It’s finally a done deal – maybe.
“In Oregon, the real estate contract really shows favoritism to the buyer.” My realtor said these exact words before presenting us with this offer.
It almost felt like someone held a gun to my head. Was it the thought of having two house payments? The idea that people who wanted to call this house their own felt like I owed them a good deal? Maybe the looming completion date of the new house snapped the safety off this metaphoric pistol.
In the end, we got enough money to have a comfortable payment at the new house and furnish it the way I had envisioned. That is enough.
But why does the inspection feel like a knife in an open wound?
The Inspection
This evaluation by an “independent home inspector” required me to vacate my house for three and one-half to four hours. Yes, this would be a thorough inspection from crawlspace to roof.
And that’s where he found the problems. Actually, it was a 33-page report…with pictures of the ugly areas.
It’s amazing that we can live in a house day-in and day-out for years and never notice a single issue. One man comes in with a magnifying glass, and your perfectly fine house is ready for an HGTV episode of “Don’t Buy this Junker.” (Which isn’t a real show, but I’ve seen some that have a similar premise.)
What the Inspector Found that Needs to be Fixed
- Mold in the attic – a common problem when you live in the wet-and-wild Pacific Northwest (bid to follow – approx.. $1500 to $1800)
- Leaky window – Actually, it wasn’t leaking. The “staining” was from the vinegar solution we used to pull the wallpaper down when we were repainting the house for staging.
- Windows lost their seal – heading to the Milgard Windows website to use that lifetime warranty yet again (best investment ever)
- Roof maintenance – Could be performed by Jeff, but the buyer’s want a licensed contractor to insure it gets done right (A very reasonable $375 – meaning there isn’t much up there that needs fixing)
- Water heater stability and drain – Jeff wraps the strap around it and puts some pipe from the release valve to the drain
- Fussy furnace – (Waiting for another bid to service it and replace a cracked fan housing (Between $400 and $1,000)
And I could go on. But it was 33 pages – and no one wants to read about it. I know I don’t.
Besides, these are the six things the buyer asked us to fix in order for them to go ahead with the purchase of our house.
Why this Gives me a Headache
I’ve been trying to sell my house for-ev-er. Okay. Slight exaggeration, but most days it feels like I live in a museum that has lost its visitor appeal.
Owning a house is all about upkeep. Seeing this huge list makes me feel like a slacker. That isn’t the case, right?
Simply the fact problems exist with our house doesn’t mean we didn’t take care of our home. Or does it?
For whatever reason, every step of this process has felt like an assault against the place I called home for seventeen years. A place filled with irreplaceable memories of my little boys growing into adults.
If I sell it, I’m supposed to be able to WALK AWAY. In the end, I think I may feel like running away. It makes me dread ever selling a house again.
What happened to selling a house “as is”? Seriously.
If you would have seen the piles of cat poop in the first house we bought – and the way the stove was blackened inside and out because it had never been cleaned – not even the top wiped down – you would look at our house now and say, “That thing is amazing!”
I guess I don’t have a good frame of reference. When I look at a house to buy, I expect that a used house will have some issues. And I make my offer accordingly.
And these buyers have offered less than our asking price. A price which is $30,000 less than the county says our house is worth. In my mind (and in my husband’s), that means these people are getting a STEAL of a DEAL.
What are your thought? Experiences? Do I need to get over myself or is the system rigged in favor of buyers in the case of a used-home sale?