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When you buy real estate, you buy the problems right along with the assets. When I bought my home, repairs and replacements in the first year cost $17,000. I considered that customary and reasonable. Over the subsequent 20 years, maintenance and upgrades have run another $70,000. Owning a home is not cheap.
$87,000 over 20 years of home ownership? seriously? please detail what you have done!
$87,000 over 20 years of home ownership? seriously? please detail what you have done!
The first year was replacing the electric furnace with a heat pump, installing a new electrical main and sub-panel to accommodate the circuitry and revision of some of the ductwork to accommodate the increased air flow of a heat pump. The next summer we tore off the heavy shake roof, sheathed over the skip sheathing and installed a new roof. At the same time we installed a skylight in the guest bathroom, which was a dark hole in the middle of the house, installed a solar tube in the hallway that runs the center of the house, re-did the eave vents and blew insulation into parts of the attic that were not accessible when the roof was on, plus bringing the attic insulation up to code. We installed new continuous gutters and downspouts. While the ceiling was out of the guest bathroom I replaced the counters, cabinets and fixtures with modern stuff, re-textured the walls, gave it a new paint job, new flooring and base moldings. I also wrapped the 3' return air duct in the attic with insulation.
Next we replaced all of the aluminum single pane windows with vinyl U.36 windows. We tore off the rotting 20x20 deck and replaced it with treated framing and trex decking. Does building a gazebo overlooking the creek count? We poured a concrete patio next to the deck and installed a hot tub, complete with the required sub-panel. We replaced the rusted out septic tank with a 1500 gallon 2-chamber unit.
Next we tackled the floor plan and kitchen. We tore out an inefficient pantry and laundry between the dining and family room, and opened the area up with half walls and a new window. We tore out 12' of wall between the living room and dining room, and closed off the original kitchen door. We tied the kitchen, dining and family room together with new tile flooring, and installed tiger wood hardwood floors in the living room and hallway. The new kitchen is a work of art. My wife and I can work in it without getting in each other's way. During this project we replaced the glass slider to the deck with full opening Pella French doors, with the mini-blinds between the panes, and replaced the front door with an insulated fiberglass door with a stained glass side light. I installed a front projection TV system in the living room with an electric screen concealed in the ceiling and a THX certified sound system. We replaced the old 2' window in front of the kitchen sink with a 6' bay window. We replaced all the cheap interior doors with slightly dressier 6-panel doors, replaced all the trim, and installed a gun safe in my office. We installed a second water heater for the master bath and revised the plumbing a bit. We installed subfloor insulation. We gave the exterior a 3-color paint job.
Outside the house we added low retaining walls and a concrete patio to the NE side of the house, built a fountain water feature in the front yard, extended the sidewalk around the whole house and built a porch roof over the garage man door. We wired and plumbed a full RV hookup on that side of the house, with power, phone, cable, internet and sewer connections. We built two deluxe covered dog kennels. We installed shelving and power in the 20x20 garden shed. We installed a 2500 gallon cistern and booster pump to deal with low well flow in the summer, set it on concrete inside its own pole barn shelter, and craftily located it above the house elevation so we have low head gravity feed water during power outages. I replaced the well pump and built a new well house.
Most recently I rebuilt the footbridge across the creek. The original was rustic and overwhelmingly cute, but built on a tight budget. I rebuilt the bridge with treated lumber and waterproof decking. I had to special order the bridge beams because nobody local stocked 26' 4x12 treated. Two big old broadleaf maples hold up the center of the bridge, which spans about 50'.
The next time I get some money together, I'm going to pave about 200' of driveway, which hasn't been paved in about 40 years, run power to the barn, which is about 500' from the house, and maybe drill an irrigation well and install a quarter mile of buried mainline. I also have collected a bunch of used brick, and plan to build an outdoor fireplace and small wood fired pizza oven on a patio next to the deck. Yeah, it's '50s kitsch, but it's my home. I even have a couple scrap pieces of granite counter that will make a fireplace mantle and counter for the oven. If I finish the patio with quarry tile it will be a pretty classy little outdoor kitchen and cozy lounging space on autumn evenings.
