Today we were able to spend quite a bit of time at our future home.

The realtor met me there for the pest inspection and final walk-thru.  When we arrived, the home owner was there finishing up some things around the house.  He walked me thru the house to show me some things, such as, the electronic device used to control the pool and hot tub.  That’s important!  It was really helpful and I’m glad we have been able to meet the owners and get information from them regarding the house.

I did have a somewhat embarrassing, yet funny moment today though.

The girls didn’t know who the guy at the house was and thought he was just someone working there.  As he headed to the garage, he turned around to quickly tell the realtor something and just then Lili asked, in a fairly loud voice, “Is this the ugly carpet”?  I immediately covered her mouth and whispered, “That’s the current owner”.  The realtor fought back laughter and as soon as he walked out, we began laughing and I said, “Yes, this is the carpet I was talking about”.

Lili and Naomi were excited about our visit today because it was the first time they had seen the inside of the house.  They confirmed their bedroom choices, walked around the house a bit, but spent the majority of their time at the pool.  Hanging out in an empty house wasn’t their idea of a good time, so I told them to take off their shoes and put their feet in.  Before long, both had pants pulled up as high as they could and they were wading as deep as possible.  They also checked out the hot tub and by the time we left, Naomi’s pants were pretty damp and both girls has smiles on their faces.

Now, did I take pictures of their first time in the pool?  No!  It didn’t even dawn on me.  Bad mommy moment.  Bad new homeowner moment.

Since we were combining the walk-thru with the pest inspection, hubby drove over from work.  Walking thru the mostly empty house (the owners have all the big stuff out, except for a few boxes yet to be moved), gave us a completely different view of the house.  While we still like it, there is a lot more work to do on the house.  Our to-do list grew today and we realized we needed to change our plans a bit.

Shortly after we started the process to buy this home, we thought it would make the most sense to get the downstairs flooring replaced and then move in.  However, we really would like to take some more time choosing flooring and after our visit today, we have discovered there is a fair amount of painting that needs to be done as well.  While doing all the upgrades would certainly be easier with no one is living there, it would also mean incurring additional expenses living at the RV Park even longer.  That money would be better utilized on upgrades.  Now the plan is to move a few things to the house, so we can live there while we upgrade the downstairs.  Since the flooring alone is going to take an additional 2+ weeks, it just makes more sense to move right away.  So as soon as we take possession of the house, we’ll begin moving in.

The other thing we learned today, is that there are several things that need to be done on the second floor as well.  Our primary focus will be on the first floor and getting it upgraded.  We’ll get to the upstairs as time and money permits.

We’re anxious to put our new plan into place.  Problem is, we don’t know exactly when that might be because we don’t know when we’re closing.  What we do know, is that closing isn’t happening this Thursday as planned.  Unfortunately, the appraisal did not get done over the last 4-5 days and the lender needed it today if we were to close Thursday.

Fortunately though, shortly after the pest inspection was completed, a gentleman rang the doorbell.  I assumed it was hubby arriving for the walk-thru, but it wasn’t hubby.  It was the appraiser!!!!  Woo Hoo!!!!!!  He told us he was going to be walking around the property, taking measurements and would then come inside to look around and take measurements.  Unfortunately, we have no idea how soon the report will get into the hands of the lender.  In the State of Texas, buyers must sign certain documents three days prior to closing.  Three days prior is today and we received no documents to sign, so no closing Thursday.  If the appraisal is received tomorrow, closing will happen on Friday.  At least we’re hoping it will happen Friday, because there is one other complication.

The seller signed an agreement stating they would replace the roof.  As of today, the roof still hasn’t been replaced.  I’m not sure the seller is to blame.  They have been waiting on the roofer to come out and get started.  With all the hail damaged roofs around this area, roofers have been very busy and they haven’t made it out to complete the roof on our future home.  This doesn’t just complicate things for us.  It complicates things for the seller as well.  They have moved into their rental property (they are going to have a new home built) and will not only be incurring additional expenses by paying rent and a mortgage, but they can’t get started on building their new home without the proceeds from the sale of this home.  I’m sure they are anxious to get all of this done as well.

The seller is being told that the roofer will be out tomorrow to get it done (it should be a one day job), but the bottom line is, we won’t close until we have a receipt showing the roof has been replaced and the bill paid in full.  If, however, the appraiser was concerned about the roof and writes anything in the report about it, the VA won’t approve the loan.  This means the loan itself is on hold until the roof is replaced.

Seriously, I’m tired of roofs creating problems for us.

The good news from today is that the pest inspection was good.  No pests!!!!

The other good news is that we met one of our future neighbors.  She had peeked over the fence earlier and said hi to Naomi and later when hubby went out, she peeked over again to introduce herself.  I walked out a short time later and was able to chat with her for a little while.  Good first impression and I’m even more excited about getting moved in.

While all of these set-backs and potential set-backs are a frustration, we really are at the end of this process.