I normally like to keep my blog positive and upbeat, and feel like complaining does really no one any good. But I do believe that there is a lesson to be learned in nearly every bad experience, especially when it comes to home buying!
I know my less than perfect home buying experience taught be a few very valuable lessons and I think that sharing my story can help some of you know what not to do (what I did!) when buying your next home, so you can avoid the nightmare I ended up in!
In February, I set out to buy my first home as a single woman. I was so excited. I went through a divorce about 5 years ago and lost my beautiful dream home to my ex and have been renting since (which has kind of been a nightmare of its own with some less than desirable landlords and renting situations!) I was SO ready to be a homeowner again, and this time without the threat of losing it in another divorce!
Mistake #1: My first and biggest mistake in home-buying happened when I picked my realtor. I was referred to her by a very close friend at the time and felt she would be trustworthy and just the right person to help me with the job, unfortunately, that was not the case.
I felt like I was put on the back burner much of the time because I wasn’t searching for a home in the price range and area she would like me to look. After about a month, I actually found my future home online and sent it to her for her to show me!
The home had everything I wanted and I knew immediately on seeing it, it was MY house! I was so excited! My realtor had told me previously that she never has the buyer cover closing costs and always asks the seller, so I wasn’t even thinking about it when she set up the offer. She told me the deets, that I would offer up $3000 cash upfront to put a nice spin on going with me as a buyer (something she knew many other buyers would not be able to offer up).
She was right, it worked, and my offer was the one the seller chose!
I wanted to look at the house again and also had my realtor set me up with an inspection. The inspector told me there were SEVERAL electrical issues I needed to have an electrician look at.
My realtor then put me in line with her own electrician.
Mistake #2. ALWAYS USE YOUR OWN CONTRACTORS, not your realtor’s contractors.
My basement fuse box/electrical panel was in some dire shape and the inspector told me it looks off and to have an electrician look at it. My realtor’s electrician told me everything was fine only to my dismay, about a month later – I started having some scary weird electrical sparks coming from my fuse box! Which I later found out from another electrician was because everything in my whole basement was wired up to one small amp wattage (including my whole furnace!) and was certainly very unsafe!
I was then quoted $1200 to fix it.
Along with the electrical issues, I was talked down on my “concerns” that came back from my inspection by my realtor. “All old homes have these problems,” she told me, but it turns out they were very valid concerns that should’ve been validated by my realtor and handled by the seller. Instead, I got stuck dealing with ALL these problems within the first couple months of moving in – myself!
The day I moved in, I noticed the door to my unattached garage was completely broken and busted in (like someone had kicked it in). I quickly realized that on both occasions I had come to see the house, my realtor had me stand out front and opened the car garage door for me to come in that way, so I had never even seen the door to garage. Hmm….
I also bought the house with a working sprinkler system which was included in the ad and pricing. My dad and I looked all over in the snow for the box one day, only for my realtor to tell me she had found it. So we brushed it off and went about the other inspections.
But guess what? When spring came and I went to start my sprinklers. No box. None at all. It was completely buried in the new walls the seller had built when flipping the house. My $7000 sprinkler system I had bought with the house, thinking it had worked (because that’s what was advertised and my realtor had told me she had seen) – didnt!
Mistake #3. Always check everything in the house yourself before closing on the house! Don’t rely on your realtor or contractors to “tell” you that it’s been fixed.
Another month or two after moving in, along with electrical issues, my house and sprung a plumbing leak. I didn’t have a plumber look at the fixes and new updates from the seller flipping the house, but I should have! My plumber told me that much of it was not up to code. Unfortunately, I had relied on my realtor’s inspector to catch this, which he didn’t.
in May, my furnace quit blowing hot air. I hired an HVAC company to come look at it. My furnace had been wired weird but was ok, but he was nice enough to check my AC for me, which to my dismay (and honestly kind of no surprise by now) was not working! When buying the house, the seller has said they had the HVAC and AC checked out and even sent over the bill showing it.
Mistake #4 – Don’t rely on the Seller’s Contractors. After telling my HVAC guy that the seller had had this checked and sent me the paperwork, he chuckled. “Unfortunately I see this ALL the time,” he says. “So many buyers go off the seller’s word and the word of their contractors, but they are just trying to get the house sold quick and often their contractors will even “overlook” some of the issues.
