At 71 years old and raising grandchildren on Social Security, I recently had to re-evaluate my plans to purchase a home. I had been looking forward to closing on the house the next day, but after speaking to the neighbors, I discovered I had more to consider than I originally thought. The house I was interested in buying was located in Florida, and had a history of water intrusion. The sellers said it was due to the drainage ditch adjacent to the house, and that it had been remediated by the county.
However, the neighbors told me a different story. They said the water intrusion was due to the grade from the street not being able to handle the occasional severe static rainstorms in Florida. They also mentioned the flooding had gone up to the second or third level of bricks, and that the drywall and carpet had to be replaced in order to remediate the situation.
The neighbors were all young military families, and were able to do a lot of work themselves. As I am 71 and living on Social Security, I knew I would not be able to tackle the same renovation projects. The sellers were doing well financially, asking for 200K more than what they had paid for the house, and banking money on an overseas assignment with a high COLA and no current mortgage due to the assignment.
I was in a tricky situation, as the neighbors seemed to really like the house and said it was in a great neighborhood with good schools. I wanted to make sure I was making the best financial decision, as I couldn’t afford to be careless with my funds. After extensive research and contemplation, I decided to back out of the purchase completely and start over.
Although this was a difficult decision, I’m happy with my choice. I wanted to make sure I was making the best financial decision for my family, and I’m glad I took the time to do extra research and talk to the neighbors. This experience has taught me to always double check every detail in a purchase, and to talk to the neighbors before making a final decision.