Don't Make My Mistake

Collective insight

What people learned about home

Observations aggregated from 2 mistakes submitted to this archive. Not research — just what people told us it cost them.

2

Mistakes

€69,000

Money lost

€34,500

Average when money was lost

2

Countries

What keeps repeating

renovation2property1survey1builders1quotes1

The most expensive of them

The lessons

  1. Never remove the inspection to win a bid. The seller is not rewarding your speed, they are transferring their risk to you.

    Read what happened

  2. Get every quote in writing, itemised, before anyone touches a wall. A recommendation is not a contract.

    Read what happened

The mistakes behind them

I bought a house without a structural survey

🇮🇪 Ireland · 🏠 Home · 30-39

What happened

To win a bidding war I waived the survey. Six months later we found serious damp and a failing roof structure. The repairs cost more than the amount I "won" the auction by.

What it cost€48,000Time lost8 monthsEmotional costStressful

What I learned

Never remove the inspection to win a bid. The seller is not rewarding your speed, they are transferring their risk to you.

❤️ 1,421 people learned from this

I renovated a flat without written quotes

🇪🇸 Spain · 🏠 Home · 30-39

What happened

Everything was agreed verbally with a builder recommended by a neighbour. The final invoice was 70% above what we discussed and I had nothing in writing to argue with.

What it cost€21,000Time lost7 monthsEmotional costFurious

What I learned

Get every quote in writing, itemised, before anyone touches a wall. A recommendation is not a contract.

❤️ 988 people learned from this