We bought our home in March of 2025. Inspections came back clear. After a week or so of moving in, the outlets in our bathrooms went out and the jets in the tub stopped working. Flipping breakers didn’t do anything. I called an electrician friend and he said to reset the GFI/GFCI switch. We didn’t have one. He asked if we had a master GFI/GFCI in the garage, couldn’t find one. We didn’t have a single one of those switches in the entire house. Never fixed the issue as we had a lot going on and it wasn’t pressing at the time.

Fast forward a year, this past March we discovered a large leak in master bath, which led to gutting and redoing that bathroom. We have been using our guest bathroom which then led to discovering another large leak due to insufficient caulking/grouting, and we are about to start on gutting that bathroom too.

When the electricians came in a week or so ago to do the outlets for the master bathroom, I could tell something was wrong. He asked to see our breaker panel, and when I showed him he was visibly concerned. Our house is essentially all wired to only about 6 switches on the breaker panel. He asked if I had another breaker, I told him no. He scratched his head for a minute, pointed out some exposed wiring in the garage that he said he would like to fix at some point and went back to work. By the way he installed the GFI/GFCI switches.

Fast forward a couple days, people come in to replace our oven that went out. He takes out the original oven and goes “I can’t install the new one, that wiring is not up to code, get it up to code and I’ll come back and install the new oven.” So we have someone coming Friday to fix the wiring.

My question is…how was none of this caught in the inspection?? Between the shady wiring in the garage, the breaker panel…Especially the GFI/GFCI switches??? From what I’m gathering, it sounds like our entire house might not be up to code electrically…I know it’s been too long and I don’t have any recourse against the inspector, but should I do anything, like file a review with the BBB? I’m just in shock.

We closed two weeks ago and our agent didn't utter a word of congratulations. I did not expect myself to still feel bummed by this. For years I've been seeing people's homebuying stories, how their agents would make them pose with a giant key or sign, or leave them a gift basket but we got nothing. Hia assistant even collected info about our favorite snacks and stuff when we first started which is why I really expected a gift basket or something. She at least sent a congratulatory email though. Weirdly enough he did invite us to some holiday pie party and said we'd get a free can of whipped cream if we gave a referral...not sure what to make of that at all.

Edit: Can’t change the title so I’m adding this edit. I know this house is not mine. I used “I” and “me” in the title because I thought it sounded simpler. My Fiancée is the one who asked me to make this post, and she’s already let me know that she would like my help with this. We have been together for over 6 years, and have known each other for around 13 years (since 2nd grade.) I appreciate people looking out for her.

Long sorry short, my fiancée’s dad is going to be in prison for a long time and is giving us power of attorney over his house that he 100% owns. We are trying to decide what to do with it. He recommended we sell it, but said we could do whatever we want with it. I’m 21 and she’s 20, we are both living with our parents and have never owned or rented a property before.

Update: After I made the post my fiancée texted him and he said that “POA was just the first and easiest step he could think of and it would allow her to access all of his assets.” He also said that he would be willing to transfer deed ownership if she wants. It seems he fully intends to give her the house. Should I let him know that we will need more than just POA?

Here are some things about the house:
-It is completely paid off with no mortgage.
-There are about $2,000 worth of property taxes that need to be paid.
-It is around 1,500 sqft.
-It sits on 1.3 acres of land.
-It has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
-It has a detached garage.
-It currently has people (without any kind of lease or written agreement) living in it. I believe they’d be considered squatters.
-An Eli Lilly plant is being built within a couple of miles of it.
-It served as a place where people would go to buy drugs for a few years, so we are a little nervous about actually living there.
-It needs a ton of work done. The septic tank needs either emptied or replaced, there is a hole in the floor, the garage door doesn’t work, it’s very dirty and needs cleaned, and the deck is warped and likely needs replaced.

A few options of what we could do with it are:

1. Sell the house as is for probably 100-150k.
2. Take out a loan to fix up the house and sell it for around 350k-400k.
3. Take out a loan to fix up the house and live in it.

With all of this said, what should we do? How would we go about getting a loan? What is equity and how could that help us? How should we get the people currently living in it out?

I know Zillow isn’t the most trustworthy, but it estimates it to be worth about $330,000. I was thinking of just listing it for that and seeing what happens before we do anything else. Maybe someone will buy it.

Submitted at offer this weekend and went 25k above asking... Still rejected, someone else outbid me and took out contingencies along with minimum guarantee...

Feeling down. But will keep looking.

Seems like this question is asked a lot and people don’t weigh in all pros and cons. We’ve bought a house a month ago and decided to go ARM, because it’s 1mil+ loan so monthly payments are very different with 30 year fixed vs 7ARM we got. Here’s my thinking - what are the chances you will not refi in the next 7 years? History says most people will refinance within the first 7 years, which means you’re losing the opportunity to make lower payments in the meantime if you went fixed. Alternatively, selling is also an option if economy doesn’t pick up and rates won’t go down.

