Homebuyer Horror Stories

With Halloween right around the corner, we thought you might be in the mood for some spooks. Here are five homebuyer horror stories that will leave you shaking.

I bought a house “as-is”, and then there was a rainstorm …

When I landed the job of my dreams in another city, I was determined to buy a house and get settled into my home before my start date. I quickly found a house I liked in the ideal location. Although it was a little out of my price range, it was being sold “as-is” for a discounted price, so I thought I was getting a great deal. The inspection revealed some expected “wear and tear” issues but nothing major related to plumbing or exterior leaks. Four months after moving in and starting my new job, the first rainstorm of the season hit. The basement flooded and rain leaked through the upstairs windows. It cost me thousands of dollars and a lot of time to fix the damage, and I will never buy an “as-is” house again!

A beautiful tree caused a lot of damage to our home …

My partner and I thought we had found the house of our dreams–a 1950s ranch-style home in a quaint neighborhood close to the city. What I loved most about the home was the beautiful, large tree at the front of the property that shaded the yard and the front porch. A few months after we moved in, cracks started to form in our driveway and the garage floor. The next thing we knew we had puddles in the garage after some heavy rain. It turned out that the tree’s roots were growing under the concrete, causing it to crack. Not only did we have to repair the damage but we also had to have the tree cut down and the roots removed to prevent future issues.

We greatly underestimated the cost of renovations …

Attempting to buy a house in a competitive real estate market meant that we were unable to find a home we loved within our budget. After several months of searching unsuccessfully, we decided to settle on a fixer-upper with plans to remodel it over the next six months. After putting in an offer, we had a contractor walk through the home to provide an estimate on the cost of remodeling. We ended up spending 1.5 times the estimated amount on renovations over the following year, due to underestimation by the contractor and many unforeseen problems that showed up in the house after the remodeling process had begun. A year later, we live in a beautifully remodeled home, but it ended up costing us a lot more than we expected or budgeted for.

Our inspection did not detect the presence of mold in our home …

My husband and I spent several months house-hunting before we found a home we liked within our budget. We made an offer and then got an independent inspection completed. The inspection report showed a few minor issues, such as a cracked tile in the kitchen, but nothing to be overly concerned about. Within three months of moving in, I was becoming increasingly unwell and couldn’t figure out why. After visiting several doctors and going through many tests, a specialist suggested to me that mold may be the cause of my illness. I quickly got a professional mold inspection completed and confirmed the presence of toxic black mold in our home. We later learned that mold commonly lives in the gaps between the interior and exterior walls of a house and, therefore, is often not identified by a home inspector. Not only did we have to spend thousands of dollars having the mold removed, but I was also left with multiple health issues and thousands of dollars in medical bills.    

We couldn’t win the neverending bidding wars …

As first-time homebuyers trying to purchase a home in a seller’s market, we did not know what to expect. Our realtor promptly explained to us that acting quickly and being prepared to bid higher than other buyers would be necessary for us to successfully buy a home in this market. Although we understood this at face value, nothing could have prepared us for the brutal bidding wars we were about to encounter over the next three months. We spent many hours searching for and viewing homes. We put in a total of twelve offers, all of which were 1-2 percent above the asking price, only to be outbid in all of them. There was one particular house I had my heart set on. We put in an offer that was 2.5 percent above the asking price. We were quickly outbid, and later found out that the buyers who outbid us ended up paying less than our offer price for the home. We ended up settling for another home but had to pay $42,000 above the asking price to get it.

Someone was murdered in the house we bought

After we got engaged, my fiance and I started looking for a home in which to begin our life together. We viewed several properties and found that much of what we liked was out of our budget. We finally decided on a townhome that was selling for a great price (or so we thought) in a convenient location. Soon after we moved in, we started meeting our neighbors. When we told them where we lived, they would say things like “Oh, you live in that house?” Eventually, I’d had enough of the sideways glances and asked our next-door neighbor what the issue was. She reluctantly told us that someone was brutally murdered in the home two years ago, and it had been empty ever since. We later learned that a prior death on the property does not legally need to be disclosed to a potential buyer, and that’s why we were never told about the incident. I was horrified. No wonder we got the home for such a low price! Over the following weeks, we tried to forget about it but, of course, we couldn’t. We ended up temporarily renting an apartment to live in until we were able to sell the townhome. Not surprisingly, we ended up getting even less than we paid for it.

Have You Considered a New Construction Home?

After reading those horror stories, you’re probably just about ready to run away from the prospect of buying a home. But wait … not so fast! There’s one common thread running through all of these horror stories–they all took place in resale homes. These stories serve to highlight to us that buying a new construction home is the best way to avoid many of the potential risks and pitfalls associated with buying a home.

When you choose to buy a newly constructed home over a resale home, you have the advantage of knowing that your home is in shiny, brand-new condition. You won’t have to worry about unexpected plumbing, foundation, or other issues popping up soon after you move in. You also won’t have to worry about the brutal bidding wars of the resale market that only leave you feeling disappointed and defeated. Instead, with a newly constructed home, you’ll be getting the best value for money with minimal maintenance and repair costs and higher resale value.

NewHomesMate is here to make the process of buying a new construction home easy. On our platform, you can search for and tour thousands of new construction homes and communities in your area. Our new home experts are local agents who can give you the advice and guidance you need for a successful new construction home buying experience.

Learn more about us and start searching for your new home with NewHomesMate today!