Please understand that we are not fixing the place up to make a profit, though I figure we will easily double our money when we get too old and decrepit to live here. We are just making it where we want to live. You swap money for lifestyle. If we're lucky, we'll have another 20 years here. It's a dark sky site. When we turn our lights out, there is no artificial light visible from the house. I have my telescope on the deck. We own both sides of the road for 1/3 of a mile, so nobody is going to be crowding us. We sit in the hot tub and watch meteor showers. The gazebo is wired for electricity, telephone and ethernet, and doubles as an outdoor office overlooking the creek. It's quiet, it's beautiful, and we paid off the mortgage in 2008.
The first year was replacing the electric furnace with a heat pump, installing a new electrical main and sub-panel to accommodate the circuitry and revision of some of the ductwork to accommodate the increased air flow of a heat pump. The next summer we tore off the heavy shake roof, sheathed over the skip sheathing and installed a new roof. At the same time we installed a skylight in the guest bathroom, which was a dark hole in the middle of the house, installed a solar tube in the hallway that runs the center of the house, re-did the eave vents and blew insulation into parts of the attic that were not accessible when the roof was on, plus bringing the attic insulation up to code. We installed new continuous gutters and downspouts. While the ceiling was out of the guest bathroom I replaced the counters, cabinets and fixtures with modern stuff, re-textured the walls, gave it a new paint job, new flooring and base moldings. I also wrapped the 3' return air duct in the attic with insulation.
Next we replaced all of the aluminum single pane windows with vinyl U.36 windows. We tore off the rotting 20x20 deck and replaced it with treated framing and trex decking. Does building a gazebo overlooking the creek count? We poured a concrete patio next to the deck and installed a hot tub, complete with the required sub-panel. We replaced the rusted out septic tank with a 1500 gallon 2-chamber unit.
Next we tackled the floor plan and kitchen. We tore out an inefficient pantry and laundry between the dining and family room, and opened the area up with half walls and a new window. We tore out 12' of wall between the living room and dining room, and closed off the original kitchen door. We tied the kitchen, dining and family room together with new tile flooring, and installed tiger wood hardwood floors in the living room and hallway. The new kitchen is a work of art. My wife and I can work in it without getting in each other's way. During this project we replaced the glass slider to the deck with full opening Pella French doors, with the mini-blinds between the panes, and replaced the front door with an insulated fiberglass door with a stained glass side light. I installed a front projection TV system in the living room with an electric screen concealed in the ceiling and a THX certified sound system. We replaced the old 2' window in front of the kitchen sink with a 6' bay window. We replaced all the cheap interior doors with slightly dressier 6-panel doors, replaced all the trim, and installed a gun safe in my office. We installed a second water heater for the master bath and revised the plumbing a bit. We installed subfloor insulation. We gave the exterior a 3-color paint job.
Outside the house we added low retaining walls and a concrete patio to the NE side of the house, built a fountain water feature in the front yard, extended the sidewalk around the whole house and built a porch roof over the garage man door. We wired and plumbed a full RV hookup on that side of the house, with power, phone, cable, internet and sewer connections. We built two deluxe covered dog kennels. We installed shelving and power in the 20x20 garden shed. We installed a 2500 gallon cistern and booster pump to deal with low well flow in the summer, set it on concrete inside its own pole barn shelter, and craftily located it above the house elevation so we have low head gravity feed water during power outages. I replaced the well pump and built a new well house.
Most recently I rebuilt the footbridge across the creek. The original was rustic and overwhelmingly cute, but built on a tight budget. I rebuilt the bridge with treated lumber and waterproof decking. I had to special order the bridge beams because nobody local stocked 26' 4x12 treated. Two big old broadleaf maples hold up the center of the bridge, which spans about 50'.
The next time I get some money together, I'm going to pave about 200' of driveway, which hasn't been paved in about 40 years, run power to the barn, which is about 500' from the house, and maybe drill an irrigation well and install a quarter mile of buried mainline. I also have collected a bunch of used brick, and plan to build an outdoor fireplace and small wood fired pizza oven on a patio next to the deck. Yeah, it's '50s kitsch, but it's my home. I even have a couple scrap pieces of granite counter that will make a fireplace mantle and counter for the oven. If I finish the patio with quarry tile it will be a pretty classy little outdoor kitchen and cozy lounging space on autumn evenings.
