The Woes of House Buying

Wow, once you square away the offer and loan, the mess of buying a house doesn’t end there.  A few weeks back we had the walk through with the home inspector.  He pointed out rotting wood on the picture frame molding on the outside of the box window, and the frame on the back door; leakage of rain water into the transom; some bad handy work on the downstairs electrical system; a dead smoke detector; a broken toilet handle; and some other minor things.  As the list grew, I found myself thinking about the month time frame we have to move in.  As much as I don’t want to pay another month’s rent and two electricity bills, that time frame is going to be much needed to get our new home in order. 

Then I got a call today that they found something during the pest inspection.  Termites in the flower bed beneath the box window out front.  No structural damage, thankfully, but just the thought is enough to make you cringe.  That will all be taken care of before we’re handed the keys.

The mess isn’t just with the house alone.  With all this time between signing papers and getting the keys, any number of other things can go a rye.  In my case, it’s my car.  Some very important bolts went bad and it’s going to cost me about a grand to get it fixed.  I don’t have a choice and I’m extremely lucky if the problem didn’t damage my transmission too because I let it go for so long.

Then there’s the fact that Mike’s employer is refusing to reimburse him for his tuition, even though he was told during the interview months ago that they would.  From what I hear (we work together under different contracting companies, so it’s easy to get gossip on bosses and coworkers) the guy who runs the show in Mike’s company likes to screw with people.  Sounds like he’s the “rub my back and I’ll rub your’s” type.  Funny enough, Mike gets a call a few days later and the head honcho wants him to come to his personal home to set up his computer.  I told Mike he should hint that he needs help with tuition and see what happens.  Both of us hate brown nosers, but when it comes to much needed cash, I’d do it.

I’m taking my mind off of the house for a few hours tomorrow by visiting another bridal boutique to try on gowns.  This one carries mostly Maggie Sottero, like the last one, but I’m hoping it has more of the younger looking styles.  I’ll let you know how it goes.