What do you wish you knew before moving into your current home?

11 years ago

Confession time! Every home has a few secrets hidden in the proverbial closet (or the actual closet!).

Some homes are just hard to live with, while sometimes your life or family change in unexpected ways.

What is it that you wish you knew before moving in?

Shaker Grey · More Info

Featured Answer

Barbara Dunstan

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

@cloudpants,
Albeit you went through a terrible time with this house purchase, as have many people who have responded in this forum, it's great to hear that you persevered and are now very happy with your reno'd home, it's a credit to you!!
I have just recently sold my elderley mother's home (settlement in July) and in the process of cleaning etc... we found that the roof insulation that had been placed there when the gov was offering pensioners free insulation, was done to say the least, very poorly, needing at least another 6 packs of batts to cover the entire roof properly, we also vacuumed the roof and we replace all the roof insulation paper.
We could have left it like that, as it seems plenty of people out there have absolutely no morals or even a slightly guilty conscientious about the fact that it's wrong on so many levels, not to mention it's simply deceitful!!!!!
We have also put a new flue in for the wood heater and had a plumber make sure all the iron was resealed properly.
We have put a new heated towel rail and a tastic light in the bathroom, a new shower head, taps and new door handles throughout the home.
We're also paying to have an electrical check performed, as the house was built many years ago, so that we can hand the new owners a certificate of compliance.
Obviously, this has cost us thousands but we felt it was the right thing to do!!
Are we honest and caring people a dying breed??

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (62)

