If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself regarding home ownership?

[Lacerta]

Originally Posted by CGab

I completely agree! DO NOT but more house than you need! My husband and I built our dream home at 3,400 square feet. We then finished the basement totaling 5k sq ft!. We had 2 kids and we did not need a home that big! After 10 years of high taxes and cleaning we decided to move to a smaller home. It's now hard on my children to move out of the home that they have always known. We now have a 2400 sq ft home which is perfect size for us. I wish we would have originally bought a home this size!

Your kids will get over it, and if you raised them right, then when they are old enough, they will appreciate having that nice house to have grown up in. I know this from personal experience. From the time I was 12 until I was married at 22, my parents had a very nice 6000 square foot house on .75 acres. I got married in the backyard, and they sold it a year or so later. Now, at 38, I can look back and think what an awesome house it was to grow up in, without any regret that they don't live there anymore.


However hypocritical it makes me, I still agree with your main point though.

[fallingwater]

For my husband his biggest regret was letting a family member talk him into buying a home from another family member. He did this shortly before I met him. His first house and he lacked knowledge about real estate. He had a nice chunk of money saved and bought a problem house from family and lost his arse on it. He over paid and spent a lot more fixing it up to be code worthy and presentable. He didn't even break even when we sold it. He says he should have contacted a realtor to see about his options. He later found out he would have qualified for a first time homebuyer program and could have bought in a much more desirable location a few cities over. By the time, we wanted to sell, that other location was beyond our financial means. It's been over 20 yrs and he still will say something about what a stupid thing he did. Ah well, live and learn.

[GoPhils]

Always get a survey

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

Find the inspector on my own when we buy..

Twice used inspector our realtor recommended. Both times they missed major items.

In one house, none of the heating vents or exhaust vents were connected, there was a code required water valve missing... all sorts of things that we found over the years.

[Lovehound]

If I could go back in time the only thing I would have done differently is selling my home just before the bubble popped, rent for a few years, and then buy the house I'm living in now.

I bought my home in my early 30s which was an excellent age for a first home, paid off my 30 year mortgage in 15 years, lived there for another 20 years, moved out of state in the mistaken belief I wanted to live somewhere else, came back a few years later and with all my savings and proceeds from the sale of my first house I bought the house I always wanted to retire in, my reward to myself for a life of working hard, living frugally, and being smart with my finances.

Selling during the downslide from the bubble is silly of course, you have to be lucky to do that or be able to foresee the future.

Everything considered I wouldn't do a thing differently. Even the sojourn out of my home town taught me that you have to consider both the pluses and minuses of where you are living before deciding to move. I had only considered the negatives and it took me 4-5 months to realize I wanted to live where I had my whole life all along.

No sir! I wouldn't do a single thing differently!