Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Home Inspections

Had the home inspection and the termite inspection on Monday.

The termite fellow knows way more about termites than anyone should. He showed me all kinds of evidence of the little creatures. Each time telling me this isn't really that serious. I thought I knew a little about them but I was wrong. So long story short is that the house needs to be retreated. That's not unusual here in our area though. It is almost a given in fact. Which is why you have to have a termite inspection in the first place. That guy took credit cards and I had one of those and paid him.

The home inspector didn't take credit cards and I had no checks. So I have to pay him today. He was there for more than 3 hours and found an entire page of stuff to be done but it doesn't really amount to anything for the most part.

Then on the way home (I know that's confusing because there are at least 3 places that could mean now - but in this case it was to Judy's) I got a call from my banker lady. She read the riot act to the mortgage people and we're back on for a 5.625% mortgage. I think she must have been rather incensed at the entire deal. I know in part it is because she had done her own caregiving from afar over the last several years and she's very sympathetic to me because of it. She's really been a good advocate.

My own contractor though believes the joints in the under slab ductwork have failed and he is recommending that I replace the entire heating and air conditioning system. I haven't really known him to be wrong ever on this stuff so I'll probably do what he recommends. Better to do it now before we move in for sure. So he's getting prices and plans together for me.

These were the most detailed and extensive inspections I've ever seen. It was very tiring. But I have to admit the thoroughness makes me feel pretty confident about the home.

Part of my Realtor team was there the entire time, too. It is a husband, wife, and her sister team. We go to church with them and they are all in the orchestra that Judy plays in. He plays the trumpet and she plays the oboe and her sister plays the flute. I didn't know the wife very well and she stayed and we visited. It turns out she grew up just down the road from dad's house. She was in grade school and riding my old bus when I was graduating high school. That made me feel old. She talked about how big and beautiful dad's house was to all the kids on the bus. She is sad we're going to tear it down. I guess it is a bit of a landmark. We knew a lot of the same families although in different generations. Really is a small world.

5 comments:

Nancy said...

glad the inspection went relatively smoothly without too many major problems, although having to put in a new heating and air conditioning systems doesn't sound too minor to me!

it always hits me in the face when i realize i crossed paths with someone (too) many years ago that i'm not quite as young as i would like to believe.

~Betsy said...

Gosh, installing a new heating and air conditioning system does sound costly. But I agree, it's better to do it now than down the road.

I'm really glad to hear the banker lady is on your side. I think there may be a bigger network of caregivers out there than we realize.

Lori1955 said...

I'm so glad to hear you are getting the loan. As for the heating and air replacement, not glad to hear that. It can't be cheap. So, how long of an escrow do you have?

rilera said...

Just curious about why you are tearing down the old homestead? Can you post some picts for us before the tear down?

Hope you are doing OK. Glad to hear things are going well with the new house.

Joanne said...

Wow, when I said your new home sounded like a great fixer-upper I didn't think you'd be fixing that much. Hope you're able to get it all worked out. Sorry to hear about tearing down the old homestead. I know that has to be a hard decision.