The Time We Bought a House, Part 2
On a Friday morning, B was telling her co-workers about our plan and by Friday afternoon one of her co-workers already had her lined up with a Realtor and a mortgage guy. By the end of the day Friday, we had a pre-qual letter. B doesn’t mess around.
That following Sunday, we went driving around Buda to look at homes and like a beacon in the night there it was: the most beautiful house we had ever seen. With a car that seemingly belonged to a Realtor. And a for sale sign that had a “Coming Soon” placard. We pulled up, talked to the Realtor and she said she was there to clean the house to list it the next day but she’d let us in to take a peek.
It was love at first sight. This home was all open concept, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, an office and a generously sized two-car garage to boot! Our Realtor drew up an offer later that evening even before it was listed and by the next day we had a counter. Mind you, we actually offered more than what the agent was going to list for because we wanted them to pay closing costs. What do the sellers come back with? That higher price but about 800 less in closing costs. It wasn’t perfect, but we liked the house enough to live with the counter.
We scheduled an inspection for a couple of days later and bam, we’d have a house. Here’s where two property virgins end up getting screwed, through no fault but the crazy sellers’. The inspection accused that the roof was nearing the end of its life. Additionally, it had lifted shingles as well as improperly placed shingles on the south side of the house. There was also an active, though dormant, termite nest near the backyard entrance. There were also some minor imperfections, from gutters to home improvements that were supposedly done by an amateur or hobbyist at best.
Our inspection requests were: replace the roof, or provide some sort of assistance to that cause, take care of the termite and those other small-time things. The sellers agreed in principle, but not before taking a weekend break during our option period to celebrate their 37th anniversary with family in town (how do I know this? Because I have stalking skills. I found the seller’s wife on Facebook.)
Before the paperwork could be drawn to solidify the in principle agreement, however, our agent told us that the sellers’ wife flipped a switch on their Realtor and basically backtracked on the whole verbal agreement that was to be formalized, thus shattering our dreams of owning this piece of real estate.
Next up: Realty Screwed, Part 2.
