A woman talked about how buying a home turned out to be a significant financial hardship for her. Sam Barker, @samantha.barker8 on TikTok, discussed how owning a home affected her budget and all the additional expenses that came with it. Sitting in her car, she added, "So buying a house has ruined me financially." She wanted to be open and truthful about her financial circumstances. Barker's only financial obligations before purchasing the house were a car payment and education debts.
However, she had additional expenses after buying the home, primarily a monthly mortgage. She continued by detailing all of the unforeseen costs. "Besides the mortgage, I had to spend $25,000 on fixing my HVAC system, ductwork, and electrical stuff. I also had to pay $15,000 to repair my foundation just so I could use one of the bedrooms,” she explained. She also took out a $10,000 loan to fix her porch and deck because her house couldn’t get insurance without it. She had about $15,000 in credit card debt from other expenses to make her house livable.
“So yeah, I went from being financially stable, having my retirement savings, to having a ton of debt,” she said. But she didn’t end the video on a negative note. Barker said she has a plan to get out of debt by doing extra side jobs along with her regular job. “I feel hopeful and strong, and if you want to see how I do it, follow along,” she said. Barker noted in her caption that she had neglected to reveal the $15,000 loan she received to aid with her down payment and the $30,000 she took out of her savings.
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Barker disabled comments on her post even though it had received over 464,000 views. She believed that there was an excessive amount of hate speech and assumptions being made. She clarified that the goal of her account is to motivate and encourage anyone who may be facing similar difficulties.
Barker appears to have launched her TikTok account intending to share her debt-reduction quest. Recently, she shared her views and her goals for making additional money in her first post. She's not the only person dealing with this difficulty. Many consumers wait until it's too late to learn about the hidden expenses. Orchard states that these expenses may include various closing costs, property taxes, utilities, HOA dues, and escrow. But as Barker notes, what often catches people off guard are the necessary repairs that homes occasionally require immediately. This can be a significant financial blow, even for someone who felt well-prepared like Barker.
She later also added how the seller completely missed telling her the details of the house and the inspector did a poor job inspecting the house, there was dry rot and water damage everywhere which he didn't mention and there were a lot of termites damage which again was neglected by the inspector. There was a tree growing in her house foundation, the electricals were faulty and were done very poorly.
Many viewers left comments saying she should have sued the inspector. @Allison Lee shared similar experiences saying how hard and expensive it gets due to poor services.
Even if the initial repairs aren't too bad, as Compass Bank points out, ongoing maintenance can add up quickly. Things like tree care, fixing driveways, dealing with pests, and maintaining security can become unexpected expenses. That's why a whopping 77% of American homes are in debt.
Follow Samantha Baker on TikTok ( @samantha.barker8) for more such videos on house financing and debt management.
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Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 16, 2024. It has since been updated.
