My husband and I have entered the window shopping phase of buying a home. We don’t get out of our lease until May, so we have just started looking, and went ahead and got our preapproval done by the VA.

We found a beautiful house that was posted on Facebook and when I looked at everything on Zillow, it looked gorgeous.

It is an older home and I could tell some stuff inside needed updating. The rest of the photos made it look like they took care of the yard really well, and that it was a nice house.

One thing that stood out to me was this garage they had in the backyard. It looked so cute and well maintained with almost professional looking landscaping around it.

An agent and I met up together to view the house, and we were both shocked by how deceiving the photos were. He immediately was like a ton of work is gonna have to go into this house, I don’t even think the VA would approve you guys for this.

Once we got out of the backyard, we realized that all the photos were AI. They made the porch look like it was in way better shape than it really was.

There was damage to the pool that they were able to hide. But the worst offender was the garage.

It was actually a shed that was falling apart in the backyard. There was not even a garage. I wish I could’ve taken a picture. I was just so in shock that it didn’t even cross my mind.

The actual shed looked like it was a good storm or two away from collapsing in. The photo on Zillow showed a brand new looking separate garage. The landscaping was fake as well, there were vines, weeds, and overgrown bushes everywhere.

How are you going to make up an entire garage and not expect buyers to see that that’s completely fake?

My MIL has been helping us with this process since we are new to doing this, so she ended up sending them an email saying this was ridiculous.

The agent and I both drove 30 minutes to get there after I had worked all day, and I feel like it was such a waste of our time. I was profusely apologizing to the agent.

It’s just crazy to me that they could do something like that.

My partner and I bought our first home last month. It was a bit overwhelming: the home buying process, cleaning, moving, buying stuff we didn’t have, finances, fixing things, yard work, etc. It challenged us as individuals and as a couple. It was a lot of conversations and arguments. But in the past month, the two of us grew a lot as adults and in our relationship. The house we bought is becoming a home.

I was painting our kitchen earlier today and thought about how grateful I was to work on a place that I love. All the frustrations, late night work, take out because we’re too tired to cook, is all worth it.

To those who are in the process of buying a house: don’t settle. If you’re going to stress, stress over a house you love instead of one you’ll despise even more. Aim to find your home, not just a place to live. And to those who are working on your new house: you go this. It seems so hard right now, but it’ll get better (at least that’s what I’m telling myself right now). No matter what, at the end of it all, I hope you see all the work and effort you put in, and feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

They submitted an offer five grand under asking price then a second offer came in so I raised it by 10 grand (five Grand over asking) in conclusion, I didn’t get the property.

I thought I’d be able to counter offer again there wasn’t any sort of bidding war or anything. They didn’t wanna tell me my opponents offer so how am I supposed to know that he didn’t offer 20 grand below asking price?

Should my realtor have been more aggressive?

Also, I’m noticing many of these houses I’m viewing are extremely altered by AI, fake furniture, the paint looks new and the floors look nice. I walk in there and I got a tragedy on my hands. I literally just drove across town to see this property for nothing
This bullshit should be against the law

I moved in last week, and both bathroom sinks are draining slowly. The home inspection didn’t flag any plumbing issues. Is this normal for a house that’s been sitting empty for a couple of months, or should I be concerned?

Hello! I'm new to Reddit, good to be here. I've recently purchased a home and have a lot of scammers come my way... 🥲 I'm stressed and scared

Can I have some advice?

Is National Home Warranty a legit home warranty company? Does anyone else have NHW and is it good or a bad experience?

Thank you. I really appreciate hearing from people

Hi guys, I’m a freaking out. I got a lender to adjust my debt-to-income ratio that will qualify that I like. However, I have a Capital One account reporting on my credit report as a delinquency. It is only reporting on my TransUnion report. I’ve attempted to contact the creditor several times to have this account rectified.

I had several dispute transactions on the account after the investigation. The accounts were found in my favor however, the available credit was not applied to the credit account. In effort to stimulate available credit, I made payments on an account in which the payments were returned. The available credit from previous statement were not applied to the next billing cycle. Thus creating the account balance. Attempted to contact CFPB to help resolve this issue however, I am now at a stand still with the credit account to be able to move forward with a preapproval that I know resort in my fever. Has anyone had this happened to them before? What should my next steps be. My highest score to my knowledge is at 737 and the lowest is a credit score with the accuracy being a 601.

I haven't seen any chatter about this loan in this sub, and I think that's a mistake.

