Truthfully, I wish the tree had just fallen straight onto our cabin for the insurance payout.
If only we’d been renting."
These were the most striking homeowner realities I read.
“Homeowners associations are predatory.
So yeah, it was a lot nicer when the landlord took care of that stuff.”
jmacxjr
3.
“I regretted my purchase as soon as the property tax bill came.
My god, trash.
For me as a mom of three, trash removal is a nightmare now.
Over 35 years, we spent tens of thousands of dollars on leaks, repairs, and restoration.
momsequitur
7.
New heat tape and insulation every year.
Draining all the pipes if we ever take a weekend trip in freezing weather.
So far, I miss the peace of mind that came with renting especially when winter rolls around.”
It was exactly the kind of nightmare scenario I had always feared.
I’ve since moved back to renting, as it provides more possibilities in regards to location.
Keith T.
9.
Without any sort of liner under the shower, we quickly realized we were flooding our basement daily.
It is never-ending, and you have to address the issues as they come up."
tifsport88
11.
A few years later, we were hit by one of the largest and most destructive tornadoes in history.
“I was misinformed about home equity and how it works.
We put around $100,000 into our first home over the course of 10 or so years.
Anonymous
13.
“When I discovered the mice infestation two weeks after closing that the inspector ‘somehow missed.’
They got bolder and started to come out during the day right in front of me.
I wanted to burn the house down.
Rachel, 49, Louisiana
15.
“I bought a house built in the ’70s in 2019.
It turns out the roof had been done terribly and was just pouring water for years.
I really wanted to hit ‘undo’ at that point.”
“I regretted not renting as soon as I bought my house.
I thought my ex and I would be together forever.
I had other plans to further my career by advancing my education and thought he would step up.
I was young and stupid.
But hey, mydogshave a nice backyard!”
Anonymous, 36, Florida
17. Who’s going to buy a $400,000 house in an area that floods twice a year?”
They have two little super-loud, misbehaving kids.
LeiaSolo7
19.
The previous owners did nothing and were very lazy.
“We bought a beautiful home of our dreams.
Obviously, the previous owner knew about the issue but never fixed it.”
Anonymous, 36, Illinois
21.
“All the pests: mice, bugs, even squirrels!
But we also had an amazing landlady who never raised our rent.
With a mortgage, we’re paying double what it cost us to rent.
We joke, ‘Same house, twice the price!’
It definitely makes me nervous.”
hennypennystegosaurus
23.
It’s cheaper than pretty much any rent it’s possible for you to find nowadays.
You would think my property belonged to her.
She even called the city on me when I repaired the side of my garage.
I’m trying to find a way to save to put a privacy fence in.”
Our quality of life has gone down so much.
I still dont know if it was the right call.
I guess time will tell."
laura7
25.
“I never wanted to buy a house; my in-laws pushed the issue and my wife insisted.
Three weeks later, a pipe under the house busted.
Insurance refused to cover that, and it cost us $20,000 to fix.
Two months later, in the middle of Houston, with above-100-degree temperatures, the AC went out.
We spent $9,000 to replace that.
“Lawn care and landscaping make me never want to own another stand-alone house again.
Our landlord took care of everything in our previous house, and I took that for granted.
I feel like my weekends exist for landscaping now, and landscaping alone.”
George,New Jersey
27.
“The cost of water.
It essentially doubled, and if we didn’t have savings, we wouldn’t have made it.”
elisabethefergusone
29.
“You lose so much freedom to explore when you’re tied to one house, one mortgage.
Sometimes, renting doesn’t sound so bad, but there is no equity in renting.”
It was a fantastic deal, and I was excited to finally own a home!
Well, the black mold was so bad, I had to rebuild the apartment from scratch!
I had to live upstairs with my very sick father for months while my apartment was being rebuilt.”
That $100,000 only got me about 80% of the renovation.
I still did not have flooring or trim, but I finally moved back into my downstairs apartment.
A few weeks later, I found that my dad had passed away in his apartment.
I hated that house and sold it during the pandemic for barely any of what I put into it.
It held nothing but negative memories for me, and Im so much happier not owning it."
Christa, 53, Ontario
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
