POPO and PP - not to be a downer - but a good percentage of the cost of living in your own house is the upkeep/maintenance of the house - sure the mortgage and utilities, and insurance are significant. But you have no upkeep, etc. in an Apt. Also, you now need to buy lawn items, washer/dryer/ and other appliances as opposed to using then in an APT and not paying for the upkeep/replacement on them. If you are very handy, have the knowledge, and have the time to fix stuff on your own, then upkeep is certainly cheaper. But even basic parts , paint/brushes,etc. , shingles, etc. are not free. You have to think of it as the cost of maintaining your vehicles X 10. I am sure you guys have thought all this out and this is budgeted appropriately. I bought my first house 21 years ago and the inside of the house was terribly dated and the yard ( 7/8 of an acre was a shambles) - but that is why I got it for a great price. I had a friend or 2 who were handy who taught me and helped to do stuff inside and my brother worked for a landscaping company when he was in college - so I could pick his brain regarding the lawn. I bought used lawn gear at first. etc.
So how many of us old folk are on these forums.
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PP Mguire
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I'm currently in a rental so I have lawn gear, and I have a lot of house working tools in storage from when I built that box back in 09 (the oldies might remember). Also have my own appliances even though they'll be upgraded. Plan on keeping my current fridge in the laundry room as a spare/drink cooler. (Yea, my laundry room has a space for a secondary fridge complete with water hookup and electrical).
I'm actually getting appliances for free haha. Funny story behind that one. I decided to buy a brand new just completed house because it has 10 year warranty on everything that's important. Due to fracking and unstable land I really wanted the foundation warranty, and roof warranty for the bad storms we get. All covered and by the time the 10 years is up I should have all my ducks in a row to maintain everything myself. I have house building/renovating experience so that's not a problem and I can also do electrical. So something like a hot water heater taking a **** on me I can take care of myself with some help moving it. Within the first 2 years I'll be changing it to tankless anyways and already know the code and procedure of install
I've actually owned a house before so it's nothing new. Just back then I didn't have the paperwork involved or code to deal with, and it also wasn't a new house. Feb of 2012 or 2011 can't remember I had a burst water pipe from freezing (it was actually snowing in Texas with 10 degree temps) and had to fix that with no power freezing my *** off. No stranger to the "it'll break when you least want it to" part of home ownership. Had to fix my own outdoor AC unit too on that house since the fan went out one summer. House is already wired in main areas with cat6 so going to move those to my patch panel and wire other areas + the server closet while I'm at it.
PP Mguire
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Thanks. Yea anything can happen. I mean it's brand new but one of the AC units might not work if they didn't test it. I mean walking through this house that was just completed last week one of the light fixtures was already hanging off the ceiling. Course sometime this week or next week I'll be doing a walk through so they can fix ****.
PopoChubbs
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Thanks dude, yea, $1400/month for an apt just isn't the way I want to live anymore.
I definitely understand the swap. I spent 3 years in someone else's house before moving into this apartment, and I was expected to do whatever maintenance work came up. It's a hassle, esp if you're not very handy, and replacing stuff can be very exp, but this all goes toward being able to sell said house down the line, and (typically) the only way my monthly house payments will increase is if my property becomes worth more, or I add more stuff to my insurance. I'm also planning to move into a new or newer home, that hasn't had more than one former occupant (family is obviously an option, I just mean in terms of how many people have moved in and out of there), not to mention Washington state is good about financing in that arena, so I'm not forking over a ton of money to get out of where I'm already forking over a ton of money.
The most expensive repairs that I have had to have done since we bought this house:
Field line rework where a previous owner had planted Bradford Pears right on top of the main field line, effectively cutting it off 15' from the septic tank and well before the three branches off of it ($4500)
Major landscaping around the house to have the back yard and the bank leading down to the house cut out and leveled away from the house to stop water from coming in under the house, had said dirt moved to the other side and the front yard to level them up a bit, reseeded the whole yard ($3000)
Original field line work done by someone who warrantied his work for 10 years but would not honor it 10 months later when his repairs failed ($1800)
Replaced water heater ($750)
Replaced vapor barrier and insulation under the house ($600)
That all does not include when I had the whole house redone with laminate flooring.
Field line rework where a previous owner had planted Bradford Pears right on top of the main field line, effectively cutting it off 15' from the septic tank and well before the three branches off of it ($4500)
Major landscaping around the house to have the back yard and the bank leading down to the house cut out and leveled away from the house to stop water from coming in under the house, had said dirt moved to the other side and the front yard to level them up a bit, reseeded the whole yard ($3000)
Original field line work done by someone who warrantied his work for 10 years but would not honor it 10 months later when his repairs failed ($1800)
Replaced water heater ($750)
Replaced vapor barrier and insulation under the house ($600)
That all does not include when I had the whole house redone with laminate flooring.
Spud1200
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I'm council. So I do not have a repair bill as such but I have had a ton of them what has effectively mounted up over the years.
New thermostat for the water tank.
Actual new heaters them selves what was thus mounted to the walls as the previous ones failed with Damp.
Countless repairs done on the plumbing because of sprung leaks, cracked pipes and water damage.
New windows what is now double glazing from single pane windows.
Painting and decorating done about half a dozen times because of dampness since I have originally moved in.
Electrical tested regular as the wiring has not been reworked in over 55 years.
New kitchen as I moved in because the last one was dated and the cupboards were literally hanging off the walls.
Plastering work done about 3 too 4 times because again of dampness.
and finally but not lastly ...
had to have the windows put back in as they fell out of their fixtures and holdings on to the grass in the court yard.
New thermostat for the water tank.
Actual new heaters them selves what was thus mounted to the walls as the previous ones failed with Damp.
Countless repairs done on the plumbing because of sprung leaks, cracked pipes and water damage.
New windows what is now double glazing from single pane windows.
Painting and decorating done about half a dozen times because of dampness since I have originally moved in.
Electrical tested regular as the wiring has not been reworked in over 55 years.
New kitchen as I moved in because the last one was dated and the cupboards were literally hanging off the walls.
Plastering work done about 3 too 4 times because again of dampness.
and finally but not lastly ...
had to have the windows put back in as they fell out of their fixtures and holdings on to the grass in the court yard.
PopoChubbs
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That's quite a bit of work, Trotter! I hope I'm not inundated with that kind of thing for a good while, and am hoping a good inspection will tell me if there's a chance for that.
That's over 9+ years and hopefully the worst is behind us.
