When you move into a house, you are ready for it to require some work so it feels like home. Depending on how and why you bought it, you may know that it needs some work just to make it livable. Most of the time we are aware of this and know what it will entail. A lick of paint here, a new window or door there. It may need some extensive repair in the bricks and mortar, but that's why we negotiate a lower price.
The thing that is harder to prepare for is when a less-visible problem crops up with your new home. When you've budgeted to repaint the walls and lay new flooring, it can be alarming to notice something that didn't come up before. It's all the more disturbing if it is something that can't be simply repaired. Sometimes it requires extensive work that can cost time and money you don't have to spare.
So... You've Got An Infestation
You're putting a box away in the attic, happy that the last of the heavy lifting has been done. Plop, down it goes, and it kicks up dust. Fine. But then you look closer and it's not just dust, but casts and wings from a recent termite hatching. You know what termites can do.
Why didn't this come up when the survey was done? Well, sometimes, it's just not that easy. You need to call termite control - if it wasn't detected at the time of the survey, the problem isn't far gone, and can be fixed.
So... Your Walls Are Weeping Condensation
This is something that can happen all of a sudden, and there can be a number of causes for it. But the most likely one is that, when the walls were insulated, the job was done poorly. It could be that something was in the cavity before the insulation was blown in. This may well require extensive work, to extract the insulation and remove the obstruction. Call around for an assessment and quotes for a repair. It may not cost much, if you've caught it early enough.
So... There's Water In The Basement
When you view a house prior to purchase, it is important to check everything you can get to. This includes the "hidden" spots like the attic and basement. Environmental factors and faults with the original build can lead to water flooding in to the basement. This is not a problem that can be shrugged off, as it will impact your foundations. Call for quotes on wet basement repair and get it fixed. Once the problem is diagnosed and repaired, it need never happen again.
The usual advice for anyone buying or moving into a new house applies in all of these situations. It is important to have an agreement with the seller and realtor that covers you for problems that aren't your fault. Make sure you are insured for any property damage and - unfortunately - be prepared to bite some upfront cost. Better to pay for repairs now than a new house in the near future.
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