips in house hunting. My realtor and I were able to find almost exactly what I was looking for. Two bed townhouse in my low end price range, ad the monthly payments with everything is less than I even asked for as well!

The fun started after purchased. Upon them moving out, I could see the walls needed a lot of work due to excessive big screw holes, they had also hidden some drywall damage from water previously. They also hide where they painted over wallpaper with decor. My realtor was nice enough to pay for the entire downstairs to be patched and sanded. I then hired someone to paint that.

I painted all of the rooms and closets upstairs and determined I needed new carpet too. Once that got ripped out, I discovered there was pet urine damage on the floorboards and rotted tackboards. I had to oil prime the entire floors twice, and have them redo the tacking. I also discovered a broken step that cost a ton of be replaced due to the construction style.

I finally have everything done and I'm so happy. A lot more work than I planned on. The painting was a LOT of work. I plan on posting some before and after pictures too.

 

[low-key]

you dont have to do everything at once, take time to just enjoy

 

[Jennasis]

The joys of home ownership!

 

[Southernmiss]

Adulting like a boss!

 

[ronandannette]

you dont have to do everything at once, take time to just enjoy

Sometimes you do. We took possession of our current place 3 weeks before we moved in and did a complete cosmetic reno (all new flooring, paint, tile splashes in the bathroom & kitchen, replaced all the doors and hardware, light fixtures, baseboards and casings) during that time. We budgeted for it when we purchased and wanted everything 100% with no piddling around for months or years.

 

[bobbiwoz]

You now deserve a rest and a time to enjoy your new home!

 

[tvguy]

Did you have an inspection done before closing escrow? I would expect an inspector to catch at least some of those things so that you can have the seller fix them.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Did you have an inspection done before closing escrow? I would expect an inspector to catch at least of those things so that you can have the seller fix them.

That is what I wondered too.

 

[lynxstch]

A good home inspection should have caught most of those things. Also when we closed on our house, we had our realtor put a clause in that some money was to be left in an escrow account, just in case problems arose, which they did. It saved us a lot of time, worry and money.

 

[mrodgers]

Sometimes you do. We took possession of our current place 3 weeks before we moved in and did a complete cosmetic reno (all new flooring, paint, tile splashes in the bathroom & kitchen, replaced all the doors and hardware, light fixtures, baseboards and casings) during that time. We budgeted for it when we purchased and wanted everything 100% with no piddling around for months or years.

Nope, statement is false. You can and did chose to do all that, but you didn't have to do all that at once.

 

[Callie]

I did have a home inspection and they caught a lot of stuff that we got fixed. The holes in the wall were because they had a lot of heavy items hanging on the walls. It was a cosmetic thing, and I figured it could be patched. I just didn't realize how extensive it would be.

The broken step was difficult because it was covered up by carpet and no damage was visible until the carpet got ripped out. You could see a crack running thru it. I don't think home inspectors generally rip up carpet to look underneath. Same with the pet damage, it was all hidden by furniture and under the carpet. I also couldn't catch wind of the scent unless you were sitting on the floor.

Thankfully the home inspector did catch a lot of plumbing and electrical things that I got fixed. Just hoping for nothing else major to come up.

 

[ronandannette]

Nope, statement is false. You can and did chose to do all that, but you didn't have to do all that at once.

It wasn't exactly a matter of life-or-death, but then again not much really is. We work in residential construction and for the sake of economy and efficiency, establishing a construction schedule and driving it to completion is way easier in a home that's vacant. Our trades are expert in seamlessly coming together to complete their scopes (when they're scheduled correctly), but they are not accustomed to working around the limitations of having a family in residence.

@Callie - I couldn't imagine the inconvenience of having the flooring replaced. I hope it went as smoothly as possible for you. I bet now that you've had a chance to personalize the decor to your taste it feels much more like home. Enjoy!

 

[Hrhpd]

Last fall I posted asking for tips in house hunting. My realtor and I were able to find almost exactly what I was looking for. Two bed townhouse in my low end price range, ad the monthly payments with everything is less than I even asked for as well!

The fun started after purchased. Upon them moving out, I could see the walls needed a lot of work due to excessive big screw holes, they had also hidden some drywall damage from water previously. They also hide where they painted over wallpaper with decor. My realtor was nice enough to pay for the entire downstairs to be patched and sanded. I then hired someone to paint that.

I painted all of the rooms and closets upstairs and determined I needed new carpet too. Once that got ripped out, I discovered there was pet urine damage on the floorboards and rotted tackboards. I had to oil prime the entire floors twice, and have them redo the tacking. I also discovered a broken step that cost a ton of be replaced due to the construction style.

