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<blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 9647192" data-attributes="member: 50987">Buying a house is a TRIP, y'all.&nbsp; (My weekly house update.)Recap:&nbsp; my mother-in-law has health and mobility issues, and can't live on her own.&nbsp; We looked at options, and decided the option that made the most sense in our current political/financial climate was to buy a house large enough for her to move in and be comfortable.&nbsp; (We have been renting the same upstairs apartment in downtown Portland for almost 15 years.)&nbsp; We looked at some houses, and made an offer on a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house in North Portland.We offered $60k less than the list price, and the seller accepted.&nbsp; Then we had the house inspected, and the home inspector produced a five page list of issues with the place, up to and including a new roof and some foundation work.&nbsp; Then we called some contractors and got estimates for all of the things that the inspector identified--$40k worth of work.&nbsp; Then we sent that list to the seller (minus the silly stuff like &quot;ceiling fan needs balancing&quot; or &quot;closet door is rubbing the frame&quot; that I can fix myself in ten minutes).&nbsp; We also added one item to the seller concessions list that wasn't on the inspector's list: we wanted the exterior walls to be insulated.&nbsp; This is an old house (built in 1896) and back then, it was rare to have insulation in the exterior walls.&nbsp; Anyway, we got an estimate from a closed-cell foam injection insulation company for the exterior walls:&nbsp; $9k.&nbsp; We figured the worst they could do is tell us &quot;no,&quot; so we added it to the list as well.I'm skipping over a lot, but that pretty much brings us up to date.&nbsp; There was a LOT of new paperwork in my Inbox this morning.First, the seller agreed to all of the inspector's list of repairs and is leaving $9k in escrow to cover the cost of the insulation.&nbsp; (So we will be getting the repairs done ourselves, instead of the seller fixing it before the sale...and that means that we will get the energy tax credit for it.)And best of all: we got the report from our bank's appraiser.&nbsp; The house appraised for $45k more than our mortgage...so we will already have tens of thousands of dollars in equity on Day 1.Finally, it looks like we are on track to close next week.&nbsp; As I understand it, once we close on the mortgage the repairs will start: contractors will replace the roof, reinforce the foundation, remove and replace the K&amp;T wiring, clean and service the furnace, install more soffit vents, etc.&nbsp; Then we will have the repairs inspected, and then we will finally--finally-- be able to move into our new home.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CleverNickName, post: 9647192, member: 50987"] Buying a house is a TRIP, y'all. (My weekly house update.) Recap: my mother-in-law has health and mobility issues, and can't live on her own. We looked at options, and decided the option that made the most sense in our current political/financial climate was to buy a house large enough for her to move in and be comfortable. (We have been renting the same upstairs apartment in downtown Portland for almost 15 years.) We looked at some houses, and made an offer on a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house in North Portland. We offered $60k less than the list price, and the seller accepted. Then we had the house inspected, and the home inspector produced a five page list of issues with the place, up to and including a new roof and some foundation work. Then we called some contractors and got estimates for all of the things that the inspector identified--$40k worth of work. Then we sent that list to the seller (minus the silly stuff like "ceiling fan needs balancing" or "closet door is rubbing the frame" that I can fix myself in ten minutes). We also added one item to the seller concessions list that wasn't on the inspector's list: we wanted the exterior walls to be insulated. This is an old house (built in 1896) and back then, it was rare to have insulation in the exterior walls. Anyway, we got an estimate from a closed-cell foam injection insulation company for the exterior walls: $9k. We figured the worst they could do is tell us "no," so we added it to the list as well. I'm skipping over a lot, but that pretty much brings us up to date. There was a LOT of new paperwork in my Inbox this morning. First, the seller agreed to [U]all[/U] of the inspector's list of repairs [U]and[/U] is leaving $9k in escrow to cover the cost of the insulation. (So we will be getting the repairs done ourselves, instead of the seller fixing it before the sale...and that means that we will get the energy tax credit for it.) And best of all: we got the report from our bank's appraiser. The house appraised for $45k more than our mortgage...so we will already have tens of thousands of dollars in equity on Day 1. Finally, it looks like we are on track to close next week. As I understand it, once we close on the mortgage the repairs will start: contractors will replace the roof, reinforce the foundation, remove and replace the K&T wiring, clean and service the furnace, install more soffit vents, etc. Then we will have the repairs inspected, and then we will finally--[I]finally[/I]-- be able to move into our new home. [/QUOTE]

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