#047 In which our hero sings the home sellin' blues.

Ugh! Selling this house and buying the new one continues to be a giant pain in my ass!

Here's the latest: the woman buying our house had a home inspection conducted last Wednesday. We weren't allowed to be there, so The Scientist and I bundled up the little bean and hung out at the Mr. Hero across the street for a couple hours. Mmmm... waffle fries.

Yesterday they delivered the inspection report to our realtor. Nothing critical was found, just little odds and ends that you'd expect to find in a house as old as ours. However, the roof is worn. We know this, and the buyer knew this going in. Mind you, it doesn't leak, it's sound. But the shingles are getting worn, especially in the front where the pitch is steeper. Knowing this, we didn't fight the counter offer for a lower price. Matter of fact, our realtor made it clear: we're accepting a lower price because we know the roof will have to be replaced in the next couple years.

So the buyer has come back and requested that we chip in $2500 toward replacing the roof and removing a dead tree in the back. About this tree: First, it's only mostly dead. There are still a few branches with green leaves. But it's not like it's going to rally anytime soon. To make matter worse, several of the dead branches are near power lines. Now, the electric company came out about a year ago and trimmed. I tried to get them to just take the thing down, but they weren't having it. I argued that it would be a whole lot more work when the thing blows down in the wind and takes the neighborhood's power with it, but no dice. We got an estimate to have it removed by a tree company a while back; I think it was around $450. We just never did it, and it hasn't come down in the four winters I've lived there, so maybe the old bastard has more life in it that we think.

So anyway, I surrendered the point about the tree; we'll get another estimate and have it removed or pay her the 500 bucks. But the other $2000? The Scientist and I are in agreement when we say "fuck that!"

First of all, two grand isn't going to pay for a new roof. It might pay for a quarter or even a third of a new roof, but not the whole thing. And it's not like we were trying to fool anyone, the roof needs replaced. Not immediately, but soonish.

My feeling is this: if the buyer didn't want to pay for the roof herself, she shouldn't have accepted our counter-offer. Period. We're not giving in on this one.

However... now there's a whole new set of worries. If she backs out of the deal because of this (which I don't think she will, but she could) then we have to put the house back on the market all over again. And since we signed mortgage papers for the new house just last night, we could be really screwed if it doesn't sell right away.

Our home inspection of the new house is tomorrow morning. I swear, if this house turns out to be a clunker, I'm going out back and hanging myself from that dead tree.

Update: The buyer offered to have us remove the tree and pay $500. Sorry, Charlie - one or the other, not both! Jesus, this is a pain. Is this the way it always goes?

Update #2:The buyer finally agreed to accept us just removing the tree. Which, of course, is what we offered in the first place. So, the house is officially sold (pending me getting someone over here to cut down that tree, of course).

Up next: home inspection of the new house!