Homeownership is overwhelming... (appraiser, price, inspection, renter)

[Upstate67]

Originally Posted by emm74

You have a 200,000 household income at age 26

I missed that part...

A new roof should be pocket change for somebody with that kind of money.. A nuisance at worst - like a flat tire on a car.

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by Warningsign

I am overwhelmed by all of the kind responses. Thank you all for quieting down my fears a bit.

I love the ideas about buying the furniture that is put together at the store and also looking on Pinterest.

I also agree with the idea I've been a ridiculous perfectionist and it makes me afraid to take any action at all. That has to stop.

Emm74 - your response on the other hand was NOT very kind. I work as a physician assistant in ER, and I live in Arizona. In a city with a relatively low cost of living. Additionally I agree most foreclosures are crap but it wasn't the case with mine. I can assure you I don't spend my time posting made up stories on forums to get made up advice. Jeeeez!

Your story sounds "made up", because most Americans don't make what you do at your age, or ever, really. $100k in combined household income would be considered "easy street" for most people twice your age (with 20+ years of experience in their fields of work). I don't think it's being "unkind" to point out that you've got it better than (literally!) 95%+ of the people that surround you, especially in the context of the "burden" of home repairs.

I also think it's only fair to point out that a huge swath of the country doesn't "make money" or even recover their expenses when selling a home. It isn't unusual at all for a homeowner to spend $4k on a furnace or a roof for a $50k house, and to later sell that same house & "net" $45k after fees and expenses. It costs money to live in America.

That said, renting isn't better - I've rented out a couple of houses & the only way that business works is if the tenants cover all the expenses & then some. I've paid for lots of appliances, leaky pipes, fixed air conditioners, garage door openers & disposals, but the money I spent as a landlord all eventually came out of the rent.

The only way for a rental to be materially cheaper than a purchased home is if it's never "updated" & all the repairs are "bubble-gum & duct-tape".

A few years ago in Phoenix, it *was* possible to rent for less than buying, but that was a situation where the "landlords" weren't actually paying any expenses, they were participating in a Ponzi scheme that blew up & took many of them (and our country) to the poorhouse.

Enjoy your new home, start budgeting for an a/c, a roof & new pipes - add all of those costs together, then compare that cost to rent for a $300k home in AZ. No way you could rent a $300k home for less than $18k a year, and if you're careful, you can probably fix everything for less than it would cost to rent that place for a year. Once those repairs are made, most of them will last an incredibly long time (you'll prolly be buying a new a/c in ten years, that's just how it is).. Consider yourself a "renter" in a bad lease for the first five years, spread those costs out over that time, and in ten years you'll be rockin' financially.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Warningsign

My fiancé and I searched for the perfect house for nearly a year. We really did our research. In July, we found an amazing foreclosure that was in great condition, or so we thought. It was about $20,000 over our very conservative budget, so we went for it. Basically, we paid $300,000 for this beautiful 2600 square-foot, three bedroom, two bathroom house with granite countertops, a perfectly done backyard with the fruit trees, custom cabinets, high ceilings... I could go on and on! In an amazing area of town with mountain views. Our incomes combined at the time were around 170K, and five months later with raises we are at abut 200K a year income. so the house was a little more expensive than I wanted but it is within our budget.

We got a good inspection. There were two things about the house that we knew weren't perfect. One, it's a 23-year-old house, which is a little older than we wanted but in my town it's almost impossible to get a new house in the city. The other thing about it, it had polybutylene pipes. We had a homeowners insurance policy pull reports and they couldn't find any past claims on the pipes. Sometimes these pipes fail, but in some circumstances I guess they just don't because they haven't yet. But still, we were really nervous about the We were about to walk away from the house on the basis of that issue, but we learn that for about $8000 we could eventually replace them. We also knew that eventually the upstairs AC would have to be replaced as it was 23 years old, another 4K to do that. So there were a few major things but everything else looked good. We were in love with the house.

Five months later and all I can say is I'm just plain overwhelmed. One of our living rooms is still completely empty, as is our office and spare bedroom. I feel overwhelmed with trying to decorate the place and make it look good. It's almost just too big and intimidating. I've become picky about the furniture being high quality because the house looks so nice, so I end up not getting anything at all. So every day I come home to paintings propped up against walls of empty rooms. I have no sense of design style and the longer we wait to decorate, the more daunting it seems. In addition, we've run into some other problems. We've had two roof leaks since moving in with all the storms. My fiancé is very handy and was able to fix the first one, but the second one was a little more complicated and was a $1000 repair. Deep down I feel like what we need is a roof replacement. It's an old house with a lovely tile roof but the underlayment is probably shot. We've had to fix a lot of other relatively minor things, but the whole ordeal is causing me so much anxiety. I think on a subconscious level maybe I don't want to buy furniture and get completely settled in because my fear has me 1 foot out the door psychologically. I realize part of me is being dramatic, but part of me really wishes I had just gone with a newly built home and one of the newer developments. Yes, I would have gotten a much smaller house in a much less desirable area, but then I wouldn't have to worry about my roof caving in. I always had reservations about the age of the house but I guess I let myself get convinced by my dad and my fiancé's dad, who have lived in any homes over the years and just felt like I was being dramatic.

