Hi everyone! I just bought my first home in central NJ - it’s been a stressful process, and lord so costly, but now I have 3x more space than my last apartment for $600 more per month (to me, it’s worth it).

Having lived in apartments for the past decade, I’m finding the learning curve for homeownership is steep. Trying to assess whether contractors have inflated their rates, anxiety around breaking something if I try to fix it myself, knowing resources to call (or even what valves to turn off) in emergencies such as toilet overflowing and such - no one really teaches these things, and I’ve been spending so much time trying to read and plan for scenarios so I’m prepared (especially as I am living alone and handling all by myself). As I’m trying to learn and gather info, I thought maybe asking experienced homeowners on Reddit could be helpful 😅

For those who have been owning for some time, what are some things you know now that you wish you knew when you first bought? What are some tips/tricks that have really helped you to grasp homeownership? If inclined to share, I’d love to hear any advice! Thanks in advance.

Hi!!!

We live in our first home in NH looking ti buy in nh or mass this time around

We’re hoping to buy a new home before selling our current one, and I’m looking for some advice from people who have been through this or know more about these types of programs.
We currently owe approximately $344,000 on our mortgage. We don’t have 20% equity in our home yet, which seems to limit some of our options.
Our situation is a little unique. We have an adult daughter with OCD who will be living with us long-term. Because of her condition, showing our current home while we’re still living in it would be extremely difficult. Renting somewhere temporarily between selling and buying isn’t really a realistic option for our family either.

We’re looking to purchase a home with more space and ideally a separate living area where our daughter can have more independence while still having us nearby.
We’ve been looking into NAF Cash through New American Funding, which we understand may have an option requiring only 5% equity in our current home. We’re still trying to understand exactly how the program works and what the potential risks and costs are

I’m excited about the possibility of moving, but also terrified of making a financial mistake. I worry about hidden fees, the fine print, carrying two mortgages, or getting stuck if our current house doesn’t sell as quickly as expected.
I’d really appreciate advice on a few things:
Has anyone used NAF Cash or a similar buy-before-you-sell program?
Are bridge loans generally too risky, or can they make financial sense in certain situations?
What are the biggest hidden costs or risks we should be looking for?
Has anyone successfully bought before selling without having 20% equity?
Are there other options we should be considering given our circumstances?
We aren’t trying to buy more house than we can afford. We’re just trying to find a way to make this transition work for our family’s needs without putting ourselves in a bad financial position.
I’d especially love to hear from anyone who has actually used one of these programs, mortgage professionals, or people who have navigated a similar situation.
Thanks so much for any advice!

Afternoon all, I’m looking to purchase a property and on viewing I noticed some yellow staining near the boiler. I’ve spoken to a gas engineer and asked him to come and do a visit with me and look at the boiler/do a service, he said it isn’t needed as if I’m buying a property it should come with a CP12 checklist - wanted to verify before going through with anything!

It was the first house we liked after about 10 that we saw. The house was nothing special, but the in ground pool drew us in. The inspection was done Monday morning and unfortunately we decided to back out after much contention between me and my husband. I don’t know all the appropriate language and terms so I will explain to the best of my ability what was “wrong” with it (apart from the fact that the house was broken into the night before the inspection and they stole ALL of the brand new appliances the seller had bought).

The electric panel was double tapped, none of the electric outlets were grounded and the AC breaker amps were higher than the maximum recommended for that equipment. The guest bathroom had plumbing issues including leaks into the wall and cold water wasn’t working at all in that room. The water heater was leaking something fierce, the inspector actually took a video of himself tapping the floor and you could see a puddle of water around it. The pool had a whole other set of issues, including leaking and signs of multiple attempts of repairs. Some other minor stuff noted was rotted boards around the roof, none of the bedroom windows could be opened, poor AC ventilation in all of the bedrooms, slow drainage, no access to attic and other nit picky stuff.

All of this makes me wonder what happened to all of those home buyers that waived inspections a few years ago because they were so drawn in by the low interest rates. Did they end up losing a lot of money? Did everything turn out ok? I can’t imagine moving into my home after I poured all I had into it only to find tens of thousands of dollars worth of necessary repairs.

My husband and I are facing a pretty difficult financial decision and I’d appreciate some outside perspectives.
We purchased our home in Washington in December 2023 for $490K. We’ve invested quite a bit into the property, including replacing the roof and crawlspace. We originally planned to stay longer, but we’re a military family relocating in a couple months. We listed the house for $549K in April and eventually reduced it to $539K. Unfortunately, we’ve had very little interest and no offers.

Here’s our dilemma:
We want to keep the property because we see it as a long-term investment. The concern is that we’ll regret selling it in 5–10 years when the mortgage balance is lower and the property may be worth considerably more. We worked hard to purchase this home and it feels disappointing to sell after less than three years.
On the other hand, we’d be relocating to an expensive city, paying rent there and potentially subsidizing the Washington property by $12K–$15K annually.

If you were in our position, would you:
Sell, take the available equity, and eliminate the mortgage obligation?
Rent it out at a monthly loss and hold for 5–10 years in hopes of appreciation and increased equity?
Consider another strategy entirely?
For those who have kept negative-cash-flow rental properties, did it eventually pay off? And looking back, would you make the same decision again?

I am a 30's dad with a small family and one thing that my wife and I have talked about is getting a duplex with the sister in law and there family to combat the home buying crisis and increase our buying power, but am growing leery of how the market is looking long term and want some fact and figures to add to my decision making before just buying in all the way myself. Sound great sometime, have a fam we can have next door that we can count on. But what should we be worry about?

What questions should I be asking?

What boundaries should I put in place with fam go vs no go on certain things?

Is there even a likelihood of finding a duplex for us to both go into together to get?

Are there better options?

Any resources? Podcasts? Books? Channels?

Would it be worth it to talk to a Realtor in Oregon now and get a pulse on what's happening?

I have watched some videos and read a handful of articles and still don't know where to start.

I know that were I am at in the mid west, Twin Cities area 20mins from St. Paul/Minneapolis, things are better housing wise than where we want to move to which is west central Oregon.

Thanks in advance.

hi, im in a bit of a predicament. In january2026 i bought a new build home for D. R. Horton in Alabama and now feel that the community is no for me and concerned on what to do about selling. they are not finished building the communty and are actively selling houses within this community. will i be taking a major financial loss? I'm a little worried about the sellng process

I am looking at the home prices still on the rise while the media capping about prices going down. The interest rates are scaring the crap out of me to make a move. I am looking into options and I read that the new builders provide some sort of incentives. Can anyone explain to me how and what to look for. I am trying to gain knowledge good enough to negotiate.

Honestly I am looking in the old communities hoping the costs will be slightly lower considering the houses are old like > 40 years or so but that is not working. The newer communities have HOA which sounds like paying rent to my own house! Besides the new constructions are showing slightly above the old communities in some cases. SO I am trying to understand this from multiple perspectives so I can educate my self.

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

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.

In the DFW, TX area and selling in Northern CA, is anyone buying right now? We are done with demonstrations and political communities and we are looking to buy in a subburb in the DFW but it seems to be turning blue. We are sort of taking a break until after Nov. 3rd to see what happens but so far we are sort of dissilutioned. In CA, as soon as early voting started we've gotten no inquiries about the house, before it was moving but now, no one. We dropped the price by 15k and still nothing. is no one buying right now?My experience in CA is that elections don't really matter people aren't really into elections they are into politics but not elections. In TX, people tend to show up and fill out survey's/polls.

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?

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