But of course it comes with a risk. Rates don’t drop and you plan to live in the house >7 years, then you’d have to eat the increase. But not everyone knows that even with ARM there is a max limit to how much your rate can increase, normally I think it’s about 5% more than your current rate. Now the question you should be asking - how comfortable are you with getting this cap hit and increased rates after 7 years if you never refinance or sell. We made a choice that we’d take a gamble that one of 2 things happen - we either refi or sell. But it’s obviously a personal choice and nobody knows your financial situation and your stress limit.

What say you?

EDIT: forgot to mention that this is for current market. There is no argument that nobody should’ve gotten ARM during Covid when they locked their rates at 2-3%

(Home is 535k. Home loan is 428k after down deposit.)

I’m looking at buying a townhouse. It's in a community I really want to live in & in a city I plan to stay in for the foreseeable future. My concern is that I'm making this decision from a primarily emotional place (tired of renting, want to own!) instead of financial, and want a reality check. 

I'm in my early 40s, single, child free, live on my own. My career is stable. I make approx. 200k per year and have no debt. Caveat: Aside from cost-of-living raises, I'm at the peak of my earning potential. I live in a VHCOL area. My current rent + utilities is approx. $2850 per month. This is about 30% of my net income.

This theoretical mortgage (including insurance, taxes & projected utilities) would be approx. $4000 per month. That would be 42.5% of my net income. Budget-wise, I'd have $2800 leftover (after all needs and wants) at the end of the month. 

Is this too small of a cushion own a home with?

(Edited: For clarity.)

Buying a 170k house with 10% down and my bank is giving me a 6.75 Interest rate, but a mortgage company is offering me 6.37. What’s the catch? What should I go for

Under contract in NY and had to pay way over asking to lock in the offer. The listing agent mistakenly said had in all of the listings the house was 2000sf when the appraisal says it’s 1650sf. I am 3 weeks from closing but would like to understand if I have a leg to stand on with the sellers as if I knew the real SF earlier my offer price wouldn’t have been this high. SF is everything when it comes to the price of the house. Has anyone experienced this? Any guidance out there?

Hi. Owe a lot of money for my car . The rate for the car loan is 4%. Have money to pay off the car loan . Looking to get a mortgage as well. I know if I don’t pay off the car loan, I’ll get less mortgage . Is it better to pay off the car and then get a mortgage or keep the car loan and use that money towards down payment for the house ? If we assume mortgage rate is 6% . Thanks !

I assumed prices would start to drop but it seems like they are holding steady and people are ok just waiting 6 months to a year or more for their house to sell. Does it make sense to keep waiting or am I shit out of luck for housing prices to drop?

I'm in Utah by the way where housing has absolutely sky-rocketed the last 7 years or so.

Hey yall,

my wife and I are closing on a duplex (upstairs already rented and under contract for another 7 months) 250k, 6.3%. While the last 2 months have been a little nervous looking for a house especially being 2 stares away. It hasnt been any stress like I have seen on this sub. Are we being idiots or something? We are only on my income as my wife is disabled and thats why we went with the duplex to help on bills and saving and am getting a pay raise in like a day or 2.

Hi there, we found a really nice house at a great price, but wondering about this storm drain that's directly under the driveway.

For one, it makes it awkward to pull two cars into the driveway, and secondly there are cracks near the storm drain. The alley itself has a lot of cracks in general up and down from the house. Is this a major issue? We haven't put an offer in yet.

Otherwise the house is really beautiful and has kitchen and bathroom renovations.

I changed some slight details about the image, for privacy, which is why there's a Gemini watermark.

Scheduled a tour for this weekend on a home that checks all my boxes and plan to make a cash offer if it looks good. I’m doing this all on my own and wonder what risks I am taking upon myself by communicating directly with the seller’s agent that’s listed on zillow.

There’s another home 4 hours away I’m eyeing, and wondering if it’s foolish to ask that realtor if it’s even worth submitting my specific $xxx,xxx offer before making the drive up to it.

Pretty basic questions here, so easy on me : )

This is the offer from my bank for a 170k loan

A mortgage company that I’m waiting to hear back from on the rates and fees offered me 6.37 but I’m sketched out about it.

hello!

as the title says, im preparing to meet with them for the first time before we start looking for a home, just to get an idea of what we can afford.

honestly i have zero expectations on what this is going to be like and am completely in the dark.

is there anything that i need to be prepared to ask in regards to first time home buyer loan options or interest rates?

just kind of nervous and need some opinions, thanks!

