Top things you should understand if you own a home:

How an escrow account works:

It’s not that hard, but understating it will make your life a lot easier. Yes it’s shocking but the bank is not really doing you huge favors, sure they pay your insurance/taxes but they are sitting on a years worth of your money for the privilege. You can argue all you want but if you think your account works differently you are likely mistaken.

Insurance is not a home warranty:

If you want a home warranty, get one, but insurance should be for the things that you cant afford to fix. If you can’t fix a burnt out light bulb, perhaps you should not own a home.

As your home gets older there will be maintenance:

Your roof will get old and have to be replaced, things will wear out, faucets will leek. This is NORMAL and you should EXPECT to fix them at your expense. Its your freaking home.

Your home value might fluctuate, and its not the same as rebuild cost:

Say what you will, but what you can sell your home for and what can rebuild it for may be entirely two different numbers. Think about it.

OH MY GOD… THERE IS MOLD IN YOUR HOME:

Hate to break it to you but almost (and I only say almost because there may be some exception out there) every home has some mold in it. You are not likely to die. Saying that, use your common sense if you have mold growing up the walls in your basement you might have some moisture issues.

WATER IN YOUR BASEMENT IS NOT A FLOOD, Necessarily.

Seriously look it up, FEMA describes a flood as: “A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of two or more acres of normally dry land area or of two or more properties (at least one of which is your property)” Last time I checked your basement was not two acres soooo…since FEMA is in charge of this program flood insurance would not have covered your wet basement even if you had it.