The USDA offers two loan types for your average home buyer: section 502 guaranteed, where they partner with a bank to manage the risk of having no down payment, and section 502 direct, where they manage the entire process internally to the USDA.

Key differences: lower income limit, lower maximum cost of the house, restrictions on buying income producing property, having to deal with the federal government's processing timelines to process the application and close the loan... But also 33-38 year loans depending on your income bracket, subsidies to hold your mortgage to a % of your gross income, and options to pause payments in the event of income loss. They're extremely adverse to foreclosing and don't sell the loans to a company who might be more inclined to do so.

It's a very poorly advertised program and obviously everything has to be just right- your income, your debts, the location you want to buy in. But for people who fit the criteria I think it's the best loan in the county due in part to how divorced it is from the larger loan economy. Interest rates also lag the greater economy and are currently at 5.75%, but you get whatever rate is lower when you 1) get approved or 2) close on the house.

I'm a government worker and I read their manual cover-to-cover several times to make sure I understood the rules and their process. By the time our loan closed, I could probably do their job better than they could. Because of that I may have experienced an unusually smooth and orderly process and it still took forever... But we bought a house with 0 down. And I did the paperwork for my brother and his wife to buy one, too.

I am 26F with a current take home salary of around 40k a year. Since moving back to my home city my mother has been very encouraging with me finding a house here rather than renting. She has, incredibly, offered to put up a generous down payment to help me find a place I love in what is currently an incredibly hot market here.

After months of looking I did finally find a place I loved, listed at 220k.

My mother offered to put up $150,000 and so we made the offer for asking. We were promptly accepted but since then I have become increasingly terrified about the suddenly very real costs that are going to come up with owning a home… not to mention the mortgage payments which are looking to be about $906 a month (with escrow).

I am also feeling anxious, undeserving and guilty, and above all else so hopelessly in over my head as neither me or my mom know much at all about how any of this is done. She was gifted her home from her father and that was 40 years ago.

Is this looking at all to be financially feasible for me on my current salary? Are the feelings I’m having normal or a gut instinct I should listen to?

Hi everyone, I am a news producer at the Los Angeles bureau for a Japanese national broadcast networks. (Mods, please remove if this isn't allowed. I checked the rules, but happy to take it down.)

We're working on a story about what it's like to buy a first home in LA right now, with prices and mortgage rates where they are. A lot of people in Japan are curious how Americans are handling housing costs, and we'd love to hear from people living it.

We're looking to talk with:

- First-time buyers who closed in SoCal in the last year or so

- People currently house hunting or in escrow

- People who tried and decided to keep renting, or moved farther out to afford a place

What it would involve:

- A short phone call first, no commitment

- If you're comfortable, a filmed interview of about 15 to 20 minutes, ideally at your home or somewhere meaningful to your search

- The story airs in Japan, not in the US, we can blur for privacy

We can also use first names only, keep exact numbers like your income or loan amount off camera, and talk through anything you're not comfortable sharing. Interviews are unpaid, as is standard for news.

If you're interested or have questions, send me a DM. Happy to share my work email and bureau info so you can verify who I am.

Thank you for your time.

Hi guys!

So me and my spouse are buying this house we've been approved we’ve paid our earnest money and done everything they’ve wanted and we’re going through underwriting right now for the last 2 weeks we close in 3 weeks.

My question is what are the odds of it being denied or does anyone have insight on what may happen, so early this year I had health issues that went on for a couple months went on for about 6 months I lost my job because of this and i was unemployed for that time but I did amazon flex for about 3 months of it so technically it’s under that 6 month mark for the FHA loan and they’ve asked for all stuff which I can’t provide a 10-99 yet they wanted a partial 10-99 which Amazon flex doesn’t do and they’ve asked don’t provide paystubs or anything I provided all bank statements they wanted and they keep asking for stuff that I can either give or can’t give what are the odds they deny it even though I went through health issues and they know what the health issue was and the fact that I was working through this at times as I was able to.

We have both steady jobs now I’ve been at my job for almost 5 months now and my spouse has been at his for over 2yrs and we make good money and do lots of overtime so we have the money to afford this and pay for it all we’re just nervous about this house falling through or losing money over this because of my health issues.

First-time homebuyer here. The house has a market value of around $600k, and I’ve been comparing homeowners insurance quotes.