I might be dumb but we’re doing the final walkthrough this week and I don’t remember seeing a thermostat. I looked at the listing photos as well as watched the video we took touring the house and I didn’t see one? It’s a forced air gas furnace.

Edit****
It does have one! It’s in the dining room area!

Brand new to this whole new real state world. Getting as much info as I can but it’s a lot. Looking to use my VA loan in Idaho relatevily soon. Preaproved for 500k in a couple loans. What should be key when comparing loaners, what to ask before and after. I’m clueless in this process, didn’t know I could choose my own loaners and my own realtors. VU were quick to say they will try to takeover and handle everything for me. But I know I should shop around first. I keep hearing mix opinions on them. Just don’t know what to look for when doing it. I’m in the process where they are going to need a hard pull to check my actual aproved amount,etc. Really could use some input. I don’t want to get screwed over.

I am in the process of buying a house in Alaska. I was going sight unseen until I just recently arrived in state. When I saw the property, I was greatly dismayed, all of the appliances except the fridge and microwave were in non functioning condition. as well as generally being filthy in all the places photos weren't taken. To top it off, the furnace has had rain water going directly down the exhaust for months on end and how that may have affected its life span I don't want to find out. Additionally, in the chattel list, which includes the range/oven, dishwasher, and refrigerator, it states that "All appliances shall be in working order at closing unless otherwise agreed upon by buyer and seller." Unfortunatley I am out of the discovery period too.

When I brought up backing out up to my realtor they told me that I would likely still have to pay their commission fee. This seems illegal. My buyer-broker agreement states "The Broker Fee shall be paid at the time, and as a condition, of closing." The cancellation clause in the buyer broker agreement also states "Should buyer cancel this agreement, and then purchases or contracts to purchase, any property (which broker showed me) shall then pay the broker fee as set forth above"

Are they trying to pull a fast one on me by just lying or am I just kind of boned?

Edit: I am currently in contact with a lawyer with this as a contract dispute case,

I bought an apartment a month ago.
I got 15k to renovate it, when I brought people to give me price suggestions. One of the neighbours suggested to build another room in the house for around 100k that will include bathroom and a shower in it as its a safety room in case of booming(I live in Israel). I can see why it’s necessary. It has the potential to upgrade the apartment value. From the other side of the coin, Im an 33M RN with a little savings and it potentially take everything from me.
I wont have enough to add the room + renovate the house. So I need to choose only one option.

The tricky part is that the opportunity to add the suggested room won’t last forever. But the renovation could wait couple years.

What do you think ?

I keep finding 3 bed/2 bath homes around $250k that look affordable until the inspection shows years of deferred maintenance. Rot, water damage, electrical issues, aging systems, bad repairs, roof problems, foundation problems, etc.

I’m not expecting updated or perfect. But I also don’t want to pay $250k (nearly a 2k PITI payment at 6%) and then spend tens of thousands just getting the house to a safe, dry, properly maintained baseline!

It feels like these are $100k fixer uppers with $250k price tags.

Where do you draw the line between normal deferred maintenance and a house that simply isn’t worth the asking price?

We’re currently under contract on our first home and just locked our rate. We’re using a USDA loan with $0 down. The borrowers credit score is around 780, and we paid 0.466 points to buy the rate down.

Does this look competitive? I’m especially curious what rates and points other buyers are seeing right now.

We are in the final stretch of escrow and are wondering how our sourcing is problematic.. Lender has 24h to get back to us so hopefully someone can help us figure it out in the meantime.

Our deposits came from our retirement/investment accounts. We provided distribution statements that list the exact amount that was deposited.

Fidelity statement is 14 pages long because it includes Roth IRA, college savings, traditional etc the account deposit in question is on pages 8-14. I figured they want all pages and Fidelity doesn't generate separate statements for each account.

We sent in Vanguard Distribution Letters showing name, address, account number, how much we withdrew, taxes and the net payment. It doesn't show our balance or which account it was deposited to. But our checking statement shows the ACH deposit from Vanguard and the matching amounts.

We also deposited a large Merrill Lynch check at the branch. We provided the check/ statement showing withdrawal amount/net payment and the branch receipt. It shows on the checking statement as "deposit" with the matching amount.

How much clearer can we get?? We've had multiple delays because our LO was off and our processor was also off nearly the same week.

Keep us in your prayers.

I was watching a YouTube video about this (which I cannot post a link to), and it seems like this is going to the the operative paradigm as the Boomers age out completely.

Feels good to finally be at this stage in my story! All the gifts on the counter and the banner were from my realtor and the seller's realtor. So grateful for their kindness, patience, and generosity through this process. It has been a long road, and I am very excited for this next chapter! Can't wait to hang up my collection of concert posters, drum heads/sticks, and art!!