Ended up in a really bad deal, with multiple major issues not disclosed or found in inspection . Help/advice would be appreciated.

I'm in a tough spot. Thank you in advance if you take time to read through this and have any thoughts/advice.

I recently bought my first house. It's a $200,000 house in Michigan, and I put 20% down. I bought it as a move-in ready starter home, and 200k is fair for this level house in this neighborhood. I make a little over 50k per year, so it's on the higher end of my price range, but with a 20% downpayment and no other debt, I knew I could afford a move-in ready house at that price, but it's certainly not chump change for me. The inspection found no major issues, and the house appraised at 205k. Closed without any issues.

Since I moved in just a month ago, I've run into one MAJOR problem after another. After the first rain, I discovered a leak in the finished basement, and a couple of small puddles in the attached garage. I've since discovered additional leaks in basement, and found that source of the leak in the roof is some rotted portions of roof edge, which has been there for long enough to cause significant structural rot to the wall below (the wall will likely need to be completely reframed/replaced). Another roof edge / wall in the garage has similar issues, though not as far advanced (repairing the roof there may be enough). There are signs of the same sort of rotting roof edges along portions of the house as well, though seems to be the most minor at this point.

I had about 20k in emergency savings going into this, thinking that 10k for a major unexpected house repair and 10k for unexpected job loss would be enough of a safety cushion. I'm now facing three major repairs, between the basement waterproofing, roof repair (possible to likely total replacement), and structural repair/replacement of rotted garage walls.

I've shored things up with some 4x4 posts in the garage wall and some makeshift plastic flashing on the rotted roof edges, but obviously these are not permanent fixes. I'm looking for any advice at all on how to tackle this, both in terms of possible recourse, prioritizing/addressing repairs, or getting out from under the deal.

In terms of recourse

None of this was was disclosed by the seller. I have absolutely zero doubt they knew the basement leaked and the garage leaked since there were sizeable puddles after the first rain and every rain after. I have little doubt they knew the garage leak was coming in from the roof, but it's at least possible they're incompetent or didn't care enough diagnose it. Either way, I've done enough research to gather that it's next to impossible to prove they knew of about any of this, no matter how obvious. Is it worth consulting with a lawyer, or am I totally barking up the wrong tree with that?

Some of this should have been found in the inspection. I could see the basement leak being hard to find when not active, but the shingles at the edge of the roof are cupped, and the wood below is so rotted it's completely disintegrated. The wall of the garage is so rotted you can move it by leaning against it, and there's some clear water damage and mold there that should draw one's attention for closer inspection. I feel ignorant for not noticing these things, but as a first time buyer, I didn't know what to look for, and I placed trust in the inspector (obviously too much trust). I know I can't hold them liable for repairs, but any chance I could get my $700 back since I really didn't get the product I paid for? It's not much, but it's something.

As far as prioritizing

These all seem like top-tier priorities, which will only get worse with time, but I just don't have the funds to cover them all right away. It seems like the roof is probably the top priority, if I had to pick?

Should these things be addressed piecemeal by specialists (roofer for the roof, framer/carpenter for the wall, waterproofer for the basement), or can there be an advantage to "bundling" repairs through a general contractor?

As far as getting out

By my estimation, $200k was a fair price for this house in the condition I thought it was in, and I assume not much has changed in 2 months. It's a hot market, and prices here have been rising fast - close to 10% per year for the last few years, but that can't go on forever. My plan was to be here for 3 years minimum, but I really like my job, so could see being here 10+ years depending on life changes. At the same time, I would be THRILLED to get my money back from this ASAP and be done with it. I would even be happy to get out of it at a 5k loss.

Any thoughts on if/how to do that? Is it better to make repairs and hope appreciation will cover them, or is it better to do the minimum possible to keep it from getting worse and see if somebody will be willing to buy it as-is? I'm guessing there's not much rule-of-thumb there.

How much of a hit will a take for putting feelers out on MLS? If it doesn't sell, would failed listings haunt me down the road in 3-5 years when I may be in a better position to sell?

Other thoughts?

There are a number of other minor problems, etc, but this is long enough so I'll leave it to the most major things.

Thanks again for any insight! I'm planning to talk to contractors, selling agents, and possibly lawyers as well, but there's just so many directions to tackle this from that it's overwhelming to even get started, and any input is greatly appreciated.

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source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/dpy368/ended_up_in_a_really_bad_deal_with_multiple_major/