Buying a home is supposed to be the biggest and best investment you ever make.

But when things go wrong, it's possible to lose everything.

KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator Wayne Havrelly looks into a tragic home buying story that we can all learn from.

The young family in this case is about to lose a home and every penny to their name.

They saved their money for years and thought they took all the right steps to buy what appeared to be the perfect home.

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They later found something horrible lurking inside.

This is the dream home Genny Moltz and her husband bought to raise their two boys in.

But instead they're living in a basement and fishing for a way to wake up from their nightmare.

Four years of savings and all their 401k money went into the home's down payment.

Minutes after moving in, they stepped on trouble where the former owner kept his couch.

They learned dry rot was eating away under much of the living room, kitchen, bathroom and laundry room.

"My husband when we found the laundry room..he said I'm going under..and he was screaming I can't believe he couldn't see this," said Moltz.

More than $30,000 in dry rot damage according to estimates.

In this report, Inspector Bob Green, a franchisee with World Inspection Network, didn't mention dry rot, just some deteriorated wood that he said doesn't appear to be an ongoing condition.

Green says he couldn't see the dry rot because it was covered with insulation, but Green's own inspection report says areas under the floor have no insulation.

These pictures taken by the Moltz's don't show any insulation near the dry rot.

After finding this dry rot, Genny's husband tried to take a shower.

"All of a sudden he was screaming and I came in and he said look there's sewage in the tub," said Moltz.

Because this house was purchased with an FHA loan, the septic system had to be certified. In fact, it was certified just two weeks before they moved in. According to the paperwork from Sulton's Pumper, the septic system appears to be in good working order.

We wanted to ask Sulton's Pumper about it but they said they were too busy to talk.

A drain field expert determined the septic system was shot, saying "a situation like this doesn't happen overnight."

Dry rot and septic trouble were not mentioned in the seller's disclosure report. I tracked down the seller who says he had no idea those problems existed. Damian Cordel is the realtor who represented the former owner.

"I would find it hard to believe as a buyer that he couldn't know," said Cordel

He says this is exactly why he doesn't like to recommend home inspectors to buyers. Cordel claims some realtors have ulterior motives for referring specific inspectors.

"It's funny, agents might call these outside inspectors they don't know deal killers, if they find too much the deal is dead," said Cordel.

The Moltz's realtor was new to the business and got the recommendation from colleagues. She says she'll never do it again.

"I've called everyone you can imagine, and they say we're sorry but this is your problem," said Moltz.

The Moltz's have been forced to move their family into the basement of Genny's parents. Their mortgage company is about to foreclose and if they don't get help soon, they'll have no choice but to file for bankruptcy.

This family has few options other than to try and settle it in court.

Suing the former owner is a possibility.

However, it could be very difficult to sue the home inspector. Disclaimers in reports usually protect them from being held liable for more than the cost of the inspection.

The Moltz's have already had one attorney turn them down because they just don't have any money; it's all in a home they appear to be losing.