We live in a four-unit condo building that was built in the mid-2000s, during the height of the housing and construction boom. Unfortunately, at least in Chicago, this means that our place was built by one of the many, many construction LLCs that popped up during that time and then disappeared. Translation: some things about the building weren’t done to “perfection.”

We already encountered this last year with the leaking roof situation that lead to multiple insurance claims and a couple thousand dollars in roof repairs. Now, it’s the windows!

Thankfully, not all of the windows, but it appears as if the large, front picture window in all four units was not installed properly. A few months ago, I noticed that our window (and really, all the windows) looked really foggy. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the window (which is energy-efficient and thus double-paned) had moisture condensing in between the panes. At first, I thought we just needed to reduce the humidity in our place. However, when that didn’t work, I realized we may need to replace the window.

Sure enough, after getting some window repair guys out to take a look, the window needed replacing. I tried to get my neighbors to buy into the repairs and get their windows fixed as well (we’d get a quantity discount if they did), but no dice. Apparently, a foggy window didn’t bother them as much as it did me! So, it looked like we were going to be out $500+ to get this done. Yikes.

Windows, I now know, are expensive to replace. I can’t imagine what this costs if you buy an older home and need to get all the windows changed. Nonetheless, it’s given me two things to think about for when we buy our next home:

1. Realize that if the building was built in the mid-2000s, there may be some less-than-desirable work done (at least, this is the case in Chicago).
2. If it’s an older house, find out whether the windows have been updated and when. If they need replacing, make sure we make an offer that reflects that!