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.
Nina462 says
After reading this thread – I forgot – new driveway next year …. but I just bought the wooded lot next door on Friday – so that will be done in conjunction with building the BIG garage in the next couple years (for vintage autos).
So, add to BIG list – new driveway, clearing wooded lot, building new garage, and landscaping….and the list could go on & on.
Also need to get my electrical box upgraded.
Ann-Marie Meyers says
Our previous house, passed all inspections before we bought it, of course, but as soon as we moved in we started having heating problems. It turned out the guy we bought it from replaced the furnace with a pal of his who worked for a heating company, and they did it off permit, taking all kinds of shortcuts. The venting was a fire hazard, the space for the filter was not the right size, so they just cut and shoved duct material in, leaving us with a slot that was slightly too small for the filters.
Then, we discovered, one day when my husband was in the hospital that the whole unit (that was hung from the rafters with cheap strapping) was bending in the center. We were getting no air through it in the summer and it was hot, hot, hot in the house.
We had the whole thing rebuilt over the four years we lived there, at a cost of about twice what it would have been to do the job correctly.
Now, however, when I sell the house, the new owners are getting one mighty fine heating and air-conditioning system, because I refused to skimp. It has a media filter and a UV light to control mold growth. I also added three more fresh air intakes in the house.
Now, on to the plumbing in my poor present house.
I don’t suppose anyone knows where I can get a sand colored American Standard Cadet toilet from the early 1960’s… I am about to lose mine. 🙁
Jeanne says
A little seller’s story…
When I was selling my last house (the one with the big Oak trees), the built-in dishwasher had been leaking for quite a while. I always put a towel on the floor below the door when I ran it so the leaking water wouldn’t ruin the vinyl tile floor. I had been meaning to get a new dishwasher before we decided to sell. Once we decided to sell, there were many other financial priorities and we just couldn’t afford to get one. If we did get one, it would have been the cheapest possible model and I know if I just bought a house would not be happy with a cheap-o replacement.
So feeling guilty about a leaking dishwasher, I left an envelope taped to the cupboard above the dishwasher with $100 and a letter apologizing and explaining the dishwasher situation after the final move-out. The new owners called me and said that was the NICEST thing anyone ever did and they were very appreciative. It made me feel good. 🙂
Elaine says
I have a the same tale from a 1964 colonial, new roof that had to be redone due to bad work, tree damage thankfully mostly covered by insurance, new furnace, new water heater, new main sewer pipe, new siding, new windows. But this is different.
One evening there was suddenly a huge ruckus in the ceiling. What the heck—-? It sounded like bears fighting. In the ceiling! It turned out to be raccoons. When they got done with whatever, they left via the downspout on the side of the house. Cute little things, we could see them leaning on the side of the hole they made, looking around like proud homeowners. Then down they went and away. We went out and looked at the hole they made. Six foot long and maybe two feet high, a full siding panel ripped off and a huge hole clawed or chewed into the boards right through to the attic. Wow! DH got the ladder and an old campaign sign and went up and nailed it over the hole. That kept them out, at least., but it looked like h-e-double matchsticks. Vote for XXXX for City Council.
Called the insurance company in the morning. The adjuster acted like she never heard of such a thing. She wanted to know what we did to attract them? What precautions had we taken to prevent them from doing that? Answers were Nothing and What were we supposed to do besides having a wall? She sent an inspector over who laughed and said it looked pretty typical. We got a good amount to cover the repair, I think it was around $3500.
The asphalt driveway needs resurfacing every other year, that’s another cost.
pam kueber says
Good one. My husband had a deal with the bats in our last house: You stay up in the attic, we will stay down here. Detente was breached only twice, when bats got into the living room somehow. A tennis racket comes in handy in instances such as these…. Oh, and yes: Animal control to catch and relocate huge groundhogs that were burrowing I forget where into the foundation of the house; we had that expense, too, your Comment reminds me.
Lauryn says
We had to have a bat removal service come in … they did NOT stay in the attic (which we use anyway) and they had to go, that was about $300. (It’s illegal to kill them in Iowa, which is good because of all the damn mosquitoes they eat.) And we had a friend have the same thing happen with raccoons, only they did so much damage to their roof that they caused a huge leak, which in turn ruined their kitchen. They had a great homeowner’s policy, though, because their insurance company paid for a brand new kitchen, pretty much without batting an eye!
pam kueber says
We thought of getting a bat removal service, but agreed that if they left our attic, they would just head to a neighbor’s attic instead. So we let them live there. Bats are good for ecosystem.
Lauryn says
True, they do just find another home and they are very good for the ecosystem, but we had one (same one? different ones?) in the attic, the office, the kitchen, the living room, and, the last straw, the bedroom! We keep talking about actually putting a bat house in the backyard, so they have a place to go that isn’t a neighbor’s house, but they still stick around and eat those pesky mosquitoes! Add that to the to-do list …
Elaine says
It was only a year or two later that we were wakened in the night by a strange sound outside our second floor bedroom window. Checking it out, there was a raccoon hanging over the edge of the roof clawing at the soffit which we had just had covered in vinyl. Waltz Tango Foxtrot? We hollered out the window, he looked at us and sneered, then kept clawing away. Opened the window screen and hung out waving our arms and yelling. Same reaction. Luckily we have no neighbors back that way. I went down and got a big old push broom and brought it up, and DH put that broom out and tried to whack that old coon off the roof. He couldn’t quite reach him, but he got close enough to discourage Mr. Coon, who left in a huff. Good thing, next step would have been to climb out on the porch roof and go after him that way, surely a risky move in the middle of the night after being wakened from a dead sleep. At least now we can tell that insurance adjuster what we did to prevent him getting in.
