Buying a house for the first time is a major life accomplishment, but it doesn’t mean that you can coast once you move into your new space. In between unexpected maintenance costs, a neighborhood that isn’t what you thought it would be, and rising property taxes and fees, there’s so much you don’t know that you don’t know — until you actually own your first home.
Many people have regrets about choices they’ve made or have things they wish they’d known before buying their house, and a viral Reddit thread is highlighting the biggest pieces of advice now-homebuyers would give to their past selves. Whether you’re in the market for a new home or you’re budgeting for a future purchase, the answers are illuminating.
Pay Attention to Your Monthly Payment Over Everything
The original poster of the Reddit thread, u/Slow_Conflict_9712, emphasized the importance of realizing that property taxes, interest rates, home insurance, and other fees can fluctuate — and many other Redditors agreed with them.
“Pay attention to your monthly payment over everything, including interest rate & purchase price,” they said. “Make sure you’re comfortable with it, and if rates lower, it’s a nice decrease and not a financially-saving measure that you’re drowning in until it happens.”
u/Phtcmp said it’s important to take a close look at property tax rules in your area.
“Buyers really need a better understanding of how their property taxes may differ substantially from those that the seller has been paying in states where sales may trigger revaluations, or where a prior owner may have had a significant homestead benefit,” they said. “They also need to understand how insurance rates may increase massively from year to year in high risk areas.”
Unexpected changes can bring big budget changes. For example, u/EnglishMastiffDad-1 said their mortgage payments may “increase by hundreds of dollars” because the original taxes were calculated on the land, not on the building before their new construction was built.
u/6SpeedBlues said to err on the lower side of things when your lender tells you how much you can afford. “Just because the lender says you can buy ‘up to’ a certain amount, you shouldn’t max yourself out,” they said. “Your mortgage payment, even with a fixed interest rate, WILL go up over time. Insurance and taxes never get cheaper and they are part of the payment almost all of the time.”
Check Out Your Neighborhood at Different Times in the Day (and at Night)
Many Redditors expressed regret after buying homes in their neighborhood. In some cases, their decision came down to price, but for others, they didn’t realize what their neighborhood was really like until they spent more time there.
“I should have camped out in the neighborhood for a while, on a weekend to really get an idea of how the area was first,” u/EyeOxe wrote. “House was great, neighbors were obnoxious with wild kids, barking dogs, and home projects making so much noise all the time in their garage. I should have paid attention to the cars, always a giveaway.”
u/AlexDare79 agreed, writing, “I tell buyers you can’t change location or a really bad floor plan. Everything else can be fixed/changed.” Some Redditors suggested talking to neighbors or walking around the neighborhood during the night and day to see how safe it feels.
Pick an Experienced Real Estate Agent (Who Will Tell You the Truth)
Many Redditors said they had a bad experience buying their first home because of a bad real estate agent. “A good [real estate agent] is underrated. A bad [real estate agent] is very overrated, “ u/Unlucky_Anything8348 wrote, while u/Lost_In_thelabyrinth said they wished they’d shopped around for a more knowledgeable agent.
Some commenters advised future homebuyers to ask your realtor as many questions as you have or want, and not to worry about wasting their time. Picking the right licensed real estate agent or Realtor is an important decision, and not one you want to rush into.
If Possible, Do Your Own (Thorough) Inspection
Many Redditors also emphasized the importance of a thorough home inspection before you close. u/MickeyMantleKerouac suggested doing a sewer scope before you buy the home, as they were out $15,000 after having to unexpectedly replace their home’s entire main drain line. In hindsight, they said if they’d known about the issue, they would have asked for a $10,000 credit (at least) in anticipation of the repair.
u/Gingertastic19 suggested getting the best inspection possible by hiring your own company after a bad experience with their real estate agent’s inspector.
“Unfortunately my biggest advice to anyone is to hire your OWN inspection and make sure the inspection includes everything: sewer scope, HVAC, structural (if applicable), and deck (if applicable). First house having all these could have saved us BIG money. I feel like that inspector just wanted to close the deal,” they said. “Second house I had everything under the sun looked at and it actually saved us on three houses.”
Don’t Rush into a Decision That Doesn’t Feel Right
Many homebuyers said they wished they hadn’t ignored that “gut feeling” that the house that they decided to buy wasn’t right for them, instead mistaking it for anxiety about making such a large purchase. u/CupMain4167 advised, “When you hear the little voice in the back of your head telling you, ‘Walk away from this house and find another’ after the inspection. TRUST. THE. VOICE.”
u/Ojja wrote that they ended up buying a house in an area that they didn’t love because they felt pressure to do so, and ended up moving to a different area soon after. “When we bought our first house we weren’t really in any rush, but I felt pressure as a young anxious person to pick something after ‘wasting’ our realtor’s time,” they said, saying they felt pressure to buy a home they didn’t love after looking at numerous properties that “were gross or in various states of disrepair.”
“I think a lot of buyers struggle with knowing the difference between anxieties of such a large purchase and the gut feeling that it’s not a good idea! When in doubt, ask questions,” u/Slow_Conflict_9712 chimed in.
See the full Reddit conversation here.
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