Money Matters
orangehills
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
oh whoa is me...
We just moved in to our new house a week ago. We didn't do a home inspection, we took it as is. So, we had a plumbing/heating and air person come out. Well, in the next year, we'll need to replace the water heater. (Which we realized.) And in the next couple of years, all 3 toilets will have to be replaced, as will our entire HVAC system and probably some duct work. So, that's around a 10 grand expense, if not more. We'll be shopping around. And then, I was cleaning our laminate wood floors with my new steam mop (It said it would be safe!!) and it was NOT safe. Ruined a few parts of our floor in the entry/dining room. Thankfully we can hide it for the most part, because otherwise it would take thousands to fix that entire area. Man. What a sad, expense few days. I thought 2016 would be better for saving, not so much! Because we still have to buy tires for our car, around 1000, and pay back some taxes from our old house which will be a few thousand.
My question to you guys.. I have $10000 set aside from my mom. I was going to split it and put it in an IRA over the next 2 years, because we're behind on retirement. But now I am thinking should I save it for the new HVAC system? By the end of next year, after all the other expenses of taxes, tires and water heater, we'll probably have around 26000-27000 (edited) in savings, which is about a 7 (Edited) month efund for us (if both of us lost our jobs at the same time.) Should I still put that money in retirement, and then just drain our savings to pay for the HVAC ourselves down the road and then rebuild it? I'm guessing the answer is yes.. but just wanted money matters input to back me up! It's scary taking that much out of your savings to put money into something you aren't actually seeing at that moment, like retirement.
Re: oh whoa is me...
I hugely concur with @julieanne912. You just want to know what you are getting into. If a major problem is uncovered, that will give you the opportunity to walk or often get a lower price...even if the seller won't fix it themselves.
My primary home was a foreclosure when I bought it. Generally speaking, banks won't do jack when it comes to repairs. I harassed them and harassed them to get the house "un-winterized" before my inspection. They said they would, but didn't. I kept harassing them throughout the process until it was one week before closing. I put my foot down and said I wouldn't close until the house was un-winterized (I'd heard things can sometimes go wrong with that process).
Thank goodness I did. Their agent told us there had been a "minor problem" during the un-winterizing and they needed to push closing back for one more week. Minor problem, lol? When my H and I went over the day before closing to run the faucets and make sure everything seemed okay, the plumbing for the entire back half of the house (both sides) had all been replaced!!! They had also replaced both hot water heaters, which was awesome because they were on their last legs and we were planning to replace them anyway.
Now that I've started looking at rental property investments...which are often in rough shape...I've learned that inspections don't need to come with all the expensive bells and whistles. I still get an inspection done once I'm under contract, but it is a "major systems" inspection. My inspector looks at the roof and the foundation. He also glances at the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC, though usually those systems can't even be turned on anyway. That's it. Its only $125-$150 per house as opposed to the more typical and thorough type of inspection that is in the $400 range. Like I joked to him when I first formed our relationship, I don't need a 40-page report with a hundred pics of missing outlet covers. I just need to know what is going to cost me big bucks...that I can't already see...either right away or within the next few years.
Short story long. To future home buyers, at least get a major systems type of inspection. They're pretty cheap and will at least alert you to most of the really expensive stuff that can go wrong.
To the OP, sorry to hear about the HVAC issue. Meh! Like the other PPs mentioned, the toilets are a pain, but easily DIYed for not too much money.
For the HVAC, ask questions if it can be reconditioned (I think that's the term). Basically, a tune-up. For the duplex I'm finishing up, one HVAC unit needed to be completely replaced and the other one could get away with a tune-up. The tune-up ran me $850 and the replacement ran me $2400. I forget how old the one that got the tune-up was, but I think it was 15-20 years old. My guy and the research I did told me I should get at least another 5 years out of it.
The replacement unit was that cheap because it was used, but only 18 months old. It's a 3-ton and the apartment it is for is 1200 square feet. You can save a lot of money going used, but you need to be very cautious if you go this route. Make sure you know the age and history of the unit. Also try to get a warranty, though I'm not sure if this is a standard custom.
I had estimated over double that amount when I first put my construction costs together, so I was pretty happy camper. Too bad I ran over on so..so..so..so many other things, lol.
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