“I tell everyone to always get their own contractors when buying a house, and never rely on the sellers,” he told me.
Ugh. I’d love to say this was the last of my nightmare, but it isn’t. I wanted to break down a wall to make the master bedroom bigger. My realtor told me her contractor friend quoted her at about $750 to do it. That wasn’t right at all. It would be at least double that by any reputable contractor, which her contractor supposedly was. Again, I should have gotten a bid from my own contractor here so I knew what I was getting into before buying.
The Inspection also found insulation had been removed in the attic above the kitchen. My Realtor told me she had info for me on Dominion Energy doing it for me for free. But… I Never got the email after repeated attempts from her. She just ended up straight up ignoring them not long after I had closed on my house. I’m not sure if this was the truthful, but it looks like I’m getting stuck with a fee to pay for it myself.
On the closing day, when going through the paperwork, I got another fun surprise! Remember how above I told you my realtor told me she NEVER asks her buyers to pay the closing costs? Well, guess who the paperwork said was paying for it? Me!
Mistake #5. Always, ALWAYS thoroughly go over any closing/offer paperwork before closing on your house! Don’t just take your Realtor’s word for it!
I also got a nice surprise from call my mortgage officer, that the closing date was less than a week away! Surprise! Again I didn’t look closely at the paperwork and my realtor didn’t tell me the date she chose (which she should have).
My down payment was tied up in investments and no way I was getting them in time! I would have lost my $3000 cash I had put down with my offer AND the house, had my dad not stepped in to cover my ENTIRE $40,000 down payment for me in the meantime!
I know what you’re thinking. Wow, Cindy, you really blew it by not going over the paperwork your self and by hiring that realtor! Maybe you should have gotten someone else! Yes, that certainly feels true. But realtors ALL have a lot to gain and some may be less than honest when it comes to selling you on the house and getting you to pay top dollar for it.
I hate to bash them all and while there are certainly good, honest realtors out there, they’re getting a huge cut, after all, a whopping 6% of what you pay the seller! And really, when it comes down to it, realtors are only truly working for themselves – not you!
Not all experiences with realtors go this way, but they do have something to gain (something my dad warned me about first thing) and may ultimately have the sellers back to get you into that home quick – not yours!
So how does one avoid this problem? My solution is super simple guys, and its only 1 solution to all of this! Use Homie the next time you buy (or sell) a home!
It’s certainly what I wish I would’ve done, and I am still kicking myself for it!
Why take the risk? You don’t need a realtor!
About Homie:
Buying your next home with Homie has tons of benefits! Homie offers free agents to show you the property with no commission to gain. No need to be dishonest and sell you on something that may not be the best fit. And homie will GIVE you $5000 towards your closing costs just for using them!
Doing your own paperwork/offer through homie, while it may cause you a little work, you’ll know exactly what’s going in to it (because like me, most of us just glance over and don’t fully read paperwork/contracts) and Homie has agents to help you through the whole process of submitting an offer and negotiating too!
You get everything with Homie that you would with a traditional agent! Learn more about Homie HERE!
You can also get your mortgage loan with some of the lowest rates around through Homie! Working closely with them to ensure something like this doesn’t happen to you – Like my surprise closing date!)
Homie closes much faster than traditional home loans (Homie is in the top 1% for speed of closing!) -Which will help your offer seem that much more enticing too – without having to put extra cash down like I had to!
I love my house and ultimately it was the best choice for me. But big issues should have been “acknowledged” and fixed and/or my house offer should have been a lot less.
Oh, and if you will be selling a home too, Using Homie to sell your home will save you those 6% fees you’d be handing over to your realtor for selling your house! Homie saves home sellers on average, $10,000 by using Homie instead of a traditional realtor! Yep, you read that right, $10,000 ON AVERAGE!
It costs a mere $1500 to use Homie to sell your home. Simply pay the $199 upfront to get listed and then the $1299 balance (instead of the 6% you’d normally pay a realtor) when you close on your house! It’s that easy! See my 6 easy staging tips for selling your home!
Homie has a team of agents and lawyers to help you through the process of selling your home too, so you’re never alone! You’ve got help 24/7, right at your fingertips!
Homie not only saves you A TON of money on selling your home, but they also help you with the whole process of selling your house too! Learn more about how Homie can help you buy/sell your home HERE!