I long for the days of renting. LOL. But seriously, what should I do? Should I try to stay in this house as long as possible because I love it, and just bite the bullet and replace the roof and do the pipes? All of those things seem so incredibly expensive to do. And I know that's just the beginning of it, I would probably have to replace so many more things along the way. Or should I cut my losses and try to sell the house in two years? The good news is, we paid only about 3 grand in closing costs so our sunk costs are lower than most.

Really? You have that kind of income and are have problems maintaining a $300,000 home? There is something definitely wrong with your spending here to be having these kind of complaints. Yes, home ownership is not easy at first. You bought a house that admittedly needs some work but once you get through the first couple of years, it will get easier. So you don't have a lot of pricey furniture to fill it. For Gods sake few first time buyers so. Get over it. This takes time. Have you considered buying used furniture instead? When we bought our first home that is what we did. DW and I went to tag and estate sales and consignment shops. She did not have a design style but we managed. Do you know someone who has a style you like? Maybe they can help you. I think you need to stop whining and realize how good you have it. Jay

[Upstate67]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Really? You have that kind of income and are have problems maintaining a $300,000 home? There is something definitely wrong with your spending here to be having these kind of complaints.

Or her story.

[Lovehound]

Maybe something is right about a combined income of $200K for two young people who were smart and worked hard enough to get college degrees or comparable training, and lucky enough to find good jobs.

I hate the attitude on this forum that somebody has sour grapes because they didn't motivate themselves or do the work to get a college degree and then assume nobody else is smarter and better motivated to do better, then accuse anybody doing better of lying.

I believe the OP.

[foundapeanut]

I waited 7 years for a piece of furniture. Seriously.

You don't have to do everything now. In fact usually when you do you settle for what you don't want just to put something in the room.

Relax, enjoy what you have. Take your time. Your home sound lovely. Live in it awhile and see what the empty room want to be. Maybe one right now you could use for yoga and relaxation.

[elliedeee]

Originally Posted by Warningsign
I have no sense of design style and the longer we wait to decorate, the more daunting it seems.rs? The good news is, we paid only about 3 grand in closing costs so our sunk costs are lower than most.

Pininterest is a good place to start. Even Google images is good. Just look at all the photos of rooms and see what appeals to you. You may like a wall color in one photo, or a sofa design in the other. I'm sure you know what you like.
Like other posters said, start in one room. I generally do our bedroom first so I have a room to go to when I start to feel overwhelmed.

There's a decorating forum on CD.. Just post some photos (we love photos over there ) and you'll get a lot of responses on where to start and in what direction to go in to achieve the decorating look you desire. Everyone was very helpful to me when I was redoing my living room and dining room because I had no idea where to start.. I had an idea of the decorating direction I wanted to go in, but had no idea how to achieve it. They all helped me quite a bit figuring out what I wanted.

//www.city-data.com/forum/home-...gn-decorating/

[ss20ts]

#1 rule of real estate:

There's no such thing as the perfect house. You were living in a fantasy and now reality has set in. Every single house ever built will have some issues during it's existence. Things break. It's just how things are. Get over it! You make $200K so you can EASILY afford a $300K mortgage. Spend some of your money! Hire an interior decorator to help you with furniture.

Oh and 23 years old is NOT old for a house! Even brand new custom homes have issues. We built a brand new custom home a few years ago and within 2 weeks of closing our central air unit died. We lived in SC and it was April so it was already in the 90's. Within 2 hours, our house was 86 degrees. It got fixed. No biggie. Things happen!

being a renter isn't a picnic either. Things break in rentals and then you have ZERO control over how or when or IF it gets fixed. You're also building someone else's net worth and not your own.

[Rynldsbr]

Another possible opportunity to get help with the decorating and finishing is to use what you currently have, and then start using and enjoying the home. As friends come over and see what sounds like a lovely home, you can engage them in conversation about what you have done or haven't done, what you like or don't like. Quite simply ask "what do you think about this room, what would you do with it" and gather ideas.


Make it fun! You made it through a tough education process to get to where you are. You work in a high stress environment. You don't need to make the home you love another stressor. Make it fun!


IDEA: Throw a housewarming party. Invite all your friends. Instead of gifts, send each on a picture of one of the rooms. Then let them know that the "gift" will need to be a decorating idea and a bottle of wine/six pack of craft beer. Now enjoy looking at all the ideas your friends bring while having some drinks in this beautiful home.

[Jkgourmet]

I like houzz.com much better than pinterest. You can take a photo of your room, upload it, and get free advice. I used it when I wasn't happy with the look of my living room and guest room. Both look much better now thanks to that free advice.