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.
JKaye says
Water factors in many of these stories, in the form of leaking pipes, leaking roofs, overflowing toilets, busted water heaters, etc. We’ve experienced all of these things in the five different homes we’ve owned, ranging from a 1910 cottage to a 1995 mobile home, and including our current ’59 ranch. The worst thing to happen was when the crawlspace got flooded at the ’72 ranch during a giant storm, and the sump pump didn’t kick on, resulting in a ruined furnace. The funniest water experience was at the mobile home, which sat on a hillside — water ran right under it during a storm, so no flooding there!
Megan D says
We are talking about buying our first house and of course, I want to buy an older house. Reading all of these stories kind of scare me!! lol What are the most important things to check out when buying an older house? I am fine with fixing minor updates but the major stuff is not something we want to tackle.
pam kueber says
Hi Megan, yes… these lists are scary — but you should know what you are getting yourself into. Home ownership can be amazingly gratifying, but it is a hassle, to say the least, and can for sure be a money pit. I do not have the expertise to tell you which things are most important to check — you are going to get a home inspector, as discussed by many readers. Meanwhile, study up — and see A LOT of houses, this will help you build your knowledge. Meanwhile, here’s a story I wrote a while back with some of my thoughts about what to consider when buying a house: https://retrorenovation.com/2009/04/20/shopping-for-a-midcentury-home/
Susie O. says
Yes, Megan, buying an old house does mean that some work is inevitable in the near-ish future. But, so many old houses are built so much better than new ones! We bought our first home about two and a half years ago, and since it was built in 1957 by a man who really new what he was doing, it is rock solid. The only thing we’ve really had to do is get the AC serviced and septic tank pumped once. The rest we’ve done because we wanted to (cosmetic stuff). The yard was completely overgrown and is stil kind of out of control a bit, but we love working on it. A good home inspector will make sure there’s nothing that’s going to break the bank after you move in, and that will give you great peace of mind. We need to have some plumbing work done on the upstairs restroom, but since there’s only two of us and the main bath downstairs, it’s not an urgent matter. We’ve got our whole lives to work on things, so it’s not a big hurry.
That being said…We do have lots and lots and LOTS of very mature, huge trees. It’s one thing that drew us to the house. I love them. However, there is a dead tree we have to get cut down soon, and it’s a big one…on the property line. Really big. So, that will be our first major expense.
lady brett says
megan,
first, don’t let this scare you away from an older house. i know a lot of folks who bought new (or even had something built) because they didn’t want to deal with major repairs…it doesn’t help. that’s not to say that it’s hopeless. what does help – new, old or custom – is knowing what you’re getting into.
from my mistakes, i would say the top things are:
only work with people you trust! our real estate agent was (emphasis on was) a friend of a friend. between that and being overwhelmed with the process, we sort of kept chugging even though we weren’t very happy with her.
get a good inspector and *ask questions*! we used an inspector recommended by said agent (we should have looked up inspectors and reviews, ratings, etc.) and, as much as i know about building, i assumed that “he’s the professional” and didn’t check stuff out myself. well, that hole to the outdoors in our attic? he didn’t mention it, and i didn’t think i needed to climb around the un-floored side of the attic because we had paid someone to do so. even if you aren’t prepared to do all that, at least have a list of the things you want to make sure about.
also, there’s no such thing as a “little problem” – okay, there is, but you don’t know until you check. common example: is that spot on the ceiling a spot on the ceiling or a sign of a leak? real-life example: is the soft spot in the floor old damage (it will need to be fixed anyhow), or ongoing damage because they sheathed the whole kitchen floor in plastic under the plywood so that nothing can evaporate?
don’t buy a house with wood paneling unless they’ll let you look behind it. that stuff is indestructible, and can hide anything (including a foot of standing water).
i am truly not saying any of this to scare you – and certainly not to scare you out of buying an old house. i don’t have any more faith in new houses, and the true problem is not what is or isn’t wrong with it, but *knowing what you’re getting into*.