Leanne
11 years ago
Eaves, my next house will have eaves. They tell you it's saving money but you don't realise that without them when it rains there is no protection and you run around the house shutting windows depending on which way the rain is coming!
moroccandreams
11 years ago
Eaves is cost cutting not cost saving...unfortunately for new homeowners
Related Discussions
Which part of your home do you wish you used more?
Q
Comments (5)
I wish we used our courtyard more but the mozzies and the large amount of leaves that constantly fall keep us from using it more. I think if we install some mozzie screens and fine a way to trim back our trees, this will change things
...See More
What's the worst uninvited guest you've ever found in your house?
Q
Comments (133)
White-tail spider in my track suit pants WHICH I WAS WEARING! I thought it was a lump of lint from the laundry, drew it out, and promptly flung it across the room once I realised... never to be seen again! How it didn't bite me and sat still to be picked up, I don't know - it must have known I wouldn't do it any harm. We lived in lots of country places, too... We were invaded by small black crickets one year, and lady bugs, another year, in your drawers, in your hair, in your pantry, in your undies... everywhere! And then the blue tongue lizard that would go in and out with our dogs via doggie door, and made itself a nest in our laundry... I gave up and left some old towels for it. Had an echidna get up into the wheel well of our car... wild brumbies in our patio... the list goes on. My husband still says that the most unwelcome visitor was his mother... I like her better than he does!
...See More
Do you have crying windows?
Q
Comments (54)
Old post but thought I'd update. We have finally moved into our forever home and on occasions, obviously in winter, we still have crying window (sob). We have the wet windows on the south side of the home which is the shady side so not unexpected but also on the north side where we still get lovely warm winter sunlight streaming in and I still do have all my windows slightly cracked open and it does help. Incidentally I have glass bricks in our bathroom on the south side and there is no condensation on this window at all. Our home has insulation in both the exterior and interior walls and we have double insulation in our roof, so factor 7 unlike the usual factor 3.5 not that it probably has any bearing on the moisture issue. We have a 1.8mtr wide veranda surrounding the entire home so the windows are some what protected from the elements but when the temperature gets fairly low and can be almost zero in winter, it seems impossible to prevent this crying window sindrome but I can live with the fact it is fairly easy and quick to remove with a Karcher window vac now, brilliant little machine at $99 and it only takes a few minutes. We have an exhaust fan in both bathrooms that is vented outside so the moist air does not go into the roof space and in fact even my rangehood ducting is vented outside too!! We even had condensation in the roof cavity as well to the point of having a rainforest up there but since fitting another whirlie into the roof making it three in total now, it appears to have almost entirely eradicated that problem. I can say catagorically now that crying windows are a very difficult problem to eradicate in very cold climates where obviously the inside of the home being heated at night is going to create the perfect conditions for the condensation to settle with the inside being far wamer than the outside and there in lies the problem which canot be changed. I have blinds and curtains that I close ever day before dark but it makes no difference. As I have aluminium windows and doors throughout, so no timber anywhere, it isn't such an issue for damage but annoying none the less but life goes on and I do so love my beautiful new home!!
...See More
How old were you when you bought your first home?
Q
Comments (46)
I was 23 years old and our first home (1982) was $42,000 but interest rates were 21%!!! It was in Otorohanga NZ and mortgages were tough to get. Best decision ever though. We had second hand everything, even using an old beer crate as coffee tables and book shelves lol. Over the years we have owned only 3 homes though, and if we were to start again we have learned to not over capitalise on homes we have bought instead upgrade sooner. Finally we are ebarking on our first new home build ... bettter late than never though definately!
...See More
moroccandreams
11 years ago
Kitchen drawers rather than cupboards ...walk in pantry rather than the usual pantry with too deep shelving. Like wise walk in wardrobe rather than those horrid mirrored robes in early nineties project homes with a bulkhead up top that makes storage difficult. Unimaginative laundries with no storage covered dvd cabinets for a sleek minimalist look
Susan Ballard
11 years ago
If you don't like the colour scheme when you buy but keep it because it's new You will find that 10 years later you have put up with a colour you still don't like Change it when you buy
Jennie Moss
11 years ago
This is a brilliant idea.
Reshad Mohammadi
11 years ago
during the first year since moving into our newly built home, the cornices in the garage fell apart norrowly missing falling on my younger sister and in the first week major cracks start showing on the garage concrete floor. plz help people.
olldroo
11 years ago
Reshad - ask the builder to please explain. Garage floor may not have been cured properly.
Toni Shard
11 years ago
That the ceiling were installed by a cheapskate with minimal glue and I would have to spend $30k dropping and installing new ceilings in my house. grrrrrr
Barbara Dunstan
11 years ago
Toni,
That sounds like a dreadfully terrible scenario!!
gmpbeverley
11 years ago
Yeh....corner drawes waste a lot of space!
SueM
11 years ago
That the previous owners seems to have not cleaned between selling the house and settlement. It's taken three separate attempts with a steam cleaner, not to mention scrubbing on hands and knees with a scourer, to get the grouting in the laundry, bathroom and en suite from dark brown to beige. The steam cleaner also proved a blessing when cleaning the toilets - no need to get too close to the old, built-up urine stains on the seat and bowls. Yuck! Also, not a single cupboard or drawer had been cleaned out anywhere - grit and dirt quickly turned a bucket of water brown simply from wiping down the master bedroom's walk-in-robe.
wuff
11 years ago
sueM did you go to back to the realtor, I thought the house had to be clean and tidy. We had professional cleaners clean our houses when we moved out, so they sparkled for the new owners. I know if the house had had tenants in it should have passes an inspection. That is not a good start for you in your new home
SueM
11 years ago
Unfortunately, wuff, I didn't think to contact the realtor, as he came into the house when we received the keys. A cursory look probably would not reveal anything as you needed to open drawers, raise toilet seats, and actually touch surfaces to reveal the issues. *sigh* I wish you had been the vendor -- a clean house would have been lovely. I know when we sold our first house, we had a cleaner come through the house after us. Oh well, it's nearly done now - just waiting on a professional cleaner to clean the oven, cooktop, rangehood and the built-in barbecue on the deck
Laura Beaupeurt
11 years ago
There is so much I would have like to have known. Firstly, houses built on slabs are a disaster when it comes to drainage/ plumbing problems. Get 2 building inspections done. It is hard to find a good pest and building inspector. The prolific nature of termites in the area (was about to start painting the new settled house and found termites - I swear the wall did not look like it did several weeks before settlement). Take a closer look at yard surrounding house regarding drainage even on relatively flat blocks. Be more aware of size of toilet and bathroom when in use. It can seem very different when inspecting a place (I know it sounds incredibly naive). I have lived in small apartments before this house so was used to small rooms. This is the biggest place In have owned and it is still small by most people's standards.