Jay says
This gave me a good laugh. If it has fur and walks on four legs – deer, rabbits, racoons, foxes, squirels, chipmunks; it passes through my yard at one time or another. This is why you want to not have trees hanging over your house or have the foundations smothered by shrubery – it provides the wildlife with a conduit into your house.
nina462 says
Pam – yes bats are great for the eco system, but not for our houses. With the build up of bat guana (nice name for poop) – one can go blind. So check this out & put up their own little house – high up on a tree.
I have bats too – but they stay outside in their own little houses.
Larry says
Well I’ve been in my new old house for about 7 months now. I was very fortunate to have the most generous sellers I’ve ever encountered. At inspection it was found that the house desperately needed a new roof and some tricky electrical repairs. I was very hesitant to ask for the seller to pay for these things as he had already gave me the price I wanted on the first try as well as throwing in another 4K toward my closing costs. Well I asked for a roof and electrical repairs and the seller paid for it. Not only did I have the best seller one could ask for, I have also inherited the most AWESOME neighbors ever! Now to my point. After a terrific buying experience, great neighbors, fantastic neighborhood, it’s very easy to get high on that and to forget to be proactive and prepared for what could happen. So thanks for the posts and stories everyone!
Michele says
Waterproofing the basement-$12,000;new fence-$5,000 and counting…;obtaining permits-at least $500;extra barn-$28,000 even at these high costs the worst? Dealing with the city council for variances and permits! :{
Alice says
There must have been something in cosmic alignment for this topic Pam. I was just whining out the ole “why did we buy another old house” blues this weekend. On the way to working on the “projects on the list” we’ve had a tree fall, the water heater spring a leak, the iron wasteline crack and seep you-know-what everywhere, the washer and dryer died, the dishwasher no longer washed and just this weekend while attempting to change out the flush lever on one of the vintage toilets there was just a little too much torque and the porcelain tank cracked. Note, none of these are planned repairs and the list of planned repairs still exist and gets LONGER! You just have to hang in there and keep on going…you have to love the house your in!
Stacey says
How funny that you have this topic now, as I was just thinking this morning about writing a blog post titled “The Mid-Century Monster that Ate My First Marriage.”
Now, I say that tongue-in-cheek because I know as well as everyone else (and now better than most) that it is the characteristics of the people involved in a marriage that cause it to break. HOWEVER, our in-town, 1952 fixer-upper was a real stressor to an already fragile situation. Let’s see if I can remember all that we had to redo: clay pipe removal on the outside of the house, all new pipes on the inside of the house, mildew and mold on every flat surface, new paint on every flat surface after having to peal off most of it with a heat gun, the drip-pan under the shower, all new doors, all new flooring, and all new landscaping. And then after 7 years, we divorced and sold the house.
I recently looked it up on zillow. It is now worth about $180,000 more than when we bought it in ’86. So my cost? A marriage and $180,000! 🙂
I’m glad to say that I’m happily remarried to a talented carpenter. And obviously, I still love MCM, but I’ve learned what to look for in a house, and what I’ll put up with. In more ways than one.
pam kueber says
Yup, house travails can pull you together — or rip you apart!
Amanda says
About 6 months after moving into my MCM split-level, we had to face the dreaded clay pipe problem. We had water / sewage backing up into the house due to tree roots getting to the terra cotta clay pipes. Thankfully, there was no damage to the inside of the house.
Unfortunately for me, the clay pipe just so happened to collapse under my front concrete steps. In order for the plumber to get to the pipe, he had to bust up half of my steps. And $6,000 later, I have a brand new PVC sewer pipe and water line. While digging the 8+ feet to get to the sewer pipe, the plumber came across the water line, made out of galvanized steel, which had become severely corroded. So we replaced that too.
It cost another $4,000 to have the remnants of the steps removed and to have new steps poured. My front yard still has yet to recover. But I imagine there will be at least another $1,000 or so in landscaping costs.
Melsa says
My husband and I purchased our 1947 Art Deco style home 9 months ago, knowing (thankfully) that there would be work to be done. We’d both grown up with DIY fathers, building and renovating houses themselves by hand, so we semi-knew how to fix most things.
The previous owners were a little less knowledgeable, and had decided that seeing as one of the window sashes had rotted they would just turn it upside down and back to front and re-screw it, because that side hadn’t rotted! We realised this on our FIRST day of owning the house, when we were cleaning all of their mess and filth they had just left behind. My grandmother-in-law opened the window and the rags that had been used to keep the window weather tight had all fallen out! They’d done such a crap job!
It cost us $120 to buy a new window, and we installed it ourselves, but I’d hate to think what it would have cost someone who didn’t know what they were doing! All because the previous owners were too lazy/cheap to fix things properly!