What’s the worst/most expensive thing you’ve discovered was wrong after closing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Technically we knew about the very expensive structural issues on our home before closing. What we didn't know was the relatively new HVAC (1 year old) was installed completely incorrectly. Basically didn't work or serve the house. So we had to 1) buy 2 new AC units and 2) clean and fix the unit duct work.

Is this something they can check in inspection? Like I know they run the heat and AC but is it just too short of a run to be able to tell that it's never going to actually warm/cool the house?

[Anonymous]

Mice in the attic. Not expensive, we got rid of them after a couple visits from pest control. But so gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Technically we knew about the very expensive structural issues on our home before closing. What we didn't know was the relatively new HVAC (1 year old) was installed completely incorrectly. Basically didn't work or serve the house. So we had to 1) buy 2 new AC units and 2) clean and fix the unit duct work.

Is this something they can check in inspection? Like I know they run the heat and AC but is it just too short of a run to be able to tell that it's never going to actually warm/cool the house?

So it technically passed inspection because the hvac was blowing air into the crawl space, but unknown to us the duct work was all flex tubing, disconnected, soggy wet, etc. So on a very hot or very cold day there is no way it would be sufficient.

[Anonymous]

It was raining inside our attached garage due to some structural issues that cost about $30K to fix.

[Anonymous]

Extent of water coming into the basement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought I bought a townhouse but it was a condo. They only used the word condo in the legal paperwork. Of course it’s obvious to me now.

I’m a transactional real estate attorney. I used the draft condo and hoa association docs. An HOA is legally a condominium turned sideways. They are effectively indistinguishable. What do you think is different about the two?

Fee simple and condos are completely different forms of ownership. What are you talking about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought I bought a townhouse but it was a condo. They only used the word condo in the legal paperwork. Of course it’s obvious to me now.

I’m a transactional real estate attorney. I used the draft condo and hoa association docs. An HOA is legally a condominium turned sideways. They are effectively indistinguishable. What do you think is different about the two?

In my case the condo was poor quality and the walls were paper thin. I could hear everything my downstairs neighbors said. If it were a townhouse I would not even have a downstairs neighbor. It was a 2 level condo that looks at first glance like a townhouse. So mostly the problem was poor quality. Not merely the fact that it was a condo. But it was misrepresented because it was conspicuously labeled as a townhouse on all their documents and advertisements prior to closing. In my opinion a condo should cost less than a townhouse. The word condo would have been a turn off to me in my search for a townhouse. So their misrepresentation fooled me.

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand how you could not perceive the difference between a townhouse and a condo with a downstairs neighbor before closing unless you had never seen the property in person?

[Anonymous]

The addition / family room was just drywall on brick. It wasn’t a converted porch, it was just built that way in the late 90s. They even had a dedicated circuit breaker for “family room space heater”.

We thought we’d insulate it - but nope! We bought the house in the summer and sold it in the summer without mentioning it to the buyers. Fortunately for them we had bought insulating can lights and added special blinds to the 5 large windows to retain heat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought I bought a townhouse but it was a condo. They only used the word condo in the legal paperwork. Of course it’s obvious to me now.

I’m a transactional real estate attorney. I used the draft condo and hoa association docs. An HOA is legally a condominium turned sideways. They are effectively indistinguishable. What do you think is different about the two?

In my case the condo was poor quality and the walls were paper thin. I could hear everything my downstairs neighbors said. If it were a townhouse I would not even have a downstairs neighbor. It was a 2 level condo that looks at first glance like a townhouse. So mostly the problem was poor quality. Not merely the fact that it was a condo. But it was misrepresented because it was conspicuously labeled as a townhouse on all their documents and advertisements prior to closing. In my opinion a condo should cost less than a townhouse. The word condo would have been a turn off to me in my search for a townhouse. So their misrepresentation fooled me.

Um, how did you not realize it was a condo when you visited and saw that the building had more stories than your unit had and multiple front doors? This sounds like a you problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Basement window wells leaked any time there was heavy rain. Spent about 10k rebuilding one of the window wells, regrading, and adding an exterior French drain. Knock on wood, but no water inside since.

Similar. Flooding and signs of prior water and mold remediation in basement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought I bought a townhouse but it was a condo. They only used the word condo in the legal paperwork. Of course it’s obvious to me now.

I’m a transactional real estate attorney. I used the draft condo and hoa association docs. An HOA is legally a condominium turned sideways. They are effectively indistinguishable. What do you think is different about the two?

Fee simple and condos are completely different forms of ownership. What are you talking about?

I’m also a real estate attorney (different from the previous poster). The prior poster is correct in that there may be no practical difference between fee simple and condominium ownership. Fee simple ownership is in a community is subject to a recorded HOA document. In condominium ownership, there are typically more rights reserved to the association, but this varies and it is not necessarily the case. The difference between fee simple ownership and condominium ownership could be as minimal as who is responsible for maintaining the vegetation around the structure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Technically we knew about the very expensive structural issues on our home before closing. What we didn't know was the relatively new HVAC (1 year old) was installed completely incorrectly. Basically didn't work or serve the house. So we had to 1) buy 2 new AC units and 2) clean and fix the unit duct work.

Is this something they can check in inspection? Like I know they run the heat and AC but is it just too short of a run to be able to tell that it's never going to actually warm/cool the house?

So it technically passed inspection because the hvac was blowing air into the crawl space, but unknown to us the duct work was all flex tubing, disconnected, soggy wet, etc. So on a very hot or very cold day there is no way it would be sufficient.

Ugh. We had a similar experience if it makes you feel better (😭) or at least heard.
One HVAC hadn't been installed properly- no soggy flex tubing, but they hadn't put in sufficient returns so the system was overworked and ineffective. The new company pointed out that it was on its end of life anyway and they'd feel bad just doing the minimum fixes when that money should really go to new system + the ductwork.

Made sense and it would have happened eventually, but right after the purchase was tougher to swallow!

[Anonymous]

Moved into a condo in DC and learned I could hear the neighbor’s phone convos through the wall.

I wish there was a better method for determining the level of soundproofing while touring condos. There are some ways to get an idea, but it’s hard because you could be touring while a neighbor happens to be away or not making much noise.

[Anonymous]

I wish there was a better method for just knowing what you’re getting. The current system encourages deception and fraud. There’s no other area, except used cars, where there’s so much dishonesty and misrepresentation around knowing they true value of what you are paying for. I hate it.