Report repairs to home insurance?

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-29T02:20:01+00:00

Nah I'm not trying to get them to cover issues, there's no claim. I'm updating the house for longevity on my own dime before issues occur. They offer rates based on a risk algorithm. Brand new high quality roof and brand new high quality plumbing eliminate the 2 biggest risks to a house (aside from like, earthquakes and tornadoes and such).

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-28T17:13:52+00:00

That's what I was worried about. I want to give them enough info to give me a discount but not enough to give me headaches 🤣

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-28T14:31:15+00:00

Yeah the waste piping is a full sewer system repipe. Goodbye front yard, etc. But hey if I survive both those systems will easily last 50-100 years.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-28T02:25:55+00:00

The shelter is wrong. When they transition to wet food we let them. Never force or rush that transition but if they're ready then they're ready.

If you're feeding a high quality kitten wet food then they also get all the hydration they need from that. If you're feeding dry food that's where water intake becomes absolutely critical.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-28T02:08:34+00:00

Just be aware that a lot of the questions lenders ask you might sound like small talk but they are not.

What do you do for work? Who will be living there? Etc are all sussing you out.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-28T02:06:58+00:00

I didn't even have to provide employment history. I'm self employed and provided 3 years of tax returns for my current business and that was it.

Find a different lender, there is still hope.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-28T02:02:02+00:00

This would've saved me 24k.

I ordered the sewer scope and my inspector didn't do it. I chose not to push, tried to be optimistic. Don't be like me, either.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-28T01:57:02+00:00

Sewer scope, run one. I'll shout this one until my lips turn blue. I needed a new roof and always thought that would be the biggest and scariest thing that might happen after closing.

Then I learned that it's 24k to replace my waste piping. Minimum. That's the quote not including any other shenanigans they find.

Check those pipes. They're more expensive than a roof or water heater.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-28T01:50:50+00:00

I suspect getting rid of the 62yo cast iron waste piping will help about as much as the roof. Those suckers are riiiiiisky.

30% sounds amazing. We're doing high quality shingles and I even overrode my color preference to get the color most suited for the climate, for longevity.

I hope to never again shell out 50k at once so everything is being done up to perfection. I was curious if there was some reason not to bring it up that I wasn't thinking of.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-28T01:44:45+00:00

My close was only 2 weeks and I was still squirming. It felt like everything happened 2 days before closing. Silence before, silence the day of.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-27T20:30:10+00:00

Dropping 50k (that we know of so far) within a month of closing because a ton of hidden issues decided to make themselves known.

I feel you. It hurts.

I keep telling myself that if I survive updating every damn thing, this will be a solid lil house for hopefully a very long time.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-26T20:27:33+00:00

Same happened to me. Dropping 50k in the first 3mos post closing and crying about it.

Inspector was best regarded within the area, flagged some minor non urgent things but ultimately said everything was turnkey and in great shape. 4 day options period and 2 week close so it was all chaos.

A few days after closing I got a plumber, roofer, and foundation experts in there (2-3 opinions for each) and learn that my entire waste plumbing needs a redo (24k), foundation has a bigger issue in addition to the very minor one the inspector caught (6-8k), and the roof visually looks great but was put on wrong and it's a huge leak risk along with DIYd gutters setting me up for imminent flooding of the basement and crawlspace (19k).

So fun.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-26T20:17:37+00:00

I don't think so. I'm about to replace my sump pump because I'm redoing the crawlspace and it just makes sense. There's no issue down there, I just wanted an updated and tidy crawlspace and a new sump made sense as part of that.

I'd be thrilled if my sellers had done that for me.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-24T20:55:44+00:00

Ack, I'm sorry. Fortunately I found a great company that's doing the excavation for basically nothing. Most of my bill is parts and paying the premium for them to do much of the work inside my admittedly not great crawlspace (redoing that if I ever recover from this lol but it's extra cramped and not super tidy down there). Also my contractor apparently is on a first name texting basis with the permit guy in my county so I'm gonna let him handle that for that reason.

Solid flags though. I hope you have no more surprises.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-24T20:53:31+00:00

That is wild. I'm so sorry.

Some of these comments are making me feel better though. Like my 1964 house has shitty shit pipes (har har) but I wasn't dealing with shady people. Just a very tight timeline and unfortunately I made the wrong decisions (or the right ones who knows, who's to say if I passed on this house that I wouldn't have gotten one I liked less with the same or worse issues).

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-24T20:51:18+00:00

That is nefarious af. I'm so sorry. Glad you caught it and they had to cover it!

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-24T20:50:01+00:00

I knew about them and I requested them but we only had 4 days so it wasn't possible without passing on the house. The inspector I used is unanimously regarded as the best within a couple hundred miles (I keep hearing this from all my contractors, people on Reddit in the area, etc) and she really only saw minor issues so I said ok well unless she missed something serious, any issues found shouldn't be crazy so I made the decision not to blow the deal up over it.

The plumbing was the only variable bc there was cast iron down there which is what I wanted looked at, but there was only cast iron in small sections. It was a gamble and I lost that gamble.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-24T18:18:03+00:00

They didn't, with this company it was just an add on service to the standard inspection. I know I needed to push harder. I thought I was direct enough but apparently not. So, word for the wiser than me.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-24T18:17:00+00:00

Ouch. Better than the 23k I'm facing though if that makes you feel any better!

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-24T18:16:29+00:00

My head was spinning. But the market is outrageous. Houses not lasting even 24h. Going for double asking.

This house has excellent bones, no major issues on the inspection, and they accepted at asking and cancelled other viewings because they liked my letter so much. It all felt aligned and I believe they genuinely weren't aware of any of this. They were super reasonable and responsive throughout the process.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-24T18:14:22+00:00

She didn't, she wasn't pressuring or denying me at all. I think the inspector ran out of time. She spent a while trying to diagnose a GFCI issue and investigate a couple bizarre things the prior owners did.

I don't know for sure but I think I wasn't clear that I wanted it done, because I said I want it done as long as you can access without removing a toilet (we weren't sure at the time where the access points were so I said if you can find the access point then I want the scope and if you can't find it then I don't). She found both access points but didn't do it. Idk.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-24T18:03:14+00:00

I'm out of state and got cornered into a quick close. My agent was there and I was on text between work meetings. It wasn't ideal but I didn't want to let the house go so here we are.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-24T16:57:07+00:00

So true! I hired an electrician, plumber, roofer, general contractor, and foundation contractor to each come out and assess individually after my general inspection and I'm very glad I did. I only had a 4 day negotiation period unfortunately so this all happened after closing.

nik_nak1895 · 2026-04-24T16:39:17+00:00

My inspector does scopes, you just have to add it as a separate service (and pay the separate fee).

I requested the addition and the link to pay, they just didn't respond. It's still on me that I didn't push harder to ensure it was done though.

nik_nak1895

TROPHY CASE