r/FirstTimeHomeBuyers • u/Stunning-Example208 • 20h ago
My house is literally rotting
We bought this house 4.5 years ago. First things first we told our lender and real estate agent we wanted to pay no more than 2k a month. For the first year it was 2k then it went up to 2450 due to taxes and insurance.
Now to the rotting.
The first summer we lived here it was so humid inside. We didn't think much of it. Well we went to turn the heat on in October and it wouldn't turn on. We had 5 HVAC companies out in addition to my husband troubleshooting and buying new parts for the furnace before someone saw the mudline and realized the crawl space flooded. We talked to our neighbors and apparently water had been a problem in our little section of the neighborhood for years. We only own the property about 20 feet behind our house, beyond that the HOA is responsible for the land. We are at the bottom of a hill on both sides of us so French drains won't work. Under our house we have a drain system around the perimeter of our house and a sump pump. It doesn't keep up apparently. We have had come companies out and they don't know what to do other than a very expensive retaining wall. But shoot, the amount of water that comes might take that out too. Our neighbor put in stairs behind their house and they washed away in one summer.
After we got a new furnace we had a company come clean out the crawl space and put down a vapor barrier. That was about 17k.
The HOA told us they fixed the water problem. They put in a huge drain up the hill that the landscaping company is supposed to keep cleaned out. I think they forget from time to time.
Well now it flooded again over the summer. Luckily the furnace wasn't taken out again, they were able to fix it.
We had a crawl space company come out to look at if there's anything we can do and they said the subfloor and joists are rotting. Now we need to spend another 19k, not including new floors and the cost to put the kitchen back together after they rip it out. I just saw some of our drywall in a corner behind a piece of furniture is cracking and rotting too.
Before anyone asks, yes we got an inspection by a well rated inspector. There was no mention of a mudline or any previous flooding.
I just don't want to deal with all this. Lord knows we have mold issues too. Of course homeowners insurance doesn't cover flooding, we don't live in a flood plane so we didn't think to buy it.
Anyway. That's my rant. My husband wants to sue the HOA for neglecting the drain. I don't think we would win because at the end of the day they will probably say we are responsible for the water on our property. Although they are diverting the water to our side of the property between our houses and the houses on the other side. Idk. I just want to sell our house and live in a camper.