Nevertheless, I'm learning a lot of lessons about owning a house and am gradually sorting through it's problems (including dealing with the termites). I have resolved many of them.
debwa
11 years ago
I wish we'd taken a closer look at the front garden...The front garden full of rotten tree stumps, bioinvasive ivy, onion grass and snakes. Between pregnancy and work we were unable to tackle it on our own. We ended paying landscapers more than anticipated to take care of it. That said, I really do like my house.
Barbara Dunstan
11 years ago
This forum has opend up a few deep wounds I hazzard a guess but the information provided by the same people should be considered an invaluable asset for the future, to anyone looking to build, renovate or buy!!
Laura,
I feel so terrible for you, what challenges, but you have risen above them, well done.
We are not in a termite prone area but I cannot think of a more soul destroying experience than seeing your dream home begin to crumble before your eyes!!
SueM,
I think it's a very poor experience for you to be faced with all that cleaning when all you would have liked to be able to do, was to move straight in and enjoy your new home.
I hope you made it clear to the realtor just what the place looked like.
I can't believe how much dirt you got from places that shouldn't ever have it, like wardrobes etc...
Well done ladies, you both must be proud of all you have had to do.
Cheers,
Barbara
PRO
Sally Hart
11 years ago
That when it rains. Y house has drainage issues that result in water damage in the home. I agree with previous comments about building on a s,ab. I like being on the ground but drainage and termites control problems are more likely. My next place will be on piers or poles.
PRO
Sally Hart
11 years ago
Actually, also tags like how hard it is to maintain windows that cannot be reached easily , especially even if you have a ladder and the ground be art is too uneven to support ladder. It makes cleaning and painting at high levels out of the question for the home owner.
To check w heather the gutters are sufficient and if not, is there a manageable solution. I lived here in drought for 8 years without a problem but the home is very different in the wet!
SueM
11 years ago
Thanks Barbara, that's exactly it, re the dirt in a walk-in-robe -- it's not a place you'd expect to find that much dirt. I'm just glad I thought to wipe it down simply based on what I found in the kitchen. Oh well, lesson learnt!
tangerine9
11 years ago
On investigating the cause of some water damage on our ceiling, we've just found a bucket placed in the roof cavity by the previous owner.
pen882
11 years ago
SueM you must have bought your house from the same people we did. How long does it take to clean a toilet? We had a week between settlement and moving in and thought we could repaint. The house was 20 years old and the owner was a registered builder who built it. Nothing is square. Everything seems to be left overs from different building sites. On settlement day after we got the keys, I decided clean the toilets. 1 toilet 3.5hours and there was 2 more. By the time I got to the en-suite we decided to pull it out and put a new one in. We got Electro Dry out to clean the carpets. Once he wet the first carpet the house just wreaked of cat urine. He said that, that is normal and we had to pull up all the carpet and underlay, and clean and seal the floors with a water proof seal that you would use in the bathrooms. We had to sand back the skirting boards and seal them as well. I will never buy a house that the builder was the owner ever again. When we moved in my husband positioned the washing machine in the laundry and I connected the hoses. After we moved in I put a load of washing in, turned on the taps and the water spurted up the wall up to the ceiling. We had to replace the whole tap units, he must have had a leaking taps, and instead of changing the washers he filled the seal area with silicon and screwed their washing machine tap fitting on, so when the silicon dried it was a perfect seal, when he disconnected to move out he broke the seal. We found nearly every tap in the house needed to be replaced. The swimming pool was tree frog green, he hadn't done anything with it since the contract went unconditional. We had the real estate agent come back and he was just as confused and surprised as we were.
SueM
11 years ago
pen882, oh dear, I have to wonder now too! Our vendor was also a builder, although he didn't build the house; he bought two years after the original owner-builder had built it. The house is ten years old, and thankfully, the carpets are in fairly good condition, and the floors had recently been sanded back and re-varnished. Ours is bad enough, but yours sounds truly a nightmare! Glad to know you survived it. :D
SueM
11 years ago
Oh, but I have found that the laundry sink doesn't drain without overflowing the cupboard beneath it - time to call a plumber. Ugh!
misslizzie21
11 years ago
Yes, it's true that in the ACT the seller must provide a building report which forms part of the contract. The purchaser then pays for it at settlement. Even with that protection I wish It had pointed out that the huge eucalypt in the front garden was growing over the drains. They were blocked with tree roots and a few months after we moved in it cost $5000 to remove the tree and replace the drains.
Sharon
10 years ago
We too have "crying windows" in winter - I have to go round every single morning with a squeegee and a towel. Bane of my existence
Neeno Nguyen
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
I attended a builders info night (I work along side the building industry) and was told that window condensation (especially with double glazed) is not due to the window installation.,, But have to find the source of moisture and fixed that. So the window is not the root cause. For owners of newly built houses, the Disputes and Resolution guide will be helpful (for homes built in Victoria, Australia).
User
10 years ago
Don't buy a house in a drought, like me. The building inspector couldn't pick up the leaky roof. Of course the drought broke as soon as we moved in.
User
10 years ago
Sharon Whiteman, have you considered that your windows may be in pane, hence the crying?
olldroo
10 years ago
Welcome back, Chook!!!!!!
User
10 years ago
Thanks, Roo.
cloudpants
10 years ago
So many of these apply to us when we bought our house in 2004:
It was a private sale. The simpletons that owned it before us had put a series of buckets in the roof to catch rain coming in from broken tiles. They all overflowed at the same time during our first heavy storm.
The house was filthy. They told us professional cleaners had come in. After a few weeks we realised they had put all their junk (broken bikes etc) under the house that took time, effort and $$ to remove. The TV aerial had been removed because their friends up the back thought it was an eyesore. We had no TV reception. They took with them the nicest tree that was planted in the back yard. There was dodgy wiring so that electricity shorted out if more than two appliances were being used at the same time.
Our solicitor said that we could fight these issues but it would be expensive and not worth it in the end.
Even still, we loved our house because it had great bones. It looks very different now after all our renovations, and we have the best neighbours in the world.
User
10 years ago
Good for you, Barbara.
Fiona
10 years ago
Chook, you're back!! Long time!
Jeannie
10 years ago
I sympathise with all your horror stories everyone. Mine includes so many things, but what really got me was that every picture, photo and mirror had been placed to cover cracks in walls, and that the furry animal on the end of the kitchen bench had been placed to hide broken wall tiles. We've spent a small fortune fixing all the wrong things about this house, and still have more to do. BUT, we are on a very precious quarter acre block with a huge rear garden I love, and we don't have to brave the winter weather to take our little dog for a walk - just throw his ball from one side of the garden to the other from the shelter of our patio. Spent a lot on that too, but hey, we can't take the money with us when we drop off the perch, so we continue to over capitalise, but enjoy where we live, and that's what is important to us. A bonus is the 3 L's - location, location, location. Close to everything we need now. Transport, shopping, hospital for OH's cancer treatments.
User
10 years ago
I'm sorry, Jeannie.
Barbara Dunstan
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
@Jeannie,

