For some reason I didn't think to look up today's challenge until late in the day. I've been mostly preoccupied this week with the possibility of buying a home. You see last Sunday a new listing for a tiny bungalow house came up on the Realtor site and in a neighbourhood I liked. I emailed the real estate agent on the listing for more information and to see it. The real estate lady called me within 5 minutes of me sending my email. I asked about the property taxes and the age of the roof, furnace, which was incorrect, and something else. I set up a time to view on Monday evening. My parents and I went to look at it the next evening saw that it had potential and needs some renovations, which we thought could be done over the next few years. We knew the windows needed to be replaced and hoped that we could do at least one this year and the rest next year. We knew the bathroom needed to be gutted and replaced ASAP. The basement was musty and we figured the basement walls needed to come down and air out and see what was going on. We knew it needed eavestroughing to direct water away from the house and foundation, and figured this could be done quickly. The fascia/soffit needed to be replaced. Knowing all this and after supper and a discussion with my parents, I put down a conditional offer on the house depending on my finances and inspection.
The most stressful thing for me, took place on Tuesday afternoon and that was to see if I would be pre-approved for a mortgage. I was so nervous going to the bank and having someone look at my finances and critiquing it. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack just before entering the bank. I would rather go back to Chamonix and run off a mountain to paraglide and/or jump out of a plane. That's fun, not stressful. Good news! I was approved for a mortgage. Phew! What a relief.
After this stressful ordeal, my parents and I went back to the house that night for an inspection. It wasn't good. It was BAD! The windows and frames were all rotten and need to be replaced, the foundation need grading all around it, needs new fascia, soffit, and eavestroughs, the stucco has major cracks and needs to be fixed. Once the inspector told me the quote to repair the outside of the house, I was done with the house, and we hadn't even done the inside yet. There's no way I could come up with that kind of money. What did the inside need? The new insulation needs to come out and have the old vermiculite (with possibility of asbestos) removed, the bathroom needs to be gutted and replaced, it needs a fan, the walls in the bedrooms and dining rooms had big cracks on the exterior walls. The plumbing in the kitchen needs to be replaced, actually, the entire plumbing and electricity in the house needs to be looked at and probably replaced. The list went on and on. I had a vision of me as Shelley Long in the Money Pit, falling through the ceiling in the bath tub and have Nutmeg looking down at me. Despite all this, I'm glad I paid for an inspector because this is their job to tell you what's damaged, operational, and what needs to be updated. I couldn't imagine buying a place without one and then discovering everything. It would be awful and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
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| Purple Cone Flower |
After this inspection, I rescinded my offer on the house. I met up with the real estate lady this afternoon to get my deposit cheque back and to sign the termination of my offer on the house. The house has been sold to a general contractor who owns/owned other houses in that neighbourhood. He renovates them, then rents them out and/or flips them. I don't mind fixing up some things, but I don't want to have to replace every single thing for my first house, nor do I have the money to do that. At least I now know I'm approved for a mortgage, and I can seriously start looking for my first home. Wish me luck!
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| Nutmeg smelling the flowers/weeds |
Nutmeg and I went for a walk around supper time and I remembered to look up today's photo challenge and it's "Close-up". I decided to take close-up pictures of flowers (weeds) on our walk.
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| 31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 26 - Close-up (final picture) |
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