Nobody Tells You This When You Buy a House: The First-Time Homeowner's Guide to What Breaks, What It Costs, and When to Call Someone - with a Complete Home Record Section - Softcover

PUBLISHING, DRIVEWAY

9798194848638: Nobody Tells You This When You Buy a House: The First-Time Homeowner's Guide to What Breaks, What It Costs, and When to Call Someone - with a Complete Home Record Section

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798194848638

Verlag: Independently published, 2026

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Von EUR 19,55

You get keys, a stack of paperwork, and a building with forty separate systems in it. Nobody hands you the manual.

Then something drips, or clicks, or stops working, and you are standing in your own basement with no idea whether this is a fifty-dollar problem or a five-thousand-dollar one.

This book closes that gap.

What's inside

How long everything actually lasts — roof, furnace, water heater, appliances, siding, driveway — and what shortens each one

The first ninety days in a new house: what to find, test and photograph before you need it

A seasonal calendar you can actually follow, with a checklist for each season and a twelve-month plan on one page

How to read the warning signs: water stains, cracks, smells, sounds, and which ones mean call someone today

Where water actually comes from, and the one test that tells you whether it is the roof or the plumbing

The line between a job you can do on a Saturday and one that needs a licensed professional — and why that line is drawn where it is

How to find a contractor, verify their license and insurance, and read a quote line by line

What thirty common jobs and replacements typically cost, so you can judge whether a quote is reasonable

Deposits, change orders, permits, and the red flags worth walking away from

A complete record section

The final twenty-two pages are yours to fill in: property details, utility accounts, emergency shutoff locations, paint colors, filter sizes, appliance model and serial numbers, every service visit, contractor licenses, seasonal logs, project history and warranties.

Insurers and home warranty companies both decline claims for lack of maintenance evidence. This is that evidence — and when you sell, it is the most persuasive document you can hand a buyer.

Who it's for

First-time buyers. Anyone who has nodded along to a contractor without following a word of it. Renters becoming owners. And anyone who wants to stop being surprised by their own house.

No jargon, no assumption that you own tools, and a clear warning wherever a job is genuinely not yours to do.

A general guide for homeowners. Manufacturer instructions and local code requirements take precedence for your particular home.

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