I finally have everything done and I'm so happy. A lot more work than I planned on. The painting was a LOT of work. I plan on posting some before and after pictures too.

Congratulations on the new house. Sounds like you had a great realtor who helped mitigate some of the problems your inspector missed. I think urine damage and bad decorating can be pretty common in resales if the previous owners had pets. The worst is cat urine that was masked during showings. Yuk!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

did have a home inspection and they caught a lot of stuff that we got fixed.

I think people might have been asking about a home inspection because it sorta sounded like you closed on the home and then found issues and it was like the previous homeowners were purposefully hiding things like the water damage or the painted over wallpaper with decor (I'm a bit confused on that statement TBH), etc.

Same with the pet damage, it was all hidden by furniture and under the carpet. I also couldn't catch wind of the scent unless you were sitting on the floor.

That's amazing that the smell wasn't extremely present. With the damage you noted that it saturated to the point of ruining the floorboards and tackboards (or maybe I read that wrong) it's amazing you couldn't smell it that badly.

I think I would have at least assumed possible damage to the boards though if you were sitting on the floor and then could smell it; maybe you already anticipated that. Glad it doesn't appear to have been a big big deal though

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Sometimes you do. We took possession of our current place 3 weeks before we moved in and did a complete cosmetic reno (all new flooring, paint, tile splashes in the bathroom & kitchen, replaced all the doors and hardware, light fixtures, baseboards and casings) during that time. We budgeted for it when we purchased and wanted everything 100% with no piddling around for months or years.

I wish my in-laws had thought like you!

They bought a house last year knowing they wanted to put another $50,000 to $80,000 in work on the house. The entire kitchen would be taken out (though footprint and layout would be the same), bathrooms redone at least in terms of tiling and vanities, basement kitchen area completly redone to make it a fully functioning kitchen and entire new deck (though same footprint with exception of stairs added to go down to ground).

They started somewhat soon after they moved in but it's been going at a snails pace. For Thanksgiving and Christmas they had no kitchen at all, the basement is nearly complete but has a bit more to do, the deck did get finished fairly quickly though it was done more recently, the bathrooms unfortunately were the first thing torn up in terms of the tile and still hasn't been done. Just 2 weeks ago they decided to put a large rug in the bathroom so you're not just standing on subfloor. The vanity did finally get done but it took a long long time to get the new lighting installed.

At this point it's taking longer to do those things then it did to build our entire house including the weeks and weeks the foundation sat untouched just after the concrete was poured to allow some cooling and some curing before starting the rest of the house lol.

 

[cabanafrau]

Luckily the bulk of the things you've described were merely cosmetic. Not that plaster dust isn't a plague unto itself, but things could have been much worse if you had to deal with major mechanical, structural or water issues.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

We live in a pre-1850’s money pit. Yes, I meant 1850. My husband bought it in 1979 for $10,000. It was completely gutted plus jacked up for a basement. We’ve lived in it since October of 1981 and it’s still not done!

 

[kaddjr]

We live in a pre-1850’s money pit. Yes, I meant 1850. My husband bought it in 1979 for $10,000. It was completely gutted plus jacked up for a basement. We’ve lived in it since October of 1981 and it’s still not done!

I feel your pain! Mine was built in 1900. We have two rooms to totally gut yet and if we put in the contertops I want in the kitchen, we will have to take out some drywall too and replace it. We’ve been in the house for almost 23 years now. DH said it would be done within 6 months...

 

[QueenIsabella]

Yeah, I'm somewhat sympathetic towards the OP, but--this is just what home ownership is like. There are always "things" that need to get done. It's a pain, and a big time and money suck, but that's just how it is. Even people who buy brand new houses have things they need to finish.

On the good side, the OP got her house for less than her top asking price, so she should at least have some $$ to do the repairs. A lot of people stretch to get into a home, then find that they need to buy all sorts of things, from carpeting to lawn care items to new drywall in the basement.

 

[barkley]

Even people who buy brand new houses have things they need to finish.

A lot of people stretch to get into a home, then find that they need to buy all sorts of things

at one point we lived in a neighborhood that still had a number of houses to be built after ours was complete. we always knew who forgot to take into consideration those beyond the purchase price expenses that come up with moving into a new home-they inevitably ended up with sheets as window coverings (city we lived in actually put a law on the books to ban it finally) and took several years to so much as start any landscaping in the backyards (front yards were beautifully landscaped by developer-most backyards looked like war zones). i always kind of wondered if people spaced on the fact that all the utility/service providers required up front deposits b/c many wouldn't start up garbage service for a couple of months (an it was NOT convenient/was more costly to go to the dump).