again, ask questions – all the questions you have (and know that you’ll never know all the answers). we may still have bought our house, knowing what we know now – but we would have bought it for a lot less money! and that difference could have gone into the repairs right off the bat.
sTiLL LoVE iT hErE says
After living in our home for years we have had a full gambit of repairs – some have been completed and some remain, well, incomplete. As an example – our bathrooms have both been “in progress” for about six or seven years. No, I am not exaggerating. Repairs have been both expected and unexpected. The normal things have seemingly all gone wrong, i.e. air conditioning, siding, roof, toilets, and the list goes on for miles – no real surprises. For the most part the house is a dependable one…with lots of memories both good and sad. It’s your basic 3 bedroom ranch style home with a fireplace – nothing fancy or elaborate. Just a little house with a fenced back yard that seperates us from our neighbors illegal free roaming city chickens, a couple of barking dogs (including mine) and a little garden in front. We’ve raised our family in this house, nursed my mom after cancer surgery, welcomed new grandchildren and cried over the passing of dear friends and family. We’ve expereienced a mixture of happiness and sadness as my son prepared for his wedding here; watched our daughter’s prom come and go and her relationship begin and end in this house. My husband and I have had garage sales, delicious meals, disagreements, made up (yay!) and talked about our future together. We’ve also tried to plan our funeral around our dining room table…without too much success. I know, we will have to complete that task one day. However, the home repairs must be addressd and are almost too many to count using my fingers AND toes. We just don’t have the money…who ever does..there is no convenient time for pay for everything…but that’s okay. It’s our house and we know that we’ll get it all done…some how. It may not be right away, but we’ll get through. So, it isn’t just a house, it’s a home. It’s a memory spot. A place to hang our hats..a soft place to land. Just a few thoughts about our litle house.
pam kueber says
🙂 What lovely thoughts, you made my day!
sTiLL LoVE iT hErE says
YAY!!
Angela says
This is my 2nd year in a 1971 Split Level home in Georgia. The house, now I will call it a “flipped” home, had been updated and repaired in a few areas but us a sturdy house with good bones. But, I think it is too much for me. While my mortgage is cheaper than rent, I am scared that I won’t be able to keep up with the repairs and upkeep. I hate to admit, but I believe I just bought the wrong house. First thing, after 6 months of living in the house, the ceiling fell in my downstairs bathroom, result of a faulty install of the toilet the seller installed upstairs. Got that bathroom redone, after repairing and correcting faulty plumbing in that bathroom. A few months later, sewage started backing up in that tub. Had it snaked twice in six months. The people who snaked it muddied up and nastied up my newly updated bathroom it just made me sick! On top of a heating and air system that is old, and has not worked most of the summer months. It has gone out two summers, warranty patches it up but nothing that is long term. New deck built, not so new. Deck needs securing and sealing, kitchen countertops are bubbling up, need replacing, could use new windows, whole house fan went out after moving in, garage light doesn’t work, electrician said it’s a wiring problem, had to replace circuit box after breaker kept breaking, believe tree roots are in sewer pipes in yard, plumber coming to put camera down line, needs this, need that. A tree fell down in the back yard, and I was told I need to worry about one in my yard and another one in the neighbor’s yard. found out a whole bunch of construction crap is buried in the back yard, and I keep hearing a whistling noise when I flush the toilet.
yea, I got the homebuyer tax credit but to be honest, I don’t even see where it went. As soon as I moved in, $200 here, $2300, here, $500 here, $1000 here, yadda, yadda,yadda and my income just doesn’t support these type of repairs.
My mistake. I wanted to take advantage of these affordable prices, especially in the urban area I live in … but I feel I have allowed real estate to take advantage of me.
The home is a beautiful home with a beautiful spirit and warmth to it … but it needs a family with a handyman husband and a better credit score who could just borrow $25K to $30k and just get it in shape and up to date. It was nicely updated when I bought it, but when I moved MY stuff in and started using the home, it soon revealed all its needs to me ….. and I feel overwhelmed by it all.