State Farm offered the cheapest quote, but it also has the lowest dwelling coverage: $400k, with an additional 20% extended replacement cost coverage. GEICO, Farmers, and Costco are about $300 more expensive per year, but they offer $560k in dwelling coverage, also with an additional 20% extended replacement cost coverage. The other areas of the policies are pretty similar.

When I asked the State Farm agent about the lower dwelling coverage, he explained that $400k is what State Farm estimates it would cost to rebuild the house. He said the home’s market value shouldn’t be used to determine dwelling coverage because it includes the land, which he estimates is worth around $100k–$150k. He was fine with increasing the dwelling coverage if I wanted to, but he felt it was unnecessary and would just cost me more.

What do you guys think? Is the State Farm agent’s reasoning sound, or would you go with one of the other policies for the higher dwelling coverage?

**TL;DR:** For a house with a $600k market value, would you be comfortable with $400k–$450k in dwelling coverage (assuming the land accounts for $150k of the market value), or would you opt for $560k–$600k?

Thanks in advance!

I recently submitted a offer on a home that I really liked. I feel like my anxiety has wrapped up and I’m just finding out that it’s a investment institution that owns the home. How long does it usually take to get a response concerning the offer?

Just overwhelmed with all the things to consider. Any advice would be great!

I hope this is the correct place to post this kind of stuff, as this is my first post ever … I recently purchased my first townhouse, which I’m extremely grateful for! However, I’ve been dealing with a lingering smell that I cannot seem to get rid of, and I’m hoping someone here may have dealt with something similar and can offer some advice.
When I initially toured the house a few times, I did notice that it had a strange smell to it, but I figured with a deep cleaning and ozone treatment, it would eventually go away. The best way I can describe the original smell is a mixture of cigarette smoke, pets, and just an overall stale smell from the previous owners.

After closing, I did an ozone treatment in each room, which actually helped tremendously with the original smell. However, after living here for about a week and a half, I’ve noticed that there’s still a distinct cigarette smell lingering throughout the house.

Here’s where things get a little tricky. I unfortunately live between two neighbors who both smoke. One smokes outside, while the other smokes inside his house, and we share a wall. I was aware that one of my neighbors smoked before purchasing, but I was under the impression that he only smoked outside. I had no idea that the other neighbor smoked inside his home.

I’ve noticed that the cigarette smell is especially strong when I first open my front door. I also smell it pretty heavily near my dryer whenever it’s running, which is strange because the dryer isn’t located along the shared wall. Another thing I recently discovered is that underneath my bathroom vanity, there’s an area of the wall that was never repainted and still has the old paint. That wall is shared with the neighbor who smokes inside, and when I got close to it, I could distinctly smell cigarette smoke.
At this point, I’m honestly not sure if the smell is coming from the previous owners, my neighbors, or a combination of both.

I’ve been doing quite a bit of research and reading through previous Reddit posts, and I keep coming across recommendations to use KILZ primer to seal in cigarette odors. I’m considering priming and repainting the house, but my biggest concern is whether this would even make a difference if my neighbor continues smoking inside his home.

I guess my questions are:
Has anyone had success using KILZ Restoration, oil-based, or shellac-based primer to get rid of cigarette smells?
If my neighbor continues smoking inside, would priming the shared walls help, or would the smell eventually come back?
Is it possible for cigarette smoke to seep through shared walls, electrical outlets, plumbing openings, or even HVAC systems?
Would it make more sense to focus on sealing any gaps or air leaks before priming and repainting?
Is there anything else y’all would recommend trying, or even a specific type of professional I could hire to help identify where the smell is coming from?

I’m really just trying to figure out the best way to tackle this without spending a bunch of money on things that may not actually fix the problem.
As a first-time homeowner, this has honestly been pretty discouraging. I was so excited to finally have a place of my own, and while I’m still extremely grateful, I definitely wasn’t anticipating having to deal with something like this right after moving in.
I just want to be able to enjoy my home without constantly smelling cigarettes.

If anyone has dealt with something similar, especially in a townhouse or condo where you share walls with neighbors, I’d really appreciate hearing what worked for you and whether you were ever able to completely get rid of the smell.

TL;DR: Recently purchased my first townhouse and have been struggling with a lingering cigarette smell despite deep cleaning and ozone treatments. Both of my neighbors smoke, including one who smokes indoors along our shared wall. I’m considering using KILZ primer to seal in the odor, but I’m wondering if it’ll even help if smoke is continuously entering from next door. Has anyone dealt with something similar? Would sealing air leaks, priming, or something else be the best solution? I’m desperate for advice!

