I have owned four homes in my life, and I can tell you: The list of surprise expenses never seems to stop. Yes, I have always favored older homes, so I probably get more fix-its than someone with a brand-new house. But, I think that if your home is even just 10 years old, you are going to have to keep that savings account stocked with emergency funds, and keep that checkbook handy. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I think it can be really helpful to prospective and recent homebuyers to know about the kinds of expenses — surprises, as well as costs that can easily escalate — that they may expect. So, I’m throwing this story open to readers to share their experiences.
Readers:
What problems have you needed to throw money at,
when it comes to repairing or maintaining your home —
things you never really expected, or
which ended up costing much more than you planned?
.
I’ll start our list by explaining my photo above: Tree damage. A tree on my neighbor’s lot fell half-way out of the ground and onto our fence. We were responsible for all damage, can you believe it. Had to pay to have the tree completely removed (from the point at which it crossed our property line), and I have yet to have the fence repaired. Yes: Insurance paid for some of it. But overall, less than 1/4 of the expense, I’d say. We have spent A LOT of money trimming, cabling, removing and repairing damage — all due to trees on our mature lot. Pain in the a** and definitely, an unexpected pain in the wallet.
Justin says
When we purchased our 1949 brick home 3 years ago, we completely remodeled it before we moved in. Luckily my partner was in construction and also an electrican. We rewired the whole house including the service panel, installed a new ac, furnance, and hot water heater, paint, new floors, new (old style kitchen and bathrooms). A year ago we had a nasty hail storm that broke almost all the windows on the front of the house (old metal casement windows with single panes). We ended up replacing the glass with a thicker pane. Also had to replace the front facer, and the roof(the roof would have needed to be replaced within 5 years if not for the storm damage). Luckily the insurance paid for everything and more. So knock on wood we won’t have any more problems.
marta says
We pretty much knew what we were getting into; our 1967 ranch was the worst house on the block and the bane of the neighborhood when we bought it; first repairs were new heating system $10k (it had electric), new electrical service from the outside in to include new circuit breaker panel $1k, new septic system including basement sump with new drain lines routed under foundation footing to new dry well $5k, new roof to include extending over whole of back porch, $4k.
Gutting both bathrooms except for tub in large bath which we had refinished, gutting the kitchen, redoing all the floors, etc, we did ourselves over the course of a year. It’s been 11 years now, and we’re still not done, and it’s already time to replace stuff.
The surprise factor came in when appliances started failing and needing far more repairs than we thought they should the first couple of years. Then one day I was watching the furnace guy fix the furnace when he said, “You guys must have had one heck of a power surge last night. This is my 7th stop along 169.” I believe the term is ‘epiphany’. I started researching whole house surge protectors, found that our power company had a new program for $67 installation and $5/mo that included repair/replacement of all appliances. That ended the non-stop appliance repair drain on our income.
Tina says
While we’ve had plenty of expensive surprises in our 23 years of home ownership (including $3K to repair a leak in the water main coming into the house), in May we had a huge tree fall on our house–and it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened.
Our insurance paid for a new roof, all new siding and a new deck, which we chose to have covered this time (at our extra expense, but subsidized by a less-expensive siding choice). They also paid to have the tree chopped down and cut into pieces–and our neighbor had the tree service load the pieces onto HIS truck (much to our happy surprise!).
My sister, who lives on my street, had a tree come down in her yard during the same storm, but because it didn’t hurt her house, insurance didn’t cover a thing and she had to spend about $2K to have it removed.
When the insurance rep told me how much they would be spending on our repairs (nearly $40,000!), I actually blurted out an “I’m so sorry!” She told me that in her 11 years at the insurance company, she’d never had a homeowner apologize. 🙂
Andi says
Our 1952 Cape Cod had several maintenance issues that we were aware of when we bought it 5 years ago (gutters, leaking basement windows, defunct A/C unit, etc.). We remedied those right away.
However, a couple years in, we were surprised with a complete back-up/stoppage in the plumbing/sewage system…tree roots from my four lovely, huge maple trees had broken and then completely clogged underground pipes. Yuck.
Had to have the entire house-to-street sewer connection re-done, involving excavation of most of our front yard, destruction of the driveway and part of the sidewalks. NONE of it was covered by insurance! Total cost including a brand new driveway and replacement sidewalk areas was several thousand dollars, can’t remember exactly but around $8 K, I think. They assure me it’s good for at least our lifetimes now!
Just recently it’s been brought to our attention that we may need a new roof, too. A new roof was installed right before we bought the house, but it’s beginning to look like the previous owners hired “fly-by-nighters” and the leaks we’ve had in our sunroom the past couple weeks may be just the tip of the proverbial iceberg!
So yeah, it’s always something. Our Victorian was worse, though!
