A lot of people have sayings that say things like "you get back what you put out," or more simply, "karma's a bitch." I'm having another one of those moments when I am on the receiving end, and it makes me send out little prayers of apology for the things that I've done in my life. This week, karma is reminding me how difficult I've been as a home purchaser when the time comes around for inspections. When I bought this house, we had a heart-wrenching experience with the inspection, and for a week I was pissy, swearing that the deal was dead. I will not put too fine a point on it. I was horrible. We gave our realtor such stress. She deserved every penny of her commission for having put up with us that week. We were so convinced that we would never buy this house, we even put in an offer on another house before the contract was officially canceled here. (I'm really glad that other offer was lost in the swarm of higher bids it received, honestly.) In the end, our realtor said something I will never forget, and plan on using in my own career: "Go sit in the house, and see how you feel. If you want to live there, you will know." That is exactly what we did. We came to the house, walked around a little bit, and then sat on the floor in the living room, right where my piano sits now. I said out loud, "Is this my house?" Then I sat and waited to hear my heart. When it came down to it, I knew that my initial feelings were correct. This was my house. It's my forever house. I'll be here until I die or am so feeble that I can no longer live alone. We went back to our deal, negotiating to have the seller fix the catastrophic problems with the rafters over the garage (cracked in two from something very heavy, like the old air conditioner unit, falling on it). There are still things that we are finding that weren't done properly the last time human hands touch them. But now there is very little that requires urgent repair. The electrical panel is upgraded, the big front window replaced with an energy efficient model, and the sagging garage ceiling is braced up with a huge beam. When I can afford it, I'll tear out the back patio and regrade it, and put a new covering over the top. And my number one priority for when I get a little cash is to install a new air conditioner unit. From believing this house was marked for demolition to believing I will live here for the rest of my life seemed like an impossible hurdle, but it actually was a tiny hop.
Now I'm on the other end of that process. My buyers had their inspection today, and I was not present (as instructed). I got a text that said almost the same things I said last year, that the inspection was a crashing failure, and they were thinking of walking away. So I sat down and read through the entire report. Mrs Buyer had said tens of thousands of dollars in required repairs. As I told Mr X, I don't know where she's getting that figure. I barely saw more than a bottle of Clorox and a tube of caulk. There were a couple little things that I am certain I could get the sellers to fix before closing, like having a plumber make sure there's a proper air gap in the vent from the dishwasher. It's a tiny thing, in the grand scheme. There are some "budget for this in the future" boxes checked, but nothing that said that this was a disaster of a home. If I had received this inspection report, my reaction would have been ecstatic, and I'd have to be reminded to ask for the minor repairs like the above-mentioned plumbing issue. I'm really baffled by the "we may walk" language. So here is my big test. Can I hold this deal together while making my clients happy and making a good impression with the other agent and my boss? How good a counselor am I, really? If ever there was a time to step up my game, it's now.
But tonight was not about stressing over inspection reports. Younger child and I went shopping for a baby shower, and we had a blast being out together. We sighed over baby items that made us both remember the past and wish about the future. We snuck in a few items for ourselves at the stores where we went. We found things to laugh about, like the prices that the local grocery store chain thinks are appropriate for Christmas trees. And then we got overly excited about the fact that we are less than a week away from putting up those trees in our own homes, assuming that we find trees that don't cost three or four times what they ought. Or at least we find a small business or good fundraiser that makes those prices worth the expense. The holidays are coming, and for the first time this year, I'm getting excited about them.
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