Consider selling or commit to this house?

[JustMe]

I bought my house about 6.5 years ago. Within the first week, I was unhappy here and have tried to make it work. I am now at the point when I need to consider if I want to work towards selling/buying a new house or do some renovations to this house. Although I realize, I would have to do repairs and renovations if I sold (I previously owned a townhouse for 12 years, which I sold to buy this house), these would not necessarily be the same as the renovations I would want. Here is what bothers me most about the house.

-It runs damp and is prone to mold. To address this, I have updated the windows and no longer get mold there. I had ductless heating put in to use instead of the ceiling heat, but this didn't work out too well as the ductless heating did not cover all the areas I was told they would and so it is nice in a few major rooms, but not all of them (I posted about this when it happened, long story) and probably some other things I can't remember right now. I use a portable dehumidifier when indicated. To be clear, there is not mold anywhere that I currently know of, other than the bathroom which tends towards it, but it has that damp feeling and I know I have to stay one step ahead of it. It has not effected house structure (at least last time I had it checked). What I think I need still do is re-do my bathroom, but this would look really different if it was for me or to sell the house. Also, wonder about central heating if I stay, but in the end, I don't think it would make sense to spend the money on that.
-Its on very moist soil, it may be over a creek, and moves a lot. There was extensive work done by the previous owner to address the foundation issues (he put a $50,000 pier system in and this was many years ago). I am told that the house is very sound on these structures and its almost overkill (in a good way), but still our doors sometimes don't close, the outside ground gets cracks, etc).
-I live under huge/very tall trees, a lot of them. I didn't think about what this meant when I bought the house,, but it adds to the dampness and lack of light in the house. I have about 9 of them in front, and about 2 in the back, although these belong to my back door neighbor.
-There is asbestos in the ceiling of the whole house. Yes, I know, dont disturb it and its fine, but my mother died from lung cancer and it bothers me. I would learn to let that go but it does get dirty (we are prone to spiders here even with pest service), and I feel like I cant clean it and they are thinking we are going to have a big earthquake here. That is a whole other subject, but another possible dilemma is if I should get the house earthquake retrofitted, but between living under trees and having asbestos ceilings it seems unlikely I'd be able to continue to live in the house if an earthquake hit (at least according to my limited knowledge).
-Moving down to lower importance, if I stay I would want to change the outside landscaping if possible. There is a very small slab of cement to be on and the rest is mostly bushes (an older woman lived here by herself) so the small cement was enough for her, but not really for us..but I dont think this is something I would need to change to sell. I think at minimum I could have a bigger cement slab (I think that's what its called but maybe not) put it and get rid of some of the bushes.

Those are the *big* things, but there are some other things as well. Of course, there are some things I like about the house, but trying not to write too much. In general though, I think I would do better in newer construction (house is from early 70s, which is not terribly old, but right before asbestos ceilings stopped being allowed, etc). Does not have to be brand new, but newer.
-I think its probably best that I wait a little, after the pandemic subsides at least, to decide what to do; but I have been telling myself to put off a decision for years and I need to decide if I want to commit to the changes that would help me be comfortable in the house (I would not do them all, but some). Of course, there is more to tell, but again in the interest of having people get through this, I will leave off here. I have thought of contacting a real estate agent to see what they think, and may do so, but also have had a lot of bad experiences with people giving me advice that is more to benefit them (I posted several years ago how a company told me I had standing water under my house and had to have $20,000 work done and it ended up to be completely untrue) and also am not having people in the house unnecessarily until the pandemic improves. I also find myself wanting to let you all know that I am not impossible to please and know owning a home comes with upkeeping it. I just have never felt like this was the house for me. Thanks for reading and any responses!

[jgenie]

I’m sorry. I’ve followed along on your house journey and sadly I think you got a lemon. Our first house had problems so I know a bit about feeling trapped but wanting to make it work too. It sounds like you will continue to have issues with this house. I would get out of it if you can. I think you’re fine to wait until the pandemic clears but I would have a few realtors come in to tell you what would need to be done to sell. I would sell sooner rather than later and only put in small amount of money with the goal of selling. I’m sorry it’s been such a headache for you.

[jgenie]

I’m sorry. I’ve followed along on your house journey and sadly I think you got a lemon. Our first house had problems so I know a bit about feeling trapped but wanting to make it work too. It sounds like you will continue to have issues with this house. I would get out of it if you can. I think you’re fine to wait until the pandemic clears but I would have a few realtors come in to tell you what would need to be done to sell. I would sell sooner rather than later and only put in small amount of money with the goal of selling. I’m sorry it’s been such a headache for you.

[JustMe]

I’m sorry. I’ve followed along on your house journey and sadly I think you got a lemon. Our first house had problems so I know a bit about feeling trapped but wanting to make it work too. It sounds like you will continue to have issues with this house. I would get out of it if you can. I think you’re fine to wait until the pandemic clears but I would have a few realtors come in to tell you what would need to be done to sell. I would sell sooner rather than later and only put in small amount of money with the goal of selling. I’m sorry it’s been such a headache for you.

Thanks so much, jgenie. What did you end up doing about your first house; the one that had problems.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I think you should too. Continual house problems are annoying. Let it go and start fresh.


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[basil]

Sell, move. A bunch of things that are bugging you are the location (the dampness, the shifting, the trees) and those won’t really change. It’s more than “I don’t like the shade of paint in the bedroom and the carpet”. Life is too short, you’ve given it a good try and never felt like it was home, you can give yourself permission to move on

[hillview]

move! you tried. It is time

[pinkmomagain]

I would sell and move too.
If you have to stay for a bit, could you trim back the trees (including any neighbors who have branches hanging over your property line)? May help to dry things out a bit. It can be a little expensive but may be worth it.

[Liziz]

definitely sell and move. I think once you're in a house you love you'll question why you ever debated the decision!

[jgenie]

Thanks so much, jgenie. What did you end up doing about your first house; the one that had problems.

We sold it and moved on.