Nobody tells first-time buyers that it's truly a commitment. And that's truly a problem.
By which we don't (just) mean the loan(s).
Buying a home is a multi-faceted commitment. It requires time. It requires patience. It requires maintenance (Whether you do it or you pay someone to do it for you). For some, it involves emotional impact (say, if you inherited a home that belonged to a deceased family member).
It's a stretch to say that it's akin to raising children, but if you think about it, it's fairly darn close (if you're doing it right), especially if the home you're buying is an older (read: less expensive) one.
True stories below from a home built in the late 50's:
- Galvanized piping. Only two total prior homeowners (which is frankly impressive for a 60+ year old home), and neither one of them bothered to swap the piping despite clear indications of rust in the water. One of them contracted cancer. We can't say if the water contributed or not.
- A/C was installed in the late 90's by the second owner and (clearly) never had any maintenance or service done to it. A new furnace and blower was installed in ~2010 with a new thermostat installed later that decade (meaning someone knew they needed to replace stuff yet completely neglected the A/C). Service on an A/C should be done roughly quarterly or annually and costs about ~$100. At one point, presumably when it died for good (compressor AND fan), they added window air conditioners. So rather than just paying $100 each year to maintain a whole home unit, they ponied up $200-300 to cool one room. At that point it begs the question of buying the A/C in the first place.
Then there are nightmare stories about flips - homes that were "prettied up" and put up for sale. Many times, shortcuts are taken to get the home put up for sale that don't rear their ugly head until months, or possibly, years after the fact.
Even new build homes where the construction companies increasingly take shortcuts because of pressure to get the units built and sold quickly. Many who have worked in the industry will tell you that the vast majority of older homes (circa 60s-90s) - if taken care of - were simply built better overall despite often not "looking nice".
It frankly doesn't matter how picky you are up front; and why we always say that you'll never find a home that "checks all of the boxes". You only think it does...until you flip the page and find out that the test has at least 20 more pages you missed.
We can talk about home warranties and whatnot, but often those have fine print that leaves you holding the bill.
The important part of this message: prepare yourself mentally. No home is perfect.