After an agonizing week of waiting for the sellers to bring in a structural engineer to evaluate the foundation and make a repair recommendation, followed by some back and forth on the details of the repair addendum to the contract, we finally have an agreement!
Thursday was a particularly stomach-churning, stressful day as we watched the final hours of our option period tick by. Our realtor assured us at the end of the day that if we couldn’t agree on the terms of the repair addendum, that would give us another “out” if we decided not to proceed, so the option period became less important at that point. By Friday morning, we had a sound agreement.
Basically, the sellers agreed to get the pool and spa lights working, get the pool and spa propane heater working, fix the leak at the main motor, and reconnect the whole system to the ground wire. They also agreed to do the foundation repairs recommended by the structural engineer and to complete the work before closing. We knew that would be a condition issued by the VA appraiser once he became aware of the foundation problems, so the sellers worked it out with the foundation repair contractor to complete the work now but wait for payment until the closing. The engineer settled on 21 piers being required and said that the house cannot be leveled. The sellers also agreed to replace the glass in the library window that was cracked, as that would also be a VA requirement.
I got with my lender and turned in all of the signed disclosures, and he went ahead and ordered the VA appraisal. My realtor expects to hear from the appraiser on Monday to set up an appointment for that.
So there are still a few potential roadblocks to overcome. One, it’s possible the appraiser won’t value the house for the selling price. That would be an issue. We can’t come up with the difference, so the sellers would have to be willing to drop the contract price if that were the case. Two, the foundation work and post-inspection (either by the engineer or the appraiser, depending on what the appraiser requires) could delay the closing. That would create a domino effect, as the sellers need to lease the house for a couple of weeks after closing in order to give notice to the sellers of the house they’re buying, so it would set off a chain reaction of delays for everybody involved, including us in Virginia as we make plans to move out so we can prepare this house for renting. Three, the foundation repairs themselves involved using hydraulic jacks in the concrete pilings to hoist the house up to a reasonably level setting, and this can cause cosmetic damage inside the house to occur, such as cracked walls, doorways and windows that no longer align to close, broken tile flooring, etc. If we discovered any new damage on the final walk-through, I’d definitely want those things repaired since the house would no longer be in the same condition that it was when we agreed to purchase it for that price. That could again be a point of contention between us and the sellers. So I’m still a bit on pins and needles about the deal going through and going through on time. My lender was already asking us to consider moving the closing date out to the 15th of June from the 5th to compensate for the delay in ironing out the contract addendum and the staffing delays involved in the upcoming holiday weekend, but all the parties involved really need things to proceed as planned. I’ve supplied as much documentation as I thought they’d need before they’ve even asked for it in order to speed up the process as much as possible. Now we are just in the waiting game.
Steve drove past the house today after church and checked out the neighborhood and the surrounding shopping options. He got to meet the preacher and his wife at the church we’ll be attending (they’d been traveling the last two weeks), and it turns out that they homeschool and have a 14 year old daughter. She’s apparently a thrifty mom like myself, so Steve figured we’d probably get along quite well! Steve said when he drove past the house, he just had a sensation of wanting them to hurry up and move out so we can move in! LOL
I did a lot of research on the “seller’s market” climate of the DFW area this week. Turns out many families spend a year or more trying to buy a house there, because there is much higher demand than there are homes available on the market. There was a news story where one woman said she’d made 13 offers, many above asking price, over the course of a year and still hadn’t gotten one accepted. She said at every open house, she saw the same 20 families who were competing with her for every house. I can’t even imagine going through this process for that long with repeated disappointments. What an ordeal! So I guess that explains why our realtor was so shocked that the sellers took our offer right away, given that this was our first offer, it was at asking price, and a good value for the area. I told Steve that if this deal falls through, I don’t think I’ll look for a house to buy at all and will just rent instead, particularly since we don’t plan to call Texas home for more than 10-15 years anyway.
So I guess to sum it up, we’re 2 hurdles down with 3 more to go.
I’m starting to get excited.
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