Check out Homie.com today to learn more and save yourself from my home-buying nightmare!
Awesome
great info. its always crazy buying a home
a night mare
Wow, what an experience! Its a nightmare when you are moving to new place and find out all those things.
I am so sorry this happened to you. Thanks for this important article.
Thank you for sharing these horrible experience. Buying a house is such a big undertaking and there are so many details to take care of that it’s difficult to keep everything under control.
Thanks for all the info. The home we bought is full of problems that were not disclosed. It has been awful.
Thank you for sharing, buying a home is daunting but thank you for the honest advice!
I see many ads how to get mortgage, how easy is to buy, how cool etc, but no one mentioned about what to be careful, where are hidden traps etc. Thank Got I found your article.
I’m so glad you liked it! Hope it helps and good luck in your home buying!
Now, this should read every one. Thank you for sharing this amazing experience.
I’m sure this post will come in handy for a lot of people looking to buy their first home. And you are right, it’s good to vent and allow yourself and others to learn from your mistakes 🙂
This post is SO informational! My fiance already owned our house when we moved in, but we talk about buying a different house frequently and it scares me to think of all of the different things that could go wrong!
It certainly can be a scary process for sure! But even though my experience was an absolute nightmare, I did choose the right home for me, and even though it had lots of problems in the beginning, I’ve been very happy with my purchase. So I think if you follow your gut on the house you choose, ultimately, it will be in your best interest.
I help people purchase their first homes (I am not a realtor) and warn them about all the items you mentioned. I always recommend that you keep the inspector, contractors and realtor separate. They all work for you and not with each other. Check everything twice and get several estimates on work to be done, Sometimes realtors will rush you to make decisions and “haste makes waste” defiantly applies here.
I wish I would’ve talked to you before buying!! Thanks so much for your input! I appreciate it and for reading my blog! xoxo
Oh no. So sorry this happened to you. Thank you for sharing with us and allowing us to learn from your experience.
Yikes! Nightmare indeed! These are great tips to remember when I buy my next house. Thanks for sharing!
Great tips and important post to share with those who are new to buying on the market. It’s so tough these days to find people who are honest and work for you! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for sharing your experience in the post so that others can benefit from it and avoid the same situation happening to them
This will make me think harder when I finally purchase a home. Right now I am renting a town house and not sure when I will be in the market to buy
Oh boy. This all so unfortunate! Thank you for sharing, as this is valuable information for anyone looking to buy a home.
Buying a home is definitely a scary experience all around. Thank you for sharing your experience.
I am thinking of buying my own property next year and I don’t even want to think of all the issues that will arrive during the process. Even now, when I rent a quite new apartment, there have been issues with the electric panel being linked wrong or with the AC not working.
Did you keep your house at the end?
“ALWAYS USE YOUR OWN CONTRACTORS, not your realtor’s contractors” My dad learn this lesson when he bought his house. Those contractors never fixed area around the house.
I did and I’m very happy with the house! I just wish I would’ve been smarter about it and knew then what I know now so I could’ve saved myself a lot of cash!
I for sure do not want a bad experience in a serious process like hunting for a good home. We should carefully choose a special team of people helping us. The decision to buy a house is important and every step on the way of implementation of it is crucial.
I had a nightmare of moving to my home too!
Buying our house was one of the most stressful processes I’ve been through! We did ok and I was very thorough, but learnt a lot on the way. I don’t want to go through that again in a hurry!
We just bought our condo 2 years ago and we’re looking forward to buy a house. THanks for the tips.
It’s always wise to look over the fine print of such a large purchase. It’s your name going on the dotted line.
so good to have the watchouts for home buying issues, thanks
Thanks for sharing! I’m sure it will benefit many people!
ok great.
I would use them. We had a bad experience selling our home. My husband had got a job in another town so we needed to sell our home quick. The realtor we hired told us a few days later they had a buyer and could move. The buyer didn’t come up with the down payment and couldn’t get the money to buy it. We had already moved. The realty company had to buy our house because they told us to move and the house was sold.
i am still a renter so these tips are very handy for any first time buyer
These are all great tips to use when buying a home and I am so sorry that any of these things happened to you. At least you learned from your mistakes and I appreciate you sharing so that maybe we do not make the same ones. My husband and I are looking to buy a home soon 🙂 so thank you!
