We got the inspection report for the house in GA. It isn't good! There are over 50 defective items on the list. When we bought this house, only 1 thing showed up in the inspection and it was minor. About half the things in the GA house are minor, but the other half are pretty big. There isn't any single thing that isn't fixable or would be a deal breaker, but taken all together it doesn't paint a good picture. It all adds up to a house that has been neglected, none of the problems have been fixed over the years (the house is 14 years old) and routine maintenance hasn't been done.
We aren't sure what we are going to do right now. We could get them to fix the major things but we are worried about what else may turn up later.
I'm wondering, not for the first time, if this moving thing is all a big mistake. We've had 28 showings and no offers here. We had a hard time finding a house in GA we could both agree on and now it looks like it has some major problems.
I've always been one to trust my gut feelings but lately they have been failing me. So many things that I've thought were the right thing or that I thought were going to happen turned out to be wrong. I just don't know right now.
13 comments:
there are too many adages, cliches, and idioms to know which to listen to! follow your gut, work for what you want, nothing good in life is easy, etc...
i'm not sure what to tell you, but either way, the situation will work out how it needs to. you'll all be ok in the end. maybe you move in to this new house, fix it up, and then sell it for your perfect dream house. who knows? or maybe you pass this one up, and wait for the perfect dream house to come!
good luck though Christy, follow your heart (just to throw another one in there) :)
Selling your home and buying a new one are incredibly emotional experiences. It is virtually impossible not to get caught up in the drama of it all. Just wait until a buyer comes along for your house and *your* inspection report comes in....just *try* not to freak out over that! :-) (from first hand experience, I can tell you it's just not possible to not take those things personally.)
Anyway, deep breath, Christy, and proceed just like you are...slowly and carefully. What does the seller's realtor say about the report? What does your realtor say? He/she should be providing you some helpful advice at about this point.
Make a list and decide what you can live with (fix later) and what you feel needs to be repaired now. (Focus on the safety and health issues/items, not cosmetic.) The list you and your husband decide is your bottom line already may be more than what the homeowner is willing to do. If that's the case, walk. Don't give in. Trust your gut at that point. You have your bottom line of what you're willing to accept - just stick to it.
Good luck, honey...I really know what a difficult time this is.
Christy,
I'm sorry the ispection report wasn't great on the GA house.
Don't give up hope - These are tough time to try and sell a home - hopefully the 29th showing on your home will be the perfect buyer if it's meant to be. Don't give up!
Deb
tylerfarm
maine
Erikka - Thanks for the adages etc. I do believe everything will work out how it needs to, it is just hard to wait.
Farmgirl - We know what is going to come up on our inspection because we've stayed on top of everything in this house. Like I said, when we bought this house there was only 1 item on the inspection. It is an emotional experience though, without a doubt. Unfortunately, some of the things are pretty major, like extensive water damage, and mold and rotting wood. We would need to trace the source of the water and get that fixed before they even fix the damage. The house also needs a new roof. We haven't made any decisions yet, but our realtor thinks it is pretty bad. We don't know what they will be willing to fix so we'll have to see.
Deb - we sure are hoping the 29th showing will be the one! We don't have any showings scheduled for this weekend yet, but since we may not have a house to move to yet, maybe that is best. Thanks for the encouragement.
Phew! That's hard. We were looking at a house a while back, and the inspection showed a couple of things, but mostly it was good. We got stuck on the septic issue (because we'd just replaced the system in our house to the tune of $7000) and the water issue (there were elevated levels of arsenic in the well, which is found in the bedrock in this area and required a $3000 reverse osmosis system). Anyway, and this shouldn't be your solution, but we decided not to buy and to stay in our house, where, at least, after nine years in the house, we kind of knew what to expect, knew what kind of maintenance needed to be done, still, and what kind of care the house systems had received.
I'm sorry to hear about how poorly the house you're looking at has been cared for. I think the mold issue and the water damage are pretty serious. I hope you're able to resolve them to your satisfaction.
Wendy - Thanks. We haven't even gotten a report on the well water quality yet. The septic seemed to check out ok and no termites, so at least some good news. We're committed to moving to GA but not buying this particular house so we may be looking again.
If you were to decide to go ahead and buy this house (if the owner will agree to fix the deal breaker items) insist on him buying a one - year home warranty (such as AHS) for you. They aren't exorbitant, and this gives you some peace of mind about other issues surfacing after you close. After a year, you have the option of renewing the warranty. Of course it doesn't cover anything disclosed up front, but covers anything that you discover later. These home warranties are commonly part of real estate deals here in South Carolina, and when I sold real estate, I routinely asked for them for all of my buyers. It is a good idea on any house you might buy. Not to try to practice real estate at a distance, but typically when you get lots of showings and no offers, you need to reconsider your price, and/or incentives. In this market, 28 showings is phenomenal, at least in most areas!
Good luck and don't give up. It only takes one buyer. Believe in your dream and it will happen.
Oooh! Good idea about the home warranty - I had forgotten about that. The people who bought our house asked for this and asked that we add the optional A/C (air cond) coverage.
Having "flipped " quite a few houses during the last few years,I can tell you one thing that sells. Throw something "shiny" in with the house. Every house we had that didn't sell within a few weeks would get get a brand new 50" big screen thrown in with the sale if... the sale was closed on within 30 or 45 days. Worked every time!
Christy, I know it is all over whelming at this point. The mold, rotting wood sounds like it could be more than you bargained for but only you and your husband can make the decision together.
Just take one thing at a time. The main thing is selling your house and if the house in Georgia isn't meant to be, there are a lot more for sell at good prices right now.
Believe me, sometimes things just fall in place just as they are meant to. Keep that gut feeling, it is usually right.
Good luck and good wishes coming your way from Georgia.
Farm Mama - Thanks for the comment. A home warranty is a great idea, although DH said they don't cover much. I'll research it. We've already dropped our price twice. The 2 houses in our neighborhood like ours sold 2 weeks ago, they had been on the market 8 weeks so we should be getting close. We are now the only mid-range house left in our neighborhood. Our realtor said 25-30 showings is the average before an offer now. Unfortunately, at least half of our showings are people that look at every new listing hoping to find the perfect house at a bargain.
The big screen TV is an interesting idea. I'll have to tell DH about that one.
Christy,
Your DH is right about the home warranties. They really don't cover as much as one would expect as we've discovered with our current home.
Of course some are better warranty companies than others. It's usually the sellers who choose the companies for the home warranties and give you a choice of two of three to choose from.
Read between the lines and all the small print. They try to get away with doing nothing to protect your new investment and they tend to be a waste of money.
Christy, I don't mean to be presumptious, and I don't know if you believe in God, but whenever our family is going through problems, confusion and frustration....we pray. We often pray for faith, perserverance, patience, peace and trust in God to bring us through.
I hope it's ok with you that I pray for you and your family. I know that God will see you through this experience. Have faith, k?
I don't believe in God, I'm mostly Buddist, but I sure don't mind if you want to pray for us! I believe in the power of prayer and positive thinking etc. Thanks for the support. We're going back to GA in 2 weeks to look around again. Now we just need to get this place to sell.
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