Sorry to hear of the ill health in your family, I do sincerely hope there is a positive outcome.

Hubby and I are in the country and have acerage too and although we are 25km from the nearest town with a safeway, coles target hospital etc... we have a fantastic community health centre some 15km from our home, which has three doctors, countless activities and health professionals like a dietician, podiatrist and we even have a chemist, all in a very small town servicing probably less than 1000 people.

I would say the 3L's work for me too even out of suburbia!!!

I don't even need to walk my dog, as she simply hangs with me all day.

We are currently building and I wouldn't know if I have overcapitalized or not, nor do I care less as it's where I want to be till as you say, we fall off the perch!!

Finally there is someone else like me who doesn't keep talking about how much their home is worth but instead saying, it's the only place I want to be, so I've fixed it to suit and I love it!!
Jeannie
10 years ago
chookchook2

We kinda think we're lucky, because the cancer has hit late in OH's life, unlike the poor little children who have to live through chemo, and still have more to endure. From experience, we know how devastating the big C is.
User
10 years ago
I am still really sorry. Prayer helps.
User
10 years ago
How are things, Jeannie?
Karen
10 years ago
It is shocking what state people will leave a house in and put it up for sale in the same state. We recently sold our three year old house and I spent weeks cleaning and shining every little bit of it top to bottom. It sold first viewing. The house we recently bought even though we had a building inspection has had numerous things to fix and many DIY jobs that simply were very poorly done. While the house looked clean and tidy in reality it was left in a poor state, especially the toilets once the seats got taken off and the paintwork is so poor we have to repaint the entire house..... it does make you wonder how poor the maintenance was over time....
Barbara Dunstan
10 years ago
@Karen Hodge,

I hear you!!

Sometimes I think the estate agent should carry quite a bit of the blame actually. If they do their job correctly like you see in the adds on TV, they should bring these discrepancies to the attention of the sellers, stand on their morals and say if you can't get it better than this, then you'll have to find someone else to sell your home!!