Gwen says
Angela –
I hope that my response makes you feel a bit better in terms of you purchasing an older home. I’ve had 4 houses now. I’ve had two brand new houses, one house from 1987 (purchased in 2003) and my current home (1940). Believe it or not, even brand new houses come with problems. Mine came with leaking windows, a propane tank installed next to a sewer line, trees damaged by construction, and a wet basement, to name a few. My house from 1987, only 16 years old when I bought it, needed all new plumbing, a new electrical box, a new roof, new HVAC, new windows (that leaked and didn’t open), a new skylight (leaked), new toilets (that leaked into the kitchen), regrading (the house was built, I’m sure, on a former stream bed), etc, etc, etc. With that house, the list went on and on. I think it’s best to view a home like you view a relationship -it’s an investment that sometimes brings you joy and sometimes brings you heartache. Sometimes it’s worth the time, and sometimes it’s worth it to let go. Home ownership, no matter how old the house, can break the bank over time. One of the positive aspects of renting – it’s someone else’s problem. Best of luck to you. 🙂
tulsatammy says
The sewer line on my 1957 ranch collapsed on the day before Thanksgiving last year and started spewing out the clean out near my back door. A bonus was they had to tear down an old delapidated greenhouse in my back yard that was ugly and blocked the view of the large picture window in my den.
Then on Valentines Day (What’s it with me and holidays?!) , I was getting dressed to sing with my quartet at a gig when I heard water running while I was in my bathroom. But there was no water running in the house and no one else was home. The water pipe coming in from the street burst right under the foundation wall of the house.
Sam says
We bought a house that was built around 1915. Everything about it seemed to have been updated so we were thrilled. We later discovered that the least visible part of the house was the worst off: the main drain was in horrible shape and needed major repair/replacement. We spent thousands of dollars repairing it. Money well spent in the end, but quite an unwelcome surprise…
Melissa says
We have lived in our 50’s tri-level for about 6 years. I can can safely assume that we will have 10,000 in expenses in any given year. So far we have replaced the roof, LOTS of plumbing, removal of dead trees, air conditioning, termite removal, painting, replaced dead appliances and repair of electrical wiring. Nothing I’ve mentioned here was covered by insurance. One of these years I’m actually going to renovate it and make it look nice!
erica says
Hi Pam,
We are renting a lovely “Executive Ranch” home built in 1960–part of our deal with the owner is that we will work on it, and it definitely needs it. (We are alternately rueful and ecstatic that we don’t actually own it.)
First unexpected expense: the heat was turned off over the winter, and we have had to replace much of the plumbing! Most of it was pretty ordinary stuff, but if you’d like to put out a call for a white American Standard 4040 74 toilet tank, we’d be much obliged…they seem to be as rare as hen’s teeth. Because it is wall-mounted, the only replacement toilet is $600 and would require us to remove the cabinetry opposite the toilet so that a person would have room for their knees!
Then of course there’s parquet floor in the family room which looks perfectly okay but managed to separate itself from the subfloor during the freeze/thaw/heat/humidity that resulted from the heat/ac being turned off. Rather than refinish it and risk sending bits of floor through the windows, we’re going to put some of the vast supply of wax products and the little buffer we found in the basement to good use…
The roof, the driveway, the in-ground sprinklers–the list goes on and on, doesn’t it? But it’s all fun!
Tess says
OK, here’s my saga: Bought a 1955 ranch with a slab foundation. (In the process of repainting and thinking about it, found your cool website). This spring, the water heater failed, and dumped gallons of gallons of water onto the floor, which ran under walls, and ran into the infloor heating ducts. Insurance came in, ripped out the carpet, put everything I own into the garage so they could tear out the asbestos tile which covered the slab and which was popping and cracking. When they found out the only way to repair the heating ducts was to jackhammer up the floor, they simply stopped calling me back. Just stopped returning calls. It took 5 months and an attorney to get them to resolve the case. In the meantime, I’ve been living in a shell of a house, with most everything in boxes in the garage.
The good news is that they finally got started on resolving it, and repairs are proceeding. I’m putting in radiant floor heating (to the tune of $15K) and floors. All of this, of course, raises other questions, like what about the kitchen? The bathroom? While the house is gutted it seems like a good time to do other things, but the budget is limited.
