The fence, the fence, the fence…… The latest hang-up in our moving plans was the fence. We were told last week after the appraisal that the entire house/property would not qualify for the buyer’s loan because there was paint peeling off of the fence. And, all of the paint chips had to be removed and not on the ground. We were dismayed, to say the least.
We considered several options: 1)paint it ourselves 2) hire someone 3) knock it down. Rob was seriously ready to knock it down, he’s so stressed out, plus it was cheaper and faster. After the realtor said the buyers wanted it and we couldn’t knock it down, Rob started calling around. He called a friend, who has a painting company, and some young men, and thank goodness, our friend was able to come yesterday and paint it with the young men’s help. They worked the entire day. It looks beautiful, and we are really hoping the appraiser will think so, too. He has to come re-check it. We are very grateful to them for working us into their schedule so quickly, and for the fact that our friend gave us a very good deal to help us out.
Rob took a big load to the auction–even more than what you see. We are waiting to see what we get for it.
Somehow, in the middle of everything, my columbine from a couple of Mother’s Days ago has decided to bloom. I’m taking it with me, for sure.
I have several ladies and some of their sons lined up for Friday. We are going to pack like maniacs–the whole kitchen and more:) In the meanwhile, I packed for many, many hours yesterday, and will do the same today. Little by little, it’s getting done, but I’m looking forward to the moment when we are done!
oh wow, I have never heard of such a thing about a fence…sheesh…sounds like that was an awful appraisor. I’m so sorry. Glad that you were able to get it taken care of, but I’m sorry you had to deal with all of that. Hope everything else goes smoothly now.
Our painter friend just dealt with another situation in Portland (Oregon) where he had to fix up a house so the VA would lend money on it–all he was able to get on it was primer (3x) because the rain kept washing it off. So, the house–maybe I understand. But the FENCE! For crying out loud…..But, it’s fixed now. Hopefully.
Oh my! poor you! and your husband…so much work and so much nit-picking! What happened to the good old days when people just looked and bought. If you don’t like it, don’t buy. Or if you like it, buy it as it is and don’t look for faults! When we sell, we will not sell FHA. Andrea
They are getting a VA loan, and I guess they are super picky. Who knew? I mean other than people who actually know these kind of things:) The buyers actually do not care at all–it was the lender, which made it our responsibility to fix.:( Anyway, we were all out there this morning picking up any stray pieces of paint we could find, so hopefully it will pass this time.
BYW, I love looking at your blog, and tried to comment the other day and it wouldn’t let me. I’ll try again, soon. (It was probably me….)
HI! (I’m sorry you had trouble commenting). I guess if you knew in advance it would be a problem you could’ve taken it down before listing your home then the buyers would’ve never known what they were missing. But who would ever guess that would be a problem!!
I’ve always heard lots of bad stories of last minute over-the-barrel problems right at settlement. I knew someone who said, right at settlement, ok, then no sale and didn’t sell the house! If only we had that freedom to do that…ha! In anticipation to selling our house (which is not for sale yet as we are waiting for my husband to get laid-off so he can retire on a severance pay) we took out a bathroom that was not up to code or something. We don’t want any problems. Andrea
That’s a great idea–to take the bathroom out before listing. They did check to make sure all the remodeling we had done was up to code and permitted. We did it right in the first place–got the final permit and all–so that was fine. This was clearly the lender wanting this stipulation. They buyers didn’t care about the fence.
I did get a comment to go through a little bit ago, so 🙂
Gee! All your problems make me grateful that I’m settled into my final home. Appraisers are ridiculous. At the closing of our house we had to rush around to get insurance because the agency we had cancelled our policy at the last minute because there was crack in the sidewalk! Fortunately our new neighbor owns an insurance agency and took care of it quickly for us.
Hugs
Jane
We won’t believe it’s really sold until we have the $ in the bank:)
I would be so made about that stipulation. I mean, that is just ridiculous! It’s a fence and the buyers can paint it if they want to. Sometimes I think these load companies are way too picky!
Rob is usually extremely easy-going, but you should have seen him when he heard the news! It was kind of the straw that broke the camel’s back–he was so anxious and feeling stressed from it. That’s when he was saying he would just knock it down:) But, after taking a big breath, and making upteen phone calls, he solved the problem. I’m so blessed to have him.
I imagine the issue was the possibilty tha there could be lead paint on the fence. My husband had to take lead removal training as I run a home childcare. When you scrap the paint, it has to scraped onto a tarp and removed to an approved place in my state. A leaf blower will help get rid of the any leftover paint chip. Just blow them across the street. Barbara
Well, that’s a good theory! The inspector came by today to look at it and he said it looked great! So, I think this show’s continuing to move on again:)
Yuck. Those people. Glad you got it done now. Bless your heart. I’ll be thinking of you Friday.
Thanks. I rested up a bit today and Rob and I went out while the girls were at their dance recital rehearsal. Tomorrow, in addition to the ladies packing up things, he has 2 men coming. They are going to move the freezers to 2 different garages, one 1/2 hour from here and 1 is 1 hour from here. Then, they can remain plugged in while we are in the camper and I can “shop” from them each week.
I smiled when I imagined you saying, “I’m going grocery shopping” then stopping at houses instead of stores. When we sold our house over 2 years ago we had to move in 3 weeks! Our new house wasn’t unoccupied for another month past that so we had stuff all over the place – storage, my mother in law’s etc… I felt a little “strung out” but it all worked out fine. After the fact you’ll have some fun interesting stories to tell. lol. Take care.
Crystal,
We NEVER could have gotten out in 3 weeks! Wow! I’m amazed that you could do it.
We spent some time this afternoon after the dance recital putting more things over at my mother-in-law’s house! I think I will feel kind of “strung out” as you said! But, like you, I feel confident it will work–it just will be different than usual.