Is the hard part done now?

After Jeff demonstrated his prowess as a fearsome negotiator, it was on to the inspections. Who would have thought those could be just as stressful as the wheeling and dealing on price?

We arrived at the home for the inspection, and it was a full house, actually, that would be an understatement. Jeff and I arrived a few minutes early. His aunt and uncle had driven in from Syracuse to lend their moral support and more experienced home buying savvy to the inspection of the little peach house that had our affection (and our money in the form of a down payment). In addition to them there was the home inspector, already working on the outside of the home and our realtor Mike (on his way from visiting a newly born niece in the hospital). The 6 of us entered the living room to find, the seller, her daughter, her son, and her realty agent. Jeff and I tried to hide our surprise at finding the seller in the home, as our impression was that seller and buyer rarely if ever met during the sale proceedings (hence Jeff's hard line negotiating--plus $500). Now here we were face to face with the woman we were buying the house from.

We made polite conversation and the inspection commenced. The inspection went fine. Lots of little things--the kind of things that add up and chip away at a budget (You can imagine how Jeff felt about that considering his comments in the last blog entry). Jeff's uncle and aunt posed lots of good questions that we would not have known to ask as first time home buyers, and Uncle Walter and Jeff were able to work the charm and chat up the home owner to get information about the neighbors, neighborhood, and the house itself. Long 2.5 hour inspection story short: the home had things that needed fixing, some by a professional. Jeff and I discussed it that evening, and the next, and the next.

Jeff- Charmer and Cat Whisperer

As the 3-day deadline for contingencies from the inspection (things we ask the sellers to fix), Jeff and I turned to the tried and true "make a list" method. We listed 18 items total from minor to hazard that the sellers or we the buyers needed to correct. Jeff and I decided to ask the sellers to fix the 6 items that one could consider hazards, including repair of a broken window, replacement of cracked siding, and covers on uncovered junction boxes. We signed the paperwork with Mike, and waited, impatiently on my part, to hear back from the sellers.

They accepted; it was a go!