Home Update

I had to take a break from the home stuff. We had so much going on, so many decisions to make, so many options to consider, it was getting overwhelming. We needed a few days to think things over, drive by the house a few times, see how we felt toward it without worrying about the repairs, and to talk with our family to see if they REALLY mean it when they say they'll help us in any way we might need it (like manual labor?) :)

We went back to Old Friend one more time for two things. We gave up on the paint thing. We'll repaint the house a decent color next summer. The biggest issue was that there was mold and some pieces that needed to be replaced because they were rotting. We got Old Friend to agree to fully clean and scrape the house, fix anything rotted, and do one coat of paint in the old color. It's ugly, but fine. At least it will be fresh and without mold, stains or rotting wood.

We asked lawyers to clarify something. This whole time, we've been asking Old Friend to replace the window because it's rotting. He keeps saying, no, he'll replace the sash but not the window. A few days ago, he finally said he'd replace the rotting wood AND sash, but not the whole frame. The problem is, the frame IS the rotting wood. He's been saying "sure, I'll replace the rotting wood, but not the frame", while we've been saying, "but the rotting wood IS the frame", so what is he replacing?

We got clarification that Old Friend would replace anything that's rotted on the bottom, but not the actual window glass. (We got him to sign off on that, too, so that way if they get in there and can't replace the frame without the glass he has to pay for that too, and can't stick that bill to us.) We are still pretty sure there will be rotting wood on the top and they'll have to do the whole thing, but now, it's officially back on Old Friend's plate.

Lastly, we found out that radon mitigation systems are between $900 and $1200. I got a verbal quote (they didn't actually see the house, but I gave them some measurements and square footages so it was a guess) and it was only about $950. Both of our parents have offered to help us out with that, but since it's way less than we thought, I think we can handle it. So, we let that go, too.

Here's where we scored a little victory for us. Old Friend couldn't find a place to live for Oct 15 like he had hoped, so he wanted us to move the close date to Nov 2. His new place is ready Nov 1. We said no for a host of different reasons, one of which was if we closed during the beginning of the money we have to pay forward the interest on the mortgage and since Old Friend refused to fix practically anything in the house, we can't spend MORE money at close and still get the stuff done that absolutely needs to be done. And, we really want to be in before Kyle's second birthday (November 9) since John's parents are coming and they want to help us unpack, paint, fix, move, etc.

What is going to happen, is we will still close on Oct 27 like planned.  Old Friend will have to rent the house back to us for a week. For about $500, and he still has to pay utilities. That's more than half of the radon mitigation unit he refused to pay for!

Ahhh, small victories.

This also means we won't actually move until that weekend of the 5th-7th, which is one more paycheck for both John and I. That also makes things easier for us. We can still get the radon thing in, some of the rooms painted and the carpets in the upstairs. And...I might even get to buy some curtains!

Since I pay for our storage unit on the 9th of every month, I won't have to pay extra for that as long as we are out by that Sunday, November 7.

That's where we are at now, we've done the whole mortgage application, and have sent the P&S over to the lawyers today to see if Old Friend will finally actually say yes to something we have proposed.

If he does, and he signs the P&S today...we will officially own the home in 34 days!