" No matter how impregnable something is progress , nature is unassailable . "
Being a homeowner comes with a lot of responsibility — and surprises. Recently, Redditoru/Smooth-Jaguar-7581asked homeowners of the Reddit community to share the mostsurprising things about homeownershipthat no one warned them about, and the responses were illuminating:
1.“All creatures of the earth, both great and small, make it their life’s mission to destroy your house through digging, chewing, and burrowing.”
2.“Neighborhoods change. I bought this place partially because of all the kids running around. It seemed vibrant and alive. Now, 20 years later, the kids have moved out, and no young families have moved in. It’s all older people now — like me, I suppose.”
— KnoWanUKnow2
3.“That we have to redo caulking every 5–10 years?! Everyone acts like it’s common knowledge!”
4.“That every home you buy will have some problems that weren’t found during inspection, and once you close on the property, those problems are now yours to address. One of my properties had a gas leak that was nigh impossible to locate. It took about a year to find it, and there were several nights I went to bed thinking,I sure hope my home doesn’t kill me tonight!At my current place, the previous owner installed Bluetooth speakers in the bathroom ceilings, and the only way to turn them off is to go into the unfinished attic and physically disconnect them. Or, you have to go to the circuit breaker panel and turn off the circuits, which also turns off the power in the bathrooms. I learned of the problem one night when an unknown neighbor accidentally connected to my speakers, and the noise abruptly woke me up at 2 a.m.”
— Seeking_Balance101
5.“I have a few dozen mature trees in my yard: red cedar, juniper, and a bunch of various oaks. Each one has a $5,000 price tag to remove if they die.”
6.“That your escrow will change from year to year.”
— Mrsamsonite6
7.“The amount of filters I have to clean and replace. Like, I knew about some, but when I discovered there’s a filter in my washing machine AND my dishwasher?! And I’m supposed to clean out the washing machine once a month?! No one warned me; never once did I see my parents cleaning out a filter in the washing machine.”
8.“How much bad neighbors impact your ability to enjoy the largest investment you’ll ever make.”
— windowschick
9.“A LOT of stuff will break down, so you better learn some DIY skills. Back in the day, you could hire workers to fix stuff, but now? Fixing or replacing anything involves a sky-high price! It’s best to take a crack at repairing whatever it is yourself, which might mean replacing a light fixture, sink, or toilet, or fixing wood rot on a window.”
10.“That you’ll spend a lot of time thinking about how poorly HVAC systems are set up. There’s just so much common sense tossed straight out the window.”
— throwinken
11.“Practically everything requires a permit! We live in a city, so this may be different elsewhere, but I wanted a fence in our front yard because we have smalldogs. We had to navigate a maze of city websites and ordinances to learn that the fence could be no more than three-and-a-half feet, and the spacing between slats had to be a certain width. Then, I had to draw the fence plan on a map of our plot and submit it for approval, which required a fee, of course.”
12.“There is no standard, and everything is basically ‘good enough.'”
— trippinmaui
13.“Water is Satan’s handyman, and it’s always out to destroy your home.”
14.“That the amount I pay every month is going to go up. My property tax has doubled, and my home insurance is going up. You can easily be priced out of the house that the bank initially told you you could afford. I’m making $30K more than I did when I was first approved, yet the price increase is still a lot.”
— icedcoffeeheadass
15.“You have to drain your water heater and check the anode rod every year. Your washing machine probably has a secondary lint filter you need to regularly check, too.”
16.“Don’t use your insurance unless you really have to. We had two water damage claims in less than five years, and our insurance dropped us. The first claim could have just been a plumber call and would’ve been the same as our deductible, but it was a claim because we didn’t know we would get canceled for it. The second claim, however, was needed. We had to redo one of the bathrooms with a new tub, subfloor, floor, and vanity. But we wouldn’t have been dropped if we didn’t have the first claim. Now, our insurance is, like, triple the cost because we are considered ‘high risk.'”
— BlaquKnite
17.“Trash. In an apartment, you have a giant dumpster you can use at your disposal (pun intended). In a single-family home, you have your one weekly bin. Christmas tree? Gotta pay extra or cut it up into small pieces. New floors? Make a giant pile and either slowly throw it away or pay extra. Pulled out some hedges? Pay someone to come and grab it. Large cardboard boxes? Gotta cut them up into tiny pieces. I feel like I spend so much time managing garbage!”
18.“No matter how strong something is built, nature is stronger.”
— Fatmanpuffing
19.“Finding a competent, affordable pro for repairs or improvements is nearly impossible.”
20.“The list of things to do to keep everything maintained is endless. I knew there was some work involved, but it wasn’t until it became reality that I realized how much of a part-time job homeownership truly is.”
— matt314159
21.Lastly: “Utility companies can basically come in and do whatever to your property in the name of the ‘public good.’ Our local electric company just came in and destroyed every single yard in my neighborhood because they’re putting in underground wires. And as homeowners, we have to pay to fix it.”
Note : Some submission have been edited for length and/or uncloudedness .
