For Future Home Buyers

When we were looking for a home, and had picked out our current home, our realtor advised against the full inspection because it's expensive. And while she was right, and we didn't have the money for the inspection at the time, I wish I'd gotten it.

You see, the other night, during the thunderstorm (which included a nice hail show) our frequently leaking bathroom ceiling pulled a new feat. The standard leak would be a drip drip drip that would get annoying. I thought that was bad enough. The other night was a like a faucet turned on low. It was a continuous flow of water. We had to put our trash can on our toilet to catch the flow. Sigh.

So, if you're looking for a house, pay for the full inspection. It is so worth it. We probably wouldn't have bought this house knowing some of the problems.

And also, pay particular attention to anything that doesn't look right. Any little project that you think you'll fix when you move in will likely take six months to take care of. At least. If you simply can't find a house that is in your budget that's also doesn't have problems, it's best to stay in your apartment. In an apartment you have people to come around and fix stuff for you, and they have to pay for it. Sure, they may take a while, they may be rude, they may come and inconvenient times, and they may go through your underwear drawer, but it's worth it if you're not ready to do these things on your own.

But then, if you do have some money saved away, and you can find a house that has a minimum of problems and passes a thorough inspection, then ownership is nice because you can put down roots. At my house, I don't feel like I can put down roots. Putting up pictures is problematic because the walls are crap. Anything we do is to make it nice enough to sell in a few years. I almost wished we had stayed in an apartment. But it was good for the learning experience.