Inspection Struggles

We got the inspection results at last yesterday.  I'd like to say we read the list of items and declared, "No problem!".  We weren't that mature about it.  I have to admit, I took it personally.  I know that's wrong.  The buyer has hired people to take care of her interests.  I'm just disappointed to the degree she wants her interests cared for.

The list is rather lengthy.  Some dead carpenter ants were found, a piece of siding that's curling at the bottom, some vent seals cracking, a small area in the attic might be mold, they want insulated vents for the laundry and bathroom fans, they want a safety door on the attic access, some pipes aren't wrapped under the house, the dishwasher drain line should be attached to the cabinet up higher under the sink, install an additional carbon monoxide detector, a shrub should be pruned away from the house, etc.  The most irritating request was wanting face plates adjusted on bedroom doors.  Please!  Either we got a really poor inspector when we purchased the house, or the house has definitely gone down hill during our 6 years of living here...

I let Steve react first.  Then when he settled down a bit, I went ahead and had my immature moment.  Then we began to regroup.  We went over and over the list, got some initial ideas on how to proceed, and then decided we'd wait to see what our realtor suggests.

For me, it's just one more area of the system that kind of stinks.  We escaped the appraisal problems that would've arrived had we not received a cash offer.  That's huge!  That would've been really disappointing to deal with.  The rules, as I understand them, are that you can't sell a house based on how much it's worth to the person buying it.  Instead, you have to sell it at a price based on what others in your neighborhood (the comps) sold for.  We had someone down the street go through a foreclosure this past year, and another house was put on the market extremely under-valued.  It sold in 1 day with multiple offers.  It all lowers the value of our home.  But I digress ...

Our buyer is, thankfully, paying cash, which removed us from having to deal with the appraisal business.  But she apparently wants a 1988 house to be like brand new.  We just have to deal with it. 

I think back on the condition of our 1977 home which sold in 2006 at the peak of the market.  If they had purchased that house with the same expectations of this buyer, we would've had to pay them to take it off our hands!  Their expectations, thankfully, were much lower.

I imagine we could tell this buyer no and probably loose the sale...  That would not be good!  We'd loose our motorhome and be starting over selling the house to some degree.  We had two other interested buyers, but perhaps they've made other plans now?  We don't want to go there.

I don't really have a problem with fixing roof gaskets, pruning back a shrub, even checking out mold and carpenter ants is okay.  But indoor bedroom door plates?  They all closed fine.  How could there be a problem?  We played with each door trying to see what they thought the problem was.  Seems 2 of the 3 doors they mentioned could be pushed open after they latched.  We don't know what could be wrong with the third door.  Who tries to open a door without turning the handle?  No wonder we didn't know there was a problem.  Naturally, their inspector tried it.

I sound a bit "whiny" again, don't I?  I think I'm just flashing back to yesterday's immature moment ...

Today we will come up with a plan and just get through it.  We remind ourselves that we only have about a month left before we face new adventures.  We just need to close the book on this one first.

The House Inspection

Monday we had to leave the house by 11:30, in order to let the inspection happen.  It's the last of the "hard parts" of selling the house, I guess.  It's somewhat uncomfortable for me to know that strangers are wondering around my house - looking in cupboards and drawers, in closets.  This time they even crawled through the crawl space, looking for something that might be wrong with the house.  Funny, I never really thought much of it when we had this same house inspected when we were the purchasers!  I recall only being excited to get to snap pictures of our new home-to-be.  I could've been more sensitive.

Parsley at Grandma & Grandpa's house

When we'd been gone from the house for over 3 hours, we called our favorite neighbors, Don & Nancy, to have them look out their front window to see if the inspectors were gone.  It's great to have neighbors willing to spy on your house for you!  Don and Nancy are the best.  Though it was apparently winding down, they still weren't gone. Nancy reported seeing the shaking of hands -- we knew that was a good sign. It must have been a very thorough inspection.

This morning, Wednesday, they are supposed to "scope the sewer line".  Kind of a colonoscopy for the house, I guess!  Since there are no large trees anywhere near the sewer line, I'm not sure what they expect to find.  I guess you can never be too safe.  They also have the right to do a radon test.  I haven't heard anything about that being scheduled.  We're supposed to get the inspection results today, so perhaps they've waived that particular test.  Funny thing, but when we moved in we didn't have the sewer scoped, or a radon test.  It was a different world even 6 years ago.

Everybody loves electronic devices!

We've had a couple emails from the buyer -- through her realtor, through our realtor and then to us.  Mostly just normal stuff - information about the homeowners association, service records on the hot tub, age of roof, furnace, a/c, etc.  Then they emailed wanted to know if we would share paint colors.  It was very complimentary, which was nice.  Recently, they asked about our utility bills - highs and lows.  I've decided enough is enough.  Why would we want to scare her before the results of the inspection come in?  This isn't a "green" house.  Pot lights through the interior and lots of landscape lighting, in addition to 2 water heaters and a hot tub.  Not so cheap.

My favorite question to date involved the landscape.  The buyer wanted to know the name of our gardener!  I have to say I really enjoyed that one! I don't even know anybody that has a gardener!  I've only lived around people who do there own, with just a bit of assistance on the larger projects.  I guess things are different in California.

When this buyer initially came forward, and I learned she was a single woman, I seriously was concerned for her.  This house is a lot to take care of.  The house itself isn't that bad, once you know all the parts.  However, the house is on a .25 acre lot, which is pretty good sized.   We have a hot tub, two water features, raised vegetable gardens with a drip system, a large brick walkway, sprinkler system, landscape lighting, etc.   I wondered how a single woman could take care of the whole thing.  I don't know what I'd do without Steve to help.  I guess she'll have to figure it out like we did, though I'd be glad to give her more information than we had.  We just didn't know what we didn't know!  The first year was a learning experience for us living here.

Truly, my intial fear about the landscaping was because I knew a single woman with children had owned this house just prior to the owners we bought from, and the extensive remodel they did.  The house was considered the "armpit of the neighborhood".  One kind neighbor told me she thought the poor woman had all she could handle with the kids, and never got around to the yard maintenance.  I was fearful another single owner might not keep it up and there would go the neigborhood.  I just wouldn't want that for our neighbors - who all keep up their yards.  But now I know this single woman has some financial resources.  I only pray she uses them on the landscape.