John says
My pipes went out too. The water got all brown and nasty. I’m getting ready to replace my water heater and was thinking of tankless. I’m glad my home is small, so maintenance is relatively less!
Lauryn says
Reading all these posts I realize just how lucky we have been … so far. Two of the big selling points of our house were the roof and the relatively new HVAC. Minor things have come up, but the biggest expense has been that our taxes have nearly doubled (an increase of 70%!) in five years. Extremely frustrating. Coming up, though, we are looking at having to replace a poorly installed deck and repainting the exterior.
One thing that has surprised me about this thread is all the tree removal … I wonder if the next owners are going to hate all the trees we’re planting! We had to take down a 100 year old sugar maple that had died (our only shade tree) and I cried for days over it. We saved a lot of money in the removal by having them leave the limbs in the yard, which we just spent days chain sawing, splitting, and stacking for our wood stove (the first thing I thought of when I saw your photo!!), but I am dreading next summer when my house will be baking in that hot prairie sun. If you have a tree that needs to come down, maybe do a Craigslist ad to see if anyone wants to haul it away for firewood, save that part of the expense.
Trip H says
Well where do I begin…….
First the furnace started knocking the 1st night I was in and ended up costing me almost $300 to get fixed. Next came the plumbing, due to the age of the house (1948) the lines were almost sealed shut with gunk. That cost over $350. Then came the painting of the outside – quotes were running $800-1200, I did it myself an paint only cost me $275. To paint the metal awnings over the windows the quotes were once again thru the roof – and once again I painted myself for around $50 in paint. The cost of the new roof was gonna be around $3500, but due to the unwelcome hail storm earlier this year that was the worst in 40 years where I live, the insurance covered that (whew). Then came the 30+ foot oak tree in the back yard that started showing signs of decay/rot/carpenter ants. The quotes were $600-1200. I didn’t have that kind of money and decided to do it myself. At almost 3/4 done, one of the large limbs fell onto the garage ripping the front facia off and causing the power line from the house to garage to come loose and hang very low. That cost me $100 for the electrican to fix plus doing some other items in the house.
If you are lucky enough to have an oil furnace, and depending on where in the country you live….expect 100 galls to run around $350. Several years ago when gas was at $5/gal (East Coast) 125 galls of oil ran me $625. I had just received my stimulus check for $600 and turned right around and gave it right back to the oil company.
Needless to say, as a housing inspector, I see my fair share of even more problems in the new houses. I do not once regret buying an older home and would do it again……..like the house 5 miles away that was built in 1876.
Trip H says
Oh yea I forgot….
New hot water heater – $375 / new breaker panel/breakers at $675
jmb says
Last October, I purchased my first house, a foreclosed 1951 ranch in Austin, Texas. HUD/FHA, decided they needed to do a lead test prior to my closing. Of course all the old wood siding was covered in layers of old leaded paint! Fortunately for me, HUD took on the expense of “lead stabilization”, which amounted to nothing more than painting over the old paint with BEHR premium latex.
For whatever reason, HUD hired a crew from out of state, and paid over 10,000 dollars of federal money to pay for this “special” stabilization. Glad I didn’t have to pay for it, since that 10 grand was my entire budget to rehab the old place, which required gutting the kitchen and bath, new plumbing, etc.
Amity says
This thread is so timely! My fiance and I are under contract on a time capsule 1959 ranch. Our inspection is tomorrow! We are already holding our breath to hear what might be found, but now I feel well armed with a hundred more questions to ask. Thank you Pam, for providing the greatest resource for those of us just finding our new old homes! Let’s hope I don’t have any anecdotes to add to this topic for a long time!
pam kueber says
Good luck, Amity! Ummm, I think your home inspector will be doing some hating on this website before the day is done!
Nina462 says
I wish you well with the inspection. Don’t let them tell you that you need to replace original windows! If this is mentioned – investigate repairing originals first. don’t make the mistake I did 🙂
Best o’ luck to you.
Amity says
Thanks Nina, I already am getting pressure to replace them, even before the inspection is done. They are sturdy triple paned (with storms on) and smooth operating. I am curious to know what you wish you had done differently and why?
sablemable says
One reason why I haven’t started/completed any interior decorating is that I have several exterior issues that need to be addressed first. I had the chimney repaired (loose bricks) and another brick repair job where the bricks were shaling. Had more insulation blown in last November; we were about a R-12 before; now we’re at R-49. Next money grabber will be replacing the window panes and possibly a window or two that allow cold air in. I’m afraid the furnace and a/c will need to be replaced soon. I also need to have the trees pruned, as carpenter ants find their way inside via the limbs. Of course, I have to spend 300 bucks a year for pest control. So, I have to save my money for exterior repairs before I can start on the inside. You just never know when the other shoe will drop.