Please understand that we are not fixing the place up to make a profit, though I figure we will easily double our money when we get too old and decrepit to live here. We are just making it where we want to live. You swap money for lifestyle. If we're lucky, we'll have another 20 years here. It's a dark sky site. When we turn our lights out, there is no artificial light visible from the house. I have my telescope on the deck. We own both sides of the road for 1/3 of a mile, so nobody is going to be crowding us. We sit in the hot tub and watch meteor showers. The gazebo is wired for electricity, telephone and ethernet, and doubles as an outdoor office overlooking the creek. It's quiet, it's beautiful, and we paid off the mortgage in 2008.
Whew! OK most of what you did was elective. I was about to crap myself as a first time home buyer.
House Flipper here. Why all the hate for flippers. 99% of the things I fix are from home owners who do some of the dumbest thing imaginable. Yes there are going to be some cheats that might hide some serious crappy work but so will a long time owner, seen it many times. The op may be a victim, who knows, there are always 2 sides to every story. I start to wonder when someone says that everybody involved, seller, seller agent, buyer agent, inspector, even loan officer, were all at fault.
House Flipper here. Why all the hate for flippers. 99% of the things I fix are from home owners who do some of the dumbest thing imaginable. Yes there are going to be some cheats that might hide some serious crappy work but so will a long time owner, seen it many times. The op may be a victim, who knows, there are always 2 sides to every story. I start to wonder when someone says that everybody involved, seller, seller agent, buyer agent, inspector, even loan officer, were all at fault.
Where did I say that everyone involved was at fault? Matter of fact, I think I made it clear here (if not, I apologize, because I've been talking about this with friends too) that pretty much all of the problems were things that the inspector couldn't possibly have seen given that they were hidden. My comments about the loan officer/my agent were that it seems like one hires professionals to account for things one doesn't think of or understand, giving that one isn't in the profession. I'm certainly not blaming them for the crappy work that was done on my house. The bones of my house are great - but everything that this flipper did he did shoddily. Let me give you an example of something I (and the inspector) should have caught on walk-through: The flipper finished the attic of my house (a 1.5 story Cape Cod). That means he installed plumbing, electrical and walls. You go up the stairs and the 2nd floor is one big bedroom split by the stairs - one half has the bed, the other half has the bathroom and a little nook that had been advertised as a potential nursery or seating area.
I moved in and planned on using it as a seating area for reading. Naturally, reading requires light, so I brought up a lamp to put next to my chair. Then I discovered that they had neglected to put a single electrical outlet on that half of the bedroom. That's around 200 sq ft of new construction with no outlet. Yes, I should have noticed that when I toured the house with the inspector (and I think the inspector ought to have noticed something like that), but it's just another indication of the shoddy, half-assed work that this guy did.
Lol, short and to the point. Honestly, I don't believe that all flippers are evil. I do, however, think this was a terrible, terrible flipper and I wonder who else he's ripped off.
Whew! OK most of what you did was elective. I was about to crap myself as a first time home buyer.
Yeah, only the first $17,000 was required, and I did the roof myself. An electric furnace would have cost a fortune to run, and we did not want to go through a summer in this climate with no AC.
The fact remains that this is a 40 year old house, and it's original, brand-new condition would have been totally unacceptable to a modern buyer. That's why we got it cheap even though it was only 22 years old at the time. Plus, there was a lot of deferred maintenance. My sister and bother-in-law dug out the basement walls and installed new drains and waterproofing to dry out their basement. I have never seen anyone successfully stop basement leaks from inside the house. It's something the OP should have been expecting.
being a few years into a real estate lawsuit in PA. A big factor you need to know is attorney fees are not reimbursable. So my advice to you..chalk it up as a learning experience and save your time and money and just do the repairs yourself. You would be suing on principle and that comes at a price I would not recommend paying.
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I speak from experience...
