I was about to purchase a home but walked away from the deal with less than 24 hours before I was locked in.

I wanted to move from my spacious mansion in Clarington to a more spacious mansion in a town closer to Terroronto (more urban, less cows).

After the home inspection was done it was discovered that the house has many serious issues, including an out-of-date electrical system with bare wires and what not rubbing up against venting pipes and plumbing pipes. The foundation was leaking and was crumbling to pieces in at least the places we could visually inspect. Whole window frames were rotted through. The kitchen, thanks to a perpetual leak, was rotted in spots under the sink, no cold water in the basement shower (I don't mind warm showers but scalding one's penis is a whole different issue), rotted garage door, rotted patio deck, a minimum of three layers of shingles on the roof (you really should only have one set of shingles on, ie: remove the old ones first), and mold growing in the window sills of what are currently the kid's rooms. This is just the first page of the inspection report.

Anyways, I'm walking away. I'm only out the inspector's fee and I'll get my $5K deposit back thankfully. Since it'll be hard to find a house of this design/style at the price I was going to pay, I'm now forced to take my current house off the market in case mine sells and I don't have one bought in time to move to.

My basic point is I'm pissed off the that seller's let the place get so run down both in appearance and safety-wise and expected to sell it at the price they were asking. They house clearly had not been maintained properly in years. I just could not fathom how a family with little kids could live in a house with the non-code electrical hazards. And the mold, right next to the baby's bed. *shudder*

I hear you fedge. When Shutterbug and I were house hunting, one of the requirements that we stated were a 'must', was a garage. One of the houses had just the door to a garage but when we walked in, the door was sealed and the garage was converted into a living room thus, no garage.

Our agent asked where the garage was and the vendor told him he's looking at it. The agent turned to us and asked if we wanted to continue looking at the place, we said "no" and walked away. Our agent was pissed that this was allowed to be listed as having a garage.

You were smart to walk away fedge. Unless you have the funds to bulldoze the place and rebuild, it would have been a nightmare getting the place back up to code.

Sounds like a complete lack of maintainence, however the mold does not neccessarily bother me. We have mold growing on our window frames all the time in the winter, we keep the humidity 'too high' inside our house. We like the humidity for our breathing and for all the wood floors and furniture, however the side effect is mold growth. I go through about once a month with bleach and clean / kill all the mold. By itself, most molds are not very hazardous to a healthy person, but someone with breathing problems may face very serious health hazards with nearby mold growth. I'd be more afraid of the mold behind the walls that you can't see, the mold on the windows could indicate mold growth all over the place. Mold alone shouldn't scare you, but the presence of visual mold MUST be treated as a sign that further investigation is required.

Fedge, I feel your pain.

My mom and I bought a house back in 2004 and to tell you the truth, i wish I had had an inspection done. This place is a crumbling pile of shit! The skylight leaks, the furnace blew up in 2006. Had a new one installed, now the heat doesn't work. Half the windows don't have storm windows/outer windows! The rear deck is sinking into the earth, the roof needs repair, the place needs paint... the thing that kills me is that the previous owners had glossed over everything and we had needed a house ASAP as we got tired of our landlord nosing through our things while we weren't home, or appearing in our kitchen at the most inappropriate moments (like getting out of the shower and stepping out of the bathroom naked).

The previous owners here had promised, even in the contract, to remove all their stuff from the premises before the deal was signed. They didn't and their attitude was, fuck you, sue us. you're not going to get anything. So I'm stuck with their garbage and they were packrats of the Nth order!

Anyways, that's my horror story about buying a home. If I ever win the lottery, I'm going to build my own home the way I want it.

I'll never go back to paying rent for a residence. Waste of money.

Buying a house is really the only way to go.

Even if you sell the house for the same as what you bought it for, you just lived there for free.

And you must not trust a home inspector alone. Go, Look, Walk through yourself a couple of times. Take a flashlight, camera, circuit tester. It's your money and may be your home.

We got lucky and the only things that are wrong with this house is:

- needed a new roof
- chimney needed to be rebuilt from the roof
- grass wasnt cut for 5 weeks before we moved in
- and the insulation was up against the roof in the attic.

Plumbing can be done by any joe who has any common sense. Electrical you just have to work on it with someone who knows what they're doing and you'll be fine.

I would love to buy a house,I agree that renting is an epic waste. My problem is shoddy credit,though.

So much for "disclosure" laws! All that shit is suppose to be listed and forthcoming when you look at a house.

I'm sure that there are some things that may go unnoticed by the current owner, but it sounds like they were just trying to unload their problems onto someone else.

Thank gawd you had that inspection.

Posted by Debi So much for "disclosure" laws! All that shit is suppose to be listed and forthcoming when you look at a house. I'm sure that there are some things that may go unnoticed by the current owner, but it sounds like they were just trying to unload their problems onto someone else. Thank gawd you had that inspection.

It was the best $250 I ever spent.

Wiccan you can always move in with me.

Buyer beware.

Posted by KublaKhan Buyer beware.

truer words were never spoken!

Posted by atomx I'll never go back to paying rent for a residence. Waste of money. Buying a house is really the only way to go. Even if you sell the house for the same as what you bought it for, you just lived there for free.

Except you paid property tax and likely paid interest on a mortgage.... that can add up to the same as rent. Also, when you sell your house, you lose a percentage (about 2.5%) to a real estate agent, so you better sell privately. Unless you sell the house for higher then you bought it, there is going to be a loss.

