Having just closed on our first home, my husband and I have quickly learned that homeownership can quickly turn into feeling like we opened up Pandora’s box. Our first morning in our home we noticed a lack of hot water. Utilities were on, everything was fine, but we couldn’t get the pilot light of the 5 year old water heater to stay on. We called a nearby company (who will remain nameless here) who sent over a technician, took a peek, got the water working for about 15 minutes at a scalding temperature, and quickly the pilot light went out again. The technician said the gas control valve was bad, was not covered under warranty, would cost us $500 to replace and take about two weeks. What. The. Flip.