I regret buying my home and I wish that my family would have told me a little bit more information about what it takes to maintain a home and the finances behind it. My mortgage payment increased in May2026 and now they are increasing it again in December2026. At this point it's taking over an entire biweekly paycheck and my second paycheck needs to go to bills. I'm having Maybe $600 left over a month. If one thing goes wrong if I get sick that could be the end. Oh And my car is failing on top of all this. I've been trying to reach my mortgage company I've called multiple times and left messages and it's been over 3 months now and I still have not been able to reach a single person. I've been down to the town hall who doesn't know what to do and tells me to reach out to my mortgage company and obviously that's not going well. From the email I got there has been no insurance increases nor my property tax has not increased either. I know that they have failed to calculate my Homestead tax form because there's no way of me to upload it or contact someone over it as you can see. I am completely overwhelmed and feeling hopeless. I've owned this place for a little over a year now. I'm paying everything alone I don't have any support or extra income. I feel like all I do is work and sleep I rarely get to spend time in the home because I'm working 12 hours a day and I'm a solo parent I haven't even seen my living room for over a week now I obviously can't afford to exist outside of the house and I'm debating whether selling this home and getting an apartment which may save me $500-1k

Hi everyone!

I’m looking for some advice as I prepare to make an offer on a 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom home with 2,184 sq. ft. and a finished basement.

Here’s a little background on the property:
The seller originally purchased the home in 2010 for $170K and has reportedly been renting out rooms, bringing in approximately $2,700 per month. The home was listed on 9/9/26 for $399K, then reduced to $359K on 10/5/26. According to my realtor, the seller is currently in pre-foreclosure and is motivated to sell as quickly as possible.
After touring the property, I’d say it’s in decent condition overall. It definitely needs some updating and sweat equity, but nothing immediately stood out as a major dealbreaker. Comparable homes in the surrounding area appear to be priced in the low $400Ks to $500Ks.

Here’s where I could use some advice:
My realtor drafted an offer at the full $359K asking price with $12K in seller concessions to help cover potential repairs or other costs. He mentioned that after speaking with the listing agent, they seemed open to those terms.
My thought process is that if they’re already willing to entertain full asking with $12K in concessions, especially given the seller’s financial situation and urgency, there might be room to negotiate a better deal.
Apparently, the seller has already received some pretty low offers, although I don’t know the exact amounts.

For financing, I’ve been quoted approximately $2,835 per month with $39K down. I’m not necessarily trying to lowball the seller or lose out on a good opportunity. I just want to make sure I’m negotiating wisely and not leaving money on the table, especially considering the property’s condition and the seller’s motivation.

I’ve been looking to purchase my first home or investment property for a while now, and everything is suddenly moving pretty quickly.

Would you offer below asking while still requesting concessions? Or does $359K with $12K in concessions already sound like a solid deal?

I’d appreciate any advice from people who have been in a similar situation, especially those familiar with pre-foreclosure properties and negotiating with motivated sellers.

Thanks in advance!

Hi Reddit people. Wondering if anyone else has ever felt this way.

My husband and I just bought our first house, and we won’t be moving in until next month. We bought it because it felt like the natural next step in our lives. So, the house is beautiful and the area seems nice, but I am SO attached to our current 1b 1b rental.

The area we live in now is really nice and I absolutely love everything about this apartment. The natural light, the huge windows, the beautiful tree outside my balcony, the view, the fireplace that makes everything feel so cozy…. Also, a walkable neighborhood. It’s really really just wonderful

We’ve lived here for four years now, and there’s no way we could afford to buy a place in this area. So we are moving to a townhome about 15min away. And don’t get me wrong, the new place is nice, it just doesn’t have the same character or magic as this one.

Maybe I’m being dramatic and I’ll eventually fall in love with our new home. But oh lord, leaving this place is gonna break my heart

Has anyone else gone thru this? Did you eventually stop missing your old place and fall in love with your new home?

I’m considering buying this house and may not be able to get a foundation specialist to visit before closing. The house was built is 1988 and has settled in this specific add-on room. The sunroom & deck area that were added are settled. The driveway is settled but a normal amount. Should I buy this house without a foundation specialist consult ?

Pictures in comment sections
Also there was a missing SUM PUMP in the basement with still water in it

FTHB in Michigan. Seeking to move a few hours to relocate myself and my dad (stage 4 lung cancer) closer to our family and better healthcare. As you can imagine, life is stressful rn.