Some people are better off to rent for their entire lives, it actually costs less money, but they have no 'house' to sell later to pay for the retirement home.

Home inspections will save you vast amounts of heartbreak. We looked at a little house once that was still occupied. We could tell something was amiss but not what. While talking to the real estate agent my sister leaned against one of the outside walls and her hand went through it. It turned out that the house was originally a mobile home. They had built a roof on it and sided it. The owners had not told the real estate agents about the houses origins. What was worse when they put the siding on they nailed it directly over the metal on the side of the trailer. With no airspace and no moisture barrier the place had rotted from the inside out. Needless to say we walked away from that one. One thing that we noticed was that the people living there had something in the oven when we went in. There was also candles and incense burning in most of the rooms. They were doing everything in their power to hide the smell of rot and decay.

Scary stuff!!!

Here are some pics I took prior to getting the home inspection report and when I was viewing the house with not quite so critical an eye.

Posted by Nvr2loud Except you paid property tax and likely paid interest on a mortgage.... that can add up to the same as rent. Also, when you sell your house, you lose a percentage (about 2.5%) to a real estate agent, so you better sell privately. Unless you sell the house for higher then you bought it, there is going to be a loss. Some people are better off to rent for their entire lives, it actually costs less money, but they have no 'house' to sell later to pay for the retirement home.

1600-2000 a year for taxes. No where close to rent for a year.

Interest, at 5% of the borrowing cost. so add on 5% to 700/mo. No where close to rent.

2.5% of sale price, no where near cost of rent.

5%+2.5%+(2000/year)=better than renting.

You can pay for a mortgage if you rent out your house (and still make money paying for the taxes and losses).

We were renting our last apartment, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, at $930.00 per month

Total for (1) year of $11,160.00



Now if we bought a house for $200,000.00 at 5% borrowing rate, property taxes of $2000.00 a year (which is actually $1000.00 less then I actually pay) and sold that house after (1) year for the same $200,000.00 then the costs would be approximately:

$10,000.00 lost to mortgage interest payments (approximately)
$5000.00 lost to real estate agent
$2000.00 lost to property taxes

Total loss $17,000.00

Difference of $5840.00


Therefore the longer you stay in the house, the worse the loss. There is also repairs, land transfer taxes, ect.

I'm not saying don't buy a house, I'm saying the value of the house MUST increase to cover the costs or it is ALWAYS a loss. You will alwsys lose money if the house dosen't appreciate enough. It is nice to break-even and even nicer to profit.

i just got home and decided to fix a leaky pipe that sounds like it had gotten worse. I crawl under the house with tools in hand all armed to do the job and at the far corner (well away from the furnace/oil barrel/etc) there is over 3ft of water... right where the shutoff is... So I say, fuck it. I'm home... it'll be a little chilly... step in! COLD!! FUCKING COLD!!! I can't get the fucking shutoff to budge. I tried using a screwdriver as a cheater... no dice. So now, I am waiting for my brother to get home with a big pair of channel-locks to shut the water off...

people who are buying a house, one piece of advice... LOOK THE HOUSE OVER FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, BOTTOM TO TOP. HAVE A KNOWLEDGEABLE CONTRACTOR LOOK IT OVER THE SAME WAY!

or you'll end up with a mess like I have.

Posted by Nvr2loud We were renting our last apartment, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, at $930.00 per month

Hate to tell ya, but that's around what I pay for mortgage and taxes.


And you don't pay for all the interest in the first year, unless you don't want to keep the mortgage. Usually you have a 20-25 year mortgage in wich you pay it off over all that time. More at the start have you. But if your moving all the time (once a year) then rent.

The interest I'm talking about is only for (1) year....

$200,000.00 mortgage at 5% borrowing cost equals $10,000.00 per year

Of course the $200,000.00 would decrease each payment made, therefore the interest would be slightly less then $10,000.00 that first year, less again the second year, and so on.


If you had a 200,000.00 mortgage your weekly interest would be $192.30 therefore after (1) month, your interest would be $769.20 and your $1000.00 payment would only pay $230.80 of principal. Now if your property taxes were included in that payment, your principal paid would be under $100.00

Houses are very expensive, the longer you amortize, the more money the house will cost.

I'm just saying, if you choose to purchase, understand the costs or possible loses. Houses need to appreciate for you to cover the costs. Interest on a mortgage is very high.

Posted by Nvr2loud We were renting our last apartment, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, at $930.00 per month Total for (1) year of $11,160.00 Now if we bought a house for $200,000.00 at 5% borrowing rate, property taxes of $2000.00 a year (which is actually $1000.00 less then I actually pay) and sold that house after (1) year for the same $200,000.00 then the costs would be approximately: $10,000.00 lost to mortgage interest payments (approximately) $5000.00 lost to real estate agent $2000.00 lost to property taxes Total loss $17,000.00 Difference of $5840.00 Therefore the longer you stay in the house, the worse the loss. There is also repairs, land transfer taxes, ect. I'm not saying don't buy a house, I'm saying the value of the house MUST increase to cover the costs or it is ALWAYS a loss. You will alwsys lose money if the house dosen't appreciate enough. It is nice to break-even and even nicer to profit.

The rent in my area is about 900(studio)-1200(2bed/1.5 Bath) US a month.

My mortgage for a 1600sqf 3 BR 2 bath, is 400/month at 6.2% APR.

Renting is a total waste of money