February 20, 2012

Red Tape






Although I signed my offer on a house 02/05/12, I have yet to receive a ratified offer back from the asset manager. I'm not sure what is going on.  The selling realtor has never worked with this asset manager.  In the past, I've received a ratified contract from Fannie Mae in 24 hours.  Though Federal National is on the title, the asset manager is someone else.  Though I'm not an attorney, I do know that a verbal acceptance IS NOT a contract.  I think that there is an issue with the title that is getting resolved.

I've looked at a three other houses for possible purchase.  While I've lamented that there has not been a modicum of cleaning or rehab done on some of these houses on the market, there is something that is even worse:  poorly completed repairs. Two of the homes that I visited had substandard repairs:  exceptionally poor paint job--windows painted shut, drips in paint, poor coverage, poor application, paint dripping down on wood cabinets.  Plus, they were just dirty.   A third house was just a hot mess all the way around--a DIY addition onto a 1950's brick Cape Cod that had gone terribly awry. 

Of the three, one I would have put an offer on. There was already a 'low-ball' offer on the home per the selling agent.  After my agent and I looked at the house, tallied the repairs needed (to include a new heat pump), our $40k  rehab budget required a much lower price than what they were offering.  I asked my realtor to call the selling agent before completing any paperwork.  He said of our offer "it wasn't worth anyone's time". He currently is listing a home that cannot be financed due to an inoperable heating system.  The house in great shape might bring current asking price.  Oh well...move on to the next.  I plan to look at a couple tomorrow.

While $40k sounds like a lot of money to spend on rehab, it doesn't take long to plow through.  Many of the homes that I'm looking at have interiors and mechanical systems that are long past their useful life.   

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Mark and I worked on the FD project.  We are installing recessed lighting in the basement.  The ceiling is opened up because the house had to be replumbed.  Thank goodness we elected to tear out the downstairs shower.  It turned out to be the source of the water damage in the basement due to a faulty drain. My stomach does a little flip when I think of what a disaster it would have been to leave it in place, put in the flooring, and then have it fail.

 Once the lighting is installed, we can put the ceiling back together, and get going on repainting.   My own contribution this weekend was to remove the beads of glue and residual FRP backing from the studs of the mudroom.  I'm almost done.  Even though I was using an oscillating tool, my arms are sore.  I also sanded trim in preparation of painting. It's lots to do. Outside of the cleaning, neither Mark nor I are doing the heavy lifting that we did on the first one.  We do plan to lay the laminate downstairs, but I'm not doing the painting.  Nevertheless, cleaning that house was a chore.  Already in its ramshackle disarray it is cleaner than many of the homes that I go into. We don't plan to achieve 'walking dead' status as we did with the other house...but Other People painting, plumbing, tiling and the like does burn through a budget.

The front rails were demo'ed and new steps, rails, bands and pickets put up.  Now if you fall, you have something to hold onto! We put in untreated pine that was immediately primed--we'll get that painted so that the exterior of the house is refjuvenated, and lightened up some from the dark brown trim.  I've nothing against brown....I live in a brown brick house.  I just don't like the dark brown trim against the tan exterior.  I want something more understated. 



There are two bedrooms that do not have overhead lighting.  Here's a luscious light that will go towards illumination in the master bedroom.  Far cheaper than the time it will take to put in a ceiling light.  I surely do not understand why every room in a house doesn't have a switched overhead light.

I'm seriously quelling my desire to coop these beauties for my own nefarious ends! 

We had snow yesterday... and the daffodils have bloomed.  I can smell and see Spring...

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