House Updates...

Just a few updates that I figured I'd post quick...

First, the sellers came back and said that we could either let them do the repair or we could pay for it entirely.  So, it seemed they were willing to lose the sale over a little balcony.  However, they came back again and said that they will get another estimate and we can go from there.  Aaron seems willing to pay for half of the balcony repair, but I tend to think that the sellers should be forced to cover this entirely.  The issue was "red" on the inspection report.  The balcony roof is tied into the house roof, and if the balcony structure fails (which is likely as the railing and roof supports are in heavily rotted wood), the roof on the house could be compromised.  At this point, they are not expending much money at all on the repairs... 

Let's recap - they pushed a button and fixed the bathroom GFI (free!); they put a new faucet in the kitchen sink (maybe $100); they agreed to add some gutters on the storage area which can tie into the existing gutter system (at about $5 a foot, that's only about $50 and MAY be able to be included in the roof repair which is paid for by insurance); they cleaned out the gutters (free!); they agreed to remove the antenna on the roof (probably free or included in the insurance payment for the roof repair); and they agreed to add a ridge vent to the roof (about $500 but likely covered in the insurance payment for the roof repair).  So... at most, the seller's are putting out about $650 for those repairs. 

Let's note what we are going to be putting out money for... We are looking at pay $3,500 to $5,000 for the conversion from fuel oil to natural gas.  This conversion should pay for itself within a few years in terms of savings in heating costs.  However, if the conversion was already complete, we'd be saving the money without having to spend several thousand.  Additionally, the house has about 14 windows that we need to replace - some of the wood around the windows is deteriorating so those windows need replaced as soon as possible.  For the most part, the rest of the windows just need replaced because they are only single-pane windows.  Regardless of the reason, windows average around $400 a  pop (and these windows may be more because they will be custom-sized windows, most likely, due to the age of the house).  At $400 a window, we're talking $5,600 for windows.  We also need to get the dryer venting to the outside rather than into a nylon sock in the bathroom...  I have no idea how much that will cost but I'm guessing the venting pipes will be around $50-$75 and that doesn't include any work.  So... at a minimum, Aaron and I are talking about putting out over $9,000 in the basic repairs.

Now, I've left out the balcony issue.  But just looking at the costs being expended by both parties and at the fact that the sale price puts the property at the high-end of the value of the homes in the neighborhood (according to both Zillow estimates and recent sale prices of neighboring homes), I think the sellers need to pony up some money and get things going.  Sure, I want this house, but I'm not willing to put myself in a bad financial situation just because I like the house! 

One last saving grace - the appraisal!  We finally told the mortgage lady (Jennifer is her name, but Aaron never remembers that so I just call her the mortgage lady) to get the appraisal scheduled.  The sellers are well aware that the house needs to be appraised at the sale price or they will need to reduce the price.  If the appraisal comes in on the low side, the sellers will have to know that no one will pay higher than that for the house because they won't be able to get a mortgage on the house...  So, here's to hoping the sellers just quit fighting over a thousand dollars and get this all settled!  And here's to hoping the appraisal goes well or, in the alternative, that the sellers respond well to a low appraisal and just drop the price as needed without a hassle.