My husband and I are in the midst of buying our first single-family home (we've been renting since selling our condo in 2007 - yep, just in the nick of time) and our Agent suggested I blog about the experience. "It's always good to be reminded of the Buyer's perspective," she said. She's a good Agent in my book.
So I've written a few posts that I'll share when all is said and done. I'm a superstitious sort, though, and don't want to jinx a deal by spilling any beans before closing. But here's a tale I can share now - a tale I struggled to give the proper title. My favorite contenders:
- The Deal that Went So South I Now Have a Tan.
- The Inspection That Tanked...a/k/a...The Best $385 I've Ever Spent.
- Gimme Back That Filet ‘o Fish... I mean....Earnest Money (man, that jingle sticks something fierce, doesn't it?).
- Getting Back on the Horse. Overcoming the psychological effect of such an ordeal is what I really want to focus on here, so that's the title I'll use here, but any of the above would do.
I know we all love a good story... so what happened? Now that I've cashed the refund check, I can tell you.
We found the place in a time crunch. With our modest budget, we were seeing a bunch of REOs and short sales, so stumbling on any "estate sale" or "can close quickly" description was very appealing. It wasn't an estate sale, but the Owners were getting a divorce. The place was cute - not the mansion of our dreams, but affordable and we could see ourselves in it. That is, until the inspection.
Where do I begin? I'll start with our inspector. He's an affable sort - recommended to me by both my Agent and Attorney. A search on Angie's List and a phone interview sealed the deal. He was my guy for the job. He walked us through the inspection at every turn, pointing out little quick fixes we could accomplish for $5 at Home Depot and any not-so-little fixes we should look into. He explained which parts did what, what pipes led where. The exterior was fine, not much to report. The garage had some issues. And we knew heading into it all that the roof needed replacing. But little did we know the horrors waiting for us inside...
Allow me to fast-forward to the highlights, because reliving the whole inspection is simply too painful. The upshot? An estimated $30,000-$50,000 worth of electrical and plumbing work would be needed to make the place livable. We're talking health and safety here. The Seller had bypassed the main - was double-tapping 200 Amps into his little 100 Amp box - a wire had already blown and fused to the bolt. They got lucky on that one, especially since both the furnace and hot water heater were back drafting. The pressure release valve on the water heater had already melted. No wonder the basement didn't smell like cigarette smoke - they probably knew one spark could kill them all. The sewer kit was open, with pipes draining directly into it from the basement shower. (Ew, what's that smell coming from my shower head?). Folks, this was just the beginning.
It was a blow, for certain. And no amount of staring at the list of checkmarks in the "No" column on the Seller's list of disclosures was going to change a thing. This was not destined to be our Home. Setting our Attorney on the path for the Refund was a no-brainer. We left that inspection with our head held high, so very grateful we had retained a good inspector. He confessed to our Agent it was the worst property he had seen in quite some time.
The place is no longer on the market - the last listing I saw said it was Contingent. I'm glad for the Sellers that it appears they've found a taker, but I sincerely hope the new Buyers don't explode or burn down. At least whoever buys the place has the benefit of knowing the results of our well-spent $385.
And about that Horse? We took about nine days off to recuperate. Our Agent understood and gave us some room. But we picked ourselves up, dusted off and got back on. We were out again, looking at properties after one weekend off. Agents with Buyers in a similar position - please feel free to repeat our story! Remind them that there is hope, even if you're feeling defeated. As for us, we found the right place a short two weeks later. We're past inspection and attorney review, on our way to closing.
Stay tuned for more...
Dawn is a Certified Redesign Specialist with Eye to Eye Interiors and specializes in rejuvenating spaces to live and to sell. Serving Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. (773) 350-7020. www.eyetoeyeinteriors.com
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