Wow, this is incredible. I had no idea realtors could be so selfish. That seems counterproductive to their business. It’s really sad. I will definitely look into Homie. Awesome post.
Do your due homework and all will be well when buying a home
Sorry to hear that you had a nightmare experience buying your home. We have to have lots of survey’s in the UK and they often pick up things we would never have thought of looking at
helpful tips
Yeah, nightmare!
I am so sorry this happened to you. What a headache. Great tips for helping others avoid the same mistakes.
The Best How to Avoid Home-Buying Nightmare … is not to buy a home!!!
All wealthy people live in rented properties. Only middle class buy homes.
Sharing these things makes everyone be more careful when they encounter in this kind of situation. Thanks a lot. For sure this will help many.
We’re currently looking to buy our first house and it’s so scary and confusing! And expensive!! Any way that we can possibly save is so important to us!
Thanks for sharing your experiences
such an informative post! Thanks!
I went through my own home buying nightmare, but ended up finding the right home in the end.
Great information. Thanks for sharing
We have been in our home for 25 years and hope to stay to old age. I would not want the pressure of trying to sell it would stress me out.
I am so sorry, you had such an experience. Buying house is a big deal. And everyone want the perfect place. Thank you for warning about the risks. I would try to get through homie too since we are searching .
Very helpful. Thanks for the article.
Good info .thanks .ask lot of questions!!!!
These are great pieces of advice and would like to pass along to my sons
Thanks for sharing your experience. Some of this is wisdom gained from going through the process. You can give some good advice!
Wow, what a nightmare that is. I will sure save this up for future use. No one deserves to be in such a trouble .
Wow. Thanks for sharing your story.
This was so informative! Thank you for this!
This is a great article. We also learned the hard way as renters that not all real estate agents are scrupulous. Definitely don’t rely on them to tell you the truth or check everything.
I had my own home buying nightmare. It’s great your putting this info out there.
This is a very helpful post on one of the biggest purchases you will ever make
Helpful tips!
Thank you for the post! I enjoyed your advice
Thanks for this post. It has some really helpful information
These are good things to keep in mind. The last thing you want when buying a house is even more expenses!
This is a good blog post very helpful tips for buying house.
Yikes! Thanks for sharing your story. We’re fairly new to the buying/selling process so this was good info to read.
Thanks for the information. I’ll keep it in mind.
looks like the link for facebook is not working. I tried to connect with the link on the contest and is took me to friend requests instead of your site. I am going to log into facebook first and then circle back.
these are some great tips. Thanks.
My goodness. Thanks for sharing because this post can certainly help others to avoid what happened to you.
I’m not planning to move but your information sounds very helpful for those looking to buy a home.
Good info , thank you🙏🙏🙏
A lot of good tips!
I appreciate the tips. Buying a home is definitely a huge event but also stressful so it’s great to be informed of what could happen.
Really helpful stuff
This does really sound like a better option to using a traditional realtor.
WOW sure glad I got rid of my home about 6 years ago. When you reach a certain age owning a home is a lot of work/time/money
great info. its always crazy buying a home
Such great tips. Buying a home is a scary ordeal – you have to so all of your homework and cover all of your bases!
I’m just starting to look into buying a home. The process seems so chaotic.
Thanks for the info sorry it happen to you
Love to win
This is rough. Wow
See, even a bad experience can be an object lesson for the rest of us.
This great information. I will definitely use it next time I’m in the market for a house.
This is some really good information.
Thanks for the great information!
Wish we had found your site before buying a house it would have helped a lot, we definitely would’ve benefited from your very important and informative tips and experience from your videos and blogs
YEARS ago I wanted to buy a used car for my first car. My mother said NO! You are just buying someone else problems when you buy a used car. So anything I have ever bought I look for the problems. And some of the things you list were some of those problems
Thanks for this article it’s much needed.
This is a very good post. A lot of things I didn’t know. Much appreciated
I’m disabled and have been since my 20’s but if I ever found myself in the position to buy a house I now have a guide hthank yiu!
Love this info
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Love tea .was raised drinking it everyday 💙🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏,yum
Thank you!! We are going to be house hunting in the Spring and need all the help we can get. We were in our early 20’s when we bought our current home and have been here for 15 years. We overlooked a lot of things as first time homeowners.
