<prompt> Human: Lots of hard lessons learned for me in the past 8 months. Aug 2014 - Parents gift 30k to go towards downpayment on house. I match their gift.Buy home for 242,500 in Austin, TX. Loan is for 182k. Mortgage interesttaxes 1200month. I take home 3kmonth and get a roommate so this is very doable. Home has minor foundation issues and owner agrees to pay closing costs and buy down interest rate to 3.875. Roof needs replacement and owner gets insurance to go halfsies with me. September 2014 - house gets broken into. 300 to replace window. now pay 40month for security system.October 2014- Grandpa decided to start giving out inheritance money and gives me 26k out of the blue. I ask rpersonalfinance what to do. I feed some of it into my 401k and save the majority for emergencies. Spoiler Alert - its all gone now.November 2014- get roof replaced only 2k out of pocket for 6k roof job.January 2015- get 6k cedar fence built and 800 for gutters and spouts and rain harvesting stuff. My dog kept escaping the shitty fence and now my house looks really nice and I dont have to worry about my dog. My lot is 8000 sq ft so it looks so sweet now. February 2015 - clogged toilet leads me to discover that my sewage is just spewing under my house and the old cast iron needs to be entirely replaced. Get quotes from plumbers, they all say to get foundation repaired as well. First plumber charges me 700 to just tell me Im fucked and temporarily fix my plumbing. March 2015. Foundation perimeter secured - 7kHouse plumbing redesigned and entirely new. 12kApril 2015. Storms hit central Texas and a tree blows over. Cost to remove 600 and tree companies suggest removing all trees in backyard because theyre aging and might fall on the house. Total cost to do so 4k. So according to my shitty calculations Im well over putting 30k into my house. I cant seem to go a month or two without something majorly attacking my wallet. Not all of it is a complete loss because it increases my quality of life I can poop with a peaceful mind now and the value of my home is improved slightly but so much of it is a waste. Dont think of homes as a way to make money. Think of it as a way to build a nest and get over the concept of it being an investment. Good news- property value in my neighborhood has gone up 10 since I bought and doesnt look like its stopping. All my neighbors are either young hip couples in their early 30s or retired people so massive turnover will happen in the next decade. TL;DR- Pay everyone plumber, arborist, roofer, electrician, plus regular inspector guy to inspect your house on every possible level before you buy it, get every penny off the price that you can, and dont expect your house to make you money because the first year or two will just be a money pit. Edit: I couldnt remember what year it was.  <response>: ... This doesnt mean home ownership isnt a good investment. Had you bought a different or cheaper house it couldve gone swimmingly. 