I had to chip up the bathroom floor, but I’m keeping the yellow tub. Actually, I have some questions: the tub has not been treated well — it looks like someone washed out paint brushes and left lots of drips and washes–and it could use attention beyond the usual cleaning products. I’ve noticed recent posts about finding yellow sinks, so I’m thinking about that.
Thanks for this website, Pam. I’m enjoying it.
fraujoolie says
Inherited my great aunt’s 1950’s bungalow in Redford, Michigan about 10 years ago. She hadn’t kept up with the repairs, and nothing had really been done since she moved in, in 1980. Most everything was original on the house. Which is good and bad. I owned it free and clear, except over the years it needed a new roof, new gutters, new chimney, new furnace, new A/C, new water tank, pipes rooted out a few times, new washtub, new stove, new fridge, new dishwasher, new countertop, floors refinished, sidewalk redone (Redford Township declares when your sidewalks need replacing, then sends you the bill for it… about $2k… and then we got to pay to have our own street paved… another 2k), two new toilets, new windows, trees trimmed, siding painted, new carpet, electrical upgrade (when the line coming into our house rotted and fell off). Then I got divorced in 2004 and had to pay him off half of the value (at that time). Even though it was given to me, and deeded in my name, the judge declared it marital property. House has since continued to lose value. I owe about $120k on a place that would sell for about $60k. If I’m lucky. When I inherited it, it was valued at $190k. I’ve lost so much.
Then I had renters come in 2009, as I moved across the country to flee the crumbling economy. Being a landlord sucks. The last guy skipped town, ruined my floors and carpet (scratched the wood floors, poured bleach on carpet stains), stole a bunch of light fixtures right out of the ceilings (who steals light fixtures?!), took all the window treatments, stole my chest freezer and antique butcher table (which wouldn’t have fit out of the finished basement at this point…. wait for the rest of the story….), ripped out my heirloom roses, azaleas and hydrangeas (which were replanted from my great-grandmother’s home… they were probably at least 80 years old). And the topper… when the handyman was cleaning out all the shit the tenant left behind (including a trampoline resting on it’s back, ruining the grass), he discovered a human skull in the garage. Now do you wonder what he did with the curtains, the antique butcher table and chest freezer? Police investigation, house untouchable for about two weeks, while I paid for repairs and exhausted his security deposit. Wasn’t worth suing him for the remaining $1k, as it would’ve cost me as much in lawyer fees. I’m a long ways away, and can’t take him to small claims myself. Plus, he might be in jail at this point, who knows. Police won’t talk to me.
The new tenants haven’t replaced the window treatments. My neighbors say there are garbage bags on the windows.
At this point, I would get more money burning the place down than selling it. I miss my home so much. I rent in LA now, a real dump for almost $3k/month. We have roaches and rat problems.
Jeff says
Wow, sorry to hear of such a story- I’m in Southfield, not more than a few miles away from your home, and sadly, the economy has taken such a toll on the area and it’s lovely homes.
The good news is that even in Redford Townhship and surrounding areas like Livonia and Southfield, things are stabilizing price wise, and our street, which had half a dozen foreclosures last year, has only two now, and most are selling to end users, not for rentals so much.
Having property so far away is difficult to handle, and it sounds like you had a serial killer living there! Hope that’s not the case, but we’ll keep our thoughts out there for you!
jeanne says
*waves from Dearborn*. Ugh! I feel for you fraujoolie. The hardest part is the fact that you are so far away from your rental. I’ve done the landlording thing before, and it helps to be nearby. It’s like a part-time job (that’s the way I looked at it).
I’ve also done the divorce thing (twice). The first time I had to pay half the equity ($27,000) to my ex, which disappeared by the time I sold the house eight years later. The second time (going on right now) I had to refinance in my name and cover an extra $8,000 that the mortgage was “under water” in just the two years we lived there (he wouldn’t split the loss and I’m not going to fight about it). I’m lucky I have a job and a nice little brick bungalow to live in, that I am retro-redecorating with a lot of tips, help and resources from this blog!!