So the inspections were yesterday. Several were scheduled at the same time - the termite/wood boring insect inspection...this part went well. There appeared to be some termite damage, in the garage, and carpenter bees, in the carport. For around $1000 this would all be taken care of.
NEXT.
The chimney inspection was pushed to Tuesday - the home owners already said that the fireplace is "as is"; however, we just wanted to have an idea of what might be wrong with it.
NEXT.
We did the whole home inspection. This was essentially a 3 1/2 - 4 hour walk through our house, testing toilet flushes, checking electric outlets, water flow, door locks etc. Overall, the house appears to be in great shape, especially considering it is 100+ years old. The inspector mentioned a couple things that we need to have checked, for example the bathrooms don't have GFI plugs installed (which will most likely be an issue for the auditor/lender)...nothing too major though.
NEXT.
The septic. The gentleman that owns the company has a hurt shoulder and was not going to be able to make it and he sent his brother in his place. The man had a slightly difficult time finding the tank. Uh Oh. So he finally finds it, and digs a little, pokes a little and then I hear him come in the back door. "Ma'am?" (he could hear me in the living room talking with Kait) "Yeah?" "Could you send Mark out here?" Uh Oh! I grab Mark and we both walk out. The inspector is slouched over this exposed septic tank hole and wants us to look in. I'm not sure if anyone reading has been exposed to this type of honor...you know, smelling a stranger's poo that has been sitting in a "tank" for a number of years. Breathtaking.Literally. The man goes on to inform us that the septic tank is a homemade version, (DING AGAINST US), it is positioned incorrectly on the property (DING AGAINST US), it is roughly 1/2 the size it should be for a house this size (DING AGAINST US)...it's not looking good here folks. So we point blank ask "are you suggesting a total replacement?" "Yes Ma'am" "Um, and what are we looking at, price wise for something like this?"...you ready?...$10-12 thousand dollars. Where we live, it isn't an automatic that the owners would be required to fix something like this. It is something we'd have to negotiate with them and not knowing where they stand financially...we are just very up in the air right now. It's stressful. Even more so because it is just a very hectic time in our lives AND we've got work things happening. Oh! and now it is the weekend, so we can't use extra time to keep on top of everything.
I'm hoping that the next week to ten days pass quickly with all good news. We shall see.
Magical Realms Birthday Party
2 years ago
just remember, there are a lot of great houses, so if this ends up not being the one, don't fret, the right one is waiting for you. i bid on 6 houses before i got mine, and it turned out to be the best of the 6! but if they are willing to cover closing costs, then they should know that the septic thing will be an issue. don't let your credit make you any less tough of a negotiator- you are preapproved and if they don't sell you a house in great condition, you might as well go with the one on 18 acres where you can just start from scratch :)
ReplyDeleteThe house is awesome, and in good shape - the home inspection really put my faith in the house itself! Hopefully the septic won't sink the deal - that would be silly. We'll see where we stand after the dust settles next week :) And I love you - it'll all work out!
ReplyDeleteyeah, thanks EcoGrrl...the credit thing won't get in the way - I mean, this house is $35,000 less than what we have been pre-approved for (not just pre-qualified). The 18 acre house is already $10,000 over our budget, $45,000 more than this house and would need probably $100,000+ in work. I'd love for them to just replace the septic and leach field - but they might just come back and say...look, we paid closing and the house is priced right and we are on our own. I couldn't imagine bidding on 6 homes. We are in love with this one and can't imagine walking away...again, not because of credit, but because we adore this house. It is beautiful...we've looked at SO many other homes and none of them even compare.
ReplyDeleteMarxwell...I love you too. I know that it will work out how it should be...it's just hard to sit on my hands and wait.
OH, please get a 2nd opinion on the septic tank issue. You don't know, maybe it's not as bad as that man says it is..who would replace it (same company??) And check with county regulations... if there are no SPECIFIC regulations on it, then it's something you can save up for. It obviously worked fine for 100 years!!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Thanks Illoura! On Tuesday, the county health inspector is going out to the house to take a look. In this county, what the inspector says...goes. :-| So, at that point we will know what is NECESSARY...the owners should know what they are willing to do and we already know what we are willing to do and then we come together and hopefully come up with a solution. I love love love the house but am certainly not willing to be "house poor" over it. We've already seen a couple more houses from our realtor that would work well for our family...not that I want to go that route. But we are willing to walk away if need be.
ReplyDelete