I know you can't make everybody "house proud" but the saying "do unto others" springs to mind. I bet if these same people bought a house not up to scratch, "a current affair" would hear about it but they don't think it wrong to simply walk out on a house that isn't being left nicely for the next family!!

I have some friends that recently sold a house in Essendon, Melb and whilst the buyers were back and forth selling their own home, my friends kept watering the plants and even did things like painted out the wardrobes because of the scuff marks made over time!! They cleaned the entire two storey house from top to bottom and finished by mopping the floors as they were exiting. The buyers were so taken by the entire home, they bought it with almost all the furniture that my friends had in it!!
wuff
10 years ago
I commented on the state of some houses we looked at when buying - the agents response was ' not everyone has the same lofty standards as you' when we has home opens or private inspections everything was pristine. I would not feel comfortable having people view my home in a mess, it still took a long time to sell, but that is a regional area in a flat market for you, we weren't the only ones. Some places were disgusting, I couldn't see my self living their, but strangely we bought a rental, renovation project that was probably the worst presented, but it was about the location ..which is gold, and a renovated house with off street parking for two cars would not have been in our price bracket. When I watch all the location, location etc. Shows I am amazed what people will pay for a house that has spit and polish but walk away from a project. Two morals their, you can get more for your home if well maintained when selling and you can still pick up a bargain when buying a renovator or a less well maintained home if you are able to do some work yourself or renovate in stages.
Karen
10 years ago
I just cleaned the oven in this house and it was not even cleaned for resale - the dirt and grime that came out of it!!!!! yes agree with the comments - I walked out of a lovely home for sale because it was so dirty and grimy it made me feel badly about the condition of the house - I guess it is tue, not everyone is house proud as they say.....
SueM
10 years ago
@Karen Hodge. I know exactly what you mean with the oven! I mentioned waiting for a professional oven cleaner service to clean the oven, etc, and sadly, it took him 5 hours to do it all. He felt that the lovely Ilve oven had probably never been cleaned in the 10 years since it had been installed. Ugh!
Vy
10 years ago
that we wouldn't have trouble with parking ..council only gave us one street parking permit..family of 5 can only fit 2 cars in and one across barely as there's bins to account for..so really only 2 cars in until we clean out our mess..
misslizzie21
10 years ago
Interesting comments regarding cleanliness issues. A good solicitor should have advised you to carry out a pre-settlement inspection, accompanied by the agent and preferably the day before completion when the property is ready for hand over. The agent should then arrange with the seller for a thorough clean and if this is not possible your solicitor should negotiate compensation for you from settlement proceeds. A vendor will usually comply as they don't want settlement delayed.
Deonne Lyness
8 years ago
I have brought houses in VIC and NSW and built a house in QLD and each of the states are so different regarding the selling, buying and legal processes, that I recommend checking that out first if you are moving interstate. One of the big things I've learnt is, if you can afford it, make sure you have a little 'slush fund' for when you move into a new house. Even if you thought you had everything covered and accounted for there will always be something the pops up. We moved into a new house at the beginning of the year. We brought it off a lady whose partner had passed away approximately a year earlier of a freak accident. This meant the coroner was involved and therefore her money tied up. She kept the house so well considering the circumstances, but once we moved in we started having costly issues with the pool, then some drainage issues (the neighbours tree roots in our pipes) which cost $1500 to repair as the pipes were in a retaining garden. On top of that our fridge decided not to work again after the removalists left and it was only 5 years old. I've had similar things after other moves as well. If you can budget a few thousand for a safety net it can be very handy.
Elizabeth Patrice
6 years ago
On the final inspection day before buying our house, we found some problems we missed the first time we checked the property. The dishwasher was not turning on and there wasn’t much hot air coming from the ducted heating point, which was advertised as features of the property. Lucky for us we were able to ask the vendors to fix those issues.

Everything’s going smoothly until we checked the garage. It was clean and there’s no apparent problem. But when we opened the garage door it feels heavy. It’s still working but we’re scared that the springs and other parts might just snap. It was a Sundaay afternoon and good thing we got hold of someone who came over quickly and repaired our garage door. He also explained what was wrong and gave us tips on how to maintain it. If you have a garage door emergency and you live around Perth, these guys can help https://www.garagedoorservicing.com.au/.
Gallifrey
6 years ago
What a nutter the neighbour is!

What do you wish you knew before moving into your current home?

Comments (62)

Related Discussions

COMPANY

EXPLORE HOUZZ

CONNECT WITH US