You are spot on about being super careful about finding and trusting your realtor. Investigating and inspecting everything yourself is solid advice.
You are spot on about being super careful about finding and trusting your realtor. Investigating and inspecting everything yourself is solid advice..
Thank you for sharing your experiences, I have learned a lot from my mistakes too!
Proper preparation and knowledge is always a must from grocery shopping to home buying!
Buying a house is a process that requires thorough research! Great advice!
Thanks for this post!
that sound like i went through we found the person who lived there tore it up it had nick in it the carpet and she tore it up and the wall was pretty a border she took a ice scarper an put new carpet and window in then house
Thanks for sharing all this valuable information. I have only owned one home and it wasn’t a great experience.
All these facts are great if your looking to buy your first and not get burned like I’ve been in the past, and there’s alot of thing’s I’ll do before we buy again. Good Luck Everybody!
I am just in the “casually looking” part of buying my first house and am already overwhelmed!
Thank you for the hints!
WOW I watch some of the home shows on HGTV and some of the problems that they find, heartbreaking. Makes me happy not to have a home, just happy with my apartment
These are very great tips! Thank you. I will keep these in mind next spring when we purchase our next home!
I personally like to rent and would love to live in an apartment forever, but you definitely helped me become more knowledgeable about homes. If I ever look to buy one, I know what mistakes not to make!
Thanks for sharing your mis-steps so others can avoid them.
Thank you for sharing advice!
Thanks for sharing your misfortune and good advice.
I will like to enter the sweepstakes
Holy moly, what a nightmare! Thank you for sharing the information and solution too!
This is a good advice for anybody even if your not buying a home, knowledge is the key to succeed.
Hope all falls into place!
Everybody should do a lot of research before buying a house.
I am so sorry you had to go through all of that when buying your home. Will definitely be looking in to Homie when we plan to move next.
Thank you for the tips!! Skipping the cost of having a realtor is great because I know that can get expensive.
Thanks for sharing! Not sure if this app would be any use to me in my current location thou! But i can surely recommend it to my friends and family abroad in the states.
Great information! We did a walkthrough and found a couple things the seller had agreed to fix but didn’t, so we put off the closing untill they did.
Great information! We did a walkthrough and found a couple things the seller had agreed to fix but didn’t, so we put off the closing until they did.
So sorry this happened to you but thanks for sharing your story for other people to learn
Thank you for sharing.It is very important to find someone that you can trust to sell your home.
Thanks for the great information. There is so much that you need to know.
There is so much that you need to know. Thanks for the great article.
Thanks for the fantastic article.
My first home was a. Apartment building that I rented out the 2 bottom floors and lived in the top. NEVER AGAIN!! People are such scumbags! I did background checks and even 8sed a rental company…I’ll never ever ever own rental property again….worst 10yrs of my life! I was so glad the day I sold that pkace.
Unfortunately, I’ve made some of these mistakes myself.
Thank you for sharing these tips
My dad and stepmom live in Florida and omg the stuff ppl try to get away with is just crazy
so sorry you went through all that! I know when me and my ex bought our first house it was one of the most stressful things I ever went through!
We have bought many properties over the years. Unfortunately every experience is totally different. These are words for the wise.
Really sorry you went through this nightmare! I was not familiar with Homie until I read this informative post.
Thanks for sharing!! Good to know for when I am ready to purchase my first house!
I believe we have something in common. I didn’t like my realtor either nor me and my husband aren’t together anymore after buying a home and settling in for a year and then we went different ways after being married for 10+ years.
wow very informative, thanks for your openess
very helpful thank you
Buying a home is strenuous.. Ugggggh!
Thank you for these words of wisdom! #1 is so true. We found out the hard way how important having the right realtor is!!
great post
What a terrible experience! These are very valuable tips for homebuyers~thank you for sharing your story so at least others can learn from it!
This was very well put together. Some very easily overlooked mistakes that the best of us can be caught on the short end. I only hope I can remember this Homie link when we are ready to sell. I have overpaid for experience one too many times myself!
I am so sorry you went through struggles. Thanks for the info to help others.
Might be in the market for a home in the next year. Came back and will be saving this post somewhere I can find it easily when needed. Thank you!!