<p>The gifts were fine. The gifts were lovely. The kids were delighted.</p>
<p>After I left, the plumbing backed up. The floor in their furnace room got wet. They had to call Roto Rooter. Some roots had grown into the pipes. (The house has been vacant for the past six months.)</p>
<p>The dryer isn’t working. It’s not venting correctly. S thinks they might need a new dryer.</p>
<p>He needs a tall ladder. The gutters need cleaning out. </p>
<p>And they need to buy a car, but they don’t have time. </p>
<p>Omg, that’s terrible! Were these issues disclosed by the seller? Or picked up by the house inspector? This seems like exactly the kind of stuff that should have been disclosed.</p>
<p>Well, gutters needing cleaning is hardly critical. It is fall, after all. With the house having been vacant for six months, a root problem in the plumbing is not really surprising. And Yes, when S looked at the inspection, it turns out the dryer vent was noted as “inoperable.” </p>
<p>And their needing a car? S thought he would wait until after the closing to determine precisely how much $$ they have to buy one. Now, of course, they’re no longer living in downtown, so just getting to a car dealer requires some manipulation. (Of both bus routes and friends with cars. ;)) )</p>
<p>How wet did the floor get? Was there floor damage? We had a washing machine overflow one time and it damaged the sub floor under the washing machine/dryer/furnace. Our insurance covered replacing the floor…</p>
<p>Oh no! This is one of the reasons we tell S1 and FDIL not to be in a rush to buy a house. They’ve been living in a city apartment and are totally unprepared for the potential challenges of home ownership.</p>
<p>Well, the best way to learn how to deal with home ownership is, I guess, to own a home!</p>
<p>I don’t think there was any damage to the floor. The water was in their furnace room which, IIRC, has only a cement floor.</p>
<p>GF told me today that she just bought a new dryer. It will be delivered and installed in a week. Now they’re concerned about the dishwasher; apparently it doesn’t clean very well. </p>
<p>Per DW… there are some old threads discussing different kinds of detergents. Sometimes that helps. Oh - make sure they know that some models have filters that need to be emptied. </p>
<p>Sorry to hear of their troubles. One large tree was growing very close to the house. I have root problems periodically at my place and need roto rooter, not uncommon in this area. </p>
<p>^ How old is the house? We have an older home and early on experienced tree roots getting into the sewer pipe, resulting in backups. The eventual and only permanent solution was to replace the old permeable sewer pipe with modern PVC pipe, which tree roots will not penetrate. Otherwise you can do periodic Roto Rooter cleanouts, but know it will recur (unless the tree is removed). </p>
<p>It was expensive, but I told my husband it was probably cheaper than the nervous breakdown I would otherwise suffer.</p>
<p>On the other hand, money being tight right now, the periodic cleanouts may be the practical route for their roots. We expected to be in our house a long time (and have been) so felt in the long run, for us, the permanent cure was worth it.</p>
<p>Actually, JEM, the house was built only in 1987, so it’s not that old a house. Not to me, anyway. They do have one very large tree that IMO is too close to the house, but with everything else they’re dealing with, and all the emotions that go with it, I haven’t bothered to mention anything about it yet.</p>
<p>I don’t disagree with you VH that home ownership is the way to learn about owning a home, but I think my S1 just considers the positives of home ownership (more space, privacy) and not the pitfalls, especially when you buy an older home. FDIL’s sister had all sorts of problems after she bought a house, so I’m hoping they consider her experience before they take the plunge and decide if they’re ready for that.</p>
<p>You are being wise to refrain from giving them more to angst over.
Being supportive without being a “buttinsky” is the tricky line I will TRY to walk in dealing with my kids and their significant others. (You’d have to get their opinions on whether I am actually managing this!)</p>
<p>Thanks, JEM. I keep telling them that every house has issues, especially when you first move in. I’m concerned my S thinks he bought a “bad” house and made a “bad” mistake and got a “bad” inspection, so I’m trying to keep in their minds that this is pretty standard when you move into a house. And, truth be told, so far nothing horrible has happened. </p>
<p>OP here. The continuing saga of turning boys into men:</p>
<p>DS is about to buy a car. (Nothing like making many major life purchases over the course of a couple of weeks.) I had to give him the bad news that he will need to pay sales tax on the car. That was a shockeroo. </p>
<p>And when I mentioned that he’d have to pay money to get the car registered, he asked, “Why do they make you pay for it if they make you do it in the first place?” I had no answer other than, “That’s how the government makes money.” </p>
<p>It reminds me of when he mused one day, “What do chickens think they taste like?” Again, I had no answer, other than, “Chickens don’t think.”</p>