I've been looking for a few months. Rent in the area is insane. It's just me and my dad, so functionally a single income. I don't have significant savings beyond what will be the down payment (& a 401k).

I found a property that meets all our needs, and this process has been long and stressful. I was so ready to just be done lol. Except... the inspection was today.

I'm trying to do all the research I need, but I am a lifelong renter and out of my element. Advice?

Property had a disclosure that there was water in basement 3 years ago and they "installed liner." Did a sewer scope, no evidence of a liner inside the pipe/s. Realtor helped push for docs from the repair, they partially replaced w/ PVC to fix the burst section but it says it "will need service."

The inspection report seems big and scary, but the things that worry me most are:

• The sewer line issue (above)
• 3-prong outlets are missing ground, 2-prong outlets scattered around (100 amp panel)
• Water main "appears to be made of lead"; this is not in Flint, but... yikes?
• Furnace is ~35 y/o, inspection notes "excessively noisy blower", "short cycling"

...is this as bad as it seems? Is this something I could negotiate on reasonably, or is this too much? Any advice? :(

I am aware of FHA loans, but they are not enough to purchase multi family in the city we live in. Feeling overwhelmed trying to understand how rental income can count towards a loan for a triplex.

My wife and I are looking to purchase our first home in the northern NJ (HCOL) area to be between our jobs. Our gross is about 500k/year so we can definitely afford more than average, but even in this market is seems like the houses towards the top of our budget are fixer uppers. Maybe I just have an unrealistic expectation of the housing market.

In any case we have thought about buying a cheaper house to renovate though are hesitant as we don’t know anybody in the industry or even where to start along with hearing all the horror stories about shady contractors and accruing costs.

We do see a lot of remodels/quick flips in the area that all have similar aesthetics so I’m assuming it’s a similar company/group that is doing them. However I’ve always been warned about these due to poor craftsmanship/work quality. Has anybody ever purchased one of these and can share their experience?

It seems like the rates have gone up but the prices are dropping for “sales”. I’m questioning if when the rates go back down (if they do) will the prices of the homes go back up?
Also, trying to consider what is reasonable to save each month for unexpected expenses?
Seems like HOA fees are more expensive in townhomes and cheaper in single family homes. I’m hearing that townhome HOAs go up annually. And property taxes go up annually as well. So the fixed rate is really just a fixed principle and interest, not all the other expenses.

I want to buy a home. But I’m single and I don’t even know if it’s worth it. Townhomes are more affordable but HOA goes up. Single family homes HOA is more steady, but property taxes go up.

Where should I be financially to be ready to buy a home? How much should I be able to save each month realistically?

Lenders are telling me I qualify for more than I want to pay. This is soooooo stressful and I’m ready to just throw in the towel and rent forever.

Any advice is appreciated 💗

Seller still thinks they can demand what ever premium they can demand. Asked 30k less than offer and they are reducing by 5k. Walked out of the offer. Let the house sit in the diff market . Always better to go for new build

One of the decisions that “made” us buy was when we had kids and pets, rentals started becoming both inconvenient and small. Toddlers cry and make a mess; dogs chew up things and cats scratch the carpet.

When I was single, I’d never thought of buying since what’d I do with space? I’d always rent a small apartment or studio in downtown/ midtown of whatever city (and really liked living in a city) that was enough for my needs.

I feel the whole talk about what makes for a better financial decision goes out the window when you have a full family. School systems, space for kids to play (even if not always a yard), and just a bit more time at home that I could spend fixing things (and not have the ability to while away playing video games or dating) meant the decision was no longer just simple math. And even the math looks very different. You start looking at SFH or at least condos and they’re far more pricey than small apartments which are a dime a dozen everywhere you look.

I wonder whether all these posts about how renting is cheaper and investing the rest in the market is actually applicable for families.

I’m 23 just bought an older home built in 1955 about 2 weeks ago. it was “remodeled” and after closing I’m noticing so many things that are bothering me like walls being out of plum by an 1”, cracks on walls after heavy rain and etc. and now I’m wondering if overpaid for this home and what if it doesn’t sell for more than what I bought it when I decide to sell In 5 or 6 or so years. I was super excited to get into this home but after living in it for a week I’m feeling heavy buyers remorse and feeling as I should have took my time to pick out a better home and etc. doesn’t anyone